On Deng Zixuan's desk, there was a model of a torpedo. A pile of information was piled up next to the model, and Deng Zixuan concentrated on checking the relevant data of the torpedo boat. At this time, Pei Gejin walked in, and Deng Zixuan looked up and saw Pei Gejin about to open his mouth and hurriedly said, "Wait!" Let me guess? There must be good news, your expression tells me! Pei Gejin said excitedly: "It's good news, today Deng Qiang officially assembled the torpedo, and the success of the torpedo means that we can produce torpedo boats in large quantities!" ”

"When is Shiyan?" "Position the day after tomorrow!" "I'll go myself!" Deng Zixuan's attention to torpedo boats was simply obsessive. Because this is the only weapon to break the blockade of the coastal sea by foreign warships. Offshore shipping must be restored, and the harassment of the coast by foreign warships must be curbed, so hopes are pinned on torpedo boats. "Commander-in-chief, the torpedo boat is a wooden steamship with a steel skeleton, and its protection is too poor." Pei Gejin said worriedly.

Deng Zixuan said helplessly: "At present, we can't produce ironclad torpedo boats. Torpedo boats require high speed and agility, but the bottleneck of our steam engine power cannot meet the high speed of torpedo boats. The steel skeleton wooden structure, due to the light hull very haode compensated for the power problem of the steam engine. Our torpedo boats can reach speeds of up to 20 knots, which is quite remarkable. At that time, we will use wolf pack tactics to deal with foreign warships. ”

"If you go into battle, the losses will be great?" Pei Ge said solemnly. "The loss is definitely big, but you have to look the other way around. If we exchange 10 torpedo boats for one battleship, the foreigners will not be able to afford it. My aim is not to destroy the foreign fleet, but to prevent foreign warships from operating in our coastal waters. As long as we kill a few warships of the foreigners, the warships of the foreigners will escape, and our coastal transportation will be restored. ”

"Hey! When will we be able to produce ironclad battleships! Pei Gejin sighed. Deng Zixuan said with a smile: "Don't worry, there will be it, at present, we have the conditions for the production of ironclad battleships, production capacity, and the steel used in battleships." As for the inability to produce ironclad battleships, we have encountered three bottlenecks. First, we must produce steel to meet the needs of guns and cannons, and second, to meet the needs of railway lines and steam engines. Third, the iron ore resources in the occupied areas are limited, and it is impossible to expand the scale of production. ”

"Didn't you find out that there are a lot of iron ore resources in Panzhihua, Sichuan?" Pei Ge asked. Deng Zixuan shook his head and said: "The vast majority of the iron ore in Panzhihua is associated ore, and the smelting is very complicated. The blast furnace of the Dongguan Iron and Steel Plant cannot be smelted at all, and if a new blast furnace is built, the gains outweigh the losses. Therefore, the steel plant can only be built on the spot, and the Panzhihua Iron and Steel Plant will need 3 years at the earliest to have production capacity. At present, Hainan Island is occupied by the British army, and seeing that the richest iron ore resources cannot be used, we must break the coastal blockade of foreigners and take Hainan Island back as soon as possible. ”

Pei Gejin said: "If the torpedo boat torpedo passes through Shiyan, the next step is large-scale manufacturing, and the naval personnel will operate and train to form combat effectiveness in half a year at the earliest." Deng Zixuan said: "My idea is that while hunting and training, as long as the combat effectiveness is formed, it will be put into actual combat, and our navy must grow in actual combat, even if it is to pave a road to victory with blood." Our navy must complete the road of hundreds of years in Western countries in just 10 years, and can only grow stronger in the test of war, and in order to build a new China, our generation must pay tremendous sacrifices. ”

Deng Zixuan's face was grim, and there was a sense of tragedy in his words. He knew in his heart that the cruelty of fighting at sea was dozens of times more cruel than on land, and if a warship was sunk, all the personnel could be killed. But the dream of building a strong navy has been haunting and growing stronger since Deng Zixuan crossed over. It is his bounden duty to let China's blue navy gallop across the four oceans.

At the mouth of the Pearl River, several steam warships are cruising. Deng Zixuan and Pei Gejin on the command ship, Shen Baozhen, Minister of Shipping, Liu Buzhan, deputy commander of the Offshore Fleet, Deng Qiang, director of the Ordnance Administration, and Deng Xiang, director of the torpedo boat manufacturing plant and concurrently chief engineer, stood on the deck. A new torpedo boat in the left front accompanies the command ship. In the distance, a captured foreigner gunboat was floating in the breaking waves, and it was obvious that there was no one on this gunboat, and it was to be used as a target ship.

Deng Qiang, director of the Ordnance Administration, broke the short silence and said: "Commander-in-chief, the torpedo boat is named the Wild Wolf series, and the first torpedo boat is 0010. The boat has a displacement of 60 tons and a maximum speed of 20 knots. The left and right decks are each loaded with torpedo canisters and carry two torpedoes at a time. The torpedo has a diameter of 380 mm, the warhead is charged with high-explosive 30 kg, it can reach speeds of up to 18 knots in water, and the sailing range is 850 meters. We are an improvement on the British Blitz torpedo boat, which is propelled by compressed air and completely surpasses the British torpedo boat in service. ”

Deng Qiang introduced it in detail, with a black beard on his lips, showing his old age. Deng Zixuan nodded with satisfaction, and his eyes turned to Deng Xiang. Deng Xiang gave a detailed introduction to the internal structure of the torpedo boat. “haha！ I really didn't expect that we would be able to produce such an advanced torpedo boat, and the old man couldn't wait to personally drive the torpedo boat into battle! Shen Baozhen couldn't help but brush his beard and praised.

"Commander-in-Chief, 0010 is ready, can we begin?" Liu Buzhan asked in a blue admiral's uniform. Deng Zixuan nodded. "Order, boat 0010 moves forward at full speed, target the gunboat in front of you!" Liu Buzhan gave the order loudly, the flag soldier waved the command flag, and after a while, there was a roar in the left front, and I saw that the torpedo boat began to accelerate forward.

Deng Zixuan took the telescope to look at it, and the wide Pearl River Estuary was unobstructed. Due to the blockade of the coastal zone by foreigners, there was no other ship activity on the sea where the Pearl River Estuary meets the Lingding Ocean. When the torpedo boat reached firing range, a torpedo burst through the air, aiming directly at the gunboat swinging in front. After the torpedo boat fired the torpedo, a beautiful left full rudder, the torpedo boat drew a half-arc and turned gorgeously, leaving a semi-circular wave on the sea.

I saw the torpedo breaking the waves on the water, and after about 700 meters, I kissed the tail of the gunboat. With a dull explosion, the stern of the gunboat suddenly pouted, and then it fell apart. You must know that explosives explode in water are several times more powerful than exploding in air. With the sound of violent explosions, the smoke of gunpowder filled the air, and the gunboat was instantly reduced to fragments, which shows how powerful it was. Although the gunboat is a wooden gunboat with a steel skeleton, the shiyan effect is fully displayed.

A cheer erupted on the deck, and Deng Qiang and Deng Xiang hugged each other, crying with joy. Perhaps they know best in their hearts how much effort and energy they have devoted to torpedoes and torpedo boats in more than a year, and how many failures and setbacks they have faced. Deng Zixuan did not show a crazy side, and the most gratifying thing for him was that the disciples had become talented and shouldered the mission. What's the most important thing? Talent is always the most important. At present, all walks of life need talents, and it seems that the reserve of a large number of elite talents is the top priority.

"Deputy Commander Liu!" "Here!" Liu Buzhan stood up and faced Deng Zixuan. "The success of the first live-fire exercise does not mean that there are no problems. The next step is to face mass manufacturing. You have to organize the training of sailors in rotation, you have to organize live ammunition target shooting, and if you find problems in the training, you will be able to improve the torpedo and torpedo boats. I ask that by the middle of next year, the 1st Brigade of Torpedo Boats will have real combat capabilities! "Report to the commander-in-chief, and your subordinates promise to complete the task!" Liu Bujan's black and red face was shining brightly.

After the live-fire exercise, Deng Zixuan personally met with all the officers and men of the 0010 boat and encouraged them to make persistent efforts and train hard. He then shook hands with each of the sailors, and the atmosphere was very warm. The command ship docked at the Baishitan Wharf in Dongguan, and Deng Zixuan said goodbye to everyone and boarded the wharf with Deng Qiang and went to the General Administration of Ordnance. The Ordnance Administration is next to the arsenal.

The General Administration of Ordnance is a three-storey imitation Gothic building, which is a newly built building, showing a strong Western flavor. At present, the General Administration of Ordnance is both an office and a scientific research institution, and a large number of scientific research personnel are gathered here, many of whom are foreigners with high noses and blue eyes. Although the military junta is currently fighting against Western countries, these foreign engineers were all pre-war and were forcibly requisitioned.

"Sir, at present, the relevant diesel engine research and development team has been established, do you want to inspect it?" In private, Deng Qiang called Mr. to show closeness. "I'm also a layman about diesel engines, so let's go to your office!" Entering the office and sitting down, Deng Qiang personally painted a cup of tea for Deng Zixuan and said: "Sir, there is good news from Shanghai, they have successfully refined diesel. ”

"That's good news!" Deng Zixuan smiled. "Sir, diesel samples have been sent, and I promise to develop an internal combustion engine as soon as possible!" Deng Zixuan said: "Although the internal combustion engine and the steam engine are similar in the work part, the difference is that the internal combustion engine uses liquid fuel and air to mix to push the cylinder to do work. Twenty years ago, internal combustion engines appeared in Western countries, but they were not perfect. The theoretical research of the piston internal combustion engine is very lacking, and the raw materials and precision machining are not up to the mark, so we have to go a long way. ”

Deng Zixuan said: "Regarding the internal combustion engine, give you 5 years." You must not only constantly improve theoretically, but also make major breakthroughs in raw materials and precision machining. You have to know that the birth of an internal combustion engine will cover many areas, so you can't rush it. Don't be afraid of trouble, be shiyan repeatedly. In the future, our internal combustion engines will not only be installed on torpedo boats, but also on a large scale, and in the future, our warships will directly transnational steam engines and produce internal combustion engine warships, and we must be at the forefront of shijie in this field. ”

In fact, Deng Zixuan did not state the wider use of internal combustion engines, future cars, tanks, and airplanes. And all this is inseparable from the internal combustion engine, now is the initial stage, theory first, building a team of scientific research elites is a top priority.