books44 Chapter 902 A Twist of Fate? Anyway, as long as it works!
Chapter 902 A Twist of Fate? Anyway, as long as it works!
"Huh? What's so serious? I don't have any thermite left..."
“But don’t rush,” Zhao Gang pointed to the other side, where faint sparks could be seen, indicating that the comrades on the other side were also trying to cut through this hard “alloy lump.”
Teacher Xu Hua stepped forward, tapped the blockage with his knuckles, and then carefully shone a flashlight on the junction between the molten material and the original hull structure. He frowned slightly: "The aluminothermic reaction temperature is extremely high. This thing has already been fused to the hull structure. It's extremely hard and irregular. The comrades on the other side must be using an oxy-acetylene flame cutter..."
"The high-temperature sparks generated by flame cutting can easily ignite residual oil inside the cabin. Moreover, the molten alumina and the hull are already welded together. The cut on the other side is irregular, and even if it is cut through, it will be difficult to clean and may also damage nearby pipelines. Please be careful!"
Teacher Xu Hua spoke very solemnly, but Zhao Gang, who was glancing at him sideways, chuckled to himself, and pointed at the dazed boy squatting on the ground fiddling with his bag, and even raised his foot to make a falling motion...
Teacher Xu Hua's face darkened, and she glared at him (??へ??╬)!
Just as the two were joking around, the comrade on the other side spoke up: "Comrade Xuhua! You're right! We stopped, we stopped! The environment in this submarine is really not good. We just switched on the power lines twice and saw hot steam coming out of the pipes next to us. We were so scared that we quickly shut it off! If it ignited and caused an oil spill, that would be a huge problem!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Gang immediately perked up his ears—the sizzling cutting sound from the other side had indeed stopped, leaving only sporadic metallic clanging. He couldn't help but shout towards the gap, "Old Gong? Is that you, kid? You finally listened to my advice!"
A chuckle came from the other end: "That's me! This job is too dangerous; we wouldn't dare joke about safety!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, a low murmur came from the other end of the line. It was another worker's voice: "Old Gong, what are you talking about! We stopped because the oxygen cylinder was empty. What does it have to do with any pipeline emitting hot gas?"
"Hey kid, don't worry about the process, the result is that we stopped!"
Old Gong immediately lowered his voice even further: "Don't you understand the concept of taking advantage of a difficult situation? Didn't you hear the comrades on the other side point out the drawbacks? We can just go along with it and avoid being accused of slacking off!"
Besides, this little submarine is half a meter shorter than the ones from the Alliance, so we can't bring in the large oxygen tanks at all, and the small ones run out quickly. Even if we wanted to keep cutting, we wouldn't have the equipment!
Unfortunately, the loud voices typical of heavy industry workers carried the conversation through without any concealment, even though they were trying to keep their voices down.
Zhao Gang and Teacher Xu Hua were speechless.
However, after squatting on the ground fidgeting for a long time, Jiang Xia finally got up.
He was holding a small rectangular bag carefully wrapped in oil paper.
Carefully peeling back the layers of oil paper, several finger-thick, half-foot-long silver-gray metal strips were revealed. Upon closer inspection, the metal strips were tightly coated with a layer of dark red powder, and one end was attached to a short, thin cotton thread, soaked in fire-retardant paint, as a fuse.
"What is this?" Zhao Gang and Comrade Xu Hua both came over and looked at it curiously.
Jiang Xia picked up a metal strip and waved it in front of the two of them like a treasure, his tuft of hair on his head bobbing back and forth: "Improved thermite cutting strip! Brother Zhao, you use thermite to block it, we'll use this upgraded version of thermite to open it!"
"Eh?"
Jiang Xia pointed to the metal strip and explained, "You can think of it as an upgraded version of thermite, but it doesn't need oxygen, it has its own combustion accelerant, it's safe to use in confined spaces, and it won't ignite anything with sparks."
After saying that, Jiang Xia didn't say anything more, but focused on taking action. He first checked again to make sure there were no flammable materials around, then took out a pair of dark goggles from his tool bag and put them on.
Next, a key point was selected where the blockage connected to the hull. The end of the cutting strip with the powder was carefully pressed against the metal surface and slightly fixed with a small piece of refractory clay wrapped in oil paper, allowing the thin cotton fuse to hang down naturally.
"Where did this thing come from? Was it something the railway troops messed up again?"
As Zhao Gang followed Dai Mao Zai's instructions, he rummaged through the airtight compartment and retrieved the asbestos cloth that had been reserved in the notebook. He then laid it on the pipe next to him and curiously compared the differences between the cutting strip and thermite.
"Uh... I guess so!"
Jiangxia gave a vague answer.
The origin of this thing is really hard to explain.
Because this is actually a byproduct of some new type of bomb...
The development of its engine stemmed from the practical experience gained from the previous Il-28 attack aircraft modification project.
At the time, the airborne troops reported that conventional rockets and high-explosive shells were not effective against the enemy's strong fortifications hidden deep in caves, and the requirements for projection accuracy were too demanding.
If it hits accurately, that's one thing; if it doesn't, then it's just showing off to the enemy. Ask 613 and the nearby research institute if they can develop a new type of ammunition.
Thus, the brilliant mind of a certain research institute naturally thought of the Ministry of Railways' current favorite material, the thermite, which was used to laying railway tracks everywhere.
Thermite bombs aren't exactly rare; we've seen them before when we were wreaking havoc on the northern battlefield. But back then, thermite bombs weren't primarily used to kill people.
The U.S. developed the M14 Thermite Grenade, but its primary purpose was to destroy abandoned equipment, such as radios and tanks.
Therefore, the thermite bomb invented by a certain research institute was unsuccessful. But it inadvertently led to the development of this portable cutting strip.
Based on traditional aluminum powder and iron oxide, it adds a specific proportion of ferromanganese powder and silicon-calcium alloy as a combustion aid and heating agent, enabling its combustion temperature to stably reach an astonishing 3000 degrees Celsius or more, far exceeding that of ordinary thermite, enough to instantly melt through most military steel.
More importantly, its powder formula has self-oxygenating properties, eliminating the need for external air to aid combustion, making it possible to use in poorly ventilated or even confined spaces such as submarine compartments and tunnels.
When the kid left Northeast China, the people from that research institute gave him a small pile of stuff. They wanted his advice on how to make this seemingly amazing thing cause mass destruction.
tsk...
The simple-minded boy wanted to say that even in later generations there were no instances of such bombs being used on a large scale, so there was no point in wasting time on that. If they wanted to expand their large-scale incendiary arsenal, they should focus their efforts on napalm bombs.
That stuff is plentiful and filling, and it's cheap!
but……
When I thought about how useful the byproduct of this research—the cutting strip—was, I approved a grant and let them continue experimenting.
Anyway, explosives aren't expensive these days. If they ever manage to develop something like an all-nitrogen anionic salt, that would be a pleasant surprise.
"Alright! You guys over there, get out of the way! This thing burns fast, it can cut right through in less than a minute, be careful not to get your skin roasted off if you get too close!"
"Okay!"