Chapter 29

As a freshman, just having this level of achievement is enough to make many people feel ashamed!

"Hmm, I've heard of it—you're from a military-industrial family, not bad. In that special era, you could still keep learning, and even read various domestic and foreign materials; this knowledge reserve impresses even me. You now, ah, in school are just wasting time; you'd better go to our 201."

Zhu Lao still hadn't given up on recruiting him; after all, the institute desperately needed young blood like Qin Miao's!

Qin Miao continued shaking his head: "My self‑studied knowledge isn't systematic; I still need to accept the Ha Gong Da education system."

Although he had never attended a single class from entering university to now… Qin Miao still missed his days at Ha Gong Da; after all, this university should have been his, but it was taken over by the Niu family, and deep inside he harbored the regret of not having gotten into Ha Gong Da.

Since he's been reborn once, of course he wants to make up for these regrets!

"Moreover, Ha Gong Da isn't just a place to train students; it's also conducting research. By staying here, I can still contribute my strength to our military‑industrial development."

""Hmm, that's not wrong." Zhu Lao nodded: "The modification of this 152‑mm howitzer is being carried out right here. Do you have any better plans going forward?"

""With the howitzer's destructive power guaranteed, the potential of the 152‑mm howitzer has pretty much been exhausted." Qin Miao said: "If we want to further increase range and power, we need to use more advanced technology."

""Go into detail?"

""Increasing barrel length, increasing chamber capacity, increasing cannon calibre—those are the basic ideas." Qin Miao said: "There's nothing special about it."

The longer the barrel, the farther the shell is pushed by high‑pressure gas inside; increasing chamber capacity raises bore pressure, increasing the propulsive force; raising these two metrics naturally increases the shell's muzzle velocity, thus increasing range.

As for increasing calibre, that means increasing power.

These are understood by almost everyone in the military‑industrial sector; the key is, how much to increase?

""Go into detail?"

""Well, I don't know either, but I do know that internationally, the calibre most similar to our 152‑mm gun in the West is 155 mm howitzers. In the 1960s they drew up a Four Nations Ballistics Agreement, which set the chamber volume of the new 155‑mm howitzer at 23 litres, and the barrel length ranges from 45 to 58 times the calibre."

Anyway, I took a nap this afternoon and am not tired now, so I'll chat with Zhu Lao: "In the past year or two, the internationally renowned artillery genius Bu'er Boshi first produced a 45‑times‑calibre 155‑mm howitzer, whose range has reached nearly thirty kilometres; with a nuclear shell it could even fly over forty kilometres."

Barrel length is usually not given directly in metres but expressed as a multiple of calibre; a 45‑times‑calibre barrel for a 155‑mm gun is 45 × 155 mm = 6,975 mm.

Zhu Lao nodded satisfied: "Not bad—what do you think of Bu'er Boshi's plan?"

The standard for Soviet large‑caliber howitzers is 152 mm, whereas the West uses 155 mm; early Eastern military‑industry came from the old Maozi, so it naturally followed the 152‑mm path, but if one wants to develop further—especially to sell equipment internationally—then 155 mm calibre is the better choice.

So, the East is already considering introducing Bu'er Boshi's 155‑mm howitzer!

Following historical patterns, in the 1980s the East's key artillery project was precisely to introduce Bu'er Boshi's product, which indeed boosted the performance of Eastern howitzers, but…

Qin Miao shook his head: "I've calculated it, and I think his barrel length is a bit short."

"Short?"

Beside Zhu Lao, an engineer spoke up: "Qin Miao, you just said Bu'er Boshi is an artillery genius—now you're questioning his choice? Isn't a 45‑times‑calibre barrel not short?"

If Qin Miao hadn't developed those two shells and gained prestige in the military‑industrial field, he would have been mocked outright right now.

"Yeah, compared to our Type 66's 34‑times‑calibre barrel, his howitzer's barrel is indeed long, but don't forget—its chamber volume is 23 litres, more than double ours!"

The Type 66 howitzer has a chamber volume of only 12.5 litres, so bore pressure is low, giving the gun a long life, and at the same time its shooting accuracy is very high.

Bu'er Boshi is called an artillery genius; the 155‑mm howitzer he personally built has a range of twenty‑nine kilometres, which sounds formidable, but it also comes with a host of problems!

"With such a large propellant charge, it can't be fully burned in a 45‑times‑calibre barrel, so a large part of the high‑pressure gas escapes the muzzle, adversely affecting the shell just leaving the bore; if I haven't miscalculated, Bu'er Boshi's 155‑mm howitzer would have rather poor shell‑dispersion accuracy."

The range is enough, but what about accuracy? The instant high‑pressure gas exits the muzzle, it disturbs the shell, lowering accuracy—let alone the nuclear shell Bu'er Boshi cooked up, whose accuracy is abysmal! Although in the 1980s the East imported Bu'er Boshi's entire technology set, the costly production line introduced mainly turned out howitzers for export! Nuclear shells? We wouldn't even use them ourselves!

In the West, hardly any customers use it either; in 1987 Britain proposed a 52‑times‑calibre howitzer scheme, which NATO endorsed, and the East's later self‑used howitzers also followed the 52‑times‑calibre path.

Such a howitzer firing ordinary shells reaches thirty kilometres—only one kilometre more than Bu'er Boshi's—but its internal ballistics are more reasonable, giving both shell‑dispersion accuracy and barrel life a two‑fold boost, with greater development potential.

The engineer who had just objected fell silent. Although he hadn't run the numbers himself, Qin Miao explained the data so clearly that it shows he really knows his stuff!

""So, what length would be most appropriate?" Zhu Lao asked."

""Actually, for a suppressing cannon, the longer the barrel the better… but considering machining difficulty, I personally feel a 52‑times‑calibre barrel is most suitable."

The barrel is a slender thing; inside it also needs a hole drilled, and just drilling that hole requires an eighth‑level worker, let alone the other processes—longer barrels make machining even harder.

Qin Miao felt there was no need to hide it; since we're going to do it, we should adopt the most correct technical route, one that won't fall behind for forty years.

Beside him, Professor Yuan was enthusiastic: "Lao Zhu, if you agree with Qin Miao's view, then our Ha Gong Da can manufacture a piece!"

The Metal Cutting Teaching and Research Section is precisely meant to conduct this kind of research!

"Well, the manufacturing matter can be discussed later; right now, Comrade Qin Miao needs to go back to the Capital with us."

"What for?"

"Dr. Bu'er Boshi will be coming over in the next couple of days; all the domestic artillery experts will go there, and although you're still young, your technical level is not bad, so you can also go along…"

"'Not going!' Qin Miao's answer was decisive and unequivocal."