Because Fang Xiaoyu did not want to expose too many advanced design ideas, and because many advanced designs could not be realized under current conditions, Fang Xiaoyu only drew a drawing of a dome-armored cruiser at the end of the 19th century. This novel design was not available in this era.
Xu Shouchang looked at it for a long time but seemed to understand. He asked Fang Xiaoyu: "What do you mean by the design of the curved horizontal armor? Why have I never seen anyone else design it like this?"
Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "I call this kind of armor with a flat middle and two slopes dome armor. Its biggest advantage is that the flat armor in the middle is raised above the waterline, while the sloped armor on both sides drops to one meter below the waterline.
.Because the central part is higher than the waterline, even if the waterline is damaged and water enters, it will be difficult to submerge the armored deck above the waterline for a while, and the warship can still maintain greater buoyancy; while the two sides of the armored deck that extends diagonally below the waterline,
It has become a sloped armor with very good bulletproof effect, and combined with the resistance of the water outside the ship, it has a better protective effect on the side of the warship near the waterline, that is, 'repelling bullets with the slope and blocking water leakage with the dome boundary'."
Fang Xiaoyu pointed to the drawings and explained in detail: "Compared with the popular unprotected cruisers and flat-armored cruisers, this dome-armored cruiser has obvious advantages in anti-sinkability. Therefore, I used a 60-centimeter-thick dome-armored deck from the bow of the ship.
It extends all the way to the stern of the ship, firmly protecting the engine room, ammunition compartment and other key facilities below. In addition, I equipped the front and rear open-air forts with a 203 mm 35-caliber cannon, and there are also other guns on both sides of the ship.
Six 152mm secondary main guns and two 57mm rapid-fire guns. How about this configuration?"
The more Xu Shouchang listened, the more excited he became: "If your dome armor design is as magical as you said, it is really a genius design." Fang Xiaoyu smiled and said, "Do you know the future development trend of warships?" Xu Shouchang said: "
I think we should develop towards larger displacement and more naval guns."
Fang Xiaoyu smiled and said: "Maybe, but I think there is a larger displacement, but more guns are not necessarily true." Xu Shouchang asked doubtfully: "Master, what do you think?" Fang Xiaoyu pointed to the warship in the drawing and said: "You
Just look at the type of warship I drew. There are three types of artillery calibers. Their ranges are different and it is difficult to be effective against the same target. If we change all the warships to large-caliber artillery, for example, eight main guns
If you shoot at the same target, what do you think the power will be?"
Xu Shouchang shook his head: "Young Master's idea is good, but if all the large-caliber cannons are replaced, I am afraid that the hull structure will not be able to withstand the recoil of a salvo and it will disintegrate. I don't know if it can hit the opponent by then, and I will definitely sink."
"
Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "This is the next key project in naval gun research, which is to reduce the recoil and change the naval gun from rack retreat to tube retreat." Xu Shouchang said: "I understand rack retreat, but what is tube retreat?
?” Fang Xiaoyu explained: “The so-called stand-back is a hard connection between the artillery and the gun mount. In this way, all the recoil force of the artillery is borne by the gun mount. Therefore, the larger the caliber of the artillery, the heavier the gun mount is. Not only the navy but also the army
There is this problem. If we separate the gun barrel and the gun mount, and use a hydraulic device to buffer the gun barrel, the recoil force can be greatly reduced."
"That's very well said. This idea is really novel." A voice came from the door. Fang Xiaoyu turned around and found a middle-aged man with glasses standing at the door. When Fang Xiaoyu looked over, he felt a little embarrassed.
Said: "Master, I'm sorry to bother you. I happened to come to Shouchang to ask for something, but when I heard what you said, I couldn't help but shout out."
Fang Xiaoyu didn't know the person who came, so he gave Xu Shouchang a questioning look. Xu Shouchang quickly introduced: "Master, this is Zhang Hui, the person in charge of the artillery research laboratory I told you about." Fang Xiaoyu nodded: "
It is a great honor for Mr. Zhang, who is of such great caliber, to join our research laboratory."
Zhang Hui shook his head and said: "The young master is a great talent. He can actually come up with such an incredible method. If it can be realized, it will probably be a big change for the army and navy." Fang Xiaoyu said: "But this hydraulic device is not easy to study.
You can try it with springs first." Zhang Hui nodded and said, "I would like to thank the young master for the suggestion. I will go back and study it right away." Xu Shouchang smiled and said, "Why are you still such a bad temper? You will do it immediately when you think of anything.
.Aren’t you here to find me? What’s the matter?”
Zhang Hui slapped his forehead and said suddenly: "Oh, I almost forgot about the business. It just so happens that the young master is here, so I will tell you and let you two come up with something for me." Fang Xiaoyu nodded and said: "Mr. Zhang, whatever you want, as long as I can
Those who help will definitely help.”
Zhang Hui nodded and said: "After the last 305mm naval gun experiment was successful, I started to develop a 330mm caliber naval gun. As a result, I found that our steel is not strong enough and tough enough. If we fire an average of five shells, it will happen."
The phenomenon of cracking or exploding the barrel cannot be avoided unless the charge is reduced or the barrel is shortened to twenty-five times the diameter. However, in this case, this artillery will have no advantage over the 305 mm caliber naval gun. We
We also want to solve the problem by adding a casing, but this will make the artillery too heavy. Not only will it take up a lot of tonnage, but the muzzle will not rotate easily, and its lifespan is also not ideal."
Xu Shouchang looked at Fang Xiaoyu and said nothing. After all, he was only a warship designer. He could only report these matters. Now that the principal was here, he would save trouble.
Fang Xiaoyu thought for a long time and said: "This problem is entirely a matter of materials science, and it cannot be fixed for a while. If a jacket or stiffeners are added to the barrel, the artillery will be too heavy. So, I will go back to organize research immediately, and strive to
I will produce enough good gun steel within half a year. During this period, Mr. Zhang can stop the development of the 330mm naval gun and start researching the tube withdrawal technology. At the same time, I hope Mr. Zhang can design several artillery pieces for me.
, to replace the muzzleloader guns currently used by the Army."
Fang Xiaoyu had no choice but to ask Xiaofeng to step up his research on steel smelting first. Zhang Hui said: "Then I have to listen to the young master and study these first, and then study large-caliber naval guns when we have good steel. But
What kind of artillery do you want, Master?" Fang Xiaoyu picked up a pen and started drawing on the paper, and after a while a strange artillery appeared on the drawing.
Fang Xiaoyu pointed to the drawing and said: "I call this kind of artillery a mortar. It is used for infantry support firepower. Its caliber does not need to be too large. Sixty millimeters is enough. The range only needs to be three kilometers." Zhang
Hui looked at it and said: "Master's design is really fantastic. If such a cannon can really be used on the battlefield, its rate of fire will be absolutely terrible. I think one cannon can match the previous ten cannons, but there is one thing.
Where it is impossible to achieve.”
"Oh?" Fang Xiaoyu was a little surprised. His drawing of this mortar was not wrong, and these data were similar to those of early mortars. How could there be anything that could not be achieved? Fang Xiaoyu asked: "Mr. Zhang, please speak.
"Zhang Hui pointed to the drawing and said: "If you want the range of this kind of artillery to reach three kilometers, you must increase the charge and lengthen the barrel to more than two meters. But once it is designed like this, it will not weigh more than a few soldiers.
It can be carried, but it must be mounted on wheels.”
Fang Xiaoyu suddenly realized that it turned out to be a problem with black powder. Nowadays, black powder is used all over the world. This kind of gunpowder is not powerful enough. In order to increase the power of the shell, it is necessary to increase the charge. The weight of the charge increases. The amount of propellant
It must also be increased. The result is that the bore pressure is too high and the gun barrel is aggravated. At the same time, due to the excessive black powder residue, the loss of the gun barrel is also large, which forms a vicious cycle.
Fang Xiaoyu thought of the picric acid and nitric acid he brought back from the Western Continent. He really didn't know how Deng Jiaxiang did it, so he didn't come up with a practical formula.
At first, Fang Xiaoyu thought that the problem of propellant and explosives would be solved by bringing back the two things. Fang Xiaoyu even told Deng Jiaxiang how to use diatomaceous earth to absorb nitroglycerin. However, after Deng Jiaxiang studied it, he told him to use diatomite to absorb nitroglycerin.
The explosive power of this kind of explosive is only three-quarters of that of nitroglycerin. Not only is the explosive power not as good as nitroglycerin, but when such explosives get wet or pressurized, there is still a risk that nitroglycerin will explode, making it impossible to put it into actual combat.
The nitrocellulose produced by the reaction between nitric acid and cotton burns too fast and cannot be used without adding a passivating agent. Picric acid can be used, and Fang Xiaoyu also made some, but in addition to emitting thousands of degrees of flame and poisonous smoke, this kind of artillery shells
The explosion was not very powerful, and Fang Xiaoyu only used it as a reserve of incendiary bombs.