Chapter 1902 Beyond Imagination
Li Bo was personally accompanied by Ning Qi to explain, while other North Korean students naturally did not enjoy such high treatment due to their status. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still provided them with commentators to introduce them to the situation of the New World. Of course, this group of visitors also had a lot of questions, especially the students who came to Haihan to learn shipbuilding technology. Many of the questions raised were difficult even for the instructors to answer, such as how much does this ship weigh and how many steel components are there? How to connect and put it together, why not build it with easier to work wood, etc.
Li Bo didn't care how the ship was built, because he knew very well that this kind of shipbuilding technology was not within the control of North Korea. Even if the Haihan people were willing to teach it, it would only be a dragon-slaying skill at most. This ship looks indeed powerful, but even the Haihan people themselves no longer use it. North Korea does not have the conditions to use so much steel to build a large ship that can only be placed in the port as a totem.
The Executive Committee granted permission for North Korean students studying abroad to board the ship and visit the parts above the deck. This was a treatment that Li Xi had not enjoyed before. Although he had visited the large iron ship, he was not allowed to board the ship at the time, so he only stayed at the dock. I went up to take a closer look, and today, thanks to Li Bo, I was able to actually touch the ship.
However, when the Koreans walked up the gangway to the deck, they soon discovered that there was nothing particularly amazing on it. There were no weapons or other powerful equipment as they imagined, only a few tall hangers and huge cabins on the deck. cover, indicating the ship's identity as a cargo ship. But everything within reach is indeed cold steel, which is not adulterated at all.
Ning Qi introduced with emotion: "Although this ship will no longer go to sea, it carried the hopes of hundreds of us Haihan people at that time. Without this ship, there would be no Haihan today." Country! ”
Li Bo asked curiously: "I heard that the country where you all came from is thousands of miles overseas. Have you ever considered returning to your homeland in the future?"
Ning Qi smiled bitterly and said: "Many people have thought about this problem, but it's too far away and we can't go back. And we left our homeland in the first place to create a new world. It seems to be going well so far. . At least here, we have established our own country.”
Li Bo didn't have an exact idea of how far away the Haihan people's homeland was, but the Haihan military front could point directly to Liaodong, which was thousands of miles away, but even they thought it was too far away to return. Thousands of miles away. Thinking again about how these few hundred people and a few ships could create such a big situation in the South China Sea, and how powerful their original country would be, it was even more unimaginable for Li Bo.
But since Ning Qi was unwilling to take the initiative to mention the situation in his motherland, Li Bo wisely did not pursue this topic any further, but moved to another topic that he was very interested in: "Since your country can build such a With the capabilities of large iron ships, if we could build a few more steel warships of this size, we wouldn't even need to install cannons. When fighting, we would just have to ram them all the way and no one would be able to defeat them."
Ning Qi smiled and said: "Your Majesty thinks things are too simple. The cost of building and maintaining such a large ship far exceeds that of an entire armed fleet, and it is extremely difficult to train qualified operators. Besides, we don't have any yet." When we encounter a real opponent that can fight at sea, there is really no need for our country to spend so much time at this stage.”
Li Bo suddenly said: "I understand, this is the reason why you don't need to use a bull's knife to kill a chicken!"
The current strength of Haihan's navy is indeed second to none in East Asia. Even several maritime colonial countries from the West have far less maritime armaments than Haihan in this region. Therefore, even if Haihan has the technology to build more advanced warships at this stage, he still chooses to maintain the status quo. The navy still uses sail warships as the main force, and only a few warships are equipped with steam power systems.
The installation of steam power systems on large warships is not entirely to further expand the performance advantages of the ships in combat. Another important reason is to train relevant technical talents. After all, there are not many talents in the Haihan army who can use and maintain large steam engines and power propulsion systems. Moreover, the military also needs to reserve technical talents in advance to prepare in advance for the entry of real steam ironclads into service in the future.
Of course, in fact, the Haihan Navy already has a quasi-ironclad ship, the Black Shark, in secret service and has participated in several combat operations. However, due to various objective reasons, the Black Shark has not continued to build follow-up ships. Currently, it is only As a special training ship of the Navy, it is used to adjust ship power engines, test new shipborne weapons and train combat personnel. However, the Black Shark and the steel warship in Li Shu's imagination are not the same thing at all.
But Li Pu's understanding was half-baked. Haihan's current business is too big and the expansion speed is too fast. Military expenditures have risen to the point where they have to be controlled. Although the replacement of advanced equipment will help further improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, But as far as the current international situation is concerned, there is indeed no need for the Haihan Army to rush to invest heavily in upgrading weapons and equipment.
After actually arriving on the ship, everyone found that the impact was not as severe as the one seen from a distance. Mottled rust could be seen in many places on the deck, and the traces of erosion by seawater and wind from being parked at the beach all year round were very clear. And the most important thing is that this thing is big, but it can only be parked at the dock, and its majestic appearance on the sea can only be imagined, which makes people feel a little discouraged.
Although this ship has a very special commemorative significance for Haihan Kingdom, to the foreign dignitaries who visited the ship, it is more like a rusty historical relic. As foreigners, it is actually difficult to understand the special significance of this ship to the Haihan ruling class. They only know that it is the largest item among the many items that the Haihan people brought out from their homeland, and nothing more.
Among this group of visitors, Li Ming was probably the only one who really understood the significance of this ship. Under Ning Qi's accompanying explanation, he realized that the existence of this ship reflected Haihan's transcendence of the times. Shipbuilding technology, and because of the huge combat effectiveness advantage of the maritime armed fleet, Haihan does not seem to intend to use these advanced technologies at this stage. This means that Haihan will still be in its navy for a long time to come. Play the role of maritime overlord within the scope of activities within reach.
Of course, this can be considered good news for North Korea, because it means that Haihan will be able to continue to serve as North Korea's maritime protector without having to worry about other countries launching aggression against itself from the sea.
The technology of building large iron ships is indeed very advanced, but Li Bo would not choose it as his study abroad subject. So after visiting and disembarking, when Ning Qi asked him about his thoughts after the visit, Li Ming expressed his thoughts very bluntly: "Your country's shipbuilding skills are indeed powerful, but building such a large iron ship is beyond the capabilities of our country." As far as I can imitate, I can only be a spectator.”
After leaving the port, Ning Qi took this group of Koreans to the Victory Port Railway Station. There is no doubt that a large iron ship parked in the port, unable to move, is definitely not as visually impactful as a train running on the railway. Seeing the long train roaring from a distance, blowing out white smoke, and feeling the ground beneath his feet shaking slightly, Li Bo finally understood why everyone who had been to Sanya would mention trains as a special means of transportation. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard for him to believe that there was such a strange existence in the world. The Haihan people's whimsical ideas were far beyond his imagination, and they could actually create such a steel beast.
"Your Majesty, please!" Seeing Li Shu's obviously distracted expression, Ning Qi knew that this visit had achieved excellent results. Like those foreign dignitaries in the past who saw the train for the first time, Li Bo couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed in front of this industrial miracle.
Li Shu came back to his senses and slowly approached the locomotive with Ning Qi. He found that the top and bottom of the locomotive were indeed made of fine iron. He couldn't help but sigh at Haihan's iron-smelting ability - using fine iron to build cars and pave roads. How many resources do you have to consume to do this?
This is probably a powerful country! Li Bo could only sigh again. Of course, he quickly noticed that there were several carriages carrying goods and people behind the locomotive. It seemed that the legend that the train could pull tens of thousands of kilograms of load was not a boast, but a fact.
Since they had gone to the port to visit the large iron ship, they had already missed the train bound for Tiandu in the morning. The train they saw at the Shengli Port Railway Station left Tiandu, passed through Shengli Port, and finally arrived at Sanya Port. Most of the trains that left Tiandu in the morning were filled with various goods, but there were not too many people on this train.
"Master Ning, building such a car and building such a special road must cost a lot of money, right?" Li Bo asked tentatively.
Ning Qi smiled and said: "The cost is not only huge, but even with our country's financial and material resources, only two railways have been built so far, with a total mileage of just over a hundred miles. What the prince sees now is one of them. This one The railway runs through the busiest areas of Sanya, not only transporting thousands of people every day, but also carrying more than half of the local freight volume. ”
Li Fu asked: "Since the investment is so huge, why not build ordinary roads and use horse-drawn carriages to transport people and goods?"
Ning Qi explained: "Firstly, the quantity of the goods we have to transport is huge, and secondly, the carriage is inconvenient to load and unload. Prince, please see, the second carriage of this train is filled with logs harvested from the deep mountains inland. The destination is At the Victory Port Shipyard, in order to make the components of the ship, these logs must be transported as intact as possible to ensure the size of the components. Ordinary horse-drawn carriages cannot transport them from the mountains dozens of miles away."
Li Pu looked at the thick logs leaning against the carriage. They were all about three feet in diameter and more than three feet in length. One log might weigh two to three thousand kilograms. This size and weight were indeed not what ordinary carriages could carry. Pulled.
Ning Qi pointed to a large pile of coal on the platform: "Every day, tens of thousands of kilograms of coal are transported from the Victory Port Terminal to the inland Tiandu Industrial Zone. If we completely rely on horse-drawn carriages to pull one truck after another, it will be really difficult. It is time-consuming, laborious and inefficient, but loading it by train only takes two trips in the morning and one in the evening.”
Li Pu was slightly surprised when he heard this figure. He didn't know what secrets were hidden in the inland of Sanya, which actually required so much coal consumption. But what Ning Qi said does make sense. The carriage's loading capacity is limited. If there are too many goods that need to be transported on this line every day, it may not be as efficient as a train that can pull tens of thousands of kilograms of weight at a time.
Ning Qi finally pointed to the people who were getting on and off the train on the platform: "Compared to carriages, the train's travel fee is actually much lower. Only people who need to travel back and forth along this train line every day can afford this expense. Living in Sanya City , the place where they work every day is dozens of miles away, and this kind of lifestyle is only found in our country.”
Regarding train commuting, Ning Qi is actually a bit bragging about it. Although this mode of transportation is indeed better than ordinary carriages and horses, and the cost is relatively low, not all people can easily afford it, and it is not what he described. So convenient. The two commuter trains in the morning and evening still take a lot of time to travel back and forth on the road. If the locomotive breaks down, it will delay even more time. Many people who work in Tiandu Industrial Zone have gradually moved to Tiandu Industrial Zone in recent years. Set up a settlement closer to your workplace to avoid these hassles.
Of course, overall, there is no doubt that this transportation artery has played a role in promoting the development of Sanya, especially the transportation of materials. At this stage, there is no other more effective way to replace the existence of freight trains.
Even from the non-professional perspective of an outsider like Li Shu, it is not difficult to understand the special role that trains can play in logistics. Of course, considering the large amount of materials required to build this project, Li Ming knew very well that this was not a project that his country could imitate - at least until the iron smelting industry developed rapidly, North Korea was unlikely to engage in such a project. of infrastructure projects.
Because there was a large amount of cargo to be unloaded here, the train stopped at Victory Port for a relatively long time. This group of Koreans had ample time to observe the true appearance of the Haihan Train at a close distance. Compared with the motionless big iron ship they saw before, this train and the railway it rides on are obviously more topical. The North Korean students watched and talked about it, making various guesses about the operating principle of this train.
Their clothes are obviously different from the popular double-breasted jackets in Haihan. The local people can tell that these people are foreigners at a glance. Some people who saw the excitement in Victory Square yesterday have even recognized their identities. Nowadays, North Koreans are studying trains, and local people are watching the North Koreans, which is a strange sight.
(End of chapter)