Great Wall at Sea

Chapter Three: Development Direction

While Lamo has a variety of torpedoes, the most common type is the electric torpedo. The principle isn't particularly complex: a lead-acid battery drives a motor, which in turn powers a twin-row, opposing propeller. The fuse is a triggering device, and the explosive is high explosive purchased from DuPont. Other auxiliary facilities use both homemade and purchased equipment.

In Li Guang's view, this torpedo wasn't advanced. His knowledge could have significantly improved it, for example, the battery and motor. The batteries and motors of that era were incredibly outdated. Li Guang's sister and brother-in-law ran an electric vehicle business, and their family owned a company producing rechargeable batteries and permanent magnet motors. Let alone nickel-metal hydride batteries, even the most basic lead-acid batteries were miles ahead of the batteries used in the Lamo torpedo.

The 533mm large electric torpedo manufactured by Lamo weighed one and a half tons. Its warhead contained less than 100 kilograms of explosives, its maximum speed was 30 knots, and its range was only 1.5 kilometers. The torpedo's main weight was occupied by batteries and motors.

However, Lamo was very proud of this, exaggerating the advantages of the lightning mine to an extreme degree, such as no trajectory and silent operation.

From Li Guang's perspective, this thing could only travel in a straight line, lacked any guidance, and was essentially just a shell without a cannon. With a range of 1.5 kilometers, it was practically useless except for surprise attacks from submarines. Li Guang had initially been very interested in torpedoes, but the thought that China probably wouldn't even have submarines during the War of Resistance against Japan immediately dampened his enthusiasm. If this torpedo were installed on a warship, its 1.5-kilometer range would be nothing short of suicidal; warships simply couldn't get that close in naval battles.

Li Guang's assessment is based on a visionary perspective, but in reality, Lamo's achievements were by no means insignificant. Even after the start of World War II, German electric torpedoes were only slightly better in performance. Lamo's torpedo development was actually at the forefront of the world. However, the lack of improved models and further development remains a mystery.

In half a month, Li Guang came up with a brilliant idea—a way to make money. The time-traveling Li Guang had no money, but he did have a ballpoint pen. This reminded him that ballpoint pens didn't exist in this era. So Li Guang drew up a blueprint for a ballpoint pen, intending to use it to obtain some start-up capital.

Li Guang had some knowledge of Uruguay's history. Uruguay is primarily composed of European immigrants. The indigenous Charua people were massacred in large numbers when Europeans arrived in Uruguay hundreds of years ago. The vast majority of these European immigrants came from Spain and Italy, hence the predominantly Spanish-speaking population of Uruguay.

However, Uruguay's economy is currently mainly based on export-oriented agriculture, with underdeveloped industry and finance. Looking at the trams shuttling back and forth on the streets and the Western-style buildings lining both sides, the standard of living here is quite high.

After a series of setbacks, Li Guang realized that the area was indeed very backward, and most people had little understanding of finance and patents. Li Guang went to great lengths, using his broken Spanish to find several merchants, but the ballpoint pen patent simply couldn't fetch a good price there.

Finally, Li Guang concluded that his methods of making money in this area were simply not feasible. Li Guang persuaded Lamo to provide fifty dollars, and Li Guang would travel to the United States to sell the patents. If all went well, Li Guang would buy Lamo's assets, allowing Lamo to repay his bank loans and return to Spain with the torpedoes to make a fortune.

Trust between people is a very complex issue. Perhaps Li Guang solved a few minor problems with the torpedoes for Lamo, or perhaps Lamo was simply a kind-hearted person. In any case, Lamo gave Li Guang fifty dollars, which he had given all he had, and even helped him obtain a passport. On February 1st, Li Guang boarded a cargo ship bound for the United States.

Li Guang was a northerner and was quite unfamiliar with sea travel. During the more than half a month he spent on the ship, he finally gained a general understanding of the navigation technology of that era.

During the lonely voyage, Li Guang made a friend. The ship owner, Alfred, was of Italian descent and had been sailing the Uruguay-to-United States route for many years. Alfred was thirty-five years old and had extensive seafaring experience. Before the age of thirty, he worked for others, and at thirty, he spent $20,000 to buy a 4,000-ton second-hand cargo ship, thus beginning his entrepreneurial career.

A 4,000-ton cargo ship for only $20,000 was far beyond Li Guang's expectations. Alfred was extremely pleased with this deal, probably the most successful investment of his life. Five years earlier, in 1932, during the height of the American economic crisis, Alfred had bought the ship for less than half the normal price.

At current market prices, a new 4,000-ton ship would cost $80,000, and Alfred has already ordered one, which is expected to be delivered next month.

Alfred's current ship was indeed old and dilapidated, still using outdated coal-fired boilers. It had broken down twice during the voyage, one of which was resolved with Li Guang's help. Li Guang, a mechanical engineering major, felt he was still somewhat useful and became slightly complacent.

It was thanks to Li Guang's help that Alfred promised Li Guang that he wouldn't have to pay for the return voyage. The fare wasn't much, only $25, but it represented half of Li Guang's funds.

Li Guang disembarked at New York Harbor and immediately began his money-making journey.

Lamo had a part-time accountant, a Jewish man named Arthur Kohlberg, who was the person Li Guang was looking for on his journey. Kohlberg introduced him to another Jewish man named Labanjamale.

The Jewish people's business acumen was widely accepted, and Li Guang firmly believed this. However, he dared not be careless with this man named Laban Gamali, whose name was difficult to pronounce, and drafted the contract very carefully. Jews were shrewd and calculating, but they placed great importance on the spirit of contracts. Li Guang was completely unfamiliar with America at this time, and relying on Laban Gamali, who ran an accounting firm, to sell the ballpoint pen patent was the only feasible way.

In the days that followed, Li Guang began investigating raw materials related to torpedoes. In Lamo's small factory, Li Guang discovered that his knowledge still had great potential in this era. For one thing, if Li Guang were to design and manufacture batteries, he could increase the capacity of lead-acid batteries of the same weight by at least five times; even with the technological limitations of the time, increasing it by three or four times would not be a problem.

In this way, the biggest flaws of the Lamo torpedo design—range and speed—can be improved, and the range can easily reach more than five kilometers.

Lamo's torpedoes only used steel casings, not aluminum alloys. One very simple reason was that Lamo didn't know how to weld aluminum alloys.

Putting everything else aside, if these two improvements alone are successful, this torpedo could greatly enhance its combat effectiveness.

Neither of these technologies posed a problem for Li Guang. While he wasn't an expert in batteries, he was very familiar with all the manufacturing processes. And aluminum alloy welding—argon arc welding—was common knowledge in modern industry.

Li Guang's mind had now turned to making money by manufacturing torpedoes. Therefore, he was very interested in buying Lamo's factory. He was even planning to one day build a submarine to attack Japanese warships at sea, contributing to China's resistance against Japan.