At the testing grounds, Qin Fen noticed Zhou Xu's arrival and jogged over to him.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Zhou Xu waved, indicating that he could dispense with the formalities, his attention fixed on the Dwarf Steam Tank from start to finish.
"How did the tests go?"
"It can basically adapt to all kinds of terrain now and maintain relatively stable mobility. According to the latest test, its top speed is around twenty-six kilometers per hour."
Upon hearing Qin Fen's report, Zhou Xu nodded.
After all, a steam tank was a piece of heavy equipment, and its tonnage was right there. With the current level of technology, merely being able to build one and demonstrate practical combat performance already qualified as black technology.
As for mobility, twenty-six kilometers per hour was within Zhou Xu's acceptable range as well.
"As for sustained combat capability, relying solely on the fuel it carries internally, it can last for at most one hour."
"To extend its operating time, we'll need to assign a dedicated team to transport fuel and find opportunities to replenish it on the battlefield, or have the tank return to the position regularly for refueling."
Whenever this subject came up, Qin Fen looked rather troubled.
This problem could not be solved at the present stage, because the tank used steam power. Though it looked like a small tower and was far from small in volume, the rear-mounted engine actually occupied half of the interior. Otherwise, the thing could not move at all.
At the same time, to save space, the steam tanks were currently crewed entirely by Dwarf soldiers.
As their Great Zhou's first tank, Qin Fen had essentially followed the design blueprints provided by the Dwarves throughout the research and manufacturing process.
This meant that the tank's various parameters could be