coobybook Chapter 327: The gasoline engine caught fire with just one hit from a cannonball. You are totally fo
Chapter 327: The gasoline engine caught fire with just one hit from a cannonball. You are totally fo
Lin Zhenhua came to the arsenal to guide the production of weapons and equipment, and at the same time worked on the imitation of the 88mm anti-aircraft gun. Using the electroslag remelting technology, a breakthrough was soon made in the manufacturing of anti-aircraft gun barrels. Five days later, six mm gun barrels were successfully manufactured.
After testing, it was found that the life of the gun barrel was only half of the original one. This did not make Lin Zhenhua feel depressed. Instead, he looked very happy. Being able to achieve the current level was indeed beyond his expectations.
Li Yunlong was a little confused and asked bluntly, "College student, you are fooling me again this time. This anti-aircraft gun is different from other guns. The firing rate is very fast. You are playing tricks on me. I will never agree to it!"
Lin Zhenhua replied with a smile: "Old Li, these six newly produced barrels are made from scrap materials from before. They were completely scrapped. Now we use electroslag remelting technology to improve the purity. Now they can reach half the life of the original barrels. This has greatly exceeded my expectations."
"If we use new materials in large quantities, I estimate that we can achieve 90% of the lifespan and performance of the original ones, which is enough for us. The reason why we also took out this batch of scrap barrels is because we have produced hundreds of scraps before, which can be recycled and recast. We can get a large amount of anti-aircraft firepower in a very short time. If you pay attention when using them, there shouldn't be any major problems."
Li Yunlong also showed a smile on his face. Thinking that he had just misunderstood Lin Zhenhua, but he didn't want to apologize, he immediately changed the subject and said, "College student, I came to you this time for an important matter. Our tanks have a short driving distance and need to refuel every 120 kilometers. This seriously affects the advancement speed of the armored forces. If we sail at full speed, we need to refuel every 90 kilometers. This is very time-consuming. You have to think of a way!"
"Besides, according to our field tests, gasoline engines are very flammable. I heard you say before that you were planning to use diesel engines on tanks. We have some diesel in stock at our base, so why not use diesel engines? You told me at the time that if we use diesel engines, we won't need to refuel for 400 to 500 kilometers, but now you use gasoline engines. I'm really confused!"
"Before, you kept telling me the advantages of diesel engines and said that gasoline engines have all kinds of problems, but your current actions have left me confused. Which is better, a diesel engine or a gasoline engine? You must give me an explanation, otherwise I will be unsure!"
Lin Zhenhua was also very troubled by the question raised by Li Yunlong. He endured the depression in his heart and replied unhappily: "Lao Li, do you think I don't want to use diesel engines? But our base has only half a ton of diesel in reserve, and this is extracted from the oil we tried every means to get before. We have never had a stable source of oil, and we spent a lot of money to get that oil back. Half a ton of diesel is not enough to support the oil consumption of our armored forces!"
"Our coal-to-oil equipment can only convert gasoline, but not diesel. I have to compromise on the choice of engines for the armored forces and choose to use gasoline engines. This will require the armored forces to refuel frequently while on the move. Fortunately, our combat range is not large and fuel supply is relatively easy. If we were to fight over long distances, I estimate that we would all be grounded after running three or four hundred kilometers and would be abandoned by the soldiers on the roadside!"
"A tank without fuel is just a pile of scrap metal. I'm not exaggerating. I'm telling the truth! The fuel consumption of armored units is terrible. They are all oil guzzlers. It's really unaffordable to use them!"
"We now have a total of six coal-to-oil equipment, which can produce 30 tons of gasoline per day, which can barely meet the fuel needs of the transport aircraft formation. Fortunately, two medium-sized coal-to-oil equipment will be put into production soon, which can increase our daily gasoline production to 50 tons. This will allow us to spare some fuel for armored unit training."
"I know that the intensity of the armored battalion's training has been very low these days because of the problem with the fuel supply, but I don't have any good solution at the moment. Producing 50 tons of gasoline a day will be our production capacity limit for a long time in the future. It's not that we can't produce more coal-to-oil equipment, but that our coal production has reached its limit and cannot be increased in a short period of time!"
"In the short term, the armored forces will only use gasoline engines. After we solve the problem of synthetic diesel, we will start using diesel engines. However, this cannot be done in a short period of time. After all, some technical difficulties require more than one or two days to break through. In addition, I am very busy every day and I really can't spare the time."
Lin Zhenhua has been very distressed these days. Apart from getting some raw materials for producing medicines from the system every day, he has not obtained any military technologies at all. The breakthrough of the 88mm anti-aircraft gun is also related to the system rewards he received, otherwise he really has no way out. He is afraid that before the war comes, he really cannot develop an 88-meter anti-aircraft gun.
"Old Li, we have completed the imitation of the Type 37 anti-tank gun and have produced ten of them. You should hurry up and find buyers to sell them. For us, the Type 37 anti-tank gun is already a bit useless, but for the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, it is a powerful weapon to fight tanks. Selling it as soon as possible and exchanging it for more supplies is what we need to do most urgently."
"We should also take this opportunity to sell off some of the junk we have. In these chaotic times, guns and ammunition are very valuable. We have been controlling the quantity before, but I think we can completely let go now and get rid of those guns with worn-out rifling. Don't keep the old submachine guns anymore. Sell them all at once and exchange them for the supplies we need. It's better than letting them gather dust in the warehouse!"
Li Yunlong did not object this time. Ten days ago, Zhao Gang had cleared out the old guns from the two warehouses. He had originally planned to keep them as backup, but the base was not short of weapons at all now, so there was no need to keep them. It would be better to seize the time and take this opportunity to sell them off. Maybe he could make a lot of money in exchange for a lot of supplies.
"College student, I'll go back and talk to Lao Zhao about it. Let Lao Ding be responsible for selling this batch of supplies! Arms are in great demand these days. The reason why they didn't sell well before was mainly because we strictly controlled the quantity and had strict requirements for the supplies. If we really let them sell freely, they will all be sold out in ten days, and we can definitely get a lot of supplies and money in return!"
"Those merchants have also learned their lesson. They have purchased large amounts of grain from other places and traded with us. They have made more money from the transactions. They are like crazy, desperately trying to sell us grain. This really makes me very happy!"
"But we can't just think about selling medicines to others. We also have to think about ourselves. We have sold a lot of the medicines we previously stockpiled. If a war breaks out with the Japanese, the demand for medicines will increase suddenly. If there are not enough medicines in reserve, the casualties of the troops will become very large. You have to think of a solution quickly. If not, you can open another medicine production line to solve the possible medicine crisis in the future!"
Li Yunlong did not forget to remind everyone at the end that when he was counting the medicines yesterday, he found that 60% of the previously stockpiled medicines had been sold. If they continued to be sold like this, they would all have to be sold out before the war, and the base would face the dilemma of having no medicines available.
Lin Zhenhua patted his head, took out three kinds of pills from his pocket, and replied with a smile: "Lao Li, these are three kinds of pills I just developed. Two of them are used to treat colds. The first one is for colds caused by wind and cold, and the second one is for colds caused by wind and heat. The third pill is a painkiller I specially developed. When we were doing surgery before, our base lacked anesthetics, which caused my soldiers to die of pain during the operation. With this painkiller, the pain during the operation can be greatly reduced. Don't sell it for the time being, keep it for ourselves first."
"These three kinds of pills are all made of Chinese medicinal materials. I asked Lao Ding to find several medicinal material merchants and bought a lot of medicinal materials from them. Next, we will continue to increase the purchase volume, and at the same time, we will find a way to grow medicinal materials ourselves. I found that the soldiers were a bit over-exerting when collecting herbs. This practice is wrong. Fortunately, I stopped them in time. There are many mountains near our base, and there are many medicinal materials. We should take advantage of this time to organize more people to go up the mountain to collect medicinal materials. With sufficient medicinal materials, we can increase the production of pills and exchange them for more supplies!"
Li Yunlong agreed with Lin Zhenhua's approach. The two chatted for a while and then Li Yunlong returned to the regiment headquarters to arrange the tasks assigned by Lin Zhenhua and help Zhao Gang sort out the logistics of the base.
Kong Jie has brought back another 20 disaster victims these days. After a few days of centralized resettlement, the victims now have a place to live. As the weather gets colder, the long-distance migration has gradually stopped. After all, the snowy winter is cold and freezing, not to mention the elderly and children, even adults and strong laborers can't stand it. It is estimated that in about days, no more disaster victims will come.
"Old Kong, you better hurry up and resettle the victims. We have resettled nearly 40 victims and recruited 8000 new soldiers. The army has doubled in size. I never dared to dream that our three regiments together can now be equivalent to a division. If we continue to develop like this, maybe one day we can really become a division commander!" Li Yunlong said half-jokingly.
Kong Jie's face was full of smiles this time. The migration work that lasted for more than a month also made him feel very tired. However, thinking of the situation in the Central Plains, his face became gloomy, and he replied in a melancholy tone: "I am not worried about the expansion of the army now, but it has not rained in the Central Plains for several months. If it does not snow this winter, we will not be able to plant in the spring next year. If there is no rain for several months, the people will have no food to eat when the time comes. By then, there will be more people fleeing. I am really worried!"