Beijing's pressure on the Western Regions Railway was quickly transmitted to Lanzhou through telegrams. Seeing Sheng Xuanhuai's tone in the telegram, Zhan Tianyou's thoughts of spending the New Year dissipated without a trace after reading the telegram. "The Western Regions Railway is related to the security of the country, and the speed of the Western Regions Railway is related to the national fortune." These two sentences are really too heavy. The Ministry of Transportation asked the Engineering Command to evaluate the suggestions of the construction of the entire railway in eight years, which made him silent.

Seeing Zhan Tianyou's expression changed drastically after reading the telegram, his partner Kuang Jingyang asked, "Liangcheng, what's wrong with the capital?"

"Ah..." Zhan Tianyou was stunned for a moment, and he smiled bitterly: "Mr. Shan called. It was probably the Prime Minister who urged the railway again. The Russian army occupied our country's territory, and the railway was blocked, so the army could not fight. Alas... this road!!"

"The terrain is too complicated, and the standards are surprisingly high. What's even more bizarre is that the route is still the imperial examination. How can this be fast?" Kuang Jingyang was also a young child in the United States and had been with Zhan Tianyou for almost his whole life.

"I have seen the route by airship, and it is indeed the most reasonable. Judging from the previous experience of building Shanxi Railway and Houma Railway, there is no big problem with the economics of choosing a line. However..." Zhan Tianyou has found that the route given above is the best route, but the best route is often not the fastest route to be built.

The most prominent example is the selection of the line from Yiwu (Hami) to Luntai (Urumqi). According to Zhan Tianyou's preliminary test, there are two plans for Yiwu to Luntai, one is the southern line of Tianshan and the other is the northern line of Tianshan. The southern line passes through Dun, Shanshan, Turpan, and Dabancheng, and finally arrives at Luntai. The line length is 574 kilometers; while the northern line plan arrives at Luntai through Mulei River, Qitai, and Jimusar. The total length of the route is 624 kilometers.

The northern line has good climate and geology, rich minerals and water sources. However, the route is fifty kilometers more than the southern line, and the height of the extension increases. The investment will be two million taels more. At the same time, the northern line is remote, has a small population, and has low economic benefits. The most important thing is that there is a southern line in the planning of the Western Region Railway, that is, the southern region railway. If the northern line is selected, the length of the railway extending south will inevitably increase, which is extremely unfavorable to the economic operation of the entire Western Region Railway Network.

The above is considered based on economic benefits. But if you want to build speed, you must choose the North Line. Although the South Line has so many benefits, the South Line has to pass through the Baili Feng District and the Thirty Li Li Fengkou. At the same time, there is a lack of water along the way and the construction cannot be carried out. The paving of this section of the line will be extremely difficult, especially the railway has to pass through the Gobi and hilly areas of 310 kilometers. The construction is difficult and the earthwork is large. Finally, it is the section that crosses the Tianshan Mountains. The terrain of the line is extremely steep. The twelve tunnels are extended to 4,455.6 meters. The deepest part of the deepest road cut at the cave is 23.9 meters, and the lowest part is 4.7 meters. It takes at least two years to dig through.

The different choices of the north and south lines will delay the project at least one and a half years later. In addition to this line, the route from Yumen to Yiwu, and the route from Luntai to the border are similar. It can be said that this unknown route survey team did not choose the route from a wartime perspective, but chose the route from peacetime as the background and economic efficiency as the standard, which is incompatible with the current situation. However, we cannot blame our predecessors. How could people in the past know that China and Russia are fighting in the Western Regions and the frontline is extremely urgent?

Zhan Tianyou thought about it and suddenly stood up and said to Kuang Jingyang: "No, I have to go out for a while."

"You go?" Kuang Jingyang put down the documents in his hand. The two people were discussing the construction of the Wushaoling Tunnel before. "It's the New Year in less than two days, and the snow is so heavy, why are you going out for?"

"I'll leave this here to you." After Zhan Tianyou finished speaking, he took out his coat, but was stopped by Kuang Jingyang. He said, "What should I do when it comes to Wushaoling Tunnel?"

"You can do it when you want to build the road earlier," Zhan Tianyou put on his clothes. "If you want to build the road earlier, you have to change the established route, which can save several years, but the economic benefits will be damaged. A railway will have to operate for decades or hundreds of years. Once it is repaired, it will be difficult to change. Whether it is to be fast or save, it can only be decided by the Prime Minister."

"Are you going to the capital?" Kuang Jingyang understood what Zhan Tianyou meant, and he asked back: "But the other route has only been preliminary surveys, and there are no specific numbers."

"But I have walked the road several times. Even if I don't understand, I can survey it while working. This is a matter of details and direction is the big problem." Zhan Tianyou said and went out. As soon as the quilt was lifted off the wind, Kuang Jingyang was left in the room. He recalled what Zhan Tianyou said for a long time, and he also put on his coat and lifted the quilt to the construction site. It was a key and difficult project of the Western Regions Railway: the Wushaoling Crossing Project.

Even if there was an airship, it was already the first day of the New Year when Zhan Tianyou arrived in the capital. He thought Yang Rui would see him the next day, but he didn't want him to get off the airship, so the carriage from the Prime Minister's Mansion came to pick him up.

In Yin'an Hall, which was as angry as spring, Yang Rui, who was one year older, did not look very good. Last night, Singapore was stationed in the British Army to transfer westward, and the remaining Indian white militias heard that the Ottoman and Britain had declared war with each other. The Ottoman was the holy place in the hearts of the white people. They were about to be transferred to Hong Kong and suddenly heard that they were going to be transferred to the Middle East to fight the Ottoman army. The devout believers actually rebelled. They occupied the Alexander Barracks and released some captured personnel from the German cruiser Emden, and finally entered the Singapore city. Although most of them killed were Europeans, the main residents living in the city were Chinese. Now there are only a few policemen and some expatriates in the city, but there are nearly a thousand rebels, and the entire city was occupied by them.

The white people in India do not regard Chinese as human beings, and the British do not regard Chinese as human beings. If the two sides fight each other, the result will definitely be a disaster. Therefore, after receiving a telegram from the Consul in Singapore and the local Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce yesterday in the middle of the night, Yang Rui immediately ordered the Nanyang Fleet to go to Singapore at full speed, but the Nanyang Fleet is all old gunboats. Not only is the speed less than ten knots, but they also have to add coal and water along the way. If you really want to arrive in Singapore, the daylily will be cold. After hesitating for a long time, Yang Rui finally asked the Shenwu to set off from Taiwan and quickly go to Singapore. As for the confidentiality of the aircraft carrier, he could only stop sending planes and just treat it as a high-speed transport ship.

"Prime Minister. I have an idea about Tianyou of the Western Regions Railway..." Zhan Tianyou didn't know that Yang Rui was sitting in Beijing, his heart was floating in the south of the sea. He just said what he had thought about along the way. He knew that the person in front of him hated courtesy, so he came straight to the point.

"Tell me." Yang Rui picked up the strong tea and took a sip, and said with harmony. He was polite to those who did practical things.

"The Western Regions Railway is related to the safety of the country. Now it is a national effort to build it without hesitation, and only to ask the railway to be opened as soon as possible. However, there are many considerations between speed and cost. Tianyou cannot weigh it, so he can only report to Beijing and ask the Prime Minister to decide." Zhan Tianyou said. After saying that, he saw Yang Rui just bowing and said, "It is the railway that needs to be just to seek speed, or to take into account the operating efficiency after completion. If you only seek speed, then the routes after Yumen must be replaced."

"The routes after Yumen need to be replaced?" Yang Rui said in confusion. "Then tell me, if you choose the route again after Yumen, can the speed be increased to a large amount. Will Shenwu be opened to traffic in a few years? Another thing is the disadvantage?"

"The new line will be selected from Yumen after that. It will definitely be accessible in the nine years of Shenwu, and it can even reach the eighth year of Shenwu in advance." Zhan Tianyou said. He had repeatedly talked about the previous information on the road and was confident about it. "The disadvantage is that some areas will be extended, and many sections of the road are uninhabited. All cities along the road cannot be connected. After the railway is built, the operating costs and economic benefits will be greatly damaged."

"Oh. Then there is no need to worry about this." Yang Ruixin immediately felt relieved, "This railway itself is a double-track design. Now the single-track place is an uninhabited place. Can you take it back when the double-track is repaired? Anyway, these two railways are connected to the Western Regions."

"This..." Zhan Tianyou thought that the re-track was a long-term plan, but Yang Rui's politeness seemed to be not a long-term thing.

"The railway budget is 350 million, isn't it just to repair the line?" Yang Rui said. "We are far away from the Western Regions, but the Russians not only have an outer Caspian railway and a large Central Asia railway. They were still building the Turkish-Western Railway some time ago. These are three railways. One railway is not enough. We need at least two railways and heavy loads to support the border defense of Central Asia... in the Western Regions. Zuo Zongtang of the Western Regions rebelled for less than 40 years. The young people at that time were still alive, and the white people were ready to move. I was not at ease if they didn't build two railways to defend themselves."

If it is impossible to transport ships, railways are the only choice. In order to increase the capacity of the Western Regions Railway, starting from Xi'an, the axle weight of the entire railway is as high as 50,000 pounds, nearly 23 tons. Originally, Yang Rui wanted to weigh 25 tons, but that was too amazing. It should be noted that the standard axle weight of domestic railway construction is only 35,000 pounds, totaling fifteen eight tons. In addition to special sections, the axle weight of railways in various countries is only 35,000 pounds.

In Zhan Tianyou's opinion, the weight of axle 35,000 pounds is enough. The two axle truck is 30 tons. If the weight of the wooden car is minus the weight of the wooden car, it can hold more than 20 tons of cargo. If it is changed to a four-axle truck, it can withstand 60 tons of weight. Even for a steel car, the load capacity can reach 45 tons. This will definitely put two twenty-ton containers. But Yang Rui's idea is more than that. Not only does he want a truck to stuff two twenty-ton containers, he also needs to put two more containers on the roof. Four containers have eighty tons, and plus the weight of the car, this is ninety-five tons.

The construction cost of six-axle trucks is too expensive and cannot be desirable. They can only be four-axle trucks, which requires a single bearing weight of 25 tons. Zhan Tianyou bluntly said that 25 tons cannot be achieved, and the maximum can be achieved 23 tons. Yang Rui had to give up after hearing this. After repeated calculations from the General Secretary, he believed that since it was container transportation, it was necessary to not fully enclose the carriage and flat carriage, so that the weight of the whole vehicle could be controlled within 92 tons. As for heavy tanks with more than 40 tons in the future, he could only find a way.

It is far higher than the axle weight of ordinary railways, and the entire line is equipped with four-axle carriages, and even lines need to be repaired. Zhan Tianyou didn't know the word "change state", but he was chanting the word too much. It took him a while to react and asked an off-topic question, saying: "Prime Minister, do we really want to compete with millions of Russian troops at the border?"

"Although the Western Regions are far away, they are also the land of China. This place is rich in resources and is the main road of the ancient Silk Road. We must guard this important road to West Asia, which is related to China's national destiny for hundreds of years." Yang Rui was very serious. "Jiancheng, can you think this way? If the speed of the railway can reach 400 kilometers per hour in the future, will the Silk Road be more valuable than sea transportation?"

"Four hundred kilometers?!" Zhan Tianyou was shocked. As far as he knew, the fastest test railway in France was only more than 200 kilometers. Four hundred kilometers was just a legend. "Prime Minister, as Tianyou knows, there is no motorcycle with a 400 kilometers for the time being."

"There will be someday." Yang Rui said. "Once the speed of railway transportation increases rapidly due to the development of technology, the importance of sea transportation will decrease. Our country, sea transportation and navy start late. When we look at the world, the sea transportation nodes of all oceans in the world have been occupied by the great powers. We are simply unable to compete with the great powers for sea power. Since sea power is not easy to fight for, then fight for land power. What is land power? Land power is railway.

Now that Russia is involved in the European war, with its poor military strength and domestic status, 99% of it will collapse if it continues to fight. Why is the speed of the construction of the Western Regions railway related to the national movement? It is because once the Tsar collapses, we can occupy the entire Turkestan region in chaos and expand our country's strength to the Persian border and the Caspian Sea.

Do you know why you are asked to study the Central Asian Railway? It is to destroy it. Once the Russian railway is destroyed, the purpose of expelling Russian forces from Central Asia can be achieved. However, the Siberian Railway is cut off by us and Central Asia is controlled by us. After the Russian internal chaos has subsided, they will definitely fight back with all their strength. The Western Regions Railway must be thoroughly built before the Russian counterattack, otherwise the opportunity that they finally get will be lost. You and I are all sinners throughout the ages."

Zhan Tianyou had previously suspected that the Prime Minister's request for quick completion was not that simple. Looking at the information of the Central Asian Railways sent by the General Staff, he was also wondering whether the country would send troops abroad. Now, when he heard the Prime Minister's briefing, he was excited and grateful. He, an engineer, could participate in the century-old plan of the country and nation. His whole body suddenly floated up.

"Why should you urge you to repair it quickly?" Yang Rui looked at him and nodded solemnly and said, "There are very few people who know about this, just know it. Forget about others. You should talk about the railway. If you re-select the line from the section west of Yumen, how much can the construction period be shortened? In addition, what should I do if these more than 1,000 kilometers east of Yumen Guan? It has been repaired for two years. Isn't it possible to change the line?"

"The more than 1,400 kilometers east of Yumen are the Tianshui section of Baoji and Wushaoling section." Speaking of the specific project, Zhan Tianyou replied to the engineer's Qingming Festival from his excitement, "Now, all sections of roads are under construction, and the Tianshui section of Baoji will be opened to traffic at the beginning of next year; the construction on Wushaoling began in July last year. The mountains and valleys in the area are rolling, and the railway must span the Daqing River and two span the Longgou River. Within 47 kilometers, there are seven tunnels totaling 2,645 meters, fourteen bridges with a total length of 717 meters, and more than 6 million stones of earth. The construction is very difficult, but at the current progress, it will be completed in the middle of next year.

By then from Xi'an to Lanzhou, and then to Yumen Pass, the remaining work for more than 1,400 kilometers was to lay tracks. We do not need manual track laying now, but use newly purchased simple track laying machines. The test situation is that the fastest track laying can be paved at 5.14 kilometers per day, which is far beyond the average speed of artificial track laying 2.4 kilometers per day. More than 1,400 kilometers can be paved in a year, which saves about one year than before. The railway Shenwu can be opened in the middle of the year.

When you arrive at Yumen, if you don’t go south of Tianshan Mountain or north of Tianshan Mountain, you can avoid the difficult water-deficient Gobi Desert and the wind area of ​​more than 100 miles. You should not build the Tianshan Tunnel group. You should not build Luntai in less than two years, which will save about twenty months compared to the original. As for the Luntai to Central Asia Railway, if you re-select the line, you can save 191 kilometers. The most important thing is to avoid the mountainous areas of more than 200 kilometers, and you should not build 44 tunnels with a total length of more than 25,100 meters. We only need to build 474 kilometers of railways on the plains to the border, and then cross the border to build 60 kilometers to connect to the southern end of the Tuxi Railway, which the Russians have built half of the Tuxi Railway. If there is no war, one year is enough, and this section will save one and a half years."

Yang Rui has been remembering the time Zhan Tianyou said carefully. The railway was connected to Yumen Pass for five years, the construction of Luntai was the seventh year of Shenwu, and the connecting of the Central Asian railway network was the eighth year of Shenwu. It was counted as six years, saving a total of four years. It was the middle of Shenwu. At that time, it happened to be the Russian civil war. In the eighth year of Shenwu, the Soviet Red Army should have defeated all the interfering troops and could drain their troops to move south to Central Asia.

The decisive battle was time to catch up, but the Tsar abdicated and the October Revolution could not catch up. At this time, the train did not even arrive, and could only rely on two or three divisions to attack Central Asia. But thinking about the 50,000 or 60,000 Russian troops stationed in Central Asia, Yang Rui wondered if he should release smoke bombs and let the Tsar draw the Central Asian troops a year before the fall...

The Prime Minister concentrating and thought, the things that Zhan Tianyou had not finished speaking were still stuck in his heart. He stopped talking several times and was about to speak. But Yang Rui said, "Can you live in the city, can you get faster?"

"Prime Minister. This is already the fastest." Zhan Tianyou was shocked. He thought that the Prime Minister should be satisfied so much in advance, but he didn't want to be satisfied. "There are many rivers east of Yumen Pass, and most sections of the entire line require a slope less than 6%. Only dangerous areas such as Wushaoling can relax to 12%, and the amount of soil is more than 50 million. The amount of repairs can be made so quickly is due to the use of bulldozers, excavators, and heavy transport trucks. If Shenwu completed the railway in eight years, it would still be..."

Zhan Tianyou took out a list from his arms and said, "Prime Minister, the project will have to purchase one thousand trucks, one hundred bulldozers and excavators, otherwise the amount of earthwork will be difficult to complete."

Unexpectedly, Zhan Tianyou had this happening. Yang Rui smiled and said, "If you give you twice the heavy-duty trucks and bulldozers, can you complete the construction one year ahead of schedule?"

"This..." Zhan Tianyou didn't expect the Prime Minister to increase his investment. He said: "I'm worried that there is not so much diesel to transport. Now half of the trucks are not transporting earthworks, but diesel, especially some sections west of Wushaoling. In order to save fuel, they use old-fashioned steam bulldozers."

"Then we're going to transport oil for 200 more trucks." Yang Rui added. "There is oil in the Laojun Temple in Yumen, and it is under construction there now. It will be available for oil supply around the beginning of next year."

"Prime Minister, do you have so many trucks in Tonghua Plant?" Since Diesel is worry-free, I am worried about whether there are so many vehicles.

"Now Tonghua Factory works overtime every day. Trucks are bought several hundred lightweight ones, but the heavy ones are sold at a small amount. As long as they order them, they will never fail to build them." Yang Rui said. He said it was so readily, but his heart hurt. The 2,200 trucks were smashed, more than 10,000 or two per truck, plus two hundred bulldozers and excavators, more than 30 million were gone.

"Jiancheng, I've given the things. You should also sell some strength." Yang Rui said again, "The whole country's strength, regardless of cost or efficiency, the whole country supports you. With the current 2,200 trucks, there are a total of 3,000 vehicles. You said there are more than 50,000 tons of earthwork, so each truck is less than 20,000 cubic meters. One trip takes seven directions and five trips a day, and there will be ten thousand cubic meters this year. I think it's hard to find such a road construction team in the world."

"Prime Minister, I will do my best." Zhan Tianyou has seen the world. He does not require people to build roads, dig soil and transport soil. Only the Western Regions Railway has such treatment. Even the Shanxi Railway does not have so many large machinery.

"It's not that you can do everything you can, but you must do it! If the Western Regions Railway cannot be repaired for one day, I can't sleep all day. Ten thousand years are too long, and the battle will be fought day and night. You must build the railway through Luntai in the sixth year of Shenwu. I don't care whether it's time to reach the border, but the closer it is to the border, the better." Yang Rui suddenly became stern, as if Zhan Tianyou looked down with a substantial look.

"Prime Minister, I must have built the railway through Luntai in the sixth year of Shenwu!" Zhan Tianyou finally raised his head with his lowered head.

"That's good." Seeing that he agreed, Yang Rui also became kind and said in a wide voice: "Jiancheng, it's not me forcing you, it's time, and the whole country is forcing me, so I have to force you, those of you who do practical things. If you build roads too quickly, there will always be a price, and even more sacrifices, but these costs and sacrifices are insignificant compared to the timing.

If a person wants to make a name for himself, he must not only be born, but also work hard and have opportunities. For this reason, the country will be the same. If he cannot seize this opportunity that is rare in hundreds of years, then I cannot get out of China on the sea and on land. I can only be a powerful East Asian country, not a world power. No matter how strong the East Asian country is, it is still a safe place. I am more serious than saying that it is still a bully. If you want to turn things around, you don’t know that it will take hundreds of years. But if the railway is connected to Central Asia and we control Central Asia again, the world pattern will be different in the future, and the fortunes of the country and nation will be different. Now, it depends on you, the engineering team under your leadership."

Yang Rui said heavy words. Seeing Zhan Tianyou moved, he took out a colorful imperial edict and said, "Anyone who sacrifices the road construction is a martyr, he can enter the Taimiao to enjoy the incense forever; those who have made meritorious service will be rewarded; those who have been disabled will be kept for the whole life. Go and tell everyone."
Chapter completed!