A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

In the steel rolling mill's conference room, the little brat and Comrade Fanzhou continued exchanging notes.

The orderly wanted to remind them that they could talk, but then thought better of it. Disrupting their train of thought might get him hung from the roof by the group.

Besides, the confidentiality level for writing and such seems quite high. This is just a meeting room in a factory; considering that, it seems quite suitable, doesn't it?

Let's see what they wrote:

"You mean, the steel is available, right? Then why did you mention the explosion and all that..."

"Yes, the designation is NB-550, and the Brinell hardness should be around 530. A steel mill in Northeast China mentioned it briefly. They said it's difficult to process, so they just put it in one batch and left it there. You can ask them for the specific parameters."

"Oh, I do have a few samples here. Would you like to take them to have their quality checked?"

Yes, the little one brought some back.

The NB-550 is actually designated as NP550 bulletproof steel plate. Hey, once I mention the specific designation, you all know what that kid brought back for, right?

Cherishing one's life is a good tradition, so the little guy got a few bulletproof vests and distributed them to his relatives. But Grandma and the others were too lazy to use them, saying that their place was extremely safe, which benefited the older guys instead.

Needless to say, Old Wang had already been wearing them for a while. Even a factory manager who went to Gala Kunlun took dozens of them with him.

We've digressed; let's get back to the topic.

Didn't you see our boating comrade is starting to tremble? What does a Brinell hardness of 530 even mean?

To put it simply, the original five pairs of wheels used imported high-nickel armor steel, with a Brinell hardness of around 290, and at most 300. The imitation they commissioned from relevant departments—601 armor steel—has a Brinell hardness of only around 260.

Armor is something that, putting aside the manufacturing process, is simply not considered if it's not hard enough.

Unfortunately, like aluminum, nickel requires electrolysis for refining. You could say nickel can be smelted hydrometallurgically, which is possible, but requires liquid acid or ammonia as a leaching agent.

Given the current level of chemical industry in our motherland, if we have a little ammonia, do you think Minister Yang of the Ministry of Agriculture will turn it into fertilizer and spread it in the fields?

Electrolysis and stuff like that, the power consumption is... tsk tsk...

So, high-nickel and all that is just wishful thinking.

It was only because the GH2747's performance was truly outstanding that the Air Force gritted their teeth and ordered a batch. After all, using a single batch to power the impellers of aero engines is much more economical than armoring five pairs of impellers.

"How much nickel does this NB-550 contain? What is its tensile strength? How is its machinability?"

Comrade Fanzhou wrote this line with trembling hands.

It was a bit hasty, and it took the little one a while to understand it.

"Around 0.8%, this steel has a relatively high manganese and chromium content. As for processing, it can be welded, but I don't remember the specifics very well..." The little brat shuddered as he recalled the dark and hopeless experience of exhaustively searching for materials.

Too cruel...

This NB-550 was developed near the end of the exhaustive experiment, because by then the nickel reserves were almost exhausted...

Seeing that the original goal had been achieved, the little brat simply poured in all the remaining pure solvent. Unexpectedly, the oddball NB-550 appeared on its own.

Therefore, materials are the ancestor of metaphysics.

"Nickel is only 0.8! Chromium, yeah, there is chromium! A vein of chromium was just discovered over in the Tianshan Mountains, great, great!"

Comrade Fanzhou and the burly man behind him exchanged glances, their faces beaming with uncontrollable joy.

"Boss, if welding is possible, then the material of the vehicle body will be guaranteed! I'll go back and organize people to study the welding process for the turret right away!"

Organizational research?

Oh, right. It seems that the current method for making five pairs of wheels is casting. Tsk tsk~ Once the processing technology is changed, I wonder how long it will take to complete the research.

Leaving aside the difficulty of welding the turret, the cost alone would be a major headache for the army.

The welding of thick plates was a skill that China only figured out in the 21st century. Otherwise, a behemoth like the Type 055 destroyer would have been put to use by the long-suppressed navy long ago.

It's not that the little brat looks down on others, it's just that the processing technology is really not that easy to change. You see the little brat dominating everything in the book, mainly because he has a cheat code!

Otherwise, why would wealthy dog ​​owners in later generations require a production line to accompany their bulk purchases?

However, Jiang Xia has been too busy lately, and he hasn't been able to cultivate a clone technique. He can't fully dedicate himself to helping the grassland tractor factory improve its processes.

However, this problem is quite easy to solve.

"Sir, you can continue using 601 to cast the turret; you just need to add some hooks or screws to the outside..."

"Huh? Hooks and such? We've had them before, to help the infantry-tank coordination team carry heavy equipment and stuff..."

tsk...

Jiang Xia placed the teacup lid directly on the table.

He took out tea leaves from the empty teacup and placed them one by one on the lid.

"Isn't your 601 hardness not enough? Then let's put some armor on him. We can use the awesome 550, or even better, the composite armor I mentioned."

"If one floor isn't enough, build two. As long as you don't mind adding too much weight."

"Besides, if we get hit by a shell, we can just replace the blown-off armor plates. That saves so much money; it's only a few armor plates..."

The men from the grassland tractor factory also started shivering, just like Comrade Fanzhou.

"It works! It works! It's absolutely feasible!"

"Oh, Comrade Xiao Jiang, from now on you are my Anda! By the Eternal Heaven, come! Come with me to the grassland, I will slaughter a sheep for you and present you with a hada! Let the grassland girls sing and dance with you!"

The man was so excited that he struck a pose and performed a traditional dance right in front of Jiangxia.

"You are beautiful!"

"Hey An, you've had too much to drink, haven't you? You dare come here to snatch someone from me!"

Yang Youning, clutching a large bump on his head, stormed in angrily.

"What happened to our friendship! Do you still want the steel plates rolled out by our factory?!"

The man shrugged: "Even if the Nuomin River dries up, we can still hope for spring rain, but this project has fallen through. It's like running out of food in winter, leaving us with only empty hopes. It's a real pity, and it's really making my heart ache."

"Why are you so nervous? I, Abaganar, just wanted my Anda to go for a stroll on the grasslands. My Anda is like an eagle soaring over the grasslands; he deserves a wider world..."

Hey, that's a really interesting way of putting it; this metaphor is so emotionally resonant.

Remembering that famous novel from later generations, the little brat really wanted to ask this man if there really was such a thing as the Golden Knife Prince Consort.

However, looking at Yang Youning's big bag, the little guy was still quite worried about him, after all, Yang Youning was someone with a screw loose.

"Uncle Yang, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Hehe, the little brat still cares about me," Yang Youning shook his head, while Li Huaide behind him secretly rubbed him.

"Oh dear! Uncle Yang is in trouble, he's dizzy... The hospital~, come on, kid, let's go find that old Chinese medicine doctor you know, my brains are about to pop out..."