Song Dynasty Iron Armored Army

Chapter 485 Steam Armored Vehicle

In the evening, Chai Lin came to the long-lost backyard and used a metal manufacturing machine to manufacture ten sets of steel plates for steam armored vehicles for the Tiangong Second Battalion.

Limited by the development of science and technology, there is no gas cutting these days, and Chailin is made according to the design drawings.Tiangong No. [-] Battalion took it and assembled it directly.

The steel plate is made thin, that is, three millimeters thick, and its function is to prevent arrows. The weight of the car is one ton, and the steel plate is about one ton, and the total weight is two tons. It is not a problem for a steam tractor head with considerable power. On a flat road, this simple steam chariot absolutely crushes the Iron Buddha.

The steel plate was too heavy, so more than a dozen large carriages were dispatched and transported to the Tiangong Second Battalion in batches.

Hu Youcai was stunned when he saw the steel plate, and said directly: "This steel plate can exhaust the bow and crossbow to death."

"I understand. The general wants to make this kind of chariot into a sharp weapon against arrows, and use it to attack the enemy's positions. But there are only good steel plates, and it doesn't work without weapons."

Chailin didn't remind him either, he should think about these things by himself.

"I can't install a cannon. One cannon can kill the driver and boiler worker in the cab. Then I can only install a low-power ballista."

Hu Youcai began to design ideas one by one.

The steam engine manufacturing technology has stabilized, and there is no problem in production. The main difficulty lies in assembling the iron armor. There are still many disadvantages in the era without electric welding.

Chai Lin patted Hu Youcai: "Leave the rest of the problems to your second battalion. I can't think of all the solutions, otherwise how will you make progress?"

"There will be a way, general, don't worry, within half a year, ten armored vehicles will be produced within half a year." Hu Youcai issued a military order.

After leaving the Tiangong Second Battalion, Chai Lin made an appointment with Liu Tang, led his soldiers and rode for dozens of miles to the steel factory.The iron and steel plant is busy, especially in the forging and stamping workshops, where life is noisy and machines roar.

In the farming era, plowshares, hoes, shovels, rakes, etc. are all important agricultural tools.

Iron and steel plants have implemented semi-automatic production lines, and manual use is gradually being reduced.For example, the shovel of the steel plate is stamped out of the steel plate, which completely replaces the hammering and forging of the blacksmith.

A large number of farm tools are sorted and packaged. Now is the peak season for farm tool sales in spring. The ten prefectures on Jingdong Road are stepping up their agricultural production. There is a lot of demand for farm tools, not to mention that these farm tools will be sold to various areas controlled by the imperial court. .

Although the artillery casting workshop is said to be in the steel factory, it has a separate park, and there are many sentries outside. The guards with big wolf dogs and the guards standing straight indicate that no trespassing is allowed here.

Even if Chai Lin wanted to come in and inspect, he had to check his badge.

The steel-making technology tends to be mature, and the cast 1.5-meter-long, [-]-caliber Long Snake Cannon weighs only [-] catties.

This kind of gun is in a transition period between the gun and the artillery. Although the weight is heavier than the crouching tiger gun, it is cast in a steel factory, not produced by a metal manufacturing machine.

Moreover, the length is 1.5 meters, and the effective range is 200 meters, which is farther than the 150 meters of the Crouching Tiger Cannon.

In actual combat, four soldiers can control a long snake cannon, which can maneuver quickly and attack powerfully.Especially against unarmored infantry, ten can be hit with one shot.

And the long snake cannon also has another purpose, that is, six cannons are mounted on a gun mount to form a honeycomb cannon.The firepower of the honeycomb gun is powerful and the firepower lasts for a long time.It is most suitable for dealing with groups of cavalry and infantry, but it is heavy and needs to be pulled by mules and horses, so it is suitable for large-scale battles in plain areas.

The Long Snake Cannon is lighter and more suitable for infantry carrying or small-scale combat in mountainous areas.

In the cannon casting workshop, there is a cave with a secret library.The cave is dry and ventilated, and the ground is covered with hygroscopic lime.

Liu Tang was a little surprised. The cave was not big, but there were at least [-] Long Snake Cannons, [-] Crouching Tiger Cannons, and even [-] [-]-caliber cannons.

"Brother, why are there so many artillery pieces?"

"One-hundred-caliber and one-hundred-fifth-caliber artillery are reserved for the fleet and your artillery battalion. Forty to fifty artillery pieces are prepared in western cities prone to war. I brought you here today to ask you, see. Do you have any suggestions on how to arrange these batches of Long Snake Cannons and Crouching Tiger Cannons." Chai Lin pointed to the mountain of cannons piled up in front of him.

Liu Tang thought for a moment: "With the expansion of our territory, the model of a single unit is gradually failing. In order to deal with possible wars, each battalion urgently needs to be reorganized. For example, Wu Song's Hengdao battalion used to be a single unit. If you encounter a strong enemy, you will be in big trouble. You must have a small amount of artillery, firecrackers, bows and arrows. Only in this way will it be more convenient to fight. A single soldier is not suitable for large-scale operations. .”

Liu Tang's analysis is very reasonable.

Since last year, the reform of arms has been carried out one after another. Only a small number of single arms are retained, and other battalions are transformed into troops to form multiple arms.

Take Ruda's Sword and Shield Battalion as an example. The original [-] soldiers were all infantry, using traditional weapons such as knives, shields, bows and arrows.

Ruda is a very stubborn person. He stubbornly believes that cold weapons are the strongest weapons.

But after several actual battles, Lu Da clearly realized that a single unit of arms is no longer enough.After being stationed in Dengzhou last year, [-] light cavalry were successively adjusted out. The light cavalry came as scouts, passing messages and implementing tactical interludes.Secondly, the light cavalry itself also has a strong charge ability, and it has great lethality in the face of unconsolidated infantry.Add fifty crouching tiger cannons and fifty ballistas to cooperate with archers for long-range strikes.

The 150-caliber main guns on Galen ships and Fu ships weighed as much as two thousand catties.

Liu Tang couldn't help feeling: "Why is their cannon so heavy? It's twice as heavy as the one used by our artillery battalion."

"The strength of steel is different, and the manufacturing process is different. The strength of the steel factory is weaker, so the weight is heavier. The main weight is nothing for a large ship, but it is different for a gun car. It needs to be flexible and fast. A [-]-jin cannon can be pulled quickly by two mules, but a [-]-jin cannon can easily get stuck in the ground. There are more than [-] large warships, [-] Galen ships, Fu Thirty ships. Forty small centipede warships, mainly for landing."

Liu Tang said: "I remember that the caravans have far more merchant ships than warships. Our merchant ships are more powerful than other people's warships."

"At present, there are two merchant fleets, one is in charge of Li Yun, and the other is in charge of my brother-in-law Zhang Han. There are more than 80 Fuchuan ships, and the transportation capacity is still very strong. They can go to Dongying, Nanyang, and Dashi. Now We purchased a large amount of wood from Nanyang and are preparing to build a faster and larger Galen ship, but unfortunately the wood needs to be dried in the shade, and the time to dry the wood plus the shipbuilding will take about three years."

(End of this chapter)