The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 283: Artillery Battleships and the Gap of the Times

The carrying capacity and speed of early aircraft were very limited, and aircraft carriers carrying aircraft could only be used as reconnaissance ships.

At this time, the main force in naval operations was still artillery warships.

However, once an aircraft carrier is put into use, it can bring about a disruptive improvement in the reconnaissance efficiency of warships of any era, which is an improvement of orders of magnitude.

Therefore, no matter what the current mode of naval warfare is, as long as one's own industrial level is capable of building an aircraft carrier, one should build it as soon as possible.

The same is true for the improvement of aircraft themselves relative to the army. As long as they can be made, they should be put into operation as soon as possible.

But in the original history, the dreadnought, which appeared slightly earlier than the aircraft carrier and was equally epoch-making, has certain value to the current Ming Dynasty, but it is not great.

Following Zhu Jianxuan's instructions, Ming Dynasty craftsmen had already begun building pure steam-powered warships without sails six years ago.

During these twenty years, Zhu Jianxuan directly guided the industrial revolution of the Ming Dynasty and instructed craftsmen in scientific research, accumulating a large number of usable epoch-making technologies.

For example, shrapnel shells with picric acid charge, breech-loading rifled guns made of seamless steel pipes, hydraulically recoiled gun mounts, and twin-mounted center-mounted rotating turrets.

For example, the carbon blown surface carburizing technology and nickel-chromium alloy steel armor have brought the armor technology, which took half a century to explore and upgrade, to a complete state in one go.

Therefore, this batch of warships designed six years ago, when compared with the warships of other countries in this era, are already pure products of black technology.

The first purely steam-powered warships had entered service three years earlier.

The largest Yongpingfu-type battleship has a full load displacement of just over 10,000 tons.

The maximum speed is 40 kilometers per hour, which is about 22 nautical miles per hour, or 22 knots according to the previous life.

The main weapon is eight twin-mounted 160mm annealed guns.

Four of the turrets are divided into two groups, with two turrets in each group, arranged in a back-to-back style at the front and rear ends of the ship.

The other four turrets are arranged at the four corners of the bridge.

If the ship is facing the enemy sideways and tilted, twelve guns are available. If the bow and stern are facing the enemy straight, eight guns are available.

There are also sixteen 80mm secondary guns, all distributed on both sides of the hull.

According to the typical classification of warships in previous lives, the Yongpingfu type is difficult to accurately locate.

The full load displacement is over 10,000 tons, but the maximum caliber of the main gun is only 160 mm.

In the past, armored cruisers with a displacement of over 10,000 tons usually had a 240mm main gun and a 190mm secondary main gun.

Because now, except for the British Navy, the navies of all other countries are still in the era of wooden sailing ships.

A warship's ability to defend against artillery basically depends only on the thickness of the hull on the side of the ship.

The hull thickness of most main battleships is basically 20 inches, or 508 millimeters, equivalent to half a meter.

However, its defensive capability is only equivalent to that of 16 mm surface carburized nickel-chromium alloy steel armor.

The Ming Dynasty's 80mm general-purpose rifled cannon can easily penetrate it.

Moreover, the main artillery of the Yongpingfu class has completely unified specifications like the dreadnoughts, and can be commanded by telephone and telegram.

The use of a 160mm main gun now leaves room for the enemy's defense upgrade.

Today's artillery is enough to crush all enemies. Installing larger artillery on the ship is a waste of space and, more importantly, it will reduce the density of firepower.

At the same time, the armor thickness of the Yongpingfu-type battleship was much lower than that of a typical armored cruiser.

The maximum thickness of the main armor belt is only 120 mm, while the main armor thickness of armored cruisers of the same tonnage is usually more than 200 mm.

However, the current level of armor in Yongping Prefecture is enough to withstand the existing enemy artillery.

After all, at that time, the navies of most countries did not even have shrapnel shells. They were still using black powder as propellant and cast cannons to fire solid spherical shells.

The Ming Dynasty's 120 mm carburized nickel-chromium alloy steel armor was ready to be used directly with picric acid shrapnel bombs to prevent the enemy from cracking picric acid.

Moreover, the armor coverage of the Yongpingfu-type warships exceeds that of typical armored patrol ships.

In addition to the main armor belt on the sides, other areas are also protected by secondary armor of 20 to 80 mm.

Compared with traditional wooden warships, the entire ship has a wooden hull that is half a meter to several meters thick.

It is an invincible battleship on the sea in this era.

How can this kind of warship be upgraded now? The key is to upgrade it in a way that generates value, rather than simply continuing to stack data.

Zhu Jianxuan had considered this a long time ago, so after arranging the aircraft carrier, he began to plan a new round of artillery battleship upgrades:

“Now that the new ship power system is basically mature, it is time to design a new generation of main artillery warships.

“The new power system built around oil-fired boilers and steam turbines has obvious advantages over the old power system using coal-fired boilers and multi-expansion reciprocating steam engines.

“First, it can increase battlefield maneuvering speed, allowing warships to travel at speeds exceeding 50 kilometers per hour.

“Then there is the ability to continue to improve the endurance of the warship.

“The calorific value of 5,000 tons of heavy oil is equivalent to that of 8,000 tons of coal. The key is that coal is solid. No matter how it is piled, there will be gaps in the fuel tank.

“Heavy fuel oil can be a liquid and fill up an entire fuel tank.

"So in general, the energy stored in a fuel tank of the same size when loaded with heavy oil should be twice that of coal.

"If coal is replaced with heavy oil, the maximum range of warships can theoretically be doubled.

"It can also improve the efficiency of fuel replenishment. After the heavy oil is heated, it becomes a liquid state and can be directly transported from the oil depot to the ship's cabin through pipelines.

“No more slow loading by humans or machines.

"Resupplying coal to a large warship may take days, while resupplying fuel should be calculated in hours.

"More importantly, it can improve the overall sustained combat capability of warships.

"The coal-fired boiler is semi-open, requiring people and machines to continuously put coal into the boiler, and the coal can only burn on the bottom plane of the boiler.

“Oil-fired boilers can be closed and can be fed directly into the furnace through pipes and a spray system. The key is that the fuel can be burned throughout the entire space inside the furnace.

“There is no need to clean the ash in the furnace, and there is no need to frequently shut down the boiler to clean the coke ash on the boiler water pipes.

“Not only have the efficiency and energy density of the machine increased significantly, but it can also operate continuously and stably at full load, no longer limited by the physical strength of boiler workers.

“So the most critical part of the new warship design is to replace the new fuel power system.

“Then the density of firepower will be further increased.

“The gun density of the twin turrets is too low, and the space they occupy on the ship is still too large, so we need to further concentrate the guns.

“So try to design a triple or quadruple turret.

“Then all the main guns were concentrated on the central axis of the ship, so that all the guns could play a role when facing the enemy from the side.

"At the same time, we are designing more efficient mechanical ammunition hoists to continue to speed up the loading speed of all artillery pieces.

“Finally, the maximum speed is set at 50 kilometers per hour.

"At the same time, it must travel continuously for more than 10,000 kilometers at a speed of at least 30 kilometers per hour.

"At least we should be able to sail from Zhoushan Naval Port, cross the Pacific Ocean without resupply, and reach Cedar Valley (California).

“Using a fuel-powered system, it should be easy to hit this target, but coal is very difficult.

"The size of the ship, if put on the same level as an aircraft carrier, is about 15,000 tons.

"But we don't need to stick to the standards. We also need to determine the final ship tonnage based on the actual situation and needs."

The new battleship that Zhu Jianxuan requested was basically a mature form of the dreadnought, except that its tonnage, defense, and artillery level were only at the level of a large armored cruiser.

Since there is no need for larger artillery on the battlefield now, there is naturally no need to build larger warships and thicker armor.

A battleship with a full load displacement of 15,000 tons should be sufficient to meet actual needs.

What Zhu Jianxuan mentioned were all natural improvements, and in the eyes of the craftsmen before them, they were also the most normal choices.

They understood better than anyone else the advantages of the fuel-powered system over the coal-powered system, so they all agreed very seriously at this time:

"I obey your orders."

However, in the original history, the conversion of warship power systems from coal to oil has experienced many twists and turns.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the British Navy, the most powerful navy in the world, considered and hesitated on this issue for at least ten years before finally deciding to switch from coal-fired boilers to oil-fired boilers.

First, the British Empire was a large country with a huge business, and the coal industry depended on the livelihood of countless coal workers around the world, so the corresponding interest groups would oppose such changes through political channels. Second, Britain was a bourgeois democratic country, and there was no powerful person at the time who could forcefully promote changes that affected the interests of large groups.

The final replacement can be considered as a necessary change, because the Americans have already changed, and other countries will not waste time with the British.

The British Navy, which is a powerful country, always suffers the most when times of change come.

It is also the best time for other countries to catch up with the leader, Britain.

The current Ming Dynasty does not have these problems. The authority of Emperor Zhu Jianxuan is unquestionable, and the reforms he is promoting are very reasonable.

No one has ever stood up to ask how to deal with the coal industry, which is still expanding and under construction.

This is the problem they need to solve.

This is not a very troublesome thing. Military ships will switch to fuel power in the future, but civilian ships will not give up cheap coal immediately.

The existing coaling stations can continue to supply civilian ships in the future.

At the same time, the existing large number of steam-powered factories and the rapidly expanding power industry required more and more coal.

The production capacity withdrawn by military ships will not affect the stability of the entire coal industry.

After Zhu Jianxuan arranged the major projects of aircraft carriers and warships, he continued to arrange a number of smaller scientific research projects.

For example, electric washing machines and air conditioners.

For example, armored fighting vehicles, which are tanks and armored vehicles in previous lives.

For example, a safer new type of explosive, trinitrotoluene, formerly known as TNT.

For example, a submarine powered by a diesel engine and lead-acid batteries.

For example, thermal-powered torpedoes.

Zhu Jianxuan stayed in the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering for three days this time, and explained his arrangements to the craftsmen.

Then he returned to the Forbidden City to handle other daily government affairs.

He reviewed important matters that required his own decisions and also understood the progress of major construction projects in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

The most common things that can be seen are how many coal mines, textile factories, and flour mills have been built in various places, and the progress of major railway construction.

In slightly more special cases, such as the coal-to-firewood projects in Shanxi and Shaanxi, initial results have been achieved.

Shanxi and Shaanxi already have many coal mines, and with steam engines as power, they fully developed coal mines everywhere, and the speed of popularizing coal was much faster than in other provinces.

It has been more than seven years since it was officially implemented, and it is indeed about time that we can see the results.

According to reports from local officials, many places on the Loess Plateau are already lush green in the summer due to the supply of coal and restrictions on logging and grazing.

According to data obtained from monitoring stations in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the sediment content of the Yellow River has begun to decrease.

In addition to the local area, news from Australia, North America and Africa also frequently appears.

The total immigrant population in Australia has exceeded 10 million, the exploration of the entire Australian continent has been basically completed, and all the indigenous people have been centralized and controlled.

Zhu Jianxuan ordered two years ago to gradually reduce the number of immigrants going to Australia.

Although Australia's land carrying capacity is indeed not high, it should be able to accommodate 100 million people. The key is that Australia is now in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

There is no possibility for other countries to compete with Ming Dynasty for Australia.

The number of immigrants in the Ming Dynasty was more than twenty times that of Australian Aborigines, which could completely suppress the Aborigines.

Therefore, there is no need to continue to actively send immigrants to Australia. As important resources, immigrants should go more to Africa and North America.

It has been six years since the great development of Africa began. The financial support of the Ming Dynasty to foreign vassal states has been reduced to 40%, and it will officially end in four years.

The feudal lords who were determined to open up new territories for themselves have indeed made considerable gains in the past six years.

Now the geographical conditions of the entire interior of the African continent have been basically understood, and various vassal states are continuing to conquer and control the indigenous countries in the interior of Africa.

It is estimated that in a dozen years at most, the whole of Africa will be annexed and turned into the world of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the number of indigenous people in Africa was too large. At that time, there were an estimated 50 to 60 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, and enough native immigrants from the Ming Dynasty were needed to suppress them.

In the future, at least tens of millions of Ming Dynasty immigrants will have to be sent there in order to truly control this rich continent.

So immigration to Australia cannot be wasted.

Since the development direction of North America has been determined, Ming Dynasty has made adjustments to the arrangements for immigration to North America in the past three years.

In the future North American Central Capital, around the current Taipingwei, the number of immigrants rapidly increased from 100,000 to 500,000. They reclaimed wasteland in the surrounding area and were responsible for the construction of the Taipingwei industrial base.

Southwest of White Tiger Lake (Michigan Lake), the number of immigrants increased from 100,000 to 200,000.

He reclaimed land and cultivated crops in this very suitable place for reclamation, and was also responsible for digging a direct canal connecting White Tiger Lake (Michigan Lake) and Han River (Illinois River).

The new canal is designed to be five meters deep and is expected to be completed within the next three years.

On the southeast side of Qinglong Lake, the newly built Qinglongwei military farming area now gathers 200,000 immigrants, who are responsible for reclaiming wasteland and building the Qinglong Lake embankment.

The Qinglong Lake Dam is currently the largest project on the North American continent. Now the auxiliary dam on the side of the dam, that is, the river embankment located on the original lakeshore, has been basically completed.

The main dike that blocks the Qinglong Lake’s sea outlet, that is, the dike inside the main channel of the Laohe River (St. Lawrence River), is expected to be completed within the next three years.

Between Qinglong Lake (Lake Ontario) and Zhuque Lake (Lake Erie), the number of original Longquewei immigrants increased from 100,000 to 200,000.

While the local land reclamation continued, a ship lock canal was built based on the Longque River.

The design is to build four large ship locks that will be open to navigation after the water level of Qinglong Lake rises to 130 meters.

The interception of Longque River and the construction of the first ship lock have now been completed, and it is expected to be completed at the same time as the Qinglong Lake embankment.

The iron mining area next to Xuanwu Lake (Lake Superior) has also built a new settlement in the past three years, gathering 100,000 immigrants to open up wasteland and develop the Xuanwu Lake iron mine.

The Xuanwu Lake Iron Mine was put into production last year. Now steamships can carry the iron ore to Taipingwei along the waterways of Xuanwu Lake, Baihu Lake, Han River, Dahe River and Meihe River.

Taipingwei's large steel plant officially went into production at the end of this year, and the equally important steam engine factory also began trial production.

There were originally small shipyards in Taipingwei, Baihu Lake and Longque River, where wooden transport ships were built using the surrounding wood.

We are now gradually installing steam engines on these ships, and in the future we will be able to directly build steel-hulled steam ships.

Looking at the information that was gathered in front of him from all sides, Zhu Jianxuan felt that the whole world was filled with a very serious sense of division.

As far as the Ming Dynasty is concerned, the Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Sciences, which he directly leads, are already promoting the implementation of the technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution.

The technology used by the Ming Dynasty court and army was slightly behind the most advanced technology, but it was also in a state of rapid development.

Phonographs, amplifiers, radio broadcasts, and cameras had already existed, and telegraphs, telephones, and electric lights were also rapidly becoming popular, and we were entering an era similar to that of the early twentieth century.

However, most of the Ming Dynasty's civilian construction was concentrated in the era of the First Industrial Revolution.

The new things that ordinary people could directly experience were mainly coal and iron mines, steel mills, textile mills, flour mills, railways and trains.

The situation was similar to that in the 1850s and 1860s, with a gap of half a century between the military and the imperial court.

New things like the telegraph and the internal combustion engine were not enough to supply the army and the court, and they could not reach the general public in the short term.

Even if it was for civilian use, it would start from military farms and garrisons, rather than the free market.

Remote or inland areas without special planning by the imperial court are still not much different from the agricultural and handicraft era.

After all, twenty years ago, the Ming Dynasty could only be regarded as an agricultural country with highly developed local handicraft industries.

Even if there is a "prophet" like himself to guide industrialization, the time required for industrial construction will still be calculated in decades.

It may take another 20 to 30 years of construction for the products of the Second Industrial Revolution to be truly implemented among the people and for the entire Ming Dynasty to truly enter an industrial society.

The main reason is that the current Ming Dynasty is too big. Even its mainland is too big. Building a railway from south to north is a super project.

However, when the Ming Dynasty truly entered the industrial age and the achievements of the Second Industrial Revolution were truly unfolding, Europe's First Industrial Revolution should have just taken place.

By then, the level of industrialization of the entire Ming Dynasty will be dozens or even hundreds of years ahead of European countries.

They didn't even have steam engines and steam sailboats yet. Except for Britain, the First Industrial Revolution had not really started and they were still in the era of handicrafts and agriculture.

As for the indigenous peoples of Africa and America, there is no need to consider them at all. They will not have a future of their own independent development.

Due to the direct influence of this time traveler, the speed of technological iteration in the Ming Dynasty is too fast. In the future, the technological gap between the Ming Dynasty and other countries will probably be very exaggerated.

(End of this chapter)