Chapter 833 Tractor
The 19th century was a tragic century, especially for the indigenous people in colonial areas and countries. The United States and East Africa are both typical countries transformed from colonies. In East Africa, southern Africa When the natives were persecuting, the Americans were doing the same thing.
Also in 1890, the Battle of Ondideney, also known as the "Wounded Knee Massacre", broke out in the United States. On December 29, 1890, the Battle of Ondideney was one of the most tragic events in American history. The landmark event was the last armed conflict against Indians in the United States, bringing a tragic end to the Indian Wars that lasted for more than three hundred years.
Sure enough, with the support of his colleagues, Ernst's treatment of black people seemed extremely "merciful". After all, compared with massacre, it was always more "humanitarian".
However, this also means that the Indians in the United States will never be able to succeed. The United States has completely eliminated the resistance of the native indigenous people, and East Africa will take longer.
…
Port of Maputo.
As in the past, an East African-flagged merchant ship docked at the Port of Maputo. This should not have attracted much attention, but something different obviously appeared in the Port of Maputo today.
The East African National Defense Force blocked the port, and then moved a lot of big guys off the ship, or drove off a lot of big guys.
"Chu, tug, tug..." Thick black smoke accompanied by huge noise, there are eight units lined up on the pier. If you are a well-informed person, you will definitely recognize them. This is "tractor".
It's just that this is the world's earliest internal combustion engine-powered tractor, not a traditional steam tractor. As East Africa's "cutting-edge technology", it makes sense for the military to escort it.
"Captain Coles, I will trouble you in the next few days. The final transportation location of these tractors is Saukwe Town. They will be used for farm development in the Limpopo River Plain. They are all valuable items. , so we can’t drive directly to Shaokui Town, we must use a vehicle to send it to Shaokui Town,” the driver leading the team said to Captain Coles.
Looking at these "monsters", Captain Coles was quite surprised. He had only seen tractors in newspapers before, and this was the first time he saw the real thing.
"Mr. Kessel, don't worry, we will use the army's heavy artillery vehicles to transport these big machines this time, and it will not delay your trip."
Follow Kessel There were quite a few people there, including three repairmen, two engineers, a mechanical expert, and eight drivers. They were all going to the state-owned farm in Shaokui Town this time. Kessel himself was Da Manager of a state farm in Es Salaam city.
In this era, drivers are definitely a scarce talent. Even the number of car drivers is very rare now, and drivers of "special vehicles" like tractors are even more scarce.
Subsequently, with the cooperation of the military and Kessel's team, the tractors were moved onto large vehicles, with eight horses required to pull one.
Internal combustion engine tractors are much lighter than steam tractors. In 1890, this year, Benjamin manufactured a wheeled steam engine tractor with all-metal wheels, 7.3 meters long, 60 horsepower, and a vehicle weight of 22 tons, of which the water alone that provides steam weighs more than two tons.
So a steam tractor is basically no different from a locomotive. Even if the weight is reduced, it is still the weight of a "small locomotive". It is naturally difficult to use such a tractor for plowing.
In addition, East African internal combustion engine powered tractors use solid rubber-coated iron tires to achieve further weight reduction. As for hollow tires, obviously the current technology is not adequate for the weight of the tractor. Of course, they are lighter than all-iron wheels. a lot of.
Of course, tractors also have crawler tractors. Unfortunately, the current technology does not meet the requirements. There are currently more than 100 invention patents related to crawler tractors in the world, but the prototypes have all failed in tests.
For example, the American tractor developer Benjamin mentioned earlier, in 1903, he went to the United Kingdom, the pioneer country of the Industrial Revolution, to investigate the development of crawler tractors, but he was disappointed. He did not see A successful example, so he ended his trip to the UK hastily and returned to his factory in the United States to continue developing crawler tractors. It is only 1890 now, so it is naturally impossible for East Africa to make a breakthrough in crawler technology in a short period of time. However, East Africa's current research on crawler tracks is considered to be at the forefront of the world.
Ernst knew that the historical success of crawler tractors, especially the later military application of this technology, led to the emergence of the "King of Land Warfare" tank.
So Ernst will naturally not ignore this issue. The current research on crawler structures in East Africa is mainly led by research institutes in several cities such as Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and Harare.
With direction and support, the progress is naturally not slow. Among them, the Mbeya City Mechanical Research Institute has taken the lead in achieving results, but it is still too early to apply crawler tracks to special vehicles.
After all, tractor technology is not very mature now, otherwise the East African government would not have equipped these eight tractors with such a luxurious team.
Rather than saying that these eight tractors are coming to develop the southern plains of Mozambique, it is better to say that East Africa is serving eight big men.
The performance of the next eight tractors may be unsatisfactory. There should not be too many big problems, but there will definitely be too many small problems to cause headaches.
Because the Dar es Salaam Tractor Factory only produced prototypes before, there were still many technical deficiencies, and the current main business of Dar es Salaam City is actually steam tractors. .
As for the internal combustion engine-powered tractor, it is a new track opened in East Africa. The internal combustion engine-powered tractor performed well in the test field, but in "wild" areas like Mozambique, it may be difficult to satisfy people.
However, there is no way around this. If East Africa wants to gain something in the industrial field, it must dare to be the first. If the technology is not mature, it will slowly improve. As long as there is enough time, East Africa will one day become a leader in this field. leader.
In fact, East Africa is already far ahead. Although the technology of internal combustion engine-powered tractors is immature, it appeared nearly a decade earlier than in history.
The internationally recognized world's first gasoline tractor is the "No. 1" tractor manufactured by Hart and Parr in Charles City, Iowa, USA in the winter of 1901. The machine's serial number is 1205 , sold to farmers in July 1902 and used successfully for 17 years.
Although the technology of East African tractors is still questionable, they were researched early. As long as they can withstand the test, East Africa will be able to complete a roundabout overtaking in the agricultural field.
As the tractor was loaded, Kessel asked someone to cover the vehicle with a tarpaulin. From a distance, people who didn't know the truth might just think that the troops were transporting confidential items such as artillery.
"Captain Coles, I'm sorry to trouble you now." After confirming that there was no problem, Kessel said to Coles.
“No problem!”
So under the escort of the National Defense Forces, Kessel and his party headed towards Shaokui Town with East Africa’s “big power weapons”. .
The establishment of the first state-owned farm in Shaokwe Town also heralded the coming of an era of great changes in agriculture in East Africa and the world. It is destined to write an important chapter in the history of agriculture in East Africa and is considered the starting point of agricultural mechanization in East Africa. , thus being remembered by East Africans.
(End of this chapter)