my scientific age

Chapter 393 Red Peony Howitzer!

"Indeed, the barrel pressure of a large-caliber howitzer is very high, generally hundreds of times that of a mortar, and the steel produced in Liushugou and Yulin cannot meet the requirements. The lifespan of the barrels they produce is only about 300 to 350 rounds. I do not allow the use of steel produced in Liushugou and Yulin to make barrels." Yu Hua gave a brief introduction to the situation with a serious expression, looking directly at Mr. Li in front of him.

The Liushugou small steel plant adopts an electric furnace steelmaking system to produce steel using molten iron + scrap steel. The Yulin Sanchawan Steel Plant adopts an oxygen top-blown converter system to produce steel using molten iron + oxygen blowing mode.

In terms of quality, there is no essential difference between the steel produced by the two factories and the steel quality of the Western world today. The oxygen-blown converter technology only leads the world in output.

So, can the steel produced in Liushugou and Yulin be used to make heavy artillery barrels?

Of course.

However, the lifespan and quality of the heavy artillery barrels produced were far from meeting the standards set by Yu Hua, and there was a risk of barrel explosion during long-term use.

When it comes to heavy equipment, especially artillery, Yu Hua is extremely serious. He does not allow the Eighth Route Army to equip and use heavy artillery that may have the risk of exploding, even if the probability of this risk is only one in ten thousand.

Some things you can give in on, but some things you cannot give in at all.

"Making cannons is no small matter. I support the high requirements. Now that we use this electric slag remelting technology, how much can the life of the gun barrel be increased?" Mr. Li's eyes showed approval, he took a puff of cigarette and asked curiously.

"Probably around 4000 rounds." Yu Hua gave a rough estimate.

"Mr. Yu, did I hear you wrong? You said around four thousand?" Mr. Li was slightly surprised when he heard this, and he doubted whether he had heard it wrong.

"Yes, four thousand. Of course, it is limited to 105mm caliber. The larger the caliber of the barrel, the higher the firing chamber pressure and the higher the requirements for steel performance." Yu Hua nodded in affirmation.

"That's a twenty-fold increase." Mr. Li took a puff of cigarette and calmed himself down.

"Yes." Yu Hua still nodded.

silence.

The atmosphere was slightly stagnant. Mr. Li from Desheng and Secretary Li beside him remained silent. Through this set of figures, they had a new understanding of the electroslag remelting technology.

Mr. Li looked at the barrel blank that was emitting billowing hot air and said, "I have another question. What is the approximate lifespan of the barrels of Western countries, Japan, and the Soviet Union?"

"The specific data is unknown, we can only have a rough estimate. The professor has evaluated that the quality of artillery steel produced by Germany's Krupp company is the best in the world. The normal life of a 105mm gun barrel is about 400 rounds. Britain, France and the United States are basically at the same level at around 350 rounds, while Japan is around 280 rounds and the Soviet Union is about 250 rounds. The maximum lifespan is 1.5 times the normal lifespan, but the risk of bursting is more than 50 times higher." Yu Hua gave the current lifespan data of 100mm artillery barrels in various countries. This data comes partly from Professor Zhuang and partly from objective history.

In 1937, the research on the life of artillery barrels by countries around the world was still at the stage of wire winding technology, and the technology of chrome plating of the inner barrel was still in the exploratory stage. It was not until about 40 years later that Germany took the lead in breaking through the chrome plating of the inner barrel of the artillery, and then Japan, the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom followed suit, which greatly increased the life of the artillery.

As for France, sorry, it has already voted.

The remaining three major parts of the artillery, barrel self-tightening and electroslag remelting, are both Cold War-era technologies that are out of reach for countries around the world.

Although Liushugou Arsenal has not yet broken through and mastered the barrel self-tightening technology, with the two killer features of electroslag remelting and inner barrel chrome plating, the normal life of the 105mm gun barrel can be pushed to 4000 rounds, and the maximum life can reach about 1 rounds.

And this is the standard for heavy artillery barrels in Yu Hua’s mind.

"A technology has increased the life of artillery by dozens of times, surpassing the world. This is the power of science..." After listening to Yu Hua's words, Mr. Li nodded slightly, exhaled a puff of smoke, sighed softly, then looked at Yu Hua and said slowly: "Mr. Yu, as a person, I would like to express my gratitude to you and all members of the Supreme Scientific Group for your hard work."

The words were solemn, and the tone of voice was full of emotion.

This is a gratitude that comes from the bottom of my heart and is extremely sincere.

As a military strategist, Mr. Li is fully 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 to independently develop and produce heavy artillery.

"You're welcome, sir." Yu Hua shook his head after hearing this. "In fact, we should thank the base for providing us with a place to display our talents. We are not reduced to a situation where we have talents but no place to use them. We complement each other."

"What a complementary combination. Mr. Yu, does this artillery have a name?" Mr. Li asked with a smile.

"The current internal research and development code name is 'Red Peony'." Yu Hua said.

"Red Peony is a good name. Naming a cannon with a flower is full of romanticism. I personally support it." Mr. Li nodded thoughtfully and approved of the code name. Then he changed the subject and lowered his voice slightly: "Mr. Yu, excluding the research and development costs, how much does it cost to build a 'Red Peony' 105mm howitzer? Calculated in silver dollars, is it more than silver dollars per gun?"

His voice sounded a little nervous. Only when you manage a household do you not know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are.

Although cannons are good, if the price is too high, you must make some trade-offs and considerations.

"It's not that high. Excluding the research and development costs, the current cost price of each gun is about 1500 silver dollars." Yu Hua shook his head repeatedly and gave the estimated cost price data directly.

"Is this true?" Mr. Li was extremely surprised and a little shocked when he heard this.

"Yes." Yu Hua answered sincerely, "In fact, most of the costs are concentrated in energy and materials, not including labor costs. The electroslag remelting furnace requires 80 kWh of electricity to produce a barrel blank, and our electricity supply comes entirely from diesel. When the thermal power station is completed and put into operation later, the cost of manufacturing gun barrels can be quickly reduced by %."

Burning diesel to supply electricity is an extremely luxurious behavior. It burns money every moment. If there were no oil fields in the base, it would not be able to support the appetite of the electric slag remelting furnace, which is a giant beast that devours electricity.

After these words were spoken, there was some silence.

Secretary Li beside him lowered his head silently, his throat surging. If it weren't for his status, he would have just said that he would take as many of these heavy artillery as he could get regarding the price Yu Hua offered.

This kind of price is enough to make anyone cry and feel sad.

Most importantly, with the completion and commissioning of the thermal power plant, the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced.

One thousand per door, or five hundred per door?

unimaginable!

"If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed that the cost price of a 105mm caliber howitzer was only yuan." Mr. Li reacted and spoke with emotion. He had never imagined that the manufacturing cost of independently produced artillery would be so low.

Cheap.

It's ridiculously cheap.

The manufacturing cost of a 105mm howitzer was only fifteen hundred oceans, a cost that was almost unimaginable for the arsenals of the Republic of China. Take the Taiyuan Arsenal, which processed materials supplied by suppliers, as an example. The manufacturing cost of a 105mm mountain gun alone was more than ten thousand oceans, of which the imported German Krupp gun barrel accounted for 60% of the manufacturing cost.

However, even though the cost was five thousand dollars, no one thought it was expensive.

Because this is a real 105mm howitzer.

The Bofors 1933mm mountain cannon purchased by Nanjing in 75 cost $1.6 per gun, with each 75mm shell costing $20. The 24 150mm heavy howitzers from Rheinmetall, which came with 24000 shells, cost 88.6 pounds, or more than 3 pounds per gun.

One dollar, one pound, starts at tens of thousands, and one of our 105mm heavy howitzers costs fifteen thousand dollars...

This is the gap.

Yu Hua smiled and changed the subject, saying, "This is the advantage of mastering basic industries. The Red Peony Howitzer is essentially an industrial product. As production increases, its manufacturing cost will decrease through improved processes and worker proficiency. In addition, if the base is converted to a wartime production system, the manufacturing cost of a cannon will only be equal to the amount of food consumed by the workers during the entire manufacturing process. We have enough resources."

Advantages of industrialization.

Mr. Li heard this and nodded slightly. He certainly understood the meaning of Yu Hua's last sentence. He took out a cigarette, struck a match, lit it, took a puff, and slowly exhaled the green smoke. He was thinking about industrialization.

The advantages of industrialization are very obvious. In peacetime, it can supply the people with high-quality and low-cost industrial products and develop the economy. In wartime, it can quickly enter a wartime production state and produce various types of weapons, equipment and ammunition at extremely low costs.

The wartime production state is not about money, but about resources.

What resources does the base have?

Coal and iron mines in Shenmu, grain in Yulin, oil in Yanbian and Yumen, copper mines in Jingbian, lime, iron ore, coal in Yancheng, high-quality iron ore in Linfen...

Mr. Li took a puff of cigarette, sorted out his thoughts, and discovered a problem, that is, although the base seemed to be located in a remote mountainous area, the areas under its jurisdiction or influenced by it were actually rich in mineral resources, which could fully support the early and mid-term development of the base's industrialization.

If all these resources were consumed, the output of weapons, equipment and ammunition would be an extremely terrifying astronomical figure. However, with a huge amount of self-produced weapons, equipment and ammunition, the development of the troops would no longer be restricted. As the troops expanded and developed, they would be able to obtain more resources to feed back to the base industry.

This is a positive cycle system that continues to repeat itself.

Then, he seemed to have thought of something, and cast his gaze towards Yu Hua, who looked young but already somewhat weathered. Everything that happened to the base now was all because of the young man in front of him and Professor Zhuang and others.

"Student Yu, I don't know what to say... Thank you." Mr. Li thanked them again.

Yu Hua shook his head: "This is what I should do, sir. Studying medicine cannot save China, and literature cannot save China, but industry can save China. This is the idea of ​​the professor, a group of students, and me. I hope you support it."

These words were like a seed that landed in Mr. Li's heart.

"We will unwaveringly support you." Mr. Li nodded in understanding and made a promise.
Outside the workshop gate, the sun near noon shone down, slanting into the workshop, bringing hope.

Mr. Li left, and left the machinery manufacturing plant with questions about the future development of industrialization, his figure gradually moving away.

"If the industrial development process of 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 in the future... I hope so." Yu Hua said silently in his heart.

China's industrialization process began in the First Five-Year Plan in 1953, against the backdrop of 156 industrial projects assisted by the Soviet Union after the end of the Korean War. This marked the beginning of China's industrialization development, and a basic and complete industrial system was established, making China the most industrialized country in the world.

To develop a country through industry is the only and inevitable path.

However, if the starting time of China's industrialization process could be moved forward to 1937, everything would be different.

Right now, the base's industry is still weak and in its infancy. It needs careful care and a certain amount of time to develop. If the base's industry is nurtured and grown, it will surely reap a return of tens of millions of times in the future.

Yu Hua hopes that the industrial development process of the base area will not be interrupted, but this is only a subjective hope. After all, it is still a war era, with both open and hidden attacks.

Not far away, the gun barrel blank, which has undergone the first quenching, is carefully sent into a dedicated tempering furnace for tempering treatment.

Tempering and quenching are inseparable. As an important metal heat treatment process, the hardness of steel parts after tempering is reduced, the 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 treatment for 24 hours to eliminate internal stress and perform rough turning, and then undergo secondary liquid nitrogen and tertiary liquid nitrogen quenching treatments to obtain the expected proportion of martensitic metallographic structure and comprehensive mechanical properties.

……

As time quietly entered October, the domestic war situation changed and the battlefields in the north and south entered a white-hot state.

On the northern battlefield, the Pingxingguan battlefield, which should have been lost on October 1 according to history, was already in the hands of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, but the front-line defenders suffered heavy casualties and the defense line was in jeopardy.

In order to make up for the losses caused by the 129th Division, Itagaki Seishirō mobilized heavy troops to attack Pingxingguan again. The main force of the 5th Division and the reinforcements of Hideki Tojo, plus the Army Aviation bombers, the intensity of the war was extremely high. Tuanchengkou and Xipaochi areas were lost one after another. The front line had reached the main pass area of ​​Pingxingguan. The war situation was extremely unfavorable for the defenders. Yan Laoxi felt that the inner Great Wall defense line was about to fall, so he flew away from the front line overnight and returned to Taiyuan.

On October 3, the defenders of the Inner Great Wall defense line, who had held out for two days longer than originally planned, found that a huge loophole had appeared in the Inner Great Wall defense line as the 15th Mixed Brigade commanded by the Japanese Army's Seiichirō Shinohara captured Ruyuekou. The entire defense line collapsed. In order to avoid being attacked from both sides, the defenders of Pingxingguan and Yanmenguan in the front had to abandon the Inner Great Wall defense line and quickly evacuate to the Xinkou area.

The Battle of Xinkou began to brew.

On the southern battlefield, the Battle of Shanghai entered a stage of strategic stalemate. The Chinese and Japanese troops fought fiercely for every street and corner, and the intensity of the battle reached an unprecedented level. At this stage, the National Revolutionary Army had lost its previous advantage and turned from offense to defense, while the Japanese army gradually received reinforcements and, relying on the advantage of weapons and equipment, changed the battlefield situation from defense to offense.

The entire Songhu battlefield suddenly turned into a meat grinder. The casualties of the National Revolutionary Army became increasingly serious, with basically a standard infantry regiment being lost every day. The situation on the battlefield gradually became unfavorable.

(End of this chapter)