Kai Fu Han

Chapter 407 Steam Powered Battleship
March [-]th, meeting in the leader's office and military academy.

"Have you finished drawing the half-length sketches of the soldiers?" Liu Xinqi asked.

"No, I guess it won't be completed before the westward strategy begins." Liu Xin'ang replied.

"Well, let the painter follow the troops and continue. Before the work is fully completed, try not to interrupt it." Liu Xinqi arranged.

The cultivation of painters who can draw sketches was started by Liu Xinqi during the third compilation.

Liu Xinqi himself does not know how to draw sketches. He only knows that sketching consists of arranging brush strokes, drawing still lifes, etc., and then gradually painting portraits.

The whole concept was vague and belonged to an industry he had never been exposed to in his previous life.

However, because his physical fitness and strategic skills are so much higher than ordinary people, Liu Xinqi can "copy" what he sees onto paper like a printer.Very vividly, the painter shows what sketching is.

And in order to train painters quickly, Liu Xinqi also asked the various departments to allocate part of their general cards to the painters.

It wasn't until the beginning of this year that these painters truly made their mark.

Liu Xinqi's "photography" project of Xinghan League soldiers can finally begin.

This is just the first issue.

Later, portraits of all civil servants will be given.

Then there will be all the people.

Until everyone's portrait remains in their household registration (military registration).

This is a long-term job. Before cameras were developed, sketch painters were the human "cameras" of the Xinghan League.

With portraits, Xinghan League's household registration management work will be greatly strengthened.

"Have all the navy recruits enlisted?" Liu Xinqi asked Gao Yuan again.

"Enlisted. The six newly launched Mountain-class battleships have all been allocated to the three offshore fleets, with two ships in each fleet." Gao Yuan replied: "The five thousand recruits have also been evenly allocated to the three offshore fleets. .”

After 500 new recruits entered service, the number of sailors in each offshore fleet reached 600, and the number of Marines also reached [-].

Including the coastal defense fleet, the total number of permanent professional officers and soldiers of the entire Navy reached 500.

"What was the effect of the trial operation of the Huangshan?" Liu Xinqi asked.

The Huangshan is one of the six mountain-class ships delivered to the Navy this time, and it is also the ship that Liu Xinqi went to Baishiwan for inspection before.

Different from other mountain-class ships, in addition to sail power, Huangshan also adds steam engine power, and has propellers directly across both sides, using the power output method of underwater propellers.

Liu Xinqi knew that propellers were simpler to build, but all ships in later generations, regardless of size, used propellers. Needless to say, propellers were definitely much better than wheel propellers.

"Very good." Gao Yuan first praised, and then explained in detail: "After the crew became proficient in operating steam power, we arranged a battle drill. The result was far beyond our previous expectations."

Everyone used to think that steam-powered warships could fight "one against two" against sailing warships.

"The Huangshan can fight one against five other mountain-class sailing warships. Moreover, even if it faces less than ten enemy ships, it can use its flexible power to retreat calmly."

Guerrilla warfare at sea!
In other words, to a certain extent, when sailing warships versus steam-powered warships, quantity can no longer make up for the shortcomings.

"What about the ship's speed?" Liu Xinqi asked again. "The running speed for a long time is more than double the maximum speed of the sailing warship, and it can be [-] to [-]% faster even under the condition of the steam engine." Gao Yuan replied.

By adding more carbon and burning the fire, the speed will naturally increase until the machine cannot bear it or the temperature reaches its limit.

The mountain-class sail warship can sail at a maximum speed of forty miles per hour in the wind.Offshore it can be faster with the tide, but it won't exceed fifty miles.

The steam-powered battleship can reach [-] miles per hour, and is less affected by the wind direction.

"It's really amazing." Liu Xin'ang clucked his tongue as he listened.

The army can march thirty miles a day at normal speed, which is not enough for a steam-powered warship to travel in half an hour.

Traveling thousands of miles across the Yangtze River in one day will no longer be the speed only reserved for people traveling down the river.

With steam power, a thousand-mile sea route can be returned in one day.

"It's indeed amazing. What's the failure rate of steam engines?" Liu Xinqi first agreed with Liu Xin'ang's words, and then asked again.

"It's okay. If you run it for five hours and stop for inspection, you can ensure that it won't malfunction during use." Gao Yuan replied.

In other words, if maintenance is done before the war, the probability of sudden failure on the battlefield will be very small.

Generally, no matter how long a naval battle takes, it will not exceed five hours. This is limited by the limit of human energy.

"However, the soldiers have all suggested whether it is possible to install two steam engines on each ship, one and one, so that it can run all the time. Even if there is a failure, there will be a spare steam engine available." Gao Yuan continued.

"This is a good idea." Liu Xinqi praised.

He hadn't thought of it before.

"On the second test ship, we tried to install two steam engines. It just so happened that the size of the second-generation steam engine was much smaller due to the inconvenience of maintaining power."

"Arrange for Lushan to be renovated?"

"Okay." Liu Xinqi nodded.

Considering that there is no standard test method for the power of steam engines, Liu Xinqi plans to take the time to talk to Liu Zhimu and set a standard for testing the power of steam engines, so that in the future, the sizes of steam engines can be better distinguished.

If there is existing experience that can be used for reference, we use horsepower as the standard. The power equal to one horse is called one horsepower, or one horse for short.

"When will the steam locomotive you mentioned come out?" Liu Xin'ang was very greedy, hoping that the army could also use steam power.

"It's still early. The space on a steam locomotive is much smaller than that on a ship, and it also involves water and cooling. It is much more complicated than building a steam-powered battleship." Liu Xinqi replied: "Moreover, even if a steam locomotive is developed, it can only run on On the special track for steam locomotives, it is of little help to the army's operations."

"You can't help in the battle, but it's also good to help transport troops and food." Liu Xin'ang seemed indifferent, which made Liu Xinqi feel weird.

"It is not that easy to build a special track for steam locomotives. It can be helpful within the Xinghan League, but you don't have to think about it outside the country. If you train soldiers seriously, don't expect that steam power can change the way of land combat." Liu Xinqi directly extinguished all his fantasy.

Without the compact internal combustion engine, there would be no automobile.Without cars, there is no need to think about mechanical power to cooperate with land operations.

Under the current technology, even in the next few decades, steam chariots are only suitable to exist in fantasy.

"Alliance leader? Do you have any remaining immortal talismans?" Liu Xinjun from the Military Law Department asked.

(End of this chapter)