However, the important part of the expansion of the army is weapons. Since the merchant army mainly operates firepower, its dependence on weapons is much greater than that of the Qing army. So can the arsenal produce enough weapons and ammunition in time?
It became Guan Jian’s problem.
So after the meeting ended, Shang Yi immediately came to the arsenal and recruited all the personnel from the arsenal to inquire about this situation.
Now the arsenal has basically started to operate in full, with a total of about 12,000 people, of which about 8,000 to 9,000 workers, and about 5,000 skilled workers. The muskets that can be produced every month range from 5,000 to 6.
Thousand branches and about 150 artillery pieces. Due to the large number of simple machinery, the productivity of the arsenal has been very high.
But at this production speed, by the end of this year, weapons can only be produced to assemble four to five divisions, although it is enough to avoid being strong. However, due to the iron smelting technology at this time, the service life of guns and cannons is greater than that of the iron smelting technology at this time.
In later generations, the updates were much shorter and faster. Moreover, the merchant army attached great importance to live ammunition range training, so at least one-third of the new guns produced were used for updates. After calculation, it was obvious that
Not enough.
After hearing Shang Yi's request, the main responsible personnel of Sun Hedinghe Arsenal also felt very embarrassed, because it was not realistic to think that it was not realistic to significantly improve the production efficiency of the Arsenal. First, it was because the Arsenal was currently operating at full capacity and there was no
No matter how many places open production workshops, on the other hand, it is also because of the lack of technicians. Half of them are brought from Beijing by Shang Yi, and a qualified gun manufacturer also needs at least four.
After five years of training, the new generation of apprentices is not fully qualified for the job, and this is the result of Shang Yi and the craftsmen thinking of many ways to improve the production process. In the past, it took at least ten years for a qualified gun manufacturer to go.
Leave a disciple.
In addition, production raw materials are also another important factor that restricts production efficiency. Without copper, iron, titanium, sodium and other metals, no matter how many workers there are, it will be useless. Because the speed of mining and iron smelting cannot keep up with it, the actual work in the past few months
The amount was not satisfied. Fortunately, after defeating the Qing army, a large number of artillery, weapons, and armor were seized, which temporarily solved the problem of raw materials. Because of this, more than 20 artillery artillery among the artillery were made of copper tires
The iron core has a copper content of up to 70% to 80%, and it was instantly collected for 40,000 to 50,000 kilograms of copper, which is enough for the past few months.
When Shang Yi heard this, he suddenly felt aroused his heart and remembered something. Because the arsenal had just been built and he had been busy with war in the previous stage, he actually forgot about such an important thing.
No matter in that era, the ideal artillery should be the hardest inner layer of the barrel, but in the actual casting process, it is the opposite, because the outer layer covers the inner layer, and the outer layer is not cold inside.
It cannot get cold. Therefore, during the casting process of the artillery, the base is cooled from the outside to the inside, which makes the distribution of the barrel density unsatisfactory and the life of the barrel will be greatly reduced.
Because the roots are based on the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, the part that is cooled first will shrink first. Therefore, after the outer layer is cooled and hardened, if the inner layer has not cooled, the outer layer will be harder than the inner layer, and the inner pipe wall may be
It will deform or cause cracks. This will increase the waste rate when casting cannons, reduce the life of the tube, and sometimes affect the firing performance of the cannons.
The copper-body iron-branched cannon casting method was the unique cannon casting method invented by China at this time. It cleverly utilized the physical properties of the melting point 103c of copper far lower than the melting point 153c of iron, and divided a cannon into copper and iron.
The layer is cast, and after the inner iron tire is cooled, the copper wall is cast outside. In this way, the compressive strength of the gun body can be increased through the agglomeration effect when the outer copper solidifies. That is, it is no longer necessary to use expensive
If copper is casting a whole cannon, it can have the advantages of durability of copper cannons. One cannon can save 20 to 30% of copper and also reduce the weight of the cannon body.
This method of casting cannons is also considered to be the prototype of the internal mold water-filling and cooling casting cannon method. However, although this method is more than 200 years ahead of the internal mold water-filling and cooling casting cannon method, of course, compared with the real internal mold water-filling and cooling casting cannon method
, it is still a far cry from the other side.
The real method of internal mold water-filling cooling casting was created by the American Civil War in the mid-19th century. When American officer Thomas XJX Rodman was invented, that is, when using a hollow mold core casting cannon, cooling water was introduced into it.
The method can solidify the iron gun barrel from the inside to the outside, so that the explosive force of the emitter is absorbed by the entire thick metal layer around the barrel, rather than expanding outward layer by layer. From a theoretical point of view, its durability can
It reaches five to ten times the previous one, even larger. It not only greatly reduces the scrap rate, but also reduces the casting cost of artillery. It greatly increases the life of the artillery's body tube and reduces the cost of use. Its strong cannons at home and abroad
The tube can withstand more gunpowder explosions, which also increases the range of the cannon. Therefore, it is very useful to cast heavy cannons using the internal mold water-filled casting method.
Shang Yi did not pursue the range of artillery, because the range of artillery of the Shang army was slightly better than that of the Qing army, and the explosive power of the black gunpowder also determined that there was not much room for improvement in this regard. But if it could be largely possible, it would be possible to achieve a large amount of room for improvement.
It is quite considerable to increase the life of the cannon, so the life of the cannon has increased, which not only saves raw materials, but also draws some craftsmen to make muskets.
Moreover, from the theory, it is completely possible for merchant arsenals who are now able to master the iron mold casting method and then use the internal mold water-filled cooling casting method. Although this new technology cannot be quickly common in the short term.
It is still very necessary to use it in the long run. After all, the battle with the Qing army will not end in one or two years.
After listening to Shang Yi's construction principle of the internal mold water-filling cooling cannon casting method, Sun Heding still understood it. After all, in this era, the theory of thermal expansion and shrinkage had not yet appeared, but Sun Heding understood that Shang Yi's purpose was to get the cannon.
The inner wall of the tube is cool first, and the outer layer is cooler.
Although Sun Heding didn't understand, was this approach really useful, he did not dare to underestimate the method proposed by Shang Yi, because in the past, Shang Yi had proposed several technical update plans, all of which were proved to be useful.
, and designed several new weapons by themselves, so Sun Heding took it for granted that this time was no exception. Anyway, Chinese craftsmen were also used to not ask about the principles, just care about the methods, whether they were effective, first follow this square fauna.
Cast a few cannons and try it out.
However, Shang Yi also knew that even if the arsenal was able to skillfully use the internal mold water-filling and cooling casting method, it would not significantly improve production efficiency. It would still be necessary to think of other technological innovation methods. Of course, this is the only way to do this for the time being. Wait until we find it.
Let’s talk about the solution, and in the end, Shang Yi gave Sun Heding a new research topic, which is to improve and develop a bullet-filled rifle.
The rear-filled ammunition-type cannons and rifles are an inevitable trend in the development of firearms. Because they are rifles, only the rear-filled ammunition-type can greatly increase the rate of fire, and there is no need to use any three-stage continuous shooting. And the rear-filled ammunition-type
The three necessary conditions for a rifle, mercury, fire cap, and metal bullet skull, Shang Yi has solved two of them. Although the metal bullet skull cannot be solved for the time being, it is not impossible to think of other ways to replace it. Therefore, it can also be said that
The conditions for the projectile-filling rifle have been mature after development, so you can give it a try.