Before Qin Lang opened the office door, he was about to check on the truck that had returned with him back to 1893 - for a while, he wanted to throw it into the sea or destroy it, but in the end he hid it, first in the desert on the border, and then in a warehouse that only he could open - but as soon as he opened the door, he saw Claude standing outside, raising a hand as if he was about to knock on the door. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Qin Lang raised his eyebrows slightly. "Mr. Claude, what's the matter with you?"

"Uh......" Claude hesitated. You're ready to go out, boss? ”

"Yes. I'm going to the warehouse. ”

"Ahh ”

"Come in, Mr. Claude." Qin Lang turned around and walked behind the desk. He was not in a hurry to go to the warehouse to check on the truck, since Claude had something to look for him, Qin Lang felt that he could solve this matter first, it wouldn't take long, and he was also interested in what Claude was going to mention.

He returned to his chair and sat down. Claude walked into the office, closed the door, and sat down in front of him.

Qin Lang started first. "So, what do you have to do with me, Mr. Claude?" He laughed and guessed, "Let me guess, you already have the savings to buy a ferry ticket?" ”

Claude knew what he was talking about. He joined Umbrella during the lowest period of his life: his wife suddenly ran away from home and was fired from the Philadelphia Navy Yard. So he planned to do the other adventurous Westerners who wandered the far East for a while, working in a company just to buy a ticket to Shanghai.

At that time, his decision was very simple, as long as he saved enough money to buy a ferry ticket, he would immediately resign - Qin Lang knew his intentions, so he asked him, "Do you already have the savings to buy a ferry ticket?" ”

Claude laughed, a little self-deprecating. "I'm not going to Shanghai anymore, boss. San Diego is a good fit for me and the job is good, so I'm not going to quit. ”

"A very reasonable decision." Qin Lang smiled, "Since the purpose of your coming here has nothing to do with resignation, then what is it?" ”

"It's about our new artillery."

"How?"

"I've heard that the Marines have a lot of interest in it." Of course, this is still a secret in the company, but Claude has his own news channels, he has many classmates who serve in the Marine Corps, and he also has some acquaintances in the Admiralty who are not high-ranking but absolutely well-informed, so he does not surprise Qin Lang to know the news.

"What do you think about that, Mr. Claude?" He wanted to know.

"According to what I've got, the Marine Corps is planning to replace the bulky and slow-firing old guns that we are equipped with with new ones." Claude was sure that he believed the news was absolutely accurate and had no false component.

Qin Lang also believed. However, he did not trust Claude's sources, but his own judgment; From the very beginning, he knew that the Army and the Marine Corps would choose mortars.

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are still equipped with old field artillery, and of course the European Army is also equipped with retired, but European countries are designing new tube-detached guns, and they will soon succeed, while in the United States, although the War Department has a similar program, Congressional appropriations are not as satisfactory.

The technical department received very little funding, and most of it was spent on large-caliber artillery used by coastal artillery, and field artillery received a pitiful amount of research funding

There is no money, and there are no good weapons, so the US army had to continue to use old artillery and some new guns with poor performance until it participated in World War I - Qin Lang knows that in history, almost all of the field artillery used by the US Army in World War I was designed or manufactured by France, and even during World War II, several main guns used by the US Army still have traces of French artillery on them.

But now, the mortar that was born ahead of schedule gives Washington another option, at least the Marines have taken a fancy to it.

The situation is optimistic...... It seems so.

Claude sighed. "I must note that although the rate of fire of the new artillery completely exceeded the requirements of the Marine Corps, its range was ...... It's not even half of what it wants. ”

"The Marines want its new artillery to have a range of four thousand yards?"

"Four thousand five hundred yards."

"I have to say, it's almost impossible to achieve." Qin Lang reconsidered. Four thousand five hundred yards is too difficult - even during the Second World War, the maximum range of an eighty-one millimeter mortar was only about three thousand three hundred yards, and the range of today's mortars can only be much closer.

"Yes, boss, but I don't think the Admiralty bureaucrats and artillery experts think so, and it's unlikely that the Marines will like a weapon with half the range of enemy artillery." Claude said regretfully. He knew very well the ideas of bureaucrats, artillery specialists, unit commanders and ordinary soldiers, who would never compromise on the issue of range.

And according to the practice of this era, the range marked by ordinary artillery is actually only the range when it is fired horizontally, and if it is fired in a curved way, their range can be nearly doubled, so the disadvantage of the mortar in range will become more obvious, and the army's dissatisfaction with it will increase exponentially.

This is a serious problem.

"It's a serious problem." Qin Lang reluctantly admitted. He didn't expect that he would be trapped, but this is also a helpless thing, involving leapfrog progress in many aspects, including propellant technology, which cannot be completed by one person or one company.

And the firing range has always been a disadvantage of mortars compared to conventional artillery, even after a hundred years, so it simply cannot be solved.

However, Qin Lang didn't care much about this issue; While Claude cares, and others may care, he doesn't care at all because there's no need at all. Even with the addition of the U.S. Army, it is possible that the U.S. Army will end up buying fewer mortars than the Abyssinians; They are small customers, and it's not worth wasting time, money, and effort on meeting their demands.

Moreover, their requirements simply cannot be fulfilled.

That being the case, then his choice is to bypass it, and most of the time, this always works.

"Maybe we can emphasize to the Admiralty the lightness of the mortar." Qin Lang tapped the table with his fingers slowly and rhythmically, lowered his head and pondered, "Although I'm not sure, it's possible that the Marine Corps will need an artillery gun that can quickly move the firing position...... Mr. Claude," he looked up, "do you think there is such a possibility?" ”

"I'm not sure, boss, but you can try." Claude said embarrassedly. Despite the fact that he expressed that an attempt could be made, in fact he was rather pessimistic about the possibility that the Admiralty and Marine Corps would accept the idea of "mobility for range"; Theoretically, they should see the opposite.

Qin Lang saw it. "Are you pessimistic?"

"A little bit."

"Me too, but it's not worth our attention. Of course," Qin Lang continued, "in order to make a good impression on the Admiralty, we still have to make all the preparations, and at the same time make some improvements to the mortars." ”

"Yes, boss." Claude nodded.

So he added: "And as you know, we haven't installed sighting equipment for mortars yet." While the Abyssinians won't care, the Marines will, so we should put sights on it as soon as possible. ”

Claude had a little bad feeling, but he nodded anyway. "That's right, boss."

"I want you to do the work, Mr. Claude."

"As you wish, boss." That's all Claude can answer. As one of the heads of the company's new weapons development department, who else can afford such a thing but him? It was impossible for Browning or Novotny to do it.

"I hope you can start these jobs soon, you know, we don't have a lot of time." Qin Lang finally said, "After you finish these tasks, I will give you a long vacation." ”

"Vacation?"

"Yes, a holiday. I recommend...... Of course, it's more important that you want to, but I still recommend a trip to Guangzhou Bay for a while. ”

"I don't think it's a good idea." Claude grunted. Going to Guangzhou Bay? This was obviously not just a vacation, he felt that Qin Lang had prepared a new task for him.

However, as an employee of the company, he has no right to refuse, although the law does allow him to do so, but obviously, Qin Lang will not recognize that he has such rights - except that unlike ordinary workers, he will try some very tempting conditions to entice him to give up those rights - such as promotions or high bonuses.

Claude wisely chose to accept Qin Lang's arrangement, and then left.

Qin Lang glanced at his watch. With plenty of time to go to the warehouse for routine maintenance of the trucks, he got up and prepared to leave the office - but sadly, he didn't get any time to get to the warehouse today.

The secretary appeared in front of him with a telegram. "A telegram from South Africa from Mr. Duncan and Mr. O'Connor, sir."

The Black Swan has finally arrived in South Africa.

(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the WWW.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )