"Indeed, the barrel pressure of a large-caliber howitzer is very high, usually hundreds of times that of a mortar. However, the steel produced by Liushugou and Yulin cannot meet the requirements. The life of the barrel is only 300 rounds.
- Around 350 rounds, I do not allow the use of steel produced in Liushugou and Yulin to make gun barrels." Yu Hua gave a general introduction to the situation, with a serious face, and looked squarely at Mr. Li in front of him.
Liushugou Small Steel Plant uses an electric furnace steelmaking system to make steel using molten iron + scrap steel. Yulin Sanchawan Iron and Steel Plant uses an oxygen top-blown converter system to make steel using hot metal + oxygen blowing.
The quality of the steel produced by the two plants is not fundamentally different from that of the current Western world. The oxygen-blown converter technology only leads the world in terms of output.
So, can heavy gun barrels be made with the steel produced in Liushugou and Yulin?
Of course.
However, both the lifespan and the quality of the manufactured heavy gun barrels are far from meeting the standards set by Yu Hua, and there is a risk of the barrel exploding in long-term use.
When it comes to heavy equipment, especially artillery, Yu Hua's attitude is particularly serious. He does not allow the Eighth Route Army's equipment to use heavy artillery that may have a risk of bombing, even if the risk probability is only one in 10,000.
There are some things you can give in to, and there are some things you can't give in to.
"Building a cannon is not a trivial matter. I support high requirements. Now that we use this electroslag remelting technology, how much can the life of the barrel be increased?" Mr. Li asked curiously with recognition in his eyes, taking a puff of cigarette.
"It can probably reach about 4,000 rounds." Yu Hua gave an approximate figure.
"Classmate Yu, did I hear wrongly? You said about four thousand?" Mr. Li was slightly surprised when he heard this, and he doubted whether he heard wrongly.
"Yes, four thousand, of course, limited to 105 mm caliber. The larger the barrel caliber, the higher the firing chamber pressure, and the higher the requirements for steel performance." Yu Hua nodded in affirmation.
"Isn't that a twenty-fold improvement?" Mr. Li took a puff of cigarette to calm down.
"Yes." Yu Hua still nodded.
silence.
The atmosphere was slightly stagnant, and Mr. Desheng Li and Secretary Li beside him were silent. Through this set of numbers, they had a completely new understanding of electroslag remelting technology.
Mr. Li looked at the gun barrel blank that was emitting billowing heat: "I still have a question, what is the approximate lifespan of the gun barrels in Western countries, Japan, and the Soviet Union?"
"There is no way to know the specific data, we can only have a rough idea. The professor has evaluated that the quality of gun steel produced by the German company Krupp is the best in the world. The normal life of a 105mm gun barrel is about 400 rounds. The UK, France and the United States are basically at the same level of 350 rounds.
There are about 280 rounds in Japan and about 250 rounds in the Soviet Union. The ultimate lifespan is calculated as 5 times the normal lifespan, but the risk of explosion increases by more than 50 times." Yu Hua gave the current data on the lifespan of 100mm artillery barrels in various countries. This group
Part of the data comes from Professor Zhuang, and part of it is objective history.
At present, in 1937, the research on the life of artillery barrels in various countries around the world is still at the stage of steel wire winding technology, and the technology of chrome plating of the inner bore is still in a state of exploration. It will probably be about 40 years ago, when Toko took the lead in breaking through the chrome plating of the inner bore of artillery, and then Japan
The United States, Italy and the United Kingdom followed up and improved the life of artillery to a new level.
As for France, sorry, it has already voted.
The remaining three major parts of the artillery, the self-tightening of the barrel and electroslag remelting, are technologies from the Cold War era and are out of reach for countries around the world.
Although the Liushugou Arsenal has not yet made a breakthrough and mastered the barrel self-tightening technology, with the help of electroslag remelting and bore chromium plating, it has been able to push the normal life of the 105mm barrel to 4,000 rounds and the ultimate life to 10,000 rounds.
Send left and right.
And this is Yu Hua’s standard for heavy artillery barrels.
"A technology can increase the life of artillery dozens of times, surpassing the world. This is the power of science..." After listening to Yu Hua's words, Mr. Li nodded lightly, exhaled a puff of smoke, sighed softly, then looked at Yu Hua, and slowly
Xu said: "Student Yu, in my personal capacity, I would like to express my gratitude to you and all the members of the Supreme Science Group for their hard work."
The words are solemn and the words contain deep emotions.
This is the gratitude that comes from deep in my heart and is extremely sincere.
As a military strategist, Mr. Li is well aware of the importance and strategic significance of the 105mm howitzer in front of him, and he also understands what it means for the base area to independently develop and produce heavy artillery.
"You're welcome, sir." Yu Hua heard these words and shook his head: "In fact, we would like to thank the base area for providing us with a place to display our talents. We are not reduced to those who have talents but have no place to use them.
At this point, we complement each other.”
"They complement each other well, classmate Yu, does this artillery have a name?" Mr. Li smiled and asked.
"The current internal research and development code is 'Red Peony'." Yu Hua said.
"Red Peony is a good name. Naming artillery pieces after flowers has a strong sense of romanticism. I personally support it." Mr. Li thoughtfully nodded and approved of the code name. Then he changed the topic and lowered his voice slightly: "
Student Yu, excluding the research and development costs, how much does it cost to build a 'Red Peony' 105mm howitzer? In terms of silver dollar price, is it more than 10,000 silver dollars per gun?"
His voice was a little nervous, as he didn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are.
Although cannons are good, if the price is too high, there must be trade-offs and considerations.
"It's not that high. Excluding the research and development costs, the current cost of each gun is about 1,500 ocean dollars in silver dollars." Yu Hua shook his head repeatedly and directly gave the estimated cost and price data.
"Is this true?" Mr. Li was extremely surprised and a little shocked when he heard this.
"Yes." Yu Hua replied earnestly: "In fact, most of the costs are concentrated in energy and materials. Labor is not counted. To produce a barrel blank in an electroslag resmelting furnace requires 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.
, and our power supply comes entirely from diesel supply. When the thermal power station is completed and put into operation later, the manufacturing cost of artillery barrels can be quickly reduced by 80%."
And what resources do the base areas have?
Shenmu's coal and iron mines, Yulin's grain, Yanbian and Yumen's oil, Jingbian's copper mines, Yancheng's lime, iron ore, coal, Linfen's high-quality iron ore...
Mr. Li took a puff of cigarette, cleared his mind, and discovered a problem. The base area seemed to be located in a remote mountainous area, but the area under its jurisdiction or the area of influence was actually rich in mineral resources, which could fully support the early and mid-term development of the industrialization of the base area.
.
If all these resources are digested, the output of weapons, equipment and ammunition will be an extremely terrifying astronomical figure. With a huge amount of self-produced weapons, equipment and ammunition, the development of the army will no longer be limited, and the expansion and development of the army will
More resources can be obtained to feed back the base industry.
This is a positive cycle system that keeps reciprocating.
Then, he seemed to have thought of something, and turned his eyes to Yu Hua, who looked young but had experienced some vicissitudes of life. Everything in the base today was all because of the young man in front of him, Professor Zhuang and others.
"Classmate Yu, I don't know what to say...thank you." Mr. Li thanked him again.
Yu Hua shook his head: "This is what I should do, sir. Studying medicine cannot save China, and engaging in literature cannot save China, but industry can save China. This is what the professor, classmates, and I think. I hope you support it."
These words were like a seed that fell on Mr. Li's mind.
"We will support you unswervingly." Mr. Li nodded understandingly and gave his promise.
Outside the workshop door, the sunshine approaching noon shone down, shining diagonally into the workshop, bringing hope.
Mr. Li left, leaving the machinery manufacturing factory with questions about the future development of industrialization, and his figure gradually faded away.
"If the industrialization development process in the base area can be maintained stably from now until the end of the Anti-Japanese War without interruption, then there will be great potential for the future... I hope so." Yu Hua thought silently in his heart.
China's industrialization process began in 1953 during the "First Five-Year Plan". The background was the 156 industrial projects that received assistance from the Soviet Union after the Korean War. This kicked off the development of China's industrialization. So far, a basic and complete industrial system has been established, becoming the world's largest industrialization project.
The country with the highest degree.
Rejuvenating the country through industry is the only and inevitable path.
However, if the start of China's industrialization process could be advanced to 1937, everything would be different.
At present, the industry in the base area is still weak and in its infancy. It needs careful care and a certain amount of time to develop. If the achievements of the industry in the base area are cultivated and grown, it will surely be rewarded tens of millions of times in the future.
Yu Hua hopes that the industrial development process in the base area will not be interrupted, but this is only a subjective hope. After all, it is still a war era, and there are both overt and covert attacks.
Not far away, the gun barrel blank that has been quenched for the first time is carefully sent into a dedicated tempering furnace for tempering process.
Tempering and quenching are indistinguishable. As an important metal heat treatment process, the hardness of tempered steel parts decreases, internal stress disappears, the overall strength and toughness are improved, and the mechanical properties reach a balanced state.
In order to obtain materials and metallographic structures with different properties, tempering is usually divided into high-temperature tempering, Chinese tempering and low-temperature tempering. The entire barrel blank needs to be subjected to high-temperature tempering for 24 hours to eliminate internal
The stress is roughened and then subjected to secondary liquid nitrogen and three liquid nitrogen quenching treatments to obtain the expected proportion of martensitic metallographic structure and comprehensive mechanical properties.
…
Time has quietly entered October, and the situation in the civil war has changed. Both the northern and southern battlefields have entered a state of intense intensity.
In the northern battlefield, the Pingxingguan battlefield, which according to history should have been lost on October 1, was already in the hands of the Shanxi-Sui Army. However, the frontline defenders suffered heavy casualties and the defensive line was in danger.
In order to make up for the losses caused by the previous 129th Division, Itagaki Seishiro mobilized heavy troops to attack Pingxingguan again. The main force of the Fifth Division and the reinforcements of Hideki Tojo, plus Army Air Force bombers, the intensity of the war was extremely high. Tuanchengkou, Nishibochi
Areas were lost one after another, and the battle line had reached the main pass area of Pingxing Pass. The war situation was extremely unfavorable to the defenders. Yan Laoxi felt that the inner Great Wall defense line was about to be lost, so he took a plane overnight to leave the front line and return to Taiyuan.
On October 3, the defenders of the Inner Great Wall defense line held on for two days longer than originally scheduled. As the 15th mixed brigade commanded by the Japanese Army Shinohara Seiichiro captured Ruyue Pass, a huge hole appeared in the Inner Great Wall defense line. The entire defense line was
Falling into a state of collapse, the Pingxing Pass and Yanmen Pass defenders in front had to abandon the inner Great Wall defense line and quickly evacuate to the Xinkou area in order to avoid being attacked from both sides.
The Battle of Xinkou began to brew.
On the southern battlefield, the Battle of Songhu entered a stage of strategic stalemate. The Chinese and Japanese troops fought fiercely for a corner of the street. The intensity of the battle reached an unprecedented height. At the current stage, the National Revolutionary Army has lost its previous advantage and switched from offense to defense, while the Japanese army gradually gained
Reinforcement troops, relying on the advantages of weapons and equipment, can change the battlefield situation from defense to offense.
The entire Songhu battlefield suddenly turned into a meat grinder. The National Revolutionary Army's casualties became more and more serious. They basically lost a standard infantry regiment every day, and the battlefield situation gradually became unfavorable.