pdf-ebookys Chapter 717 The Challenges of Tunnel Boring Machines
Chapter 717 The Challenges of Tunnel Boring Machines
"Tunnel boring machine?"
Prince Fu looked at Meng Chuan with some doubt:
“What does Zhan Yi need this for? Our Green Gang’s infrastructure team does have two medium-sized tunnel boring machines, but super-large ones… these things aren’t something you can just get on a whim.”
Zhan Qi handed over the tablet with a bitter face. On the screen was a list sent by Zhan Yi. The top line was marked in bold: "Super large tunnel boring machine 1, with a diameter of not less than 12 meters, a battery life of 72 hours of continuous operation, needs to be disassembled and transported in batches, and must be concealed throughout the process."
"I've been researching this for almost a month."
Zhan Qi scratched the back of his head, his tone full of helplessness:
"Currently, there are only a handful of companies in the world that can manufacture ultra-large tunnel boring machines, such as Herrenknecht or Mitsubishi... But in terms of technological maturity and mass production capacity, China Railway Equipment and China Railway Construction Heavy Industry are unparalleled. Especially for tunnels over 12 meters, China has used them the most in tunnel engineering in recent years, and its technology is the most solid."
Zhan Qi paused, then lowered his voice even further:
"The problem is that China has strict regulations on this kind of thing. Last year, when I wanted to get two high-precision machine tools from China, I had to go through three layers of connections and disguise them as ordinary mechanical parts to be shipped in batches."
“This tunnel boring machine’s main drive module alone is almost two meters tall, and when disassembled, it has hundreds of large components. To get it out without anyone noticing... we would have to replace all the customs and border guards with our own people.”
Actually, obtaining such a tunnel boring machine is not too difficult for Battle VII.
The key point is that Zhan Yi repeatedly demanded that it be kept top secret.
Something that big, even a god couldn't keep it a secret!
Meng Chuan was also in a dilemma.
Zhan Yi needed a tunnel boring machine, and of course he knew its purpose.
It was Meng Chuan's idea to build underground fortifications on Mars.
In addition to protecting against alien "observers," it can also evade satellite monitoring and astronomical telescopes from some countries.
Another point is that the temperature difference between day and night on the surface of Mars is nearly 200 degrees Celsius.
There are also solar storms and dust storms.
It can be said that the living environment is extremely harsh.
To establish a long-term presence, they must dig underground.
But super-large tunnel boring machines... that's definitely a tough nut to crack.
"What about the rocket company?"
Meng Chuan looked up and asked:
Do they have channels?
"I've already asked."
Zhan Qi shook his head:
"Chief Engineer Li said that they purchased a small tunnel boring machine from China last year for testing at the lunar base. The approval process alone took eight months, and they also had to report the purpose and installation location. The whole process was supervised. Forget about super-large ones. China's export control over strategic equipment is now even stricter than that of missile parts."
The conference room fell silent.
King Bi looked at the list, his brows furrowing even more deeply:
"Is the battle urgent?"
"He didn't say a specific time, but he added 'the sooner the better' at the end of the list."
Zhan Qi sighed:
"I reckon he's in a pretty hurry."
Meng Chuan leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat awkward.
Should we really try to get it from the German or Xiao Rizi side?
However, the equipment from those countries is not only 30% more expensive, but its compatibility is also not necessarily good, and subsequent replacement of parts is even more troublesome.
Just then, Prince Fu, who had been silent all along, suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" as if he had remembered something.
Do you guys still remember the underground headquarters near Fuxing University?
Prince Fu suddenly said:
“Our headquarters was built in secret. The tunnel boring machine was rented at the time. Later, they lied and claimed that the project had collapsed. We paid them 30 million yuan in compensation. The tunnel boring machine is still underground.”
The headquarters will be built hundreds of meters underground at Fuxing University.
This kind of thing definitely can't be known.
At that time, they were only able to rent large tunnel boring machines because they were building Fuxing University and the Entrepreneurship Dream City.
In order to keep the headquarters' location from being discovered, Fu Wang and his team came up with a plan to lie and claim that the earthwork had collapsed during the excavation.
But the tunnel boring machine remained underground.
However, it is now covered in rust.
However, Meng Chuan never participated in this secret headquarters; he only provided the funds.
Therefore, Meng Chuan really didn't know that such a thing existed.
"I remembered."
Yingdie said:
"I remember its diameter was 11.8 meters, which met the requirements of the first battle. At that time, in order to transport this thing into Fudan University, we blocked off three streets in the middle of the night and demolished half of the green belt. Fortunately, Wuxian County approved the municipal engineering permit, and it took almost a month to secretly install it."
With the headquarters repaired, almost everyone forgot about the tunnel boring machine that had been dormant for several years.
"Is that machine still usable?"
King Bi sat down a little further forward:
"After all these years, it's probably long since turned into scrap metal."
"Wouldn't it be easy to find out soon enough by having our engineers check it out?"
Prince Fu smiled:
"Replacing parts is much easier than fixing the whole machine."
But the next moment, Prince Fu said with a hint of pessimism:
"However, Fu-Hsing University currently has over 50,000 faculty and students. The equipment must be dismantled discreetly, without alerting anyone. Besides, how would we transport it to Mars? Using a rocket company's starship? That would be too conspicuous."
Such a huge behemoth; transporting it in back then was a huge undertaking.
Now, it's even more difficult to do it without anyone knowing.
"Let Yingdie handle this matter!"
Meng Chuan suddenly spoke:
"Zhan Qi, go and tell Zhan Yi that I will figure out a way to deal with the tunnel boring machine."
"Yingdie, immediately arrange for someone to inspect and repair it. Remove everything that can be removed, and replace everything that needs replacing. You should know what to do with the rest."
Meng Chuan's words left Zhan Qi, Fu Wang, and Bi Wang completely bewildered.
What can Meng Chuan do about this?
Also, what can Shadow Butterfly do?
But Yingdie understood instantly.
Transporting such a large tunnel boring machine out is troublesome, and sending it to Mars is even more troublesome.
However, Shadow Butterfly can use its own Stardust spaceship.
At worst, you can just make more trips. It might be a bit more troublesome, but it's better to be discreet.
The Stardust's route is encrypted, and unless someone can crack our navigation system, there's no way to track it down.
Using Stardust for transportation eliminates the need to rely on rocket companies and avoids concerns about being detected by satellites from various countries.
"that……"
Zhan Qi wanted to say something more.
But Meng Chuan interrupted:
"Alright, let's do it this way! Zhan Qi, you don't need to worry about the tunnel boring machine anymore. Focus your energy on the analysis of the Martian samples, especially the soil composition and mineral content. Give me the results as soon as possible. I'm a little tired, I'm going to rest for a bit."
Meng Chuan didn't want to explain.
Because there's no way to explain it.
He said this to Meng Chuan.
Even if others still had doubts, they couldn't press them further.
Meng Chuan and Ying Die left the conference hall first.
However, Meng Chuan did not go upstairs to rest in the private nursing room.
At the rocket company, there are dedicated nursing rooms.
It is specifically designed for astronauts to receive medical treatment and checkups.
However, given Meng Chuan and Ying Die's physical abilities, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to use it.
As they left the conference room, Meng Chuan said to Ying Die:
"Yingdie, take me to Chen Yiyi's place!"