Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 268 Tractor? That's a high-end product

"Is this the gun mount you made?"

Inside the arsenal, Chen Chengxing felt a little amused as he looked at the gun mounts that Wen Ying had equipped for several heavy artillery pieces.

Let’s not talk about whether it’s ugly or not.

Judging from the gun mount built by Ying, the weight of the anti-aircraft gun is probably at least 3 tons.

As for the cannon, its weight must definitely be more than four and a half tons.

"The five legs of the anti-aircraft gun can be removed," Wen Ying explained.

"If you want to use it as a flat-fire cannon, you can install only two, and transport them separately when towing."

"Excluding the five rail legs, the total weight of the anti-aircraft gun is about 5 tons."

"But there's nothing we can do about this cannon. It can only be made this heavy."

Wen Ying certainly knew that doing so would mean the weight would be too great and the New Second Regiment would be unable to move at all.

However, she had neither high-strength steel nor the ability to produce a suitable gun mount, so she could only use rails to modify it.

Moreover, these cannons cannot be test-fired casually. After all, there are only so many shells, so she can only try to make as many margins as possible.

"Then you can make a separate transport vehicle for the barrel of this cannon and transport them separately when the time comes." Chen Chengxing said helplessly.

This is the only way now. When you need to use it, disassemble it first, and then reassemble it after transferring it to the right place.

"That's easy." Wen Ying nodded.

If it is just for transportation, there is no need to consider the recoil. Just modify the rear axle of a captured truck.

"But what kind of drag do you want to use?" Wen Ying asked.

Even if they are separated, they cannot be pulled by mules and horses. If they are dragged forcibly, I am afraid that several mules will die every time.

"tractor."

"You mean the tractor?" Wen Ying was confused.

Of course she knew what a tractor was, but that was a high-end product. How could the Eighth Route Army produce one with its strength?

"It's not a large tractor, but a small walk-behind tractor," Chen Chengxing explained.

As early as 20 years ago, Europe and the United States had already promoted low-horsepower walk-behind tractors on a large scale.

These tractors usually work on small plots of farmland, so their speed is a bit slow.

However, what Chen Chengxing needs now is just to be able to move. It doesn’t matter how slow it is, as long as he can keep up with the marching speed.

"Don't worry about the size for now, what do you plan to use as the engine?" Wen Ying asked.

The engine is a precision equipment. Even if the New Second Regiment was killed, it would not be able to produce a single piston.

"Just use the engine from the Japanese motorcycle." Chen Chengxing said, pointing at the Japanese sidecar nearby.

Chen Chengxing has experience in manual labor. In the original world, he dismantled his father's old motorcycle and modified it.

It can carry one or two tons of cargo and run very fast.

It just has fewer functions than a regular walk-behind tractor.

"A motorcycle pulling a heavy artillery?" Wen Ying was becoming more and more confused.

She had heard of a pony pulling a cart, but she had never heard of a dog pulling a cart.

"It's enough. The Japanese motorcycle engine has 28 horsepower. We just need to increase the torque through the flywheel." Chen Chengxing said.

The Japanese three-wheeled motorcycles are based entirely on the technology and production line of American Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The engine has a displacement of 1200CC and the motorcycle can reach a maximum speed of 95 kilometers per hour.

Although the motorcycle engine has high speed and low torque, it is not suitable for direct use in a walk-behind tractor.

But as long as the torque is increased through the flywheel, it can be used as an engine for a walk-behind tractor.

In later times, a tractor with more than 18 horsepower was considered a heavy-loaded walking tractor.

This is enough to carry two or three tons of loads and move freely in the fields.

Of course, it is best to use a single-bar diesel engine for the walk-behind tractor, which is powerful and fuel-efficient.

However, the current war situation and the Japanese's tight blockade make it impossible for Chen Chengxing to obtain a diesel engine.

And the most important thing is that Chen Chengxing can’t get diesel now.

The Japanese can only use diesel on warships and tanks.

The Japanese now use gasoline engines on their trucks and motorcycles.

Therefore, he could only focus his attention on the engine of the Japanese motorcycle.

As for the diesel engine, we’ll have to wait until later.

For the next period of time, Chen Chengxing lived directly in the arsenal. The most difficult part of the hand tractor is the movement of the engine and gearbox.

However, Chen Chengxing is a person who takes things as they are, so these problems naturally have nothing to do with him.

All Chen Chengxing needed to do was put the assembly in the right place.

At most, you will need to make a new large iron fuel tank.

Therefore, with Wen Ying's assistance, a hand tractor quickly began to take shape.

In order to facilitate use, Chen Chengxing also specially made a small compartment.

"Where did you learn all this?" Wen Ying asked curiously as he looked at the assembled walk-behind tractor.

Although this thing is very simple, even the engine is exposed to the open air.

It is also very simple to make, but it is impossible to understand it without certain knowledge.

"Don't you know? There was a missionary during the Long March. I learned a lot from him."

Chen Chengxing once again used the missionary.

"Come on, stop talking and just try it." Wen Ying waved his hand.

She has listened to this missionary so many times that her ears are callused.

"Okay, let's try it." Chen Chengxing started the engine.

"Chug tug tug."

Wen Ying almost laughed out loud when she saw Chen Chengxing carefully holding the handlebars and riding around in the open field.

After the tractor started running, the body of the tractor vibrated violently. Chen Chengxing had to use his whole body weight to press down the handrail to prevent the head from tilting. It looked like he was taming an iron bull.

Unlike Wen Ying's laughter, Chen Chengxing was very satisfied.

Don’t worry about whether it works or not, as long as it can draw out pus, it is a good plaster.

Finally, Chen Chengxing hung the heavy artillery one by one on the back of the truck and tried it out.

If we choose to resist and maintain a speed of four or five kilometers per hour, we can easily pull these cannons.

It just can't be towed off-road, it can only be driven on roads, and its lifespan will probably be greatly reduced, but this is enough.

At least these guns have become mobile.

"Not bad."

After stopping the car, Chen Chengxing wiped the black dust off his face and nodded with satisfaction.

"How do you get fuel?" Wen Ying asked after laughing enough.

The product has been made, but there are still many problems to be solved, and the first one is fuel.

If there is no oil, this thing is worse than a shoulder pole

"I've already thought about it, just buy it now." Chen Chengxing said.

"Buy? Who should I buy from? The Japanese are watching very strictly."

Gasoline is a strategic resource and the Japanese control it very strictly, so it is difficult to smuggle it even if you want to.

"Of course I bought it from the puppet army." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

In Shanxi, the only ones who have oil are the Japanese, but they would never sell oil to the Eighth Route Army.

However, the puppet army could normally access the Japanese motorcycles and could take the opportunity to steal oil.

As long as the price is right, these puppet soldiers would even sell themselves, so why would they refuse to sell the enemy's gasoline?
Moreover, it is impossible for Chen Chengxing to use the tractor frequently, so only a little fuel is enough.

For Chen Chengxing, the most difficult issue now is maintenance.

There is no machine that will not break down when it is in use, and it is impossible for Chen Chengxing to always be there to repair it.

Moreover, Chen Chengxing doesn't know how to repair engines and gearboxes.

Therefore, the new second regiment must find a top student who understands mechanics.

However, we can't rush this matter. We can only find out the situation first and then act accurately.

in the next period of time.

Chen Chengxing also brought together educated and quick-witted soldiers selected from the entire regiment to produce several walk-behind tractors.

However, although they were fighting together, in the end the soldiers only helped out; they didn't understand anything at all.

Looking at the confused soldiers around him, Chen Chengxing became more determined to find a top student in mechanics.

You can't exhaust yourself to death.

(End of this chapter)