African Nationhood

Chapter 240 Increased research and development
  On December 1886, 12, Shi Jintang came to the Herstal Arsenal in Belgium again.

The main purpose of coming here this time was to hand over the previously ordered orders for guns and bullets with the British War Department. At the same time, he also came to inspect and accept the new rifle he designed.

The Herstal Arsenal has completed experiments on the resistance of the new rifle to bomb blasts by strengthening the strength of the barrel steel.

It is now possible to ensure that the barrel of the new gun will not explode due to the powerful power of the new rifle bullet.

This is a welcome progress. Shi Jintang took over a rifle with a length of about 1120mm from Trudeau. The entire gun felt very comfortable in the hand and coordinated well on the shoulder.

This rifle weighs about 3.95kg, and the total length including the bayonet can reach about 1500mm.

It's enough for a bayonet, but it's still a bit shorter than the popular long rifles.

But it was enough to deal with the indigenous people. In addition, the tight feeling when loading ammunition in the gun case was very exciting. Shi Jintang couldn't help but reload it several times, just to feel the smoothness of loading the gun.

He loaded it many times, but he didn't plan to test-fire it. After all, this gun was still a prototype. If the gun exploded, his handsome face would be ruined.

It's not worth the risk. Once it's finalized and mass-produced, I'll be happy with a few more shots.

……

Shi Jintang took it in his hand and tried to aim it, and found that the horizontal ruler was very convenient, and the whole gun looked very capable and simple.

"Boss, what do you think?"

Shi Jintang didn't answer. He put the rifle on his back and tried to run a few steps. While running, he felt it.

“The new rifle’s coordination with the body and weight-bearing feel are very comfortable, but the butt is a little uncoordinated.”

Trudeau chuckled and said, "The stock is directly adapted from the Martini-Henry rifle. Is it smaller or larger?"

Shi Jintang did not answer, and the question was not critical.

The most important thing for soldiers to use rifles is to be able to kill enemies, and it is enough for them to be smooth and not jammed during use.

"You can adjust this gun stock again, and then talk about other issues."

Trudeau nodded, "During our testing of this new rifle, the evaluation of this gun was quite high.

There are two unresolved problems. One is the plugging problem of lead bullets, and the other is the problem of new gunpowder ablation rifling. "

Lead is too soft, and the powerful power of smokeless gunpowder can easily tear the lead bullet into slag at the moment of launch.

This will make subsequent cleaning of the gun bore difficult, and the smokeless gunpowder will also cause ablation of the gun bore when burning, and the gun bore will have to be replaced soon.

Both problems are not difficult to solve, but Shi Jintang does not intend to tell Trudeau the solution.

He wanted Trudeau to figure it out on his own. After all, he couldn't rely on him for everything.

"What do your engineers think? After all, this is a bullet problem."

Trudeau nodded, "It is indeed a problem with the bullet, but I also asked the engineers to find a solution, and now we have some clues.

Regarding the issue of lead bullets, we are looking for ways to try other materials.

According to the current experimental situation, copper warheads are the most ideal.

However, copper is relatively expensive, so it is unrealistic to completely use copper as a warhead, and specific solutions are still being explored.

As for the problem of gunpowder ablating the rifling of the barrel, we still have no clue. "

Now that he has found the trick, Shi Jintang decided to inspire Trudeau.

"In the age of cold weapons, what do people need to do to protect their soft bodies when fighting?"

Trudeau thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers and laughed: "Yes, why didn't I think of that? Armor!

What we have to do is to put a layer of armor on the lead warhead and put it on the copper 'armor', right, boss? "

Shi Jintang nodded with a smile, "I will let the Anhai Town Arsenal conduct experiments and verify this matter before solving it, so that you will only have one problem left."

Trudeau smiled and nodded, "Boss, your reminder helped me find a way to solve the problem of rifling ablation by new gunpowder."

"Oh, what did you think of? Tell me about it?"

Trudeau picked up a pen from the workbench next to him and rolled paper around the pen.

"Since the ink of this pen will stain the paper, we can put a special piece of paper between the paper and the pen to separate them.

Boss, what do you think of this idea? "

Shi Jintang nodded. After the British and other European countries in the original time and space adopted smokeless gunpowder, they all discovered the problem of the new gunpowder ablating the rifling.

It took several years for various countries to find a solution to chrome plating the inner wall of the gun barrel.

Chrome plating can not only solve the problem of barrel ablation, but also increase the strength of the inner wall of the barrel to prevent explosion and prevent rust.

"Well, this is a good idea. Try it out and try to solve it as soon as possible.

Regarding the issue of new rifles, try to be as perfect as possible. We have to rely on this new rifle to establish our brand. Whether we can make more money then depends on this gun! "

Upon hearing this, Trudeau nodded immediately, "Don't worry, boss, I will definitely make this gun well. After all, it is also related to my money."

Trudeau has been with Shi Jintang for a long time and has learned to talk about money. “Well, how’s the production order going for the Martini-Henry rifles going?”

When the boss asked about business, Trudeau put away his smile and said, "We have now completed the production of 15 rifles and almost 1500 million rounds of bullets.

Between us and the Anhai Town Arsenal, we have almost produced rifles, but there is still a big gap in bullets. "

Shi Jintang nodded. The Anhai Town Arsenal has not produced 1000 million rounds in more than a year.

"Next, your production capacity will focus on bullet production. Our current progress can almost meet the order requirements of the Ministry of War."

"Okay, boss."

……

After Shi Jintang left the Herstal Arsenal, he first went to the Mercedes-Benz Automobile Factory in Stuttgart to see if there was still enough time.

Engineers at the Mercedes-Benz car plant have successfully solved the clutch and gearbox problems.

For them, the clutch is a little more difficult, while the gearbox is relatively simple.

Shi Jintang drove the prototype car with clutch and gearbox with great interest.

The prototype now only has four gears, three acceleration and one reverse.

After driving for half an hour, the speed still did not exceed 30 kilometers per hour. Shi Jintang was a little dissatisfied.

With the clutch and gearbox, the Mercedes-Benz car is perfect enough. The only obvious shortcoming is that the engine power is too small.

Karl Benz's two-cylinder engine must be upgraded and evolved into a three-cylinder or even a four-cylinder engine to perfectly meet the needs of new cars.

After getting out of the car, he began to ask Karl Benz about the development progress of the new engine.

Karl Benz immediately spread his hands and said, "There is no way around this. We have worked very hard, but it is still difficult to break through the limitations of technology and materials."

The engine built by Carl Benz in 1886 in the original time and space was only a single cylinder with a pitiful 1.5 horsepower.

With the help of Shi Jintang, he successfully made a two-cylinder engine and increased the horsepower to 25 horsepower.

Now that Carl Benz is facing the difficult problem, Shi Jintang is a little overwhelmed.

After all, he can only help solve theoretical problems, but he is really not good at materials.

But just because he can't do it doesn't mean that others can't do it.

So he directly sent people to find two outstanding people, Gottlie Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach.

In the original time and space, the two men collaborated to establish an engine company in 1890.

Now Shi Jintang has found them and put forward the conditions for joining. If they can help Karl Benz solve the problem and increase the horsepower of the engine.

Benz Engine Factory will give them 5% of the shares and the naming rights of future engines.

Gotry Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach are both imitators and followers of Mercedes-Benz today.

It was an honor for them to meet Karl Benz and Boss Shi.

After learning that Mercedes-Benz cars had achieved seamless transmission technology, they could only sigh.

Since the boss of Mercedes-Benz car values ​​them, they naturally want to work with talented people.

Coupled with Rudolf Diesel, Benz Engine Research Institute suddenly gathered four talented people, and the research on new engines will definitely speed up greatly.

After finishing the engine matter, Shi Jintang recruited engineers from Mercedes-Benz.

The research and development targets this time are safety glass, four-wheel braking system and differential. These problems must be solved.

As the horsepower increases, you have to pay attention to the safe driving of the car.

Otherwise, the Mercedes-Benz car may cause traffic accidents and casualties at any time due to its powerful horsepower.

If each study can be successfully completed, the remaining problem is large-scale promotion.

At present, the best way to promote is through major international exhibitions.

The 1888 Munich International Machinery Exhibition is very appropriate.

……

After spending a lot of time in Stuttgart, it was already late January 1887 when I returned to London.

Shi Jintang was about to hand over arms orders to the British War Department, but unexpectedly he was arrested.

It was the British War Department who arrested him. After learning the truth about his arrest, Shi Jintang couldn't laugh or cry.

I wanted to eat the melon and watch the show, but I didn't expect that it would happen to me.

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  (End of this chapter)