I want to be emperor

Chapter 112 The material is a big pit
When Chen Yongfu was frightened by Wang Xiazi's cavalry and stopped after only going north for a day, Luo Zhixue in the north continued to go south with the third infantry battalion and other troops.

This time Luo Zhixue went south not only with the [-]rd Infantry Battalion and the Sentinels, but also with a transport battalion organized by the Logistics Department.

This transportation battalion carried a large amount of food, grass, ammunition, arrows, some cold weapons used for front-line troop replacement and subsequent spare parts, vulnerable parts of carriages, etc.

In addition to hundreds of two-wheeled and four-wheeled carriages, this transport battalion also has a large number of civilian husbands who directly use wheelbarrows or even carry them on their shoulders for transportation.

It has more than 300 mules and horses and more than 1000 personnel.

Transport battalion, this is Luo Zhixue's new attempt in logistics reform.

In the past, the transport of supplies by the Rural Protection Army was no different from that of other Ming armies and bandits. On the one hand, they relied on their own supplies to transport them, and at the same time they recruited young and strong civilians to carry them out.

However, civilian husbands are temporarily recruited for every expedition, which is very troublesome in management.

Later, the organization of the transportation battalion was simply adopted. Although the personnel were still temporarily recruited civilians, professional logistics officers were dispatched to serve as the battalion commander and key management personnel of this transportation battalion, adopting militarized management.

Moreover, the establishment of the transport battalion has existed for a long time, and the civilian men in it are recruited in rotation to manage on the one hand.

This kind of transport battalion is used to transport materials to the rear, while the transport of materials on the front line is handed over to professional supply units.

The supply troops in the Rural Protection Army are not only as simple as being able to transport supplies, but they are also combat-capable troops.

The personnel in the first and second supply posts are all equipped with knives, spears, and muskets. If they are transported on the front line, they can go directly to battle once they are attacked by the enemy.

When necessary, these two supply battalions can even be transferred to directly participate in the battle and directly participate in the front-line battle.

Of course, if the time comes when the supply troops are needed, the situation on the front line is often very critical.

Luo Zhixue led the combat troops and escorted the transport battalion all the way south, so naturally he couldn't go there faster.

But even the current marching speed shocked Huang Guangmao and others.

"This four-wheeler is so easy to use."

Huang Guangmao looked at the many four-wheeled carriages in the transport battalion going south along the official road, and couldn't help but sigh: "With this new type of four-wheeled carriage, it will be much more convenient for us to transport heavy objects!"

Fei Bingqing beside him said: "I heard that this new four-wheeled carriage was personally ordered by the general. It can be easily turned, and there is a lot of fine steel inside. This kind of four-wheeled carriage can weigh a thousand catties. It’s just more difficult to use in the mountains.”

Huang Guangmao said: "It's okay if you can't use it in the mountains. In the mountains, we have a two-wheeled carriage and a wheelbarrow. But after leaving the mountain, on this kind of flat official road, it's much better to use this kind of four-wheeled carriage."

"Save effort, transport more."

While Huang Guangmao and Fei Bingqing were discussing with the four-wheeled carriages on the road, Luo Zhixue at the rear was also looking at more than 20 four-wheeled carriages moving forward on the road.

This southward battle was also the first time that the Rural Protection Army used four-wheeled carriages on a large scale.

Luo Zhixue has always been very concerned about the issue of material transportation. After all, the Rural Protection Army is a unit that uses firearms as its main weapon. According to Luo Zhixue's development plan, the proportion of firearms will increase in the future, which will also affect logistics. cause more stress.

In the early days, the Rural Protection Army was still small and limited by the narrow and rugged mountain roads in Funiu Mountain, so Luo Zhixue did not consider getting any four-wheeled carriages, and even two-wheeled carriages were optional.

Because in the mountains, except for the outer hilly areas where two-wheeled carriages can barely pass, there are many places where two-wheeled carriages cannot even go.

Therefore, at that time, the material transportation of the Rural Protection Army was mainly carried by manpower, and a small amount of wheelbarrows and two-wheeled carriages were used.

After leaving Lushan County in the east, this kind of transportation has relatively large limitations. It consumes a lot of manpower, but the transportation capacity is too small.

When he was in Lushan County, Luo Zhixue began to focus on the development of wheelbarrows and horse-drawn carriages.

The wheelbarrow has always been there. The chariot camps of the Ming army and the shield chariots of Dongyao all used wheelbarrows in large quantities.

The Rural Protection Army also used wheelbarrows for material transportation before. What Luo Zhixue did was to make further improvements to make it more labor-saving when transporting goods, and then promote it on a large scale.

The same is true for the two-wheeled carriage, and certain details have been improved.

However, the changes to the above-mentioned two existing tools are actually not that big, at most they are just minor troubles. It is the four-wheeled carriage that really cost Luo Zhixue a lot of energy to personally participate in the design.

Because when going south later, the terrain will be flat and the road conditions will be better, so there will be a place for four-wheeled carriages.

The four-wheeled carriage is not a new thing in China, but the traditional Chinese four-wheeled carriage lacks a steering mechanism, so it is more troublesome to use, so except for a very few cities with very good road conditions, it is used in other places very few.

Naturally, Luo Zhixue would not use this kind of four-wheeled carriage without a steering mechanism.

So he made a steering mechanism for the four-wheeled carriage, not a tall differential or the like, just divided the four wheels into two independent frames at the front and rear, a typical ancient Western-style steering mechanism.

This is not the first time Luo Zhixue has come up with this thing. In fact, when he first made this steering mechanism, it was for the mobility of the artillery.

The gun carriage of the [-]-jin artillery is a large two-wheeled carriage, and when the march is maneuvering, another two-wheeled carriage must be mounted.

In this way, in fact, the daily marching state of the [-]-jin artillery belongs to a very typical four-wheeled carriage structure.

When the Township Protection Army wanted to get a four-wheeled carriage, they didn't have to make too much effort, just imitate the steering mechanism of the artillery, and then get a carriage and it's over.

In order to increase the load capacity and save labor, steel structures are also used in key mechanisms, such as axles and steering shafts, which are all made of stainless steel to resist wear and reduce friction.

It's just that Luo Zhixue looked at these four-wheeled carriages, but he was still not satisfied.

These four-wheeled carriages are still too heavy, and the body still uses a lot of heavy wood, ordinary iron, and there is no bearing.

In fact, Luo Zhixue had already asked the machinery factory to try to make bearings.

The principle and design diagram Luo Zhixue made them for them himself, and waited for the craftsmen to build them. At first, Luo Zhixue thought that this thing was just some small steel balls, plus a few iron rings, and it shouldn't be a big problem to make it out. .

At the beginning, the craftsmen first made a model out of wood. Luo Zhixue was quite happy after seeing this model, thinking that with the lathe he made, he should be able to make bearings.

But Luo Zhixue soon found that he underestimated things like bearings.

This thing requires high processing precision and even higher requirements for materials!

Luo Zhixue, who was born in liberal arts, did not know at all that even in later generations, the performance of bearings directly represents the level of metallurgy in a country.

After trial-manufacturing the wooden model and finalizing the size and processing flow, the craftsmen of the machinery factory began to manufacture iron bearings.

At the beginning, ordinary iron materials were used, so it could barely be processed during processing. Although the accuracy was not good, it was still possible.

But, when the bearings made of ordinary iron materials were put on the carriage for testing, it didn't last long at all...

When disassembled, the cylinder inside has been slightly deformed.

An empty carriage is better, but a four-wheeled carriage loaded with goods weighs over a thousand catties, and the weight of this thousand catties falls on these small beads in the end...

It is conceivable that iron pillars made of ordinary iron materials cannot withstand such heavy pressure at all.

Later, the craftsmen of the machinery factory began to try to use high-quality steel materials to make bearings, but at this time they found that processing had become a big problem again.

It is impossible to process with conventional steel tools!
In the end, it can only be processed with the best stainless steel cutters specially used to process the inner diameter of the barrel, but the processing is still very troublesome.

On the one hand, the processing accuracy of the bearing is too high, and it will be scrapped if the processing is a little careless.

On the other hand, high-quality steel materials are selected for processing. Even the best stainless steel knives currently owned by the Baoxiang Army will not last long. Before a column is processed, the knives are often scrapped.

For the time being, this kind of fine steel knives can only be handcrafted by senior blacksmiths such as Song Blacksmith, and the output is extremely low.

This kind of high-quality fine steel knives is not enough to make muskets and other parts, and several pieces of knives are scrapped a day when they are used to process fine steel bearings.

After a month, a senior craftsman can only produce a few qualified high-quality fine steel knives, and the rest are all scraps...

Your machinery factory is good, if you scrap a few knives, blacksmith Song will scold you...

Even if Luo Zhi is a master, if he really wants to make this kind of stainless steel bearings and use them on freight wagons, he will also install a V12 engine on agricultural tricycles... how ridiculous it is!

And after this incident, Luo Zhixue also deeply realized the importance of materials.

There are no qualified materials, not even a tool for processing stainless steel bearings.

It is more clear that the material is a big hole, and if you want to produce results, you have to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to fill it.

In the end, Luo Zhixue temporarily dismissed the idea of ​​installing stainless steel bearings on the carriage, but asked the Industrial Department to continue to think of ways to come up with better knives.

On the other hand, it is first to use second-class steel to make second-class bearings, which are used in some machinery that is not too stressed. On the one hand, the efficiency of existing machinery can be improved, and on the other hand, it can also continue to accumulate. Develop experience and technology in finishing.

According to Luo Zhixue's estimation, it is estimated that it will have to wait for a few years before a certain breakthrough in metallurgy can be mass-produced for stainless steel bearings for heavy carriages.

As for now, let's use the traditional method first, first solve the problem of whether it is true or not, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not.

　The author is relatively new to mechanical materials, if the description is wrong, please correct me!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)