latelenovela Chapter 53 The Problem of Warships
Chapter 53 The Problem of Warships
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After the matter of the new army and uniforms came to an end, Liang Xiaoming temporarily shifted his focus to the naval guns.
The launch of the first warship allowed the Bofu Shipyard to accumulate experience in building new types of galleons. This would significantly shorten the construction time for subsequent warships of the same tonnage and type. Liang Xiaoming optimistically estimated that the time could be reduced from more than half a year to about four months. The second and third warships were already under construction simultaneously, and the dry dock was large enough to start building more ships at the same time; unfortunately, there weren't enough shipwrights.
The casting of naval guns is also proceeding at full speed. Naval guns are different from field guns. If the existing 12-pounder mountain howitzers were placed on warships, they would only be able to scratch large ships, and at most hit a few small fishing boats.
According to Liang Xiaoming's vision, 500-ton warships, and even larger ones, could use the Caron gun as their main artillery. The Caron gun's advantages lie in its shorter barrel and larger caliber compared to cannons of the same weight, allowing it to fire larger and heavier shells. Furthermore, the shorter barrel enables faster reloading, significantly increasing firing speed. Its disadvantage is its short range, requiring close-range firing.
However, in Liang Xiaoming's view, the disadvantages of the Caron cannon were negligible in Chinese waters. During this period, only the Dutch had decent warships in the entire Chinese territorial waters, but their numbers were also small. Other naval forces mainly relied on boarding maneuvers, perhaps with the addition of fire ships. Even when firing within 100 meters, there was no need to worry about being counterattacked by heavy firepower. The casting process of the Caron cannon was also not complicated. Because the barrel was short and did not need to withstand high chamber pressure, the barrel walls could be made thinner, fully meeting the conditions for graphitization annealing. The casting method for 12-pounder mountain howitzers could be followed exactly.
However, it's not entirely without limitations. Calculations show that it cannot exceed the 32-pound standard. The weight of a long-barreled cannon is about 200 times the weight of the shell, while that of a caron gun is about 40 times. Therefore, a 32-pound cannon would weigh about 6400 pounds. With the gun mount and other accessories, the weight would be about two and a half tons. In contrast, a 32-pound caron gun would only weigh 1280 pounds, or about 580 kilograms. If it exceeds the 32-pound standard, for example, 48 pounds, then the weight and wall thickness would not be suitable for annealing.
A warship can't function incompletely, nor can it completely abandon cannons. Sometimes it needs to conduct shore bombardment, a task better suited to cannons. Additionally, cannons are necessary for firing chain shot to destroy enemy masts. So here's the problem: even a 12-pounder long-barreled naval cannon, with its length, weight, and wall thickness far exceeding that of a 12-pounder mountain howitzer, cannot be cast using graphitization annealing; it can only be cast using traditional methods.
However, current conditions prevent the smelting of gray cast iron, and the disadvantages of cannons made from white cast iron are undeniable. Lin Weiye would never use white cast iron to cast cannons. Moreover, even if the gray cast iron problem were solved, the Caron cannon could be cast directly from gray cast iron, since the graphitization annealing process is too inefficient and is only a stopgap measure.
The key to solving the problem lay in raising the furnace temperature, and the key to raising the furnace temperature lay in replacing charcoal with coke. However, Qiongzhou Prefecture only produced lignite, which was unsuitable for coking. Unable to solve this problem, Liang Xiaoming had no choice but to go back to Liu Ye—when in trouble, you turn to your superior!
Liu Ye was just thinking about having a few days of peace and quiet when Liang Xiaoming brought up this problem in front of him. He knew that this wish would not be fulfilled in the short term, and he would not be able to relax again.
He asked in frustration, "There's no coking coal in Qiongzhou. Where can we find it?"
“I told you before that Shanxi has the richest coal reserves, and it has coal that meets the needs of various uses. The problem is that the inland areas are too far away from us, so it's not realistic. The closest coastal area to us is Shandong.”
Liu Ye searched his memory and realized that Kong Youde's Dengzhou mutiny in history seemed to have occurred in winter. His mood worsened. It was already late August, and the twelfth lunar month was not far away. Going to Shandong at this time would be like plunging headlong into the vortex of a mutiny, and he might even lose his life. A mutiny of this scale was not a small-scale conflict involving a few hundred or a few thousand people. Both the rebel army and the government army had deployed tens of thousands of troops.
Hoping for the best, he asked, "Besides Shandong, are there any in Guangdong or Guangxi? What about Fujian?"
Liang Xiaoming bluntly exposed his attempt: "Don't try to take shortcuts. Guangdong and Fujian are not major coal-producing provinces. Even if there are a few small coal mines, the coal seams are too far from the surface. With the exploration conditions in this time and space, we can't find them, and even if we do, we don't have the resources to mine them. Shandong is the most famous coal-producing area among the coastal provinces, and there is a Longkou Coal Mine right by the sea. It produces exactly the bituminous coal we need, and it's a shallow coal mine. It's not small in scale, and it's convenient for sea transportation. There is no coal mine more suitable for us than this one."
"Dragon's Mouth? What exactly is that location?"
"I remember Longkou City is a county-level city in Yantai, right next to Penglai City..."
Liu Ye covered his eyes and sighed to the heavens—Penglai was the seat of Dengzhou Prefecture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which was also the prefectural city. Kong Youde's mutiny took place here!
He made a final effort: "Do we have to go north? Can't we go south? I remember there are large coal mines in Vietnam too."
Liang Xiaoming countered, "You mean Hongji Coal Mine, right?"
Actually, Liu Ye didn't know the name of the coal mine, but he vaguely remembered that there was such a coal mine in Vietnam. He nodded and said, "I think so. It's also a port, so sea transport must be very convenient, right?"
Liang Xiaoming sighed: "Hongji Coal Mine is a good mine, producing high-quality anthracite with thick coal seams and thin topsoil, which is conducive to open-pit mining. Its reserves are estimated at over two billion tons. It's Vietnam's most important coal base, accounting for 90% of the country's output. Unfortunately, anthracite is more suitable for fuel than coking. If we could apply steam engines on a large scale, it would be a treasure trove we absolutely must occupy. Right now, it's meaningless to us. Perhaps, once our metallurgical technology reaches a certain level, we could use it for blast furnace injection..."
"Alright." Liu Ye decided to accept his fate. "Since coke is an insurmountable obstacle, we have no choice but to face it head-on."
“However, taking such a big risk and traveling such a long distance just for coking coal seems a bit too much of a waste,” Liu Ye pondered. “I have to bring back something to make this trip worthwhile. You’re from Shandong, so help me think of something.” Deep down, he was a businessman, and maximizing profits was his guiding principle.
“My hometown is indeed Shandong, and Shandong has a lot of good things, but we can’t get anything in such a hurry, can we?” Liang Xiaoming was a little troubled. “Shandong is very rich in marine and mineral resources, and it is also the hometown of fruits. The output of cash crops such as cotton and flue-cured tobacco is also large. Qingdao beer is also famous throughout the country, but it’s not of much use to us right now. You can’t bring back several boatloads of seafood. There will be even more of that in Hainan.”
"Tobacco and beer?" Liu Ye noticed these two items. "You know what, once Shandong stabilizes, we can consider developing these two industries. If done well, they can be a source of wealth."
Liang Xiaoming shrugged: "I admit you have a wild imagination, but that's something for the future, it has nothing to do with the present."
Liu Ye pondered deeply: "Let me think about it. At that time, there seemed to be a high-ranking official in Shandong named Sun Yuanhua, a disciple of Xu Guangqi, who was training firearms troops in Dengzhou. Kong Youde's rebellion involved taking away the Hongyi cannons and craftsmen, which allowed Huang Taiji's siege capabilities to advance by leaps and bounds overnight..."
Liang Xiaoming's eyes lit up: "Now that you mention it, I remember. Sun Yuanhua has a Portuguese mercenary instructor group that specializes in teaching artillery technology. If you could get these people over, they would be a valuable asset. Although I can find a way to cast cannons, my smoothbore cannon operation and firing techniques are no match for these professionals from this time and space. With them training the artillery, our artillery level can be raised several notches."
Liu Ye clapped his hands: "That makes sense. How about we bring Sun Yuanhua over too? He seems to be one of the few technical officials among the high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty. He understands firearms, values firearms, and has experience governing a region."
Liang Xiaoming replied, "Whether you deal with Sun Yuanhua or not is your business. I only care about these mercenary instructors, haha."
Liu Ye stroked his chin: "In that case, if we can take advantage of the chaos in Shandong to bring these people back, that would be a significant gain. It would be even better if we could find a way to change the original course of history and prevent the cannons and craftsmen of Dengzhou from falling into Huang Taiji's hands."
Liang Xiaoming laughed and said, "If you can do that, it would be really awesome."
Liu Ye's spirits lifted: "Suddenly I felt that going to Shandong was very meaningful, and a sense of historical responsibility and mission arose spontaneously."
"Very good, very good. Go and complete your historical mission, and bring me back some coal while you're at it."