Although the enthusiasm for the "Type 59" has subsided, Dussaint himself is still quite concerned about the open-top firepower point.

As a college student living in modern China, Dussand, like many other people his age, has a unique "interest" and "hobby" and even "enthusiasm" for weapons and equipment. And such a basis determines that he is unlikely to look at such a thing as an "open-top tank".

Neither the Empire nor the Confederates are currently in the habit of using liquid fuels. Molotov cocktails are probably not to be feared for the time being - but the grenades are not a small part of the army's equipment.

Within the Imperial Army system, there were even specialized grenadier regiments equipped with high-pressure steam-assisted throwing equipment that could be used about twenty times. After rigorous training, these grenadiers can easily deliver almost half-pound grenades to a distance of two hundred yols with the help of throwing equipment.

The Confederates have a similar delivery capability, with a simpler solution - each Confederate soldier squad has at least two small grenadier canisters, powered by a pouch attached to the stabilizer bar at the back of the canister.

The tanks will target the allied steam knights, as well as the enemy light infantry. Their area of operations is the position that the Imperial soldiers have already controlled, and the way they fight is to find a vantage point through their maneuvering abilities and then project fire on the enemy.

If it's just an ordinary human throwing explosives, then getting a convertible design doesn't seem to be a big problem. After all, if a twin rapid-fire gun firing group arranged in a zigzag pattern can allow the enemy to sneak up on your position, and be pushed within 50 meters, someone will even throw a grenade into the hull...... That's a dead deserved one.

But in the world of steampunk, an ordinary light infantryman with the help of tools can also perform the feat of throwing a grenade for 200 yors.

There must be a defense against such an attack, right? Completely open top, which is really a little too despised grenade.

"In short, the convertible scheme will definitely not work." Dussander insisted, "Even a thin layer of iron plate can do some good." ”

Dussand's persistence worked, after all, he was the big boss of the entire car factory, and even if he didn't feel the need in his heart, Polina still followed Dussand's request in the end.

"As for power, I also have a new plan." Polina scratched her head, then said to Dussand, "Based on the concept of 'fuel' you mentioned earlier, I asked the researchers on Orin's side to process the oil found on Colony. ”

Dusson was immediately interested, "What about the results of the processing?" ”

"Distillation separation is still difficult, but they do separate a special liquid fuel. The calorific value of this fuel is actually a little lower than that of gas we use now, but the advantage is that it is liquid. ”

When the gas engine is burning, the liquefied gas will quickly change to a gaseous state after leaving the high-pressure storage tank and entering the combustion chamber. This three-state change will naturally reduce the total amount of gas that can enter the cylinder, and affect the efficiency of the gas combustion engine.

At the same time, the liquid gas enters the cylinder through the pipe and becomes gaseous, which also causes the temperature inside the cylinder wall and the piston head to drop rapidly.

Rapid temperature changes are definitely not a good thing for a gas engine under high load. During continuous combustion, the metal surface temperature of the piston and cylinder wall of the internal combustion engine is very high. On the one hand, the repeated injection of gas will affect the time point of compression ignition in the gas engine, resulting in the detonation of the internal combustion engine. On the other hand, the metal surface layer can also generate a lot of stress and metal fatigue under constant and rapid temperature shocks.

However, after the thermal stress and metal fatigue reach a certain level, the metal surface will appear to peel. Metal fragments peeling off the cylinder can scratch the cylinder wall in an instant, resulting in severe cylinder pressure loss. And under the influence of detonation, such damage becomes quite "common".

The internal combustion engine, invented by Polina, has a lifespan of about 30,000 miles. Exceeding this number, even Polina does not dare to guarantee when there will be a serious accident with the engine.

But there is no such problem with liquid fuel-powered internal combustion engines.

"The improvement of the internal combustion engine has to be carried out all the time." Dussaint was so pleased with Polina's progress that he said, "Don't worry about the investment in the internal combustion engine, it's a really profitable business."

Polina was a little unconvinced of Dussand's judgment, "We've already built four gas internal combustion engine production lines, and that's going to be a big expense."

"You see, the wool comes out of the sheep." Dussander forced a Chinese proverb in imperial Chinese, "We can earn back these costs on future customers." He looked at Polina and smiled, "It's best if the new internal combustion engine is basically the same as the current gas engine, and it can be easily replaced. In this way, all the military vehicles we have sold can become 'customers' for our new production line." ”

Dussand, for his part, was showing a "profiteer" expression, calculating with Polina how to extract more profits from the Imperial Navy and Army. Thirty-two miles away, Duchamp was standing at the Upper Albin Interstellar Landing, waiting for an important guest to arrive.

"Your Excellency, General." After about half an hour, Duchamp finally saw the luxury crossing ship that he had been waiting for for a long time. Out of the hatch of the crossing ship came a rear admiral with white hair and a missing right hand.

Duchamp took two steps forward, then saluted General Horn, "Welcome to Newsar." ”

"You're the only one?" General Horn returned the salute with a smile, then looked behind Duchamp, "I thought I could see His Excellency the Little Lord." ”

Duchamp smiled a little helplessly, "He is much busier than me, the commander of the garrison navy now. ”

General Horn gave a helpless smile, and then took the lead and walked towards the outside of the landing field, "Let's go, let's get down to business first—what's going on with the Alliance's attack?" You can't tell you anything in the letter. ”

"At the moment, it's mainly reconnaissance." Duchamp said about half a step behind Horn, "We have captured the wreckage of an Allied reconnaissance ship through new tactics, and in the wreckage, we have found some interesting content. ”

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The analysis of the allied reconnaissance ships focused on three main areas, and in addition to the traditional intelligence recorded in the captain's logbook, there were two other directions that focused on the analysis of intelligence.

The Royal Guards of the Empire were most concerned with the design of the power department and hull armor of enemy ships. The garrison navy was different—Duchamp was more concerned with the optical detection equipment that the Allies were equipped with, far beyond the Empire.

The combat range of the Garrison Navy was much less than that of the Imperial Guards Navy. At the same time, the fleet is more inclined to defensive and deterrent operations than to the "offensive and destructive" combat missions of the Imperial Guard. In the vast sea of stars, to accurately find the enemy that needs to be defended and blocked, it means that the garrison navy must have excellent perception of enemy ships within its combat range.

To stop the enemy, you first need to know where the enemy is, right?

And in the realm of situational awareness, the level of technology of the allies far exceeds that of the empire. At the very least, the Imperials have not been able to make anything on the same level as the optical reconnaissance equipment that the Alliance has so much equipped.

In terms of lens manufacturing, grinding and coating technology, the alliance is ahead of the imperial level of science and technology in an all-round way. To use an analogy - the same reconnaissance mission, if replaced by an Imperial reconnaissance ship. Then the fearless warriors of the Empire must get closer to the target in order to achieve effective reconnaissance. This "closer" means that the Imperial Recon ships need to travel at least 15% more distance than the Allied Recon Ships in order to carry out the reconnaissance mission.

The reconnaissance optical equipment captured this time once again shocked the garrison navy, which had never seen much of the world. They compared it with Imperial equipment that had only begun to be distributed in small batches last year. The range and reconnaissance distance of the Confederate equipment outside the atmosphere far exceeds that of the latest Imperial equipment. At a conventional combat range of 400,000 miles, the Allies' equipment ranges 8 percent more accurately than the Alliance, and the observation range is about 14 percent higher.

What is even more terrifying is that there are obvious traces of use on the reconnaissance equipment of the Confederates, which indicates that their equipment has been used on this ship for at least ten years.

The level of science and technology has been leading for more than 10 years, and the difference between this in actual combat is simply a world of difference. It's no wonder that the Allies are always the first to spot the Imperial fleet in the vast sea of stars, and strike first.

"The response we can take now is to place more observation posts inside and outside the orbit. These observation posts need to be manned by soldiers, and as soon as they spot an Allied ship, they will immediately warn us via a light signal - this is the best way to go. ”

Duchamp simply accepted this difficulty, and then took General Horn directly into his car. After the two of them sat down together, Duchamp first began to cry poorly, "Your Excellency, our fleet is too weak - if Orin can't give us more ship support in the short term, I'm afraid we won't be able to repel the Alliance's attack." ”

"Although I am not one of the slammers in the marshalling department, I have also heard that the Newsal garrison is one of the most powerful of all the colonial garrisons." General Horn was clearly not willing to accept this, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, "You have three capital ship-class ships. Of the other colonial garrisons, more than half of them didn't even have a single capital ship. ”

"Your Excellency, General, there is no point in strengthening those colonial stars whose alliances don't know the coordinates at all." Duchamp continued to cry poorly, this time crying justifiably, "There are only five colonial stars that the alliance has mastered the coordinates, so at least ten more capital ships should be strengthened for us!" ”

"You've got your brain smashed, right?" Horn let out a sneer from his nose, "Thirteen capital ships? Are you Newsal Garrison Navy ready to directly change its name to the Imperial Sixth Royal Guard? ”