Chapter 857 Emperor Zhu has a golden finger (fourth update, please subscribe)
The importance of airplanes cannot be overstated no matter how we describe or exaggerate it.
No one from the 21st century would doubt this.
After all, in the 21st century, the Air Force has become the most important branch of the military, and any army without a strong Air Force is doomed to fail.
With planes, you have air supremacy; with air supremacy, you have everything!
After learning that its test flight was successful, Emperor Zhu was so excited that he went to a military base less than 100 kilometers away from Nanhua.
"Haha, this is the 'Flyer No. 1' that I made out of one ton of aluminum!"
As soon as he entered the hangar, Emperor Zhu said a little excitedly.
"Your Majesty, there is not that much actual use. The aluminum is mainly used to test aluminum alloys. In order to manufacture engines, we need to add other metals to the aluminum to increase its strength and hardness. The aluminum is now..."
Before Li Lin could finish speaking, Emperor Zhu burst into laughter.
"The aluminum is not important at all. What's important is this thing, a monoplane, very good, very good..."
Looking at the monoplane that looked similar to the Type 6 glider, Emperor Zhu nodded with a smile.
This plane looks unique and of course very powerful!
"Is this its engine? A three-cylinder one? It looks pretty good!"
It's a three-cylinder engine? Is it vibrating?
Emperor Zhu looked at the cylinders arranged in a "品" shape, which looked like half a star engine, so he asked about its power and performance.
"Weight: 98.7 kg, 35 horsepower, um... not bad, not bad. I think there is still room for improvement. Consider the star-shaped form..."
"Star-shaped?"
"It's an engine with cylinders rotating around a crankshaft..."
As Emperor Zhu was speaking, he took out a notebook and drew a simple schematic diagram. The radial engine is the future!
Now that Daimyo already has airplanes, it is not impossible to speed them up appropriately. What is the most important thing for an airplane? It is the engine. A good engine will result in an airplane with better performance.
"...the pistons are connected to the crankshaft by a main connecting rod. The connecting rod to the top piston is called the main connecting rod. The connecting rods for the other pistons are called articulated connecting rods, which are connected to a ring in the center of the main connecting rod through a pin hole..."
This... This is the engine designed by His Majesty. Listening to His Majesty's explanation and looking at the sketch drawn by His Majesty, Li Lin, as an engineer, was completely stunned!
Your Majesty...you are really an engineer!
And it is the best one. Just from the sketch, Li Lin can see the advantages of this engine. It is lighter and has a simpler structure. With this engine, they can manufacture aircraft with better performance.
Finally, as he tore off the sketch and handed it to Li Lin, Emperor Zhu said.
"You guys study this engine. This is just an idea. You can give it a try. You don't have to use aluminum at the beginning. You can use cast iron for testing. Once the test is successful, it won't be too late to use aluminum."
Then, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Feng Kai and smiled.
"How about it, pilot? Do you want to fly a circle and show me a performance?"
Emperor Zhu is really looking forward to the airplane!
Airships...are just things that are destined to be eliminated. Airplanes are the real future!
Soon, under the gaze of Emperor Zhu, "Flyer No. 1" flew into the sky again. Looking at it soaring freely in the air, a smile appeared on Zhu Xianhai's face.
At this moment, he was smiling happily!
Not only because the phrase "Ming Dynasty invented the airplane" will be forever recorded in future human history, it also means that Ming Dynasty opened a new chapter in history!
With airplanes, everything will be very different.
Of course, the most important thing is that after having airplanes, the Ming Dynasty will truly have a killer weapon to restrain airships! At least before the next war, the Ming Dynasty will be the only owner of airplanes...
"The era of airships is over..."
"What?"
His Majesty's words made Li Lin stunned. Is the era of airships over?
"Let's move the laboratory south. We'll build a new manufacturing plant on the plateau. Um... we're also going to build a new flight school there to train pilots!"
Emperor Zhu said directly.
Airplanes... will become the secret weapon of the Ming Dynasty. At least before the final battle with Britain, the Ming Dynasty will not tell the world about this secret weapon!
Otherwise, how could Britain continue on the wrong path of airships?
…
On the open shooting range, an artillery reconnaissance balloon was suspended in the air. Driven by the mooring rope, it was just swaying gently in the breeze.
"Your Majesty, this is..."
Wang Xinyue looked at the balloons in the sky in confusion, then he turned his gaze to the soldiers in front of him. The machine gun they were operating looked a bit strange, with a cylinder in front of the gun.
"You'll know after you take a look."
Emperor Zhu still had a smile on his face.
A few minutes later, accompanied by a burst of gunfire, several flashes were seen from the muzzle of a machine gun. A faintly visible red line in the air flew straight towards the balloon. The moment the red line sank into the balloon, the balloon that was originally suspended in the air suddenly exploded into a huge ball of fire.
“This, this…”
Wang Xinyue was completely stunned. He opened his mouth wide, unable to say anything for a long time. His eyes were full of fear!
"Don't be so surprised, this is the future of airships."
Emperor Zhu patted him on the shoulder and said.
"Hydrogen! The airship relies on hydrogen to provide lift. Ordinary bullets hitting the airbag will only leave a few holes. Apart from causing the hydrogen to leak slowly, it will not have much impact on the airship. The red light emitted by this special bullet can not only help the shooter to shoot more accurately, but also directly ignite the hydrogen, causing the airship to explode and fall..."
Emperor Zhu smiled as he put a tracer bullet into Wang Xinyue's hand.
"Look, that's it. It only takes a few dozen of these tracer bullets to turn an airship worth tens of thousands of yuan into a burning torch. This is why airships are destined to be eliminated, at least on the battlefield."
As early as during World War I, tracer bullets were proven to be an effective type of ammunition against German Zeppelin airships. This was also Emperor Zhu's secret weapon, a secret weapon against British airships!
"Your Majesty, this, this... this tiny bullet..."
Looking at the bullet in his hand, Wang Xinyue felt that this bullet was of great weight. After a long time, he spoke.
"It seems... the airship is really useless..."
When he finished speaking, he said,
"Is this the reason why your majesty wanted the document leaked?"
(End of this chapter)
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