Chapter 36

Yamamoto Iwao spoke first: "Those attending today's meeting are all experts from our Great Japanese Empire Navy. Today's meeting has only one agenda, which is to discuss what kind of fleet we should build to defend the dignity of our Great Japanese Empire!"

A voice spoke up: "To build a navy, we must first determine our opponents. Our main opponent is that mysterious ship!"

Another voice chimed in: "Yes, I agree with this view. As is well known, the most powerful navy in the world is the Royal Navy of the British Empire! However, compared to the strength displayed by that mysterious ship, the British Empire's fleet is like a child's toy."

Yamamoto Iwao said: "First, our fleet's warships are too slow. At the beginning of the battle, our fleet had already approached the mysterious ship. It seemed to suddenly appear before us, and our ship's guns were already within range to attack it, but it managed to escape."

Silence fell over the group. Everyone knew that the fastest speed of the warships at the time was only 20 knots, and achieving the 30-knot speed of the mysterious ship was a pipe dream.

Yamamoto Iwao continued: "The main guns of our warships are clearly not powerful enough. Our Fusō fired and hit it, but unfortunately, it did not cause much damage."

A voice said: "Regarding the power of the guns, we should increase their range, so we can gain an advantage in the confrontation with the mysterious ship. The only way to do this is to increase the caliber of the guns. With a larger caliber, we can load more propellant, and the projectile can be made larger, thus increasing the power of the gun."

Yamamoto Iwao said: "That's easier said than done. Our largest warship, the Sankei, has a displacement of no more than 5,000 tons. Equipping it with 320mm main guns would affect the stability of the ship when the guns rotate. To increase the caliber of the guns, we must increase the displacement of the ship. Can we build a warship with a displacement of 10,000 tons?"

A voice replied: "The solution to this problem is the same as for increasing speed. To build a faster and larger warship, we must improve the power system."

Yamamoto Iwao asked: "How should we improve the power system?"

The voice said: "Improving the power system can be approached from two aspects. The easier one is to optimize the design of the ship, which means removing unnecessary equipment. For example, the ram. Supporters of ram tactics always remember the 1866 Battle of Lissa, where the Austrian flagship successfully sank an Italian warship using the ram. However, against the mysterious ship, we found that it was impossible to get close enough to ram it, so we might as well remove the ram."

Yamamoto Iwao said: "Your insight is good. Does anyone have any other thoughts?"

Another voice said: "Our Sankei warships are still using fire-tube boilers. I believe we should switch to water-tube boilers. Water-tube boilers have water inside the tubes, which is heated to steam by the high temperature outside. Fire-tube boilers have high-temperature gases inside the tubes, with water outside, which is heated to steam to do work. Due to material limitations, the steam pressure of fire-tube boilers is difficult to exceed 2 megapascals. Higher steam pressure increases ship speed, so we should switch to water-tube boilers."

A voice said: "However, seawater contains a lot of salt, which can form scale inside the tubes, making it difficult to clean."

The voice replied: "I have considered this. We can add a seawater filtration system around the boiler to remove inorganic salt ions using chemical methods, thus reducing scale formation. I have calculated that the additional weight of this filtration system is negligible compared to the increased power from switching to water-tube boilers."

Another voice said: "In addition, we can modify the steam engine. To increase the efficiency of the steam engine, we need to raise the initial temperature of the steam. I believe we should improve the pressure blower system. On our current warships, we use pressure blowers to increase combustion efficiency, but these systems are still quite rudimentary. We should redesign them."

A voice said: "On our current warships, high-pressure steam drives the pistons, which convert linear motion into rotational motion through a crankshaft and connecting rod mechanism. This process results in significant mechanical energy loss. If we could make the steam directly drive the propeller shaft, it would greatly increase efficiency."

Yamamoto Iwao said: "I think this is a good idea. Is it difficult to implement?"

The voice replied: "It is still quite challenging to implement. The basic theory is not the problem; the issue lies in the engineering. For example, to make the steam directly drive the propeller shaft, the shaft must have blades. These large blades, rotating at high speed, will experience significant centrifugal force, leading to strength issues. There are also vibration issues. We do not yet fully understand the dynamics of rotors, and there will be many detailed engineering problems. For instance, the system cannot have just one shaft; since the system is large, how to connect two shafts and determine the stiffness of the connection are issues we need to further study."

Another voice said: "Commander, fundamentally, these issues boil down to one question: do we have the money? These research projects require substantial funding, and we are unsure if the government will provide enough."

Yamamoto Iwao laughed: "Professors, you don't need to worry about that. Even if we don't have money for food, we will have money for the navy!"

The room was silent except for Yamamoto Iwao's laughter. Everyone knew that to strengthen the military, the Japanese government allocated half of its annual revenue to military construction, and no one dared to question this.

Yamamoto Iwao continued: "Now let's discuss the issue of weapons and equipment. I believe that flying machines will dominate the battlefield in the future! Gentlemen, can we build such a thing?"

At this point, Lin Yuan heard a voice, the same one who spoke at the previous meeting. He said: "We have reanalyzed the approach to building an airplane and found that our original idea was flawed. We thought about using the backward thrust of air to generate power, but this is too difficult. So, we have decided to use propellers for propulsion."

"To overcome gravity and fly, an airplane must generate lift in the vertical direction. We have followed the development of aerodynamics in Western countries and found that the Russian scientist Kutta derived the lift formula for flow around a cylinder. Based on this formula, we can design the shape of the wings, even though the calculations are rough. We can verify the wing shape through subsequent experiments."

"Next, we face the issue of the power plant. The most mature option is the steam engine. After our initial research, we found that this type of engine is not suitable for airplanes; it is too heavy and requires water and coal. Therefore, we have decided to use an internal combustion engine. Compared to steam engines, internal combustion engines are lighter and use gasoline as fuel. With this decision, the day when our Great Japanese Empire will have flying machines is not far off."

Yamamoto Iwao said: "With flying machines, our Great Japanese Empire will be one step closer to world domination! Gentlemen, please organize your proposals, estimate the required funds, and I will go to the government to request the money." With that, the meeting adjourned.

Lin Yuan put down the headphones and saw Shen Wanqing standing in front of him, holding a mask and smiling. She boasted: "Look, my mask is ready."

Lin Yuan asked: "When do you plan to send Shang Tai away?"

Shen Wanqing smiled: "Tomorrow."

Lin Yuan thought to himself with a smile: "This will surely infuriate that old man Itō Hirobumi!"

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