African Nationhood

Chapter 317 Diesel engine ship’s maiden voyage
  At the end of March 1894, the Namib garrison returned in triumph. This battle brought back 3 cattle, 16 sheep, 32 horses, 1.3 ivory, 5.1 pounds of beeswax, 5123 ounces of gold, and 25.3 diamonds and precious stones for the Nanhua Company. Ten thousand pieces, 2 tons of rubber.

The total number of indigenous people wiped out in this battle should be about 12, of which 7% were wiped out by the Portuguese.

The Nanhua Company had good weapons and high tactical literacy, and was responsible for driving and attacking difficult tasks. The Portuguese worked as coolies in the back, specializing in killing people. When they were tired of killing, the Portuguese finally let the indigenous captives dig holes and bury them alive.

In the end, 3% of the spoils went to the Portuguese, and Nanhua Company got 7%.

The total value of these supplies was about 300 million pounds. Sansa Bruce was beaming after receiving these supplies, and the smile on her face became much brighter.

However, there were some losses during this expedition, and nearly a hundred soldiers were lost.

More than half of them were infected with tropical jungle diseases such as malaria, and the rest were attacked by indigenous people and died.

The effect of the new infantry tactics is indeed remarkable. During the battle, many soldiers were less likely to be attacked due to the collaboration between groups and the advancement system.

Ye Shilong asked the front-line officers and soldiers participating in the war to come up with an "application experience of new tactics in actual combat."

After seeing it, Shi Jintang praised Ye Shilong for doing a good job. At the same time, he telegraphed to him that he should do a good job in providing pensions to the casualties and that the list of meritorious personnel should be reported as soon as possible.

Li Enfu of the "Nanhua Daily" was also instructed to make an in-depth report on the remote soldiers as soon as possible. This report should focus on highlighting the justice of Nanhua Company's participation in this operation.

This combat mission should be characterized as: Nanhua Company participated in a counter-insurgency operation at the request of the colonial government of Portuguese West Africa.

Journalists should dig deep into the touching stories of soldiers during the expedition, focusing on the camaraderie among soldiers and their dedication without fear of hardship or fatigue.

Try to mention as little as possible new tactics, let alone describe Nanhua Company's new weapons.

When Li Enfu received the instructions, he had some inappropriate thoughts in his heart.

But considering that Boss Shi is the leader of Nanhua Company, the leader's actions must be based on the interests of Nanhua Company, so he must implement it even if he doesn't agree with it.

……

After finishing all this work, Shi Jintang went to Nanhua Shipyard to hold a meeting about motor ships with Zheng Tingxiang, Rudolf Diesel and others.

This meeting is mainly about the application scenarios of diesel engines in ship power and actual ship navigation.

The cockpit was filled with smoke, and Shi Jintang sat in the cockpit with a cigar. He had become accustomed to smoking cigars recently.

The nicotine content of this thing is much lower than that of cigarettes, and the smoke from cigars does not enter the lungs. He is not young and is no longer suitable for cigarettes that are too strong.

The others, Zheng Tingxiang and others, each had a Lucai cigarette in hand. At this time, there was no concept of second-hand smoke. Anyway, you smoked and I smoked.

Rudolf Diesel took a cigar from Boss Shi, his face shining with oil as he smoked.

His marine diesel installation plan was approved at the end of last year, and the physical installation and commissioning work was completed in just a few months. This speed is already very impressive, and the next step is the trial voyage.

If the maiden flight is successful, then his diesel engine will have application scenarios, which is a good start.

"This is the engine structure diagram of our trial ship. The entire ship has a displacement of 800 tons. We adopted a diesel engine to directly drive the propeller. The length is 74.5 meters, the width is 9.55 meters, and the draft is 2.4 meters.

The ship uses three LD-3 diesel engines improved by Mr. Diesel, with a bore of 2 mm, a stroke of 290 mm, a speed of 430 rpm, and a single output of about 240 horsepower. "

The diesel engine designed by Rudolf Diesel was a single-cylinder 4-stroke engine. The thermal efficiency of this engine was relatively low, far inferior to the 2-stroke engine that became popular later.

But for now, Rudolf Diesel's improved machine has done very well. "Well, I have a general understanding. Let's try it out for a while and experience it."

Zheng Tingxiang nodded, and then called the captain of the trial ship, a thin young man.

The young man bowed to Shi Jintang, "Hello, Mr. Shi!"

"Well, okay, what's your name, and how long have you been sailing?"

The young man smiled shyly and said, "Tell Mr. Shi, my name is Ou Haiyu. I have been sailing for three years. My brother is Ou Haiwa."

Hearing that this young man was the younger brother of the deputy chief of the navy camp, Shi Jintang couldn't help but smile, "Yes, you two brothers, one in the navy and the other in the civilian ship, will have great futures in the future." Ou Haiyu nodded, "This is all thanks to Shi Sir, if it weren’t for you, our family would still be rocking a sand boat at the Pearl River Estuary.”

Shi Jintang nodded, "I just gave you the chance to change your destiny, but you earned your own future, so work hard."

Ou Haiyu nodded again, "Well, I will keep your teachings in mind, and I will also tell my brother and let him do the same."

Everyone also laughed and encouraged Ou Haiyu to work hard and not to live up to Mr. Shi's expectations.

……

As Ou Haiyu entered working mode, everyone became quiet.

"Woo~"

The whistle blew, thick smoke came out of the chimney of the motor boat, and the hull began to vibrate.

Shi Jintang, who was standing in the cockpit, felt the vibrations of the ship's hull and the huge noise.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, no wonder diesel engines are not suitable for warship power.

This kind of vibration alone is enough to make the warships eliminate diesel engines. This is still a low-power diesel engine, and the jitter is so severe. A high-power diesel engine will only jitter even more severely. The artillery fired during the jitter cannot meet the accuracy requirements.

And the noise of the diesel engine made his eardrums buzz.

……

After the three engines on the ship were running successfully, Ou Haiyu turned to Shi Jintang and asked for instructions: "Currently, our ship is ready for sea trials. I would like to ask Mr. Shi, do you want to sail?"

"sail!"

As Ou Haiyu turned back, he began to issue instructions: "Attention all departments, lift anchor and sail!"

Amidst the clattering of the anchor rope, the maiden ship moved slowly along with the smoke and noise.

Because it was the maiden voyage, the voyage distance this time was more than 100 kilometers between the port of Mapu and the port of Jolo (today's Port of Xesai, Mozambique).

When the three diesel engines were running at full power, the speed of the entire ship also increased. Ou Haiyu directed the crew to measure the speed.

The method they used this time was relatively primitive, which was to throw a knotted rope at the bow of the ship, and then someone at the stern would check the time when the rope reached the stern and time it instantly.

This method was invented by the British, and it is this calculation method that makes people use knots as the unit of speed when calculating speed.

After rough calculation, the speed of the trial boat should be around 6.5 knots. (The speed of early diesel ships was mostly around 8 knots.)
  This speed is the speed of pure mechanical energy. If a sail is added, the speed can be even faster.

Moreover, this kind of ship can carry heavy cargo in inland rivers and can reduce dependence on coal, which is far more suitable than steam engines.

Of course, when using this kind of machinery as power, you have to endure a lot of noise.

……

After nearly 2 hours of sailing, Shi Jintang could hardly feel his ears.

He picked out his ears helplessly, and then ordered Ou Haiyu to return to Mapu Port instead of Ruolu Port. The noise was really uncomfortable.

Rudolf Diesel and Zheng Tingxiang have similar feelings to Boss Shi. The noise of this kind of machinery must be adjusted in some way.

Otherwise, if the noise of the engine alone makes people feel dizzy, it is unlikely that it will be favored and adopted as ship power.

"Mr. Shi, this ship has been successfully tested. Please give this ship a name."

Shi Jintang smiled bitterly and said, "Liu Bei."

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  (End of this chapter)