The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1524 Land Cruiser

"You are now at the forefront of the world. Believe me. The future will be dominated by internal combustion engines. Miniaturized internal combustion engines will soon lead to industrial revolutions in all walks of life.

Its impact is not limited to the transportation industry. Manufacturing, military industry, and energy will all be affected by it. You must firmly believe that you are doing a great thing. You have provided a new heart for the industry. "

Franz's evaluation is not an exaggeration. The internal combustion engine can definitely be regarded as the second heart of industry.

With the invention of the internal combustion engine, the price of oil will soon take off and gradually replace coal in many fields.

In fact, relatively speaking, the military of the Austrian Empire was more interested in small internal combustion engines.

Because artillery is becoming heavier and heavier, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pull it with draft horses alone. Even heavy draft horses may be unable to pull the artillery.

As for steam locomotives, although they are powerful, they are too slow, have too high requirements on road conditions, and are also not durable.

In addition, the Austrian Imperial Military was also considering adding a new power source to the airship. The steam engine was too large and heavy, and lacked practicality, but the lightweight internal combustion engine left them room for imagination.

The internal combustion engine can also replace the steam engine on the tank at this time. The steam engine can certainly provide powerful power, but the problem is that the body of the steam engine is exposed outside and is too easy to be damaged from the outside.

Not to mention being hit directly by shells or bullets, even the vibration caused by hitting bulletproof steel plates could damage the steam engine.

Once a steam engine is damaged, it is difficult to repair. What is even more terrifying is that the leaked high-temperature, high-pressure gas can scald the people in the vehicle to death.

Internal combustion engines are much better in this regard, at least they can be hidden under iron sheets. Franz is also aware that future tanks will not use steam as a power source.

In fact, not long ago, Franz had rejected a design of the Austrian Imperial Military.

Land Cruiser, yes, the Austrian Imperial Army really built a warship-sized steam-powered tank on land.

It is 25 meters long, 8 meters wide, weighs 320 tons, is equipped with 8 6-pound guns, and can carry 40 soldiers. From a distance, it looks like a small hill. It is the pride of the Austrian military.

However, Franz got a headache at the first sight. In fact, this Land Cruiser had a fatal flaw, which was that it could only travel on special roads.

Because of its heavy weight, ordinary roads simply cannot withstand such great pressure. That means it can show off its power in the test field, but as soon as it leaves the test field, it will sink into the ground and be unable to move.

Franz still feels pain when he thinks about it now. He spent more than 800 million guilders on research only to produce such a piece of scrap metal.

Although Franz rejected it in person, Count Latour was still very optimistic about the project and often went to Franz to lobby for it.

Count Latour felt that this land cruiser could deter the enemy and provide powerful fire support and cover for the infantry.

But Franz thought that this thing had no mobility and was just a target. It would be better to build an armored train than a pile of scrap metal like this.

This inspired Count Latour, and the Austrian military started the armored train plan again. In theory, wherever the railway tracks were built, the Austrian armored trains could go there.

The armored train perfectly solves the Land Cruiser's ground needs and can provide the same powerful firepower and even carry more soldiers.

Unbeknownst to Franz, the Austrian Imperial Military had already formulated Plan A, which was to drive armored trains directly into Berlin and force Prussia to surrender.

Count Latour could imagine the scene of armored trains and airships entering Berlin and killing everyone.
Because the Austrian Empire's internal combustion engines were too advanced, or too ahead of their time, many synchronous technologies had not yet appeared. For example, at that time, the Austrian Empire's internal combustion engines relied on copper sheets for heat dissipation, or air cooling systems, and were very inefficient.

How low is it? The internal combustion engine must stop every five hours of operation and then rest for 45 minutes before it can continue to operate. Of course, special measures can be taken, but this will affect the service life of the engine.

What is a special method? The answer is to throw water directly. Yes, the special method at that time was so simple and unpretentious.

Since the steam engine has a water tank, there is no need to worry about these problems.

So the experts of the Austrian Empire installed a water tank for the internal combustion engine. Although this water cooling system was somewhat primitive, it was quite effective.

Etienne Lenoir, who had been busy for several weeks, couldn't help but sigh.

"Mr. Schubert, haven't we worked in vain? Now we have put the water tank back in place. Do we have to install a chimney in the future?"

Johann Andreas Schubert said this with a serious face.

"Mr. Lenoir, I think it would be better to install the chimney at the bottom. Installing it at the top would affect the passengers' breathing. You don't want the emperor to ask us to change it again, do you?"

"Oh, God! Please let me go."

"Mr. Lenoir, look at it calmly. At least we have solved the problem of the internal combustion engine overheating and possible explosion, right?"

Johann Andreas Schubert said with a smile.

In fact, the Austrian Imperial Military also had many new products, such as white phosphorus bombs.

Originally, white phosphorus should have been considered a scarce commodity with a very high price in that era. However, due to large orders from the Austrian Imperial Military, the process for producing white phosphorus was improved. The most direct consequence was a drop in the price of white phosphorus.

After obtaining more and cheaper white phosphorus, the Austrian Imperial Military began larger-scale research and experiments.

Due to the powerful killing effect of white phosphorus bombs, the Austrian Imperial Army even wanted to equip every soldier with white phosphorus bombs to improve combat effectiveness.

However, in addition to killing the enemy, the ability of white phosphorus bombs to harm oneself should not be underestimated.

The Austrian Imperial Army's white phosphorus grenades once had an incident where the white phosphorus powder was affected by wind and directly killed the weapon tester.

In addition to the direct killing of white phosphorus powder, the poisonous gas produced by the burning of white phosphorus should not be underestimated. In recent years, at least three weapons testers in the Austrian Empire died of lung disease and poisoning reactions.

At the same time, in order to make the white phosphorus bombs fly farther, the metal fixed ammunition has also been improved.

Bullets loaded with white phosphorus were not successfully developed (mainly because the cost-effectiveness was too low), but artillery shells specifically designed to fire white phosphorus were developed.

As for the effect, it certainly cannot be compared with modern white phosphorus bombs, but it is definitely a powerful weapon on the battlefield at that time.

In the test field, a white phosphorus bomb exploded in the air, and the scattered white mist immediately ignited the surrounding buildings. White phosphorus can easily burn through clothes, burn flesh, and even armor.

Franz listed it as a special weapon, which meant that it was not allowed to be used unless necessary. This was not because Franz could not bear to see people suffer. In fact, the Austrian Imperial Army often used white phosphorus bombs against indigenous peoples in the colonies.

Because Franz knew that the natives could not produce white phosphorus bombs and would not use them against the military and civilians of the Austrian Empire, but this was not necessarily the case in Europe.