Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 253 The World's Advanced Cannon Casting Technology

In the large conference room

King Zheng Guohui of Chu fiddled with the guns in their hands with the generals, chatting and laughing while discussing for a long time. He found many problems with the French 1866 Chassepot striker rifle and left them for imitation and improvement.

Everyone knows

It is impossible for the Chu State to replace its entire army with new rifles in the next two or three years at least, as this would be a huge expense.

An American-made Springfield M1861 rifle was worth 19 silver dollars. The State of Chu got a great bargain after the American Civil War and bought 2 rifles at the price of scrap iron, with each rifle costing less than silver dollars.

This kind of good thing that happens once in a century can only be thought about in the future.

In addition to equipping the troops, this huge number of weapons were also stored in varying quantities in the arsenals of various prefectures and counties.

Some government treasuries have three to five hundred branches, while others have one to two thousand branches, to prepare for emergencies.

The total number of stored firearms is about 2.7, and the remaining 5.8 Springfield M1861 rifles are stored in army fortresses and arsenals in various places as weapons reserves.

The current Manila Arsenal basically does not produce new rifles, but focuses on repairing and producing accessories.

The main product is gun barrels, with a monthly output of more than 6000 rifled gun barrels. After they are produced and coated with butter, they are stored in the warehouse.

The production of related light weapons is planned to be shut down by the end of the year, and some machine tools will be sealed after maintenance and put into use when needed.

There is enough space to store 70,000 to 80,000 gun barrels.

The King of Chu, accompanied by a group of generals, inspected the light weapons production line, which was nearing a halt. In the vast factory, only a few dozen workers remained, diligently machining gun barrels.

Factory Director Wu Tingyu said with a look of deep regret, "Your Majesty, our factory has two sets of light weapons production equipment, capable of producing 6000 rifles per month. Now most of them are vacant, which is a real shame."

Upon hearing this, King Zheng Guohui of Chu couldn't help but laugh. These equipments were also purchased from a bankrupt American weapons factory, and the price was only slightly higher than selling them for scrap metal.

Just seal it up. After all, the Chu State does not have that many troops and cannot use so many weapons.

He said;
"The production capacity of guns and artillery is a must. This is related to national defense. No one knows whether a powerful enemy will invade, and the State of Chu cannot take this risk.

Having production capacity is one thing, using it is another.

The weapons you produce are of poor quality, and these generals won't want them. You have to improve the quality."

The generals echoed the King of Chu's words and pushed the factory director Wu Tingyu aside.

After inspecting several light weapons workshops, King Zheng Guohui of Chu, surrounded by a group of generals, passed by the production workshop of paper-wrapped ammunition, where many workers were busy with production.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu and others did not stop and went straight to the artillery production workshop at the rear.

The technological content of paper-wrapped fixed ammunition production is too low, there is no need to look at it, it is a pure waste of time.

In the artillery production workshop, hundreds of workers are busy, including many white people, who are technicians brought in from the bankrupt American gun factories.

America was in depression after the war, and many people lost their jobs. The Chu State offered a stable job that was not high-paying, which was still very attractive.

If you are willing to spend some money, the effect will be very significant.

The artillery production workshop is very tall and has a heavy steel crane, which is used to lift heavy artillery of incredible weight, including the 15-inch Dahlgren long-barreled smoothbore coastal gun and the 10-inch long-barreled rifled gun, which are the most advanced coastal heavy artillery in the world today.

The Manila Arms Factory accepted white engineers and, in return, their rich experience in casting cannons. This allowed the weapons factory to avoid any detours and directly skip the process of trial and error, obtaining mature casting technology for cannons of various calibers and possessing world-leading cannon casting capabilities.

in this era

There are no textbooks. All the experience is in the engineers' minds, the experience of successfully casting cannons time and time again, which is now brought to Manila.

A new process for casting artillery barrels designed by American engineer Thomas Jackson Rodman made it possible to manufacture large-caliber (note; up to 20 inches) strong and reliable artillery.

Through a series of experiments, Rodman invented the hollow casting process, which is the world's leading cannon casting process.

Hollow castings are cooled from the inside rather than the outside, resulting in a more uniform metal crystal structure and a lack of internal stress, making the casting stronger.

To this end, he designed a special casting mold that was cooled by running water on the inside and heated on the outside to prevent the outer layer from cooling quickly.

During the test, the large-caliber artillery produced using Rodman's method fired more than 1000 times, while the barrel of the same caliber and wall thickness cast using traditional technology exploded after dozens of firings.

Such a significant improvement in artillery performance attracted great attention from the military and was vigorously promoted during the war.

After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the United States began mass-producing 8-inch, 10-inch, 15-inch, and 20-inch Rodman guns. The majority of these were 10-inch guns, totaling 1300 pieces. Through various channels, the State of Chu procured 47 of these guns at a low price and subsequently equipped them in various coastal forts, becoming one of its mainstay coastal artillery units.

The United States cast 15 323-inch guns during the war. After the war, the State of Chu purchased 21 of them through various channels. Eight of them were equipped on the navy's heavy ironclad ships, and the remaining 8 were equipped on coastal artillery forts.

Even so, there is still a big gap.

The Manila Arsenal planned to produce another 30 15-inch long-barreled coastal guns to equip the main artillery forts.

In the steaming artillery foundry, King Zheng Guohui of Chu saw the hollow casting mold invented by Rodman. He and a group of generals watched the workers at work with great interest.

The so-called "hollow casting" process is a process in which a mold is first cast around the core of the gun and cooled with running water.

The hot molten steel that has melted into orange-red is placed in a ladle, which is lifted by a crane. One side of the ladle is lifted, and the hot molten steel is carefully poured into the mold.

In an instant, sparks flew everywhere, making people's eyelids twitch.

The first part cast from the Rodman mold is the inside of the barrel. After hardening, it is removed from the mold and transported to a large lathe by a crane.

Driven by a steam engine
The large lathe runs at high speed, performing a series of processing such as cutting and drilling on the demolded gun barrel parts. The inner wall of the gun barrel must be processed to be as smooth as a mirror without any bumps.

The processed barrel parts have to be put into the mold again, and the orange-red high-temperature molten steel is injected again. When the outer layer of metal cools down, the physical effect causes it to shrink inward, and continues to apply pressure to the already hardened inner layer.

This is like adding layer upon layer of steel hoops around the barrel, greatly strengthening the gun body so that it can withstand high-pressure explosions and fire 1000 shells without any problems.

This solves the biggest drawback of modern cannon casting technology, which is that the gun barrel is prone to bursting.

After spending a little money, they got such advanced cannon casting technology. Watching the cannon taking shape bit by bit, the generals present were all pointing and talking excitedly.

The Chu State's fortresses and coastal artillery batteries were all under the control of the army, among which the 15-inch long-barreled coastal artillery and the 10-inch Rodman gun were the main force. These two types of coastal heavy artillery are also the main products of the current Manila Arsenal.

30 guns of the former and 140 guns of the latter need to be produced to meet current needs.

According to the production capacity of the Manila Arsenal

Five 15-inch long-barreled coastal guns can be produced every three months, and it takes one and a half years to complete the production task.

Five 5-inch Rodman guns could be produced per month, and it would take two and a half years to complete the production plan of 10 guns.

Ten 10-inch Rodman guns can be produced per month, with an annual output of 8 guns. The current demand is 120, all of which are coastal fortress guns.

With the subsequent establishment of coastal defense fortresses, more fortress coastal artillery will be needed.

Seeing these huge guys flashing with cold light, King Zheng Guohui of Chu and the generals became excited and talked about them. It turned out that guns and cannons are indeed what men love.

Looking at the hot production scene in front of him, Zheng Guohui felt full of a sense of accomplishment.

After the American Civil War, he was the first person to send people to the United States to pick up scraps. With his accumulated property and a million-dollar loan from the Wan Guo Tong Bao Bank, he laid the foundation for the Chu State's current strong industrial foundation.

Whether it is heavy industry, light industry or weapons industry, the State of Chu has a very high starting point and is basically at the forefront of the current era. This is the confidence of Zheng Guohui in developing industry.

Looking around the entire Nanyang region
The State of Chu was the country with the highest industrial level and the most complete industrial system. It is now in the stage of introduction, digestion and absorption. These industrial capabilities will eventually converge into a powerful driving force to promote the rapid development of the national economy.

recent months
The State of Chu had already exported many industrial products to neighboring countries, ranging from small items such as matches, needles and thread, buttons and canned fruits to large items such as steam engines and small steamers, and there were already examples of export transactions.

That’s right, the Shuguang Power Machinery Factory established by the Chu State has begun to produce various models of steam engines, and there is a record of exporting them to Singapore.

The approach adopted was the same, that is, to purchase all the equipment from the bankrupt American machinery factory, pack it up along with the engineers, and ship it back for assembly and production.

Although this model seems to cost a little more money, it is really worth it.

In today's era

People have absolutely no awareness of intellectual property rights, but they still have a protective mentality. White engineers are no exception and will never open their hearts and share their experiences.

The best way is to hire these extremely experienced white engineers, even if it costs a little more.

The Shuguang Power Machinery Factory was able to produce the first batch of qualified steam engines so quickly after the equipment was installed, which was absolutely inseparable from the contributions of these white engineers, who played a vital role.

Fortunately, the State of Chu is not short of money now. There are copper mines with such large reserves that can be mined, which are all pure silver.

As long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem.

(End of this chapter)