Chapter 264 Torpedo Improvements

I have something to do today, so I’m not in a hurry. There may only be two chapters left, and the other one will come out later, sorry!

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Charles asked Tijani sarcastically: "Do you understand design?"

"No, I don't understand." Tijani replied simply.

Charles asked again: "Do you know mathematics?"

Tijani laughed: "I never failed math!"

"Then what are you doing?"

In fact, Charles has already guessed the answer. This rich second generation is here to "chasing stars."

Tijani spread his hands, with a look of grievance on his face: "Please, Colonel, I have resources, is this enough?"

Ciel lost his voice in an instant. Having resources is indeed a skill. Who can prevent others from reincarnating.

If you think about it more carefully, it's a good thing that Tijani can't do anything.

Because this means that he needs to throw the problem to the technicians at the shipyard, and then the information that "Charr intends to produce super-heavy tanks" will soon spread, even including Charles's design drawings.

Thinking of this, Charles nodded slightly and motioned for Tijani to sit down in the chair in front of the desk.

He took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Tijani, patted it gently with his hand, and said in a low voice: "This is the tank I want, general. This is a military secret."

"Understood, Colonel!" Tijani responded and opened the document with interest.

However, he only glanced at it before looking at Charles with wide eyes and surprise: "13 meters long, 3 meters wide, and weighs 120 tons... This is a big guy!"

"Shire A1" only has 8 tons, which is more than ten times that of "Shire A1".

"Of course." Charles replied: "Because it's a big guy, that's why we need naval technical advisors. I want to know whether this design is reasonable, such as whether the steel can withstand the weight of the car body and the pressure of the tracks on the ground. And what standard crawler track can withstand a weight of about 120 tons. "

"Colonel..." Tijani turned his eyes to the document with a confused look, and said with a slight hesitation: "You don't really want to produce this kind of tank, do you?"

"Is there a problem?" Charles asked.

"No, no, no...no problem." Tijani scratched his head, his eyes seemed a little frustrated: "It seems that I was wrong. After seeing the 'Shire A1', I thought that the tank should be like it. , there is nothing better than it. But now..."

Ciel was a little surprised.

He didn't expect that this rich second generation who seemed to know nothing could actually have such vision.

Tijani obviously had no professional knowledge, but he seemed to intuitively "feel" the direction of tank development, and his thinking even preceded that of Colonel Estini.

In fact, this was a misunderstanding by Ciel. Tijani did not rely solely on "intuition".

Ordinary people's research and development are always involuntarily indulged in the battlefield or for the purpose of making money. Tijani takes it to another level: he believes that equipment research and development is an art, a process of human social progress, and the violent beauty of war.

Perhaps because he was standing at another height, he could see farther, clearer and more forward-looking.

Only someone with a background like Tijani can do this, because ordinary people cannot regard tanks and other equipment as toys, or appreciate warships as paintings. They do not have such conditions.

Charles didn't talk nonsense to Tijani: "I just want to know the answer. General, do you have any solution?"

"Of course." Tijani replied with a playful smile: "Don't worry, Colonel, I will bring the design plan and the data you need tomorrow to ensure your satisfaction!"

Charles said "hmm" and turned around to review the stack of telegrams that Lieutenant Colonel Fernand had just handed over. He seemed to be telling Tijani: If you are busy, take your time and not send it.

Tijani did not leave. He came up with a smile on his face and said, "Colonel, we have encountered some difficulties in the improvement of torpedoes."

Ciel didn't answer and was still busy with his own business. If the torpedo was simple, you wouldn't need to develop it.

Tijani, who was sitting on the bench, didn't mind. He took a pencil carelessly like someone who had nothing to do, and while playing with it, he said to himself:

"The main difficulty is that the hydrology is so complex."

"After a torpedo is launched, it is easily affected by undercurrents, and we cannot even predict the direction of the current, so its launch direction is uncontrollable."

"We have tried many methods, such as increasing the speed of the torpedo, or adding sensors to self-correct, but the results are not satisfactory."

…

Although Ciel didn't intend to listen, he was still attracted by the questions raised by Tijani. Although he was flipping through the information in his hand, his thinking was led astray.

This problem actually exists with cannonballs as well.

The difference is that cannonballs flying in the air are affected by wind, which is obviously much less affected than ocean currents.

On the other hand, the wind force is measurable in a certain local area and at a specific time, such as northwest wind, southeast wind, and several levels. Artillery can correct it according to the wind deflection rate, and finally obtain a relatively accurate ballistic trajectory.

A torpedo launched in the sea cannot do this. There may even be a few eddies in the ocean currents that throw the torpedo in another direction.

Therefore, during this period, there were cases in which the target failed to hit even at a distance of 150 meters. There were even cases where torpedoes launched by warships would turn around and destroy themselves.

(Note: Such an accident occurred in the British Navy in 1942)

In modern times, it was the installation of a gyroscope that allowed the torpedo to have the ability to self-correct its course, allowing it to fly qualitatively.

But there is a simple and direct way...

Ciel pondered for a moment and replied: "Maybe we can use wire guides to solve this problem."

"Wire guide?" Tijani looked at Ciel calmly: "You mean the Brennan torpedo?"

This time it was Ciel's turn to be confused.

He originally thought that when he proposed the advanced concept of wire-guided torpedoes, Tijani would exclaim: "You're right, Colonel, we only need to add a line to the tail of the torpedoes to control them to swim towards the target in the sea! You are so awesome Awesome, we never thought of that!”

However……

Tijani looked just a little confused and suggested a term that Ciel didn't know: "Brennan torpedo."

Charles' reaction also surprised Tijani. His eyes flashed with surprise and admiration: "God, you don't know about Brennan torpedoes, but you still thought of using wire guides to solve the accuracy problem."

Charles heard the meaning of these words. He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Tijani: "General, you mean that the wire-guided torpedo has been invented?"

"Yes, Colonel!" Tijani nodded heavily: "This should be... twenty years ago. I'm not sure. The inventor was Brennan from Ireland, so it was named 'Brennan Torpedo'."

Ciel was a little dizzy.

This was World War I. He always thought that the equipment of this period was very primitive and backward. Unexpectedly, torpedoes had actually developed to the wire guidance level, and this guidance technology was still in use even in modern times.

Then Charles felt a little strange: "Since there is such a torpedo, why is there still an accuracy problem?"

What Ciel means is, if you just use it, won’t it be over?

Tijani shook his head and replied: "It has great limitations, Colonel. Many of us are also discussing whether to use this method."

(The picture above shows the Brennan torpedo, invented in 1887. A straight rod on the torpedo body is used to observe its position, and wires are connected behind the torpedo body for power transmission and control)