Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 981: The Clear-Eyed Madman (6)

After making the final decision on ‘what to use, for what purpose, and how’, Da Vinci and Kang Baek-du’s craftsmen began developing ‘self-propelled charcoal’ in earnest. The smoothest part was the propulsion.

“Will the propeller work properly in the water?”

“I think it’ll just go ‘fishy~’ and turn off?”

Da Vinci and some craftsmen were worried about this, but naval officer Kang Baek-du and the craftsmen who created Singijeon were rather confident. “

I don’t know

if it was the gunpowder of the past.

Gunpowder these days is fine.

” They say you can use it well even if you go in… but you still need to find some clear rules. What I learned most painfully after coming to the Empire is that you cannot rely solely on experience.”

The results of the experiment that took place were as follows:

– Gunpowder is fully combustible unless it is already wet with water.

“The conclusion is that it is waterproof. All you have to do is dispose of it, but the best thing is to seal it, right? ”

“All we have to do is to block it firmly so that fire cannot enter.”

At Da Vinci’s conclusion, Kang Baek-du and the craftsmen who made the Singijeon looked at Da Vinci blankly.

“Why? What’s the problem? ”

“Do you know what happens if you block everything like that? That’s a bullet.”

“Ah…”

After that little fuss, development of the propulsion part began. The propulsion part, which combined the gunpowder charger and combustion chamber, showed a pretty decent shape and performance. But the next problem started. All sorts of things. Problems began to arise. Unable to overcome the powerful thrust coming from behind, Hwatan struggled in all directions and failed to travel in a straight line.

“But if you reduce the thrust, the speed will not come out…”

Da Vinci and the craftsmen were worried. When I was there, the scent that I had enjoyed watching suddenly threw out MSG.

“How about modifying the shape of the body?” Since it is an object that moves quickly through the water, wouldn’t it be a good idea to refer to the shape of the fish? ”

‘If I see a torpedo shape that I know from the beginning, I’m sure I’ll hear alien sounds, right? It’ll take some trial and error.’

“ah! ”

“I am devastated that you have awakened the foolishness of small people! ”

In this way, Da Vinci and the craftsmen bought dozens of fish from the fish market and looked at their shapes. The shape that da Vinci and the craftsmen focused on was mackerel.

“It is a fish that is reputed to be fast, so try imitating this shape.”

“That’s right! ”

Hyang, who was enjoying this scene next to him, muttered to himself,

‘If it were a mackerel, wouldn’t it be closer to a submarine than a torpedo?’

Through trial and error, Da Vinci’s self-propelled bomb was gradually refined into a more believable shape.

“No matter how you look at it, it is more science fiction than reality. It’s close… but I have to leave it as homework. If it is completed properly, it will become a lethal weapon for the time being.” Hyang, who had

reviewed the production process as well as the report thoroughly and gave his own positive evaluation, quietly said,

“The gyro part, which is the real core, should be put on the challenge record. Because I can do it, wow~. In some ways, it may seem like a waste of money, but you have to leave a trace at least like this. Because then we will continue to think about it and strive for survival.”

It was a scent that remembered the fierce technological war that took place throughout human history in the long term and from the late 19th century to the 21st century – a term that is definitely more appropriate to call war than competition.

” I don’t know how long it will last, but if we want to survive as an empire for at least 200 to 300 years, we must continue to have challenges to overcome. No, you have to develop the habit of taking on challenges.”

This was Hyang’s decision.

* * *

The development of the self-propelled Hwatan went as Hyang had expected. The Hwatan, which sailed around while refining the shape of its body and attaching long fins extending from its head to its tail, struggled. I tried to prevent hitting as much as possible.

“Aren’t you still struggling? Then that means it can’t be used.”

“But that’s the best.”

“Think about it again from the beginning.”

“Yes…”

At Hyang’s command, da Vinci and the craftsmen reviewed everything from the beginning again. As a result. Accordingly, the body of the self-propelled bomb became thinner and longer, the warhead became more pointed, and its characteristic long fin became more firmly established.

“I guess it’s not long now, right? ”

“yes? ”

“ruler! Just a little more strength! ”

“you can do it! ”

The craftsmen and Da Vinci, who thought they had passed the most difficult hurdle, encouraged each other and tackled the next task. However, the next task was ‘maintaining depth of field’, which was one of the most difficult parts.

“It was called underwater navigation, but it was immediately visible from the outside with the naked eye. All you have to do is navigate to a difficult depth.”

“Did you say it’s difficult to see with the naked eye? ”

“That’s right. You have to be right in front of me to recognize it?” That would be good.”

At Hyang’s words, Da Vinci and the craftsmen took a boat out to the Hansu and West Seas and began experiments.

-How far down would one have to go before it would be visible to the naked eye?

After dozens of repeated measurements, the results were as follows. -The higher you are, the deeper you can look.

-However, it is difficult to find it with the naked eye even if you go below the water level by at least half a layer (approximately 1.5m) based on the Challenger-class front deck.

-Conclusion

The optimal depth is 1 below the water surface. Jang (about 3m)

“I found the right depth, but how do I maintain this depth? ”

After intense deliberation to solve the problem, the answer that Da Vinci and the craftsmen came up with was ‘fill it with water.’

– Prepare an empty space in advance in the body of the self-contained bomb. This space is divided into several compartments.

– The bomb facing the compartment Attach a stopper to the shell.

-Open the stopper just before spraying. Open the stopper assigned to the desired depth and release the spray.

-Afterwards, as you sail, the empty space is filled with water to adjust the depth.

“It’s okay! ”

“I think that’s the right answer! ”

However, the results of the actual experiment were not very good. The speed at which the depth control compartment was filled with water was too slow.

“Why? ”

“Why? ”

Da Vinci and the craftsmen racked their brains and pondered the answer as the result was different from what they had expected. But the answer did not come easily, and Da Vinci and the craftsmen thought of the challenge record.

“Should it be registered in the challenge record? ”

While they were seriously considering whether to register the record, the craftsman with the longest experience among the craftsmen who were watching intervened.

“Put another stopper on. Do you think it will be easy to get in and out since everyone trying to get in and out uses the same hole? ”

“ah! ”

“Tsk, tsk, what did you learn when making steam engines?”

The craftsman, who was clicking his tongue, looked at his colleagues around him and continued to complain.

“Don’t they teach things like that in middle schools and public schools these days? It’s just a basic skill.”

In the end, this issue was raised to Woo.

“It makes sense.”

Wu, who thought it made sense, immediately ordered an investigation and found out that there was a problem with the content of the training.

– Only old techniques were being taught.

-Even after graduating from engineering school, there are so many things you have to learn again when you come to the field.

“If this happens, it’s a big problem.”

In the end, Woo reported this problem to Hyun, and major revisions were made to the curriculum and content.

* * *

Even after that, After countless trials and errors, a self-propelled bomb was revealed. The result of the Navy’s experiment with the finished product was half the success.

– Speed and power are good.

– However, the range is shorter than expected. Challenge The problem is that the range is only half that of the maximum range of a standard naval gun mounted on a self-sufficient battle line. It

is natural to suffer damage from enemy fire when approaching to use self-propelled bombs.

-Also, consider the space occupied by the anti-aircraft gun and the risk of storage. If so, it is difficult to mix it with other naval guns.

“I really like the speed and power, but it is lacking in other aspects. If it weren’t for that, it would be a

really good weapon.” In response to the answers from the Minister of National Defense and Navy generals, Hyun looked back.

“Do you have any good plans? ”

“Hmm…”

Hyang seemed to be thinking for a moment and told Hyeon about his thoughts.

“What do you think about creating a dedicated electric line? ”

“You mean a dedicated line? But aren’t wires something that costs a penny or two? ”

The Minister of National Defense and the Navy generals all nodded at Hyun’s point. Hyang lightly clicked his tongue at that sight.

“Tsk! ”

Hyang clicked his tongue, and while Hyeon and everyone tensed at the same time, Hyang continued.

“Didn’t you say something before? A new engine that combines a multi-wing engine. The idea is to attach a new, powerful motor to a small wire. He is small in size but has great strength, so wouldn’t his speed be incomparably faster? Since it is small, it will be difficult to catch it with enemy artillery. However, it would be too far to catch him with a gun. It is operated by placing two or four rounds on such a front. Of course, we will have to operate with at least 10 ships, not just one or two.” ”

But it is difficult for such a small ship to operate in the ocean.”

When a naval general pointed out the problem, Hyang clicked his tongue once again.

“Tsk! I believe you were talking about using it for ocean operations? I’m talking about something that defends the empire in the coastal waters! Think of the headquarters of the empire and the southwestern Daeseoldo Island! ”

“ah! ”

At Hyang’s point out, Hyeon and the others’ faces brightened. The imperial army’s strategy was a defense-centered strategy. However, that defense had a strong character of ‘blocking at a distance from the empire.

‘ There were quite a few people who raised the issue, saying, “We need to have the means to prepare if it enters coastal waters.”

– It’s not just the enemy coming from afar that’s the problem. Think of the Ming and Japan!

Since it was a reasonable issue to raise, the Ministry of National Defense and the Navy devised countermeasures to deal with it. However, as the Imperial Army is ‘the beginning and end of artillery,’ the most effective countermeasure was a gunboat that looked similar to a monitor ship.

“This is not my taste….”

Hyang was dissatisfied with this.

“Is that why I supported self-propelled bombs? ? even I did not know? ”

Anyway, the method of use proposed by Hyang was to definitely scratch the itch of the Imperial Navy, and the Imperial Navy accepted Hyang’s suggestion and built a ‘high-speed gunboat’. What was interesting was the number of self-propelled bombs it carried.

– 2 or 4 At Bal

Hyang’s suggestion, the Navy chose 2 guns.

The pronunciation of -4 is the same as ‘death’, and to carry more than 4 guns, the ship must be larger. 2 guns are optimal. And the high-speed gunboat created this way is He did his part well in the later crisis.

* * *

Not long after the decision to adopt self-propelled bombs, strange information came to Hyang.

-Leonardo da Vinci went into hiding.

-It was not a seclusion for a new idea, but closer to seclusion. .

“huh? ”

After checking the document reporting Da Vinci’s abnormality, Hyang immediately called Da Vinci.

“What are you worried about? Or does it hurt somewhere? ”

Da Vinci answered with a tired face when asked about the scent,

“Oh no. I just feel dejected. I can’t figure out what I want to do.”

Hyang nodded at Da Vinci’s words.

‘Is it burnout? It’s worth it. But I need to suck it up a little more…’

What is Hyang that I was thinking about for a while. He thought about it and said to Da Vinci,

“Do you remember when you drew a portrait of me in Italy and got scolded for it? ”

“Yes.”

“Then…”

15 days later, strange rumors began to flow from the medical center.

– A crazy person has entered the dissection room!

– Everything about the dissected dead person is being transferred into pictures

! It was a problem because it could have been one day, but it was immediately calmed down by the words ‘Hwangmyeong’. And not long after, senior members of the medical center who confirmed the results of the ‘madman’ visited Hyeon immediately. ”

They printed all the paintings of that painter named da Vinci. It must be made into a will! ”

“A treasure that will never be found again in surgery!”