The Iron and Steel Frenzy of the Republic of China

A group of people walked into the tall and spacious production workshop, and a scorching hot air rushed towards them. Pieces of alloy melting furnaces were emitting red sparks. The large-scale continuous steel casting production line below was ready, and the long assembly line , interspersed with giant rolling mills, cutting machine tools, and processing equipment stretched for nearly a kilometer!

It was the first time for the two military officials to see such a huge production equipment. Although they have visited Western countries many times, they rarely have the opportunity to witness how steel is produced, and this kind of automation is extremely high. The production line is even more unfamiliar.

Zhu Bin pointed to the production line proudly and said: "The equipment in the entire steel production process, including steelmaking furnaces, continuous casting and rolling production lines, bearings, and control equipment, are all designed by ourselves, and chapter 354 The Taishan-class battleship (5) was manufactured by the Germans, and the next phase of the expansion project, including the [-]-meter wide and thick plate large-scale rolling mill, will be manufactured by ourselves. By then, China's steel industry will realize True autonomy."

The 5-meter wide and thick plate represents one of the top level indicators of the world's steel manufacturing industry. All large ships manufactured by naval powers need to use extra wide and thick steel plates. At present, in the world, the earliest The 1918mm rolling mill built by the Lukens Iron and Steel Company in the United States in 5230 has not been achieved by the rest. It is quite amazing to have the current production capacity of special steel plates with a width of 3500mm and a thickness of more than 250mm.

Neither Chen Shaokuan nor Jiang Baili knew much about specific metallurgical techniques.But it doesn't prevent them from knowing some macro figures.Especially Chen Shaokuan.It is very clear that the direct benefits brought by ultra-wide and ultra-thick steel plates are the primary guarantee for the manufacture of larger ships, and the significance of the 5-meter-wide rolling mill is obviously great.If it is completed as Zhu Bin said, it will become a large-scale construction capacity second only to the Americans. Compared with the pitiful situation of China's annual steel production of less than [-] tons four years ago, what a leap forward!

Yu Mingyu, the manager of the iron and steel factory, greeted the former Chapter 354 Taishan-class battleship ([-]). After meeting with several people, he didn't know whether he was smothered by the heat or excited, and introduced the main equipment to them with a blushing face. Finally, he motioned to Zhu Bin: "It's almost time. Shall we start?"

Zhu Bin looked at the two bosses and saw that there were no other problems, and waved vigorously: "Start!"

The three of them came to the side and turned on the electric switch with force, and they saw the roof of the factory building ahead.Sliding along the track is a string of molten steel ladles that are continuously sparking, poured continuously into the mold protected by argon gas, cooled rapidly by the forced water cooling equipment below and began to solidify, and formed after secondary cooling by air-water mist, and then The rolled long shaft is sent to the continuous rolling production line below, after pickling, grinding, and reheating, it enters the 500mm rolling mill, and then enters the 350mm rolling mill, and finally rolls out a slightly thicker steel plate than the predetermined battleship keel, and actually cuts it. Cut and cool.Enter the next production process.

This production line originally directly supplies the steel plates used by downstream shipyards. At the end of the continuous casting and rolling line, a large plasma cutting machine is added to cut out the length and width of the required size directly according to the design standards, and then evenly grind and trim. A keel steel plate that can be directly transported to the berth for laying and welding is formally formed!

Watching the hundreds of tons of steel ingots being easily crushed into thin sheets by thick rollers like kneading dough, and the 150mm thick steel plate is still as smooth as a knife-cut tofu under plasma cutting, and the polished surface is smooth. , almost no burrs are seen, and a piece weighing dozens of tons is placed in front of you.There is a thrilling charm!

Zhu Bin and others lined up behind the steel plate. After taking photos with the engineers, Chen Shaokuan looked around the steel plate, and carefully touched the mirror-like cold steel surface with his white-gloved fingers. His mind was agitated. .He asked enthusiastically: "How is the strength of this kind of steel plate better than the German A steel, WH steel, and st52 shipbuilding steel?"

These two special steels are the top shipbuilding steels in the world today, representing the highest metallurgical achievements in the world.But compared to the technology in Zhu Bin's hands, it is not enough.

Zhu Bin said proudly: "The technology we adopted and after electroslag remelting and smelting. The purity is higher than theirs, and the alloy formula is more accurate. Under the same thickness, the tensile strength, yield and ballistic performance are at least better than theirs. 25% higher, coupled with our welding technology and overall design to complement each other, we can get higher protection ability and larger space under the condition of one-fifth lower than their weight. And in anti-rust and anti-magnetic more superior.”

"Okay! That's good!" Chen Shaokuan was overjoyed.Jiang Baili couldn't help but stare sideways, what kind of concept is it that can be better than the special steel smelted by the Germans!

Zhu Bin didn't dare to go too far.In fact, this is limited to the conditions and has to follow the trend. In his idea, it is directly built with space alloys, which directly saves more than half of the weight and improves the defense capability by at least several times. The warship that comes out is called Indestructible!

And even if that is not used, on the basis of German Krupp armor steel, rare earth trace elements and ultra-pure elements are added, graphite single crystal crucible, and ultra-pure alloy materials made by high-temperature plasma induction melting furnaces up to 20000 degrees, It is also enough to reach the high-strength steel plates that they can't match.

Jiang Baili couldn't help asking: "As you said, to what extent will the new battleship we build be superior?"

Although Chen Shaokuan was familiar with the model data from four years ago, he also knew that Zhu Bin must have other ideas for improvement, so he looked at him eagerly, hoping to get an answer.

Zhu Bin dragged the chief designer Ye Zaifu over to explain it.Mr. Ye did not refuse, and immediately explained with a smile on his face: "Our design of this battleship is superior to any other in the world today. Drawing on the excellence of the designs of various countries and combining them for my own use, we designed the 230 Meter length and 35 meter width, standard 35000-ton brand new giant ship! The main armor belt adopts the German dome armor design, reaching a maximum side armor of 350mm and a horizontal armor of 150mm, even without considering our armor’s higher bulletproof capability It also has a total defense of 500mm. No shell in the world can penetrate it!"

"In addition, our upper deck is separated from the lower deck armor, and each layer is lined with 50mm stone dragon fiberboard. No matter which angle the shell is fired from, it must penetrate at least 460mm thick armor to reach it. The inner power compartment and ammunition depot, besides, these main parts have their own armor."

"As for our turret, because it mostly uses stone dragon fiber and titanium alloy composite armor, its weight is only half that of ordinary armor steel on the basis of a thickness of 460mm. Therefore, it is lighter, the motor workmanship is more abundant, and the command tower is stronger. For the entire battleship crew. Safer!"

"In addition, our self-designed supercharged steam boiler and high-temperature gas turbine can provide 30% higher power than similar products in the world under the same volume equipment conditions. After corresponding reduction in size, the extra space can be equipped with diesel engine auxiliary power , can obtain a strong power of 150000 horsepower, and make the warship reach a high speed of 33 knots, these data are beyond the reach of battleships of all countries!"

Ye Zaifu made gestures while talking, and the constant spouting of professional terms and data made people dizzy.With such a tonnage and such a defense force, it is "impenetrable" and "indestructible" at every turn. Is this thing going to create a kind of sea fortress? !

However, who doesn't like a really strong guy! I'm afraid he's not strong enough, but he's not afraid that he's doing too much!

"So, how about the firepower of the armed forces?!" It is impossible to defend but not attack. The small Japanese "King Kong-class" battleship was sunk, which is a lesson from the past!

Ye Zaifu seemed to think about it carefully.Nodding vigorously, he said, "It should be said, very strong!"

他扳着指头算计道：“我们曾经引进了美国的mk1型406mm舰炮技术，后来又获得了德国人的设计理念和英国人、意大利人的部分技术，又打捞并研究了ri本人的203mm舰炮工艺，整合并设计出了自己的406mm45倍口径的主炮。可以每秒钟发she2发的速度，使用1220kg的穿甲弹。可以打出36750米的距离，在20000码内能达到452mm的理论穿甲能力!”

"So strong!" Even Chen Shaokuan couldn't help exclaiming.Such shooting speed, such distance, such armor-piercing ability, coupled with strong defense, can be said to completely defeat Japan's "Nagato-class" battleship! If two ships are made and pulled out, dare to fight directly with them The main guns are cut!

Ye Zaifule said: "It's more than that! The dual-mounted 127mm 45 times high-level dual-purpose guns we equipped for the warships, while maintaining the original shooting speed, the shooting range has been greatly increased. , with 12 double-mounted anti-aircraft gun, and 1 8mm 30-tube close-in anti-aircraft gun systems, to create a sea anti-aircraft turret fortress, with cruisers and destroyers, it can withstand the shock bombing of hundreds of aircraft groups! In the case of insufficient aircraft carriers , still has a strong ability to survive that is difficult to destroy!"

Even Chen Shaokuan had never heard of these things. There were so many advanced things that he, a naval weapons expert, had to have the idea of ​​making up lessons.

Jiang Baili couldn't help admiring: "It's great! Unexpectedly, in a few years, our country's military level has improved to such an extent! Then, when will this kind of battleship be manufactured?"

"It will take at least three years!" Ye Zaifu spread his hands and said helplessly, "This kind of thing cannot be rushed. Even if it is three shifts, it will take at least 18-20 months to complete the hull manufacturing. It takes 4-6 months to debug and improve, which is already the fastest.”

"Three years!" Jiang Baili and Chen Shaokuan looked at each other, with pimples on their brows, and sighed unwillingly, "I just don't know if Ri himself will wait until then to start the war! Otherwise, before that, we can only use the existing It's not safe to fight with their ships!"

Jiang Baili has long judged that the Japanese may go to war within two years. They cannot see the complete unity of military and political affairs in China, let alone the rapid rise of a powerful force like Zhu Bin. If political blackmail cannot succeed, they will definitely resort to military suppression .If it weren't for the recent earthquake that had seriously affected them, I'm afraid that within a few months, 10,000+ Japanese troops would have entered the pass!

Zhu Bin scratched his head and sighed, "There's nothing I can do about it! I've already tried my best, and it's already against the sky to be able to do this. Now I can only thank God for helping us a lot, and let the little devil hold back first." Quite aggrieved, let us have enough time to prepare for the war. As long as we can delay it for two years, we will not be afraid of him getting stabbed!"

"Two years? I hope." Jiang Baili was worried when he thought of this, and asked again, "Does this kind of battleship already have a name?"

Chen Shaokuan said with a chuckle: "Han Chen has already decided on it four years ago. The class code of the battleship is called 'Taishan'!"

"Taishan-class battleship! How many ships are you going to build?"

Zhu Bin spread his hands: "Five Sacred Mountains! At least five ships. But the first batch can only build two, and our industrial production speed can't keep up. The second batch, hehe."

In fact, two ships are enough to deal with the current Japanese navy. The quality of this thing is worse, and the tactics are completely different. If they fight, they may have to reproduce the dizzy scene of being bombarded twenty or thirty kilometers away in the dark night. Powerful electronic technology equipment has more than one or two advantages.

Battleship manufacturing has all-round requirements for industrial level.First of all, the design ability, without years of accumulation, it is impossible to understand it thoroughly. As far as the world is concerned, no country dares to say that the warships they design are perfect, including the oldest British.

Secondly, manufacturing capacity, you have to be able to produce high-strength steel plates and armor steels with stable quality in large quantities, not just one, but at least three or more.In this regard, in addition to formula and smelting equipment, large-scale steel rolling equipment, cutting equipment, welding equipment, and heat treatment equipment are the big ones. The countries in the world that can manufacture a complete set can be counted on their fingers, and Japan relies on buying them.In terms of comprehensive strength, perhaps only Germany and the United States are qualified.

During construction, large berths, gantry cranes, welding equipment, and key skilled workers are needed to ensure quality and speed. In this regard, Japan is also not good at it, let alone China.Even if Zhu Bin made up for it with technology to the greatest extent, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to hire senior skilled workers from various countries as masters, the apprentices he brought out could barely fill several shipyards, and started construction of two battleships at the same time.

Again, equipment supply capability.Key boilers, steam turbines, diesel engines, generators, propeller propellers with a diameter of 6 or 7 meters, high-strength spindles, and large machine tools that need to be used are all constraints. The indispensable hydraulic presses of more than 5000 tons, or even [-] tons Ton hydraulic presses and die forging machines are also necessary, and there are still very few of these that can be manufactured.

Finally, and most critically, the naval personnel.At least one or two thousand technical personnel on a battleship need to be responsible for thousands of types of equipment. Once it is put into combat, it will be a coordinated operation of one or two thousand people. The efficiency and fit are directly related to the combat effectiveness. The so-called century-old navy , In fact, it mainly refers to this aspect. Although China has established its army for half a century, it has been going downhill in the past 2000 years, and Zhu Bin's fleet is full of young people. How good it is remains to be seen. Observe!

Of course, Zhu Bin did not disclose some of his trump cards. At present, the only shipyard in China that can build such a large battleship is Guzhenkou Base, followed by Shanghai Shipyard and Qingdao Shipyard, which are also building 5-ton berths. Wuhan Shipyard can build keel modules, and it can be considered to speed up accordingly, but the problem is that it will take at least one or two years for these shipyards to mature!

And he, of course, can't wait, but well, his greatest hope is the fully automatic production base of the ulterior cave! There, a total of ten 500-meter berths have been dug, and the two sides are 2 kilometers long. Continuous construction of the production line, as long as the steel plate materials and equipment can keep up, there will never be only two ships in the future!

Pressing the thoughts in his heart, Zhu Bin suggested to the two: "Are you two interested in going to see our new naval gun test?"! ! !