Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 416

Yu Chigong liked the cannon so much, after entering the courtyard, he stared at the cannon without saying a word as if he saw his beloved lover. advise him.

"That... Lord E, you don't want to see this cannon for a while, why don't we go to the Steam Bureau first and come back later?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Yu Chigong reluctantly left the Leihuo Bureau. Seeing his reluctant eyes, Gao Ming couldn't help crying and laughing.

"I've heard of chess idiots, wine idiots, and painting idiots, but this is the first time I've seen this gun idiot. Forget it, I'd better take him to the Military Industry Department and go home early for dinner!"

Thinking of this, Gao Ming couldn't help but speed up his walking pace.

Gao Ming walked fast, and Yu Chigong didn't walk too slowly, because his plan was similar to Gao Ming's.

"His Royal Highness is really troublesome. I still follow him around quickly and send him away. I still go back to watch the cannon!"

Although Yu Chigong had already made up his mind, when he followed Gao Ming into the yard of the steam engine development supervisor, he was immediately shocked by the scene in front of him.

At this time, there was a huge wooden object in the yard. It was about five meters high and ten meters long. It was half oval in shape, like a boiled egg that had been cut in half.

On both sides of it, there are two rows of huge wheels. At this time, several craftsmen are installing tracks on the wheels, while others are strengthening the surrounding with hammers and nails.

Seeing this scene, Yu Chigong frowned immediately.

"His Royal Highness, is this a car? But why is it made into such a strange shape?"

Hearing Yuchi Gong's words, Gao Ming suddenly laughed.

"Hey, Mr. E, you guessed wrong, this is not an ordinary car, this is a super weapon designed by me personally - Zhanshen Beetle steam engine tank!"

"..."

Seeing Yu Chigong's dumbfounded expression, Gao Ming felt a satisfaction he had never had before.

He smiled slightly, then walked to the side of the Beetle tank, reached out and patted its body, and then began to introduce it to Yu Chigong.

"A tank means a tracked armored combat vehicle. My Ares Beetle steam engine tank is driven by a steam engine and doesn't need horses to pull it. Apart from walking slowly, everything else is not a problem."

"The thickness of the wood on the car body is one foot and three inches, and I plan to wrap a layer of iron armor one inch thick on the outside. This will not only effectively defend against long-range weapons including bed crossbows, but also as long as it is not continuously hit by trebuchets, it will not be attacked by ordinary knives. It can't be attacked by a sword, that is to say, sitting in it, I can hit others, but others can't hit me."

"The tank is also equipped with ten cannons that can shoot shotgun. The diameter of the muzzle is one meter, and there are iron balls inside. Within ten steps, even if the heavy cavalry is hit, they have to lie down. There are more than 20 small round holes, which can shoot crossbow bolts outward!"

Speaking of this, Gao Ming immediately raised his chin respectfully towards the stunned Yuchi.

"It is no exaggeration to say that this is a small mobile fortress, which can be advanced, attacked, retreated and defended. With it, the enemy's wish to take the head of the general among the thousands of troops is just a daydream!"

Yuchi Gong: "(⊙o⊙)..."

At this time, after listening to Gao Ming's introduction, Yu Chigong had completely fallen into a sluggish state, and his gaze on the Beetle steam engine tank was also full of disbelief.

That expression was like seeing God.

In fact, at this time Yuchi Gong was thinking about what to do if he encountered such a thing on the battlefield.

But after careful consideration, he found helplessly that if what Gao Ming said was true, then unless all the soldiers guarding the tank were killed, it would be a joke to capture the thief first.

Yuchi Gong's inability to think of a solution was actually within Gao Ming's expectation, after all, this was a "life-saving magic weapon" that he thought of for a long time!
Li Shimin had issued an order before to let Gao Ming, the chief strategist, lead the Tang army to conquer Goguryeo. One was to let Bangzimian know who his father was.

All these clever people understood, but he was worried that after he went to Goguryeo, what if he couldn't come back?
Gao Ming felt that as the prince of the Tang Dynasty, he had a bright future, and there were several beautiful wives in his family. It would be a shame if he died like this.

In order to ensure his own safety, Gao Ming could only use his brain desperately, thinking hard about ways to save his life on the battlefield.

After several days of thinking, Gao Ming finally thought of a practical solution, that is armored vehicles!
Gao Ming remembered that the leaders of the later generations traveled in bulletproof vehicles, while Datang did not have guns, but had arrows!
As the saying goes, it is easy to hide a sharp gun, but hard to defend against a hidden arrow. For his own safety, Gao Ming decided to get a Datang version of a "bulletproof car".

But defense alone is not enough, if someone says that he is greedy for life and afraid of death, let alone the issue of damage to prestige, he will feel uncomfortable just because of his face.

Considering the need for both defense and attack, Gao Ming finally made a decision—to build a tank!
Gao Ming's idea is not groundless. In fact, as early as 1855, the British invented the Beetle-style steam engine tank. Even the design drawings were drawn, and the manufacturing was short.

It's a pity that this plan was rejected later, otherwise the tank would be born decades earlier.

The British look down on the Beetle tank, but Gao Ming likes it very much.

"Although ugly is ugly, but life-saving is important!"

The most important thing is that the steam engine has been produced now. After testing, it is found that it is no problem to use it as a power to propel the tank, so Gao Ming asked people to start building this tank.

The reason why it is made into a beetle is that first of all, the tank of this shape has a large capacity, and can easily accommodate a huge steam engine and the required coal, as well as personnel, weapons, ammunition and so on.

Secondly, regarding the steam tank, Gao Ming only remembered this model, and it took Gao Ming a lot of effort to improve and experiment with this tank, and he didn't have the energy to make another one.

But judging from Yu Chigong's reaction now, Gao Ming found that his decision was very correct.

Looking at Yu Chigong who was staring blankly at the tank, Gao Ming coughed dryly twice. After Yu Chigong came back to his senses, he cupped his hands towards him.

"Mr. E, there are only these three departments in the Ministry of Military Industry. I have already shown you around. If there is nothing else, let's go back!"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Yu Chigong immediately shook his head, then bowed his hands to Gao Ming as well.

"Trouble Your Highness the Crown Prince to accompany the old minister, but the old minister intends to take another look, I wonder if it is possible?"

Gao Ming had expected Yu Chigong's reaction, so he nodded immediately.

"Well, then look, I'm leaving first!"

"Congratulations to His Royal Highness the Prince!"

(End of this chapter)