Chapter 371 Nanhua's determination and courage (fourth update, please subscribe)
Accompanied by a loud bang of a cannon, in the blink of an eye a bell as loud as a huge bell echoed in the air!
After a moment, shouts came from a distance.
"The shells flew!"
"Hit again!"
…
"You are very brave!"
Li Xuelin looked at the young engineer in front of him and offered him a cup of tea.
"You know, you might lose your life if you do that."
How dare you fire a gun in the Navy Headquarters!
This was not daring at all, it was clearly courting death. If it hadn't been for his timely response, the young man would have lost his life.
"I know, but I also know that if Spencer hadn't brought the gun into the White House, there would be no Spencer rifle. I wanted to talk to you nicely, but you didn't have time, so I had to resort to this last resort."
In fact, when making that choice, Luanda did not consider any danger at all. To put it bluntly, he was just impulsive at the time and forgot everything.
Luanda's answer made Li Xuelin laugh.
"It seems that this matter is my fault, but the steel plate you brought is indeed very good. We tested this nickel steel and the test results were excellent! It is better than our steel-wrought iron composite armor!"
It was more than just outstanding. When they sent the steel plates taken from the carriage to the shooting range for testing with small-caliber artillery, the results were simply eye-opening.
Nickel steel was the armor that Ruanda brought with him, and it was also the stepping stone for his trip.
"It's definitely better than the steel-wrought iron composite armor. This composite armor uses the characteristics of steel plates and wrought iron plates. After the two are combined, they are rolled by a machine to make them smooth and flawless. This way, it has both the hardness of steel plates and the toughness of wrought iron. The hardness and toughness are both balanced. According to the information I saw in the design studio, it is 25% better than the wrought iron armor used by European countries. In other words, 100 mm steel composite armor has the same resistance as 125 mm wrought iron armor."
Li Xuelin smiled and said nothing, he just nodded silently. The steel-wrought iron composite armor is Nanhua's unique technology. Even until now, Nanhua is the only one in the world who has mastered this technology. Nanhua not only has the technology of this armor, but also has the technology of new armor-piercing shells. As early as 1865, in order to ensure the advantage of the ten-inch, or 254mm, Krupp cannon over the enemy's ironclad ships, Nanhua Arsenal designed and used a new type of conical armor-piercing shell. The shape of this shell is more streamlined, the head is conical and it is forged with high-quality steel, so it has a strong armor-piercing ability.
Since Nanhua has a spear, it also has a shield!
"But the steel-wrought iron composite armor is still not as good as the nickel steel you brought. According to our tests, its resistance is 20% higher than the composite armor. In other words, 100 mm nickel steel armor has the same resistance as 120 mm composite armor."
"According to Li Lin's calculations, it should have a better performance. Because it was made in a hurry, the heat treatment was not ideal. Under ideal conditions, it should be able to improve by about 30%!"
"Ah? 30%!"
Li Xuelin was surprised.
“Are you saying it can improve by 30%?”
Pulling the chair in front of Luanda, Li Xuelin asked.
"Come to think of it, this steel is really good! The navy will definitely need this kind of armor, eh, Li Lin? He's an engineer at the steel mill? Did he invent this?"
"Yes, it is 'Lee Nickel Steel'."
Ruanda nodded.
Looking at the young engineer, whose boldness and directness won Li Xuelin's favor, he asked.
"Then why did you bring this steel plate here? Well, let me guess, you must have your own ideas, or requests. Tell me, is there anything you need my help with? As long as I can help, I will do my best!"
Li Xuelin was very fond of this young man. He actually broke the rules and "demonstrated" a new type of steel armor in an extremely special way, which was extremely important to the navy and the South China armed forces.
Of course, more importantly, Li Xuelin believed that the reason he used such a "special" way to demonstrate was definitely not for the steel armor.
"I, I hope the Navy will consider building combat ships."
Ruanda took a deep breath and said.
"I am a naval architect. When I was studying in the UK, I once interned in a shipyard. Our shipbuilding technology is now no worse than many British shipyards. Compared with the UK, our armor technology and artillery technology are not inferior to theirs. Many technologies, including steam engines, are even far better than theirs. In this case, why don't we build a large battleship? The British built a 10,000-ton battleship as early as ten years ago. Now our shipbuilding technology is not worse than theirs, but at least it is much better than when the UK built the "Warrior" ten years ago!"
Ruanda knew that when he said these words, some people would think he was too arrogant, but he knew that everything he said was true - Nanhua's shipbuilding industry was not much worse than that of Britain, and it was definitely better than when the British built the Warrior.
"Well, that's indeed the truth!"
Li Xuelin nodded and said.
"In the past decade, shipbuilding technology has improved a lot. In order to improve our shipbuilding technology, the shipyard has introduced many technicians over the years, and even introduced skilled workers. To a certain extent, our shipyard is definitely not worse than the British shipyard,"
"Not only are we not worse than them, we are even better than them! At least the equipment and technical strength of our shipyards are worse than most private shipyards in the UK. For example, the Laird Shipyard that built the "Flying Dragon" class, their technical strength and equipment are far inferior to ours, but why were they able to build 10,000-ton warships two years ago, while we? Even 4,000-5,000-ton warships, according to the plan, have to wait until two years later? What exactly are we lacking?"
Luanda's question made Li Xuelin fall into deep thought. Nanhua Shipyard did have the most advanced equipment in the world, as well as a large number of technicians and skilled workers, but why couldn't it build large ships?
What's the difference?
"What is lacking is determination and courage!"
Ruanda began to talk incessantly.
"In February 1854, Brunel and Russell jointly started the construction of the Great Eastern. The huge hull used 3 million rivets and 30,000 iron plates. A total of about 12,000 workers participated in the construction of the Great Eastern. Finally, with their efforts, this huge ship was born. Until now, no ship has surpassed its tonnage. But what about before? The largest ship in the world was only a few thousand tons, and it was a wooden hull ship. But were Brunel and Russell afraid? No, even though they were going to build a huge ship unprecedented in human history, even though they used new technologies that had never been used before, although they encountered a series of problems when building the Great Eastern, they created a new era!"
Taking a deep breath, Ruanda said.
"Before the Great Eastern, the British built wooden ships, but after the Great Eastern, Britain entered the era of iron ships. Britain's shipbuilding technology has been leading the world ever since. Until now, the Royal Navy has the world's largest ironclad fleet, thanks to this! Commander Li, if Brunel and Russell had not jointly initiated the construction of the Great Eastern, would Britain's shipbuilding industry have made such an unprecedented breakthrough?"
Looking up and meeting Li Xuelin's gaze, Luanda continued.
"What we need now is the same determination and courage that Brunel and Russell had."
Faced with Luanda's question, Li Xuelin thought for a moment and then said.
“Nanhua needs a “Great Eastern” project of its own!”
(End of this chapter)
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