Before coming to Krupp, Cheng Nuo had tried his best to think high about this military industrial enterprise, but the real opportunity to visit it was an eye-opener for him.

Especially when visiting the famous "Cannon of Paris", looking up from under the giants, I felt the fragility of life for the first time, and under this level of artillery fire, it is difficult to imagine any creature that could escape the hunt of death.

Gustav, who accompanied the visit, quietly observed Cheng Nuo's performance: because Cheng Nuo was a traverser in the early stage, he was not very interested in this standard weapon of World War I, and there was a faint sense of arrogance.

This made Gustav very unhappy, as it seemed that no matter how advanced the weapon was, it seemed insignificant to this young man from the Far East.

People live for a breath, and the Buddha fights for a stick of incense.

Gustav simply gritted his teeth and led Cheng Nuo directly into the production workshop of the "Paris Cannon", with a posture that Cheng Nuo was not convinced and did not stop the trip.

At present, he finally caught a trace of shock from Cheng Nuo's eyes, and Gustav secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "This cannon is to commemorate our respected Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, so it was named 'Wilhelm Cannon', but because of its miraculous effect in the bombing of Paris, it was also called 'Paris Cannon' by the people of Paris." ”

Cheng Nuo stepped forward and patted the barrel of the cannon, although he knew the allusion, he still pretended to know nothing: "Yes, it seems that the effect of this cannon is extraordinary, I believe that if dozens of cannons can be displayed on the battlefield, it will definitely be able to deal a heavy blow to the enemy." ”

Gustav said proudly: "That's natural, how can a mere nickname be worthy of this cannon, in the near future, the people of London will definitely give it the nickname 'London' cannon again, so that these John Bull townsmen can also see it for a long time." ”

Cheng Nuo couldn't help but glance back at Gustav, and said in his heart, you really dare to think about it, let alone London, I haven't killed many troops in Paris, that is, I was lucky enough to bomb a church, if it is bombed somewhere else, the results of the battle may not be miserable, and the tactical value is far less than its strategic value.

Gustav thought that Cheng Nuo was shocked again, and continued with great interest: "Don't look at the barrel length of our cannon, it is obviously very bulky, in fact, the charge of the projectile is twice the weight of the projectile, which makes the muzzle velocity of the projectile particularly high, do you know how fast the speed is, the fastest is 1700 m / s!" ”

Cheng Nuo was immediately shocked, you must know that a hundred years later, the muzzle velocity of the top high-speed tank gun is only 1 600 ~ 1 700 m/s, which is enough to prove that the Paris cannon has been regarded as a super-high-speed artillery during the First World War.

However, if you think about it, without such a fast muzzle velocity, it would not be possible to achieve an ultra-long range of 130 kilometers.

In order to cooperate with Gustav and get more words out of this guy's mouth, Cheng Nuo deliberately put a high hat on him: "The speed is so fast, then the performance of this cannon can be said to be quite good?" ”

Gustav's face showed a look of self-satisfaction: "It's not very good, most of the current guns have a muzzle velocity that is fast enough, and we are just a little faster than them." ”

Cheng Nuo was very upright and asked, "How much faster is that?" ”

Gustav smiled: "It's not very fast, the muzzle velocity of the artillery is only 300~400 m/s, and the Paris cannon is four or five times faster than them." ”

Cheng Nuo, who heard this, couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth, and said in his heart, you old guy is really an old sow wearing a bra - a set.

However, since the other party said it, he must want to gain praise from Cheng Nuo, so as to gain some superiority.

Cheng Nuo was quite interested, and said: "Your factory's artillery technology is really unique in the world, no wonder it can achieve such great results on the battlefield, and there must be a lot of such advanced technology in this cannon." ”

Gustav was proud: "That's natural, in order to weld this barrel that is tens of meters long, we specially forged several sections of the barrel, and then welded it in sections, and then used a small machine tool to move around the extra-long barrel to complete the reaming and processing of the rifling line.

Of course, this is only one of the processes, and we also have to heat treat the barrel after machining it......"

Halfway through his words, Gustav suddenly realized that the manufacturing process was about to be leaked, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, and he quickly stopped the topic: "Anyway, don't look at our Paris cannons are converted from naval guns, but in fact, whether it is the handling of the barrel, the processing of the base, or even the assembly and transportation, there is a technical threshold." ”

Looking at this 12-story high, 210-millimeter barrel, Cheng Nuo's mind at this time only had one sentence echoing: range is truth, caliber is justice.

Touching the cannon, Cheng Nuo's saliva was about to flow down.

"If we provide enough food or agricultural products, can Krupp transfer the manufacturing technology for this Paris cannon?" Cheng Nuo couldn't help but ask.

Without thinking about it, Gustav directly refused: "Of course not, the technology of the Paris cannon is the core secret of the empire, and now it is already a matter of touching the bottom line to let you, a foreign friend, and a friend from a hostile country, come in." ”

Cheng Nuo didn't give up, and then thought of the howitzer that almost died under the fire, and asked: "I remember that Krupp also has a howitzer called 'Big Berta', the barrel is not one-fifth of the Paris cannon, presumably the technology on it is not so secret, can it be transferred?" ”

"You actually know 'Big Berta'? That's the battering ram of our Imperial Army. Gustav's expression was stunned, and he was surprised that Cheng Nuo knew about Big Berta, but then explained: "I'm sorry, this is also our secret, and it will not be leaked." ”

This time it's Cheng Nuo's turn to be a little unhappy, this posture is really not oil and salt, no matter what you say later, the other party has an attitude, that is, you can visit, and even touch it, but when it comes to technology transfer or purchase, no matter what, there is no room for negotiation.

After grinding and soaking it several times, it ended in failure, and finally Cheng Nuo was a little speechless.

Since the soft ones don't work, let's come with the hard ones.

Cheng Nuo put away his smile and changed the envy just now, but there was still some disgust on his face: "Since you don't want to sell technology, forget it, I also looked at a few of your technical workshops for producing artillery, it seems to be the same thing, there is no technical difficulty at all, it's a big deal for me to talk to those French." ”

The speed of turning his face was so fast that Gustav on the side was unexpected, and before he could react, he heard the evaluation that his artillery technology was not as good as that of France, and he was directly angry: "If you want to say that the French are strong in making perfumes, I have no opinion, but when it comes to military artillery technology, they can't reach it, and it's not a horizontal thing at all." ”

Cheng Nuo casually picked up a wrench and weighed it in his hand: "Yes, you are proud of the artillery field, not to mention France in terms of heavy artillery, even if all the technologies of your hostile countries are combined, they can't catch up." ”

Gustav's face softened slightly, and he looked like Cheng Nuo was very reasonable.

However, this is just Cheng Nuo deliberately saying half and leaving half, and then continued: "But when it comes to field artillery, the French production has a longer range, a faster rate of fire, and heavier shrapnel, so you can't do it, right?" You must know that it is not these giant cannons that are really playing a leading role on the battlefield at the moment. ”

Gustav's face turned black in an instant, although he didn't want to admit it, but judging from the feedback from the soldiers on the battlefield, Cheng Nuo was very right.

Although the leadership of the United States and Germany in the new industrial sector in the late 19th century dwarfed France, the French industrial system was relatively complete and its industrial technology was also leading in some fields.

Cheng Nuo continued to add: "As far as the current situation is concerned, Germany is inferior to your hostile forces in terms of sea power and air power, and in the case of aero engines, you have not yet solved the performance problem of aero engines, and it would be fine if you only faced Britain."

After all, they didn't solve this problem either, everyone is about the same strength, but the worst thing is that France just solved this problem, which further compresses your air power. ”

Looking at Gustav, whose face was getting worse and worse, Cheng Nuo put down the wrench and gave him the final blow: "Hey, my memory is really bad, it seems that your Paris cannon or big Berta cannon was blown up by the French Air Force a few months ago, is there such a thing?" ”

Seeing the other party's somewhat arrogant appearance, Gustav struggled to squeeze out a few words from between his teeth: "Yes, there is such a thing." ”

Hearing this, Cheng Nuo suddenly smiled, and his expression relaxed: "Don't be so nervous, my dear Gustav friend, what if I want to exchange the current state-of-the-art aero engine technology for your artillery production technology?" ”

Instinctively, Gustav just wanted to refuse, but the five big words "aero engine" instantly made his ears stand up: "Is this true?" Do you really have the technology for aero engines? ”

Cheng Nuo learned from Gustav's smug look just now, and said with a smile: "Of course, we not only have, but also one of the most advanced aero engine technologies in the world today. ”

Gustav said suspiciously: "It's not that I don't believe your words, but aren't your Japanese planes just getting started, still imitating our outdated aircraft technology in Europe, advanced in your Far East, and we are backward, and the lives of the imperial soldiers cannot be sloppy." ”

Cheng Nuo's face was suffocated, and he almost forgot about this stubble, not to mention that the current Japanese aircraft technology is not good, even in the late stage of World War II, it is also the existence of being beaten, even if it is the "famous" Xinshen a hundred years later, the gimmick is greater than the reality, where dare to boast of the superiority of his own aircraft.

However, since the words were spoken, and he really wanted to introduce Krupp's artillery production technology, Cheng Nuo thought about it, and continued to lie hard: "It can only be said that your German intelligence system is outdated, and the current level of aircraft development in our Great Japanese Empire is far from what it was at the beginning."

In particular, the aero engine I introduced is smaller in size and has more horsepower, which can be used to power large transport aircraft and bombers, and its performance is quite reliable. ”

It's a pity that no matter what Cheng Nuo says, even if he is about to say the flowers, Gustav has always been skeptical, and his attitude is ambiguous.

Forced into desperation, Cheng Nuo relied on his unforgettable memory, so he had to draw the drawings of the aero engine, and then handed them over to the Krupp factory to make samples first.

Of course, although Cheng Nuo can draw it, it does not mean that the aero engine was designed by himself.

In fact, this is the engine developed by Tesla, but this is only the first version, and later after the improvement of Ba Yuzao and others, it has been upgraded to the third generation, and the comprehensive performance is more superior.

It's just that although the aero engine can be designed, most of the parts are ordered from foreign countries, such as the spindle, gear and casing system, which are directly purchased from Boeing through the connections of Ba Yuzao and others.

If you want to blame, you can only blame the domestic industrial development technology is too weak.

Now Cheng Nuo has taken out the original drawings, not only to exchange some tangible benefits for the Academy of Sciences, but also to see if there are other unknown improvement directions for this engine through the hands of Krupp.

After getting the drawings of this aero engine, although Gustav was not an expert, with the vicious eye created by immersion in the manufacturing industry for many years, he still saw the value behind this engine at a glance, and immediately said that except for these two giant guns, all other artillery technologies can be traded.

As for the specific transaction value, it is necessary to wait until the cost is manufactured before estimating.

Originally, according to Cheng Nuo's idea, it would take at least a few months to complete the demonstration work, and it would take a lot of effort to successfully build an aero-engine prototype, and by then the First World War would have been fought long ago, Germany would have been defeated, and the Krupp company would be subject to military control, and it would no longer be able to pry into the benefits.

But Cheng Nuo forgot that he was currently in one of the world's largest military enterprises, and in addition to artillery, Krupp had close ties with the German Admiralty, helping it produce all kinds of ships.

And back in the early 90s, when the German Navy was still not paying much attention to the development of submarines, the Germanic shipyard in Krupp had already begun to develop submarines and made substantial technological progress.

Although only a few fleets in Germany were equipped with turbines until the eve of World War I, because the German Admiralty allowed enterprises to research turbines, Krupp still retained the corresponding engine production equipment and raw materials.

However, because most of the engines eventually purchased by the Admiralty were supplied by Parsons in Britain, these engine production workshops were now useless and were temporarily diverted to produce other military supplies.

After receiving the aero-engine technology provided by Chengnuo, Gustav instructed the staff to adjust the production line as quickly as possible, and it took only a few days to complete the production of the aero-engine prototype.

After getting the news of the successful production, Cheng Nuo rushed over as soon as possible.