Adjusting the Production Line

Considering he wouldn't be in the territory for a long time, Victor planned to spend three days to inspect the entire territory.

The next day, Victor led his guards and rode back and forth across the territory.

On the first day, we visited Red Soil Village and Pasture Village, and also made a special trip to the Military Stud Farm.

Luoza reported to him that the large number of warhorses supplied to the troops during this period had led to a significant decrease in the number of horses in the Military Stud Farm, which would affect next year's production.

Victor also knew that this was the effect of the military expansion, after all, the entire Golden Sunflower Army was built according to his ideas.

Let alone large Cavalry units, even infantrymen either rode horses or carriages, all in pursuit of faster marching speeds.

This has resulted in the current stock of horses in the entire army and Logistics Department exceeding one head, leading to extremely high supply requirements for the entire army.

A horse consumes three to four times the amount of concentrated feed a soldier needs daily, and most of the supplies transported by the thousands of wagons of the Logistics Department are used to feed these gluttons.

Victor estimated that if the Civil War were to begin next spring, the entire army, including the Logistics Department, would consume at least 20 tons of various supplies every day.

Based on the normal monthly reserve of military provisions, about 600 to 800 tons are needed. In addition, with the capacity to transport ordnance, the entire Logistics Department needs to ensure a transport capacity of 1,800 tons.

This transportation demand would require 1,000 large horse-drawn carriages, which are those pulled by four horses.

This is the result of technological advancements. After all, paved roads and rubber wheels don't exist in this world yet, so Victor can only improve its load-bearing capacity by strengthening the axles and other methods.

This has led to the current situation where it is difficult for Victor's army to be resupplyed too far from waterways. If the distance is too far, it is easy for the supply to run out, since the consumption is too terrifying.

In future operations, whether Victor is fighting in the east or moving south, transportation and supply conditions will be a key consideration for him.

Because of these terrifying logistical requirements, the army conscripted all the best horses in the entire Two Rivers Territory, and it is estimated that it will take several years to recover.

In a sense, it will certainly affect the future development of the territory, but with the successful development of the Internal Combustion Engine, a usable alternative has been found.

Victor reassured Luoza and assured him that the entire Military Stud Farm could rest and recuperate for the next year.

After considering all this, Victor went directly to Riverside Village to learn about the use of Internal Combustion Engine.

When he arrived at the Riverside Village, he saw Veronica's carriage and knew that she had come too.

He ran to the Arms Factory and found Veronica there.

Veronica, dressed in overalls, stood in front of a machine in the factory, sweating profusely as she led several engineers to inspect the machine in front of them.

We examined and discussed the matter simultaneously.

"It's probably a problem with the belt; it's wearing out too quickly!"

"That's true, miss. They're using our machines too hard. We have to change the belts almost every three days."

"Brother, you can't blame us for this. Do you know how urgent our factory's production tasks are?"

Every time your machines break down, the repairs take one or two hours, causing our entire production line to stop, severely impacting our work progress. We haven't even contacted you yet!

"How dare you talk like that? You can't even use water-powered forging hammers in winter. If it weren't for our machines, you wouldn't be able to produce anything!"

"Madam, you be the judge! Our Arms Factory serves the territory, not for our own profit!"

The engineers started arguing, while Veronica stared at the machine with a somber expression.

At this moment, Victor simply walked over, and the group noticed the lord and quickly stopped arguing.

"Veronica, what brings you here? It's so cold, didn't I tell you to stay home and rest?"

Veronica heard Victor's voice and looked up.

"Hey, Victor, you're here!"

It's not that I don't listen to you, it's just that there's been a problem with the machines at the Arms Factory, and I was worried about it, so I came to check on them.

Victor stood in front of the machine and examined it carefully. He confirmed that the belt connecting the power bearing was indeed broken.

Victor wasn't surprised by this. In his previous life, the belts of Internal Combustion Engine were made of high-performance rubber, with a small portion made of materials like polyurethane.

The Internal Combustion Engine currently used in the territory, because it lacks rubber, can only be made with real leather belts, which Veronica's team uses tanned cowhide.

These belts are not very resistant to high temperatures or fatigue life, but because of the production tasks of the Arms Factory, they work in three shifts, with people stopping but machines running non-stop. Naturally, the machines can't withstand it, and it's normal for the belts to break.

Veronica looked at Victor, who was deep in thought, and knew that he might have a solution.

"Victor, do you have any good suggestions on how to solve this problem?"

"At this stage, my method can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause, but it can be used as a substitute."

Veronica, you could try embedding steel or copper wire into the belt to increase its rigidity.

You can do it like this...

Veronica and her engineers quickly took out pens and notebooks and began to write.

Just then, Jimmy realized that the Viscount had arrived, so he hurried over and waited quietly by the side when he saw that the Viscount was busy.

After Victor finished speaking, he spotted Jimmy and greeted him.

"Jimmy, how's the factory's production schedule? Are we keeping up with the demand?"

"I'm a little nervous, after all, we have a large batch of production to supply to the Iron Birch Territory."

"Your Excellency, as you know, our hydraulic forging hammers are not very effective in winter. Fortunately, thanks to the Sunflower Oil Machine invented by the Lady, along with our animal-powered forging hammers, we have barely been able to keep up with the schedule."

Victor stroked his chin.

"Here's what we'll do, Jimmy. Adjust the production line and cancel the supply of heavy weapons to the territory. Prioritize the orders for Iron Birch Territory."

Let's allocate some time for the workers to have half a day off every three days, allowing the engineers to inspect and maintain the equipment!

"Okay, I understand, I'll get right on it!"