NFBE Chapter 401: The First Piece of Armored Steel
Chapter 401: The First Piece of Armored Steel
As the thermal power plant officially started generating electricity, the steel rolling mill also began production.
The motors and conveyor belts started working, and the steel ingots refined by Changzhi Iron and Steel Plant gradually entered the cold rolling mill and began to be gradually cold rolled into 200mm thick steel plates.
When the 200mm thick steel plate was pulled down from the workbench by the conveyor belt, Yu Zhengang touched the steel plate with his hand and asked Yu Ye in amazement: "Teacher, do we really need to use such thick steel plates to make tank armor?"
It was not until yesterday that Li Zhengang realized that Yu Ye was joking when he asked him to be in charge of the tractor factory, and that the real thing he was in charge of was the tank production factory.
When he learned that he was the director of a tank factory, he almost shook with excitement.
Soon he realized another problem. He was just an engineer at a smelting plant. How could he be made the director of a tank factory?
It's not really modesty. Li Zhengang feels it's a little unreal and a little guilty.
However, there is no way. If it were not for the teacher's recommendation, he would probably still be studying his smelting engineering and electroslag remelting technology.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with studying electroslag remelting technology, but Li Zhengang, the director of this tank factory, feels that he can see results more quickly.
"It's only 200mm. Is it thick?"
Yu Ye rolled his eyes at his student, thinking that he really had never seen the world. What the hell was going on here was nothing.
"No, teacher, the enemy's armor is only 12mm thick. We are going for 200mm. Is that appropriate? Is that reasonable?"
In the past few days, Li Zhengang has been frantically catching up on a lot of knowledge about armor, and has a relatively simple concept of the Japanese tanks.
However, just looking at the armor alone, Li Zhengang felt that his teacher was really crazy.
This thickness is already 16 times that of the Japanese armor, and with the 37mm caliber artillery of the Japanese tanks, it is impossible to penetrate this 200mm thick armor.
Yu Ye didn’t want to pay attention to his student, so he said unhappily: “The diesel engine I designed can reach 700 horsepower, so what’s wrong with thicker armor?
We have spent so much time and effort on this engine, why don't I let our comrades enjoy it?
Don't compare it to the Japanese's 100-plus horsepower junk."
Li Zhengang was so angry that he lost his temper.
And not only is he temperless, he is also speechless.
Yu Ye took out the small hammer that was attached to his butt and gently knocked on the rolled steel plate twice. The sound was unusually crisp and pleasant.
It sounds good.
Good sounding steel means good steel.
"Except that the size of the steel plate is acceptable, there is no other advantage to speak of. The carburizing process is also not up to standard, anyway, it is only slightly better than the Japanese's small bean.
If this armor is used to build a tank and placed on the European battlefield, it will be just a toy.
We still need to develop nickel alloy steel or optimize our carburizing process. The toughness and strength of this armor steel must be increased by at least 30-40%. "
While Yu Ye was tapping the piece of armor steel with a small hammer, he was analyzing the pros and cons of this first piece of armor steel with Li Zhengang.
Of course, there are basically only disadvantages and almost no advantages.
Li Zhengang held a small notebook and wrote down every sentence the teacher said. Basically, he wrote down every word Yu Ye said and would take it home to think carefully about it.
"Teacher, should we send this piece of steel back into the furnace and redo it or something?" Li Zhengang asked tentatively.
"Why should we remelt it? We don't have enough resources now. Aren't you wasting them? Arrange for someone to carry this piece of steel to the tractor factory.
Although this piece of armor steel is garbage, it is a very good training material.
Let the workers in our tractor factory learn how to cut, weld, and connect these armors into a qualified set of armor."
Yu Ye explained.
"Okay, teacher, I'll do it right away."
Li Zhengang hurriedly arranged for people to carry the armored steel to the tractor factory. Since there was no suitable trailer or truck at the moment, he called on a group of strong young men to carry it over on their shoulders.
Yu Ye felt strange when he saw this group of strong young men who were sweating even in the deep winter, and everyone was shouting as they carried the armored steel to the tractor factory.
This is almost a hand-kneading method to rub out a 59 modified car.
This difficulty is not ordinary.
Right now Yu Ye has only managed to initially fix the engine and armor system, and the engine has not yet found a suitable tungsten alloy for its key wear-resistant components, and the strength of the armor steel is far from that of the real 59 modified.
In addition, there are still many systems that have not been finalized, including the driving system, hydraulic system, artillery of appropriate caliber, loading system, suspension system, and so on.
If the workers in the tank production factory really need to fully understand this matter, it would be impossible without two or three years.
Therefore, Yu Ye planned not to let them understand it fully first, but to simplify the structure of the current version of the 59 modified in the simplest and crudest way. All unnecessary things would be removed or replaced, and a 59 modified would be built first.
However, this time the 59 modification is not to strengthen it, but to weaken it.
In a nutshell, as long as it works, what else do you need a bicycle for?
In particular, the first two or three prototypes were not intended to be used in combat, but for training. Suitable tank soldiers had to be selected from the cavalry company and trained non-stop 24 hours a day.
People can stop, but cars cannot!
At the same time, these two or three prototypes are also a training ground for the workers in the tank factory. Only by constantly causing failures can they solve the problems and discover them.
The two or three tanks that Yu Ye plans to build now will be props for tank soldiers and tank factory workers to torture each other.
Practice is always the best teacher for learning technology. Yu Ye planned to let them torture each other for two or three months. During this process, the tank soldiers would become familiar with driving and the workers in the tank factory would become familiar with maintenance.
Moreover, during these two or three months, Yu Ye planned to add back all the necessary facilities that were deleted in the early stage, and finally form the 41 modified version that belonged to the Eighth Route Army in the 59 era.