Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 700 Fireworks

At the Nyasaland Aeronautical Research Institute, Viscount Gladstone finally saw the "Albatross" torpedo bomber that was just showing off.

At first glance, the "Albatros" torpedo bomber looks like a scaled-up version of the "Glade" fighter.

Unlike the "Strong Wind" fighter, which only has one propeller engine at the nose position, the "Albatross" torpedo bomber is equipped with a propeller engine on each of the left and right wings to increase thrust, so the fuselage of the "Albatross" is larger than that of the "Strength". The wingspan reaches an astonishing 22 meters.

"The Aeronautical Research Institute is studying how to install more engines on the aircraft. The current plan is to add one engine at the nose position, or install two engines on the left and right wings, so that the aircraft will have a greater range. It can load more bombs and play a greater role.” In order to make the British government willing to pay, Rock took out the good stuff at the bottom of the box.

At this stage, the development speed of aircraft is still very fast. In the 1913th century, the aircraft just appeared. In [-] in another time and space, the Russian Igor Sikorsky designed the world's first quadruped engine aircraft, which later became the Sikorsky IM aircraft.

Now this time node must be greatly advanced. The Nyasaland Aeronautical Research Institute has the best aircraft engine in the world and the most complete R&D team, so it has a greater advantage in research.

"How many bombs can the aircraft you are studying now?" Viscount Gladstone wanted to know more.

"About one ton." Rock understated it, but the data made Viscount Gladstone terrified.

The caliber of the main gun of the dreadnought ship being built in the UK is only 305 mm, and each warhead weighs less than 300 kg.

Nyasaland's bomber can already carry about a ton of bombs, which on the surface is slightly equal to the three shells of the dreadnought's main gun, but how much does the dreadnought cost, and how much does the bomber cost?

Moreover, bombers can fly farther and are dispatched more conveniently, so the two are simply not comparable.

What's more, based on Viscount Gladstone's understanding of Roque, Roque's data is probably an ambush. That is to say, the bomber being researched by the Nyasaland Aviation Research Institute must have actually carried more than one ton of bombs. As for how much it exceeds, Rock will definitely not tell the truth until the Ministry of War and the Nyasaland Aviation Research Institute formally cooperate.

In a hangar of the Aeronautical Research Institute, Viscount Gladstone also saw the four-engine bomber that Rock was talking about.

Compared with the "Strong Wind", the bomber with four engines installed is definitely a giant in the air. Unlike the propeller engine of the "Strong Wind" fighter jet, the bomber's engine uses a propulsion engine, that is, the blades of the propeller are in the engine shell. At the rear, such an engine layout can provide the pilot with better visibility.

"Take our commonly used 50kg aerial bomb as an example. This kind of aircraft can load 20 bombs at a time. If it is an incendiary bomb, think about the scene where twenty incendiary bombs are thrown down together. The damage caused will definitely exceed that of the dreadnought main gun. A salvo." Rock spared no effort, compared with the new weapon of the aircraft, the dreadnoughts that the UK is desperately building have also entered a dead end, and there is no future at all.

Viscount Gladstone remained silent, looking at the giant in the sky with an ugly expression.

With a wingspan of more than 25 meters and a height of more than four meters, more than a dozen staff members are surrounding and installing various equipment. This scene is indeed not as grand as the construction of a dreadnought, but objectively it also proves that the cost is indeed low. If With the kind of performance introduced by Rock, Viscount Gladstone's belief in dreadnoughts is collapsing.

"We are still researching engines with stronger performance. If the engine research is successful, we can reduce the four engines to two, or continue to install four engines, but in that way, the performance of the bomber will be further improved. Wait until the bomber The bomb load can reach two tons, or three tons, and then the dreadnought will not be invincible." If this still doesn't tempt the War Department, then Rock really has no choice.

"The problem is, we can't prove this to the Ministry of War right now." Viscount Gladstone has already been tempted. The cost of building a dreadnought is enough to build a hundred such bombers, and the effect of a hundred bombers is definitely Much more than a dreadnought.

"Actually, it can be proved that the Medan Air Force is preparing to bomb Batavia, and then the War Department will be able to see the effect of the bombing." Rock didn't mind using East India as a training ground, and southern Africa needed experienced pilots.

"Queen Wilhelmina is seeking the King's mediation in London." Viscount Gladstone provided an update.

"Hasn't the Queen ordered the national mobilization, so what's the point of mediating?" Rock doesn't care, the current East India is no longer a direct attack by the Umbrella Corporation against the colonial government of the East India, but a spontaneous organization of the East Indians to resist the rule of the colonial government , even if Roque stopped, the East Indians would not stop.

"Hehe, even if it is a national mobilization, how many people can the Netherlands mobilize—" Viscount Gladstone didn't care too much. After the formation of the two major military blocs in Europe, Britain has always wanted to pull the Netherlands into its camp, but the Netherlands did not A strict neutrality, refused to win over the British government.

Under an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent.

So this "strict neutrality" is not so good to be neutral, especially since the Netherlands still owns a colony as large as the East India, it is basically impossible to be neutral.

The neutral country in Europe is now recognized as Switzerland. Switzerland is a country where all the people are soldiers and has no external ambitions. Important mineral deposits, no matter which country it is, will pay a great price to attack Switzerland, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Relatively speaking, the geographical location of the Netherlands is even more important. It happens to be located between the United Kingdom and Germany. All kinds of materials in the East India are very important to the United Kingdom and Germany. Under the circumstances, the Netherlands wants to be neutral, and the difficulty can be imagined.

"Locke, the factory is running at full capacity. How many bombers like this can be produced each year?" Viscount Gladstone wanted to determine Nyasaland's production capacity. If only dozens of bombers could be produced each year, it would not mean much to London.

"If it's just a bomber, then at least two hundred, but it's not this kind, but the albatross with a relatively mature design. This kind of four-engine bomber needs to be improved. Now the main bottleneck is the output of the engine. The output of the engine is insufficient. It will take a year or two, maybe only a few months, depending on how determined London is.” Rock’s answer still made Glass Viscount Dun is quite satisfied. Southern Africa is now an aircraft factory, with two producing "Strong Wind" and one producing "Albatross". The largest factory has not yet been built. After it is completed, the aircraft production in Southern Africa will be further increased.

"Locke, to go all out, we must win the war. This concerns the fate of all of us." national luck.

"I have been doing my best. Italy and the Ottoman Empire have added the third batch of orders. The performance of 'Strong Wind' in actual combat is very good. Italy and the Ottoman Empire are more and more interested in the aircraft. It is said that Italy is trying to make its own. Fighter planes and bombers, London is still a bit slow.” Rock said that the UK is indeed powerful, but at the government level, the UK’s huge bureaucratic team does not perform well.

Since defeating Spain and the Netherlands one after another, Britain has become the most powerful country in the world and has ruled the world for more than 100 years.

During these 100 years, Britain has accumulated huge wealth and strong self-confidence.

Sometimes too much self-confidence will become conceited. This is the case with the generals of the British War Department. They are stubborn, stubborn, and refuse to accept any new things. It has proved its value in North Africa, and Nyasaland has received more and more orders because of this, but the British government has not acted, which makes Rock really regretful.

After the "gale wind" flew across the English Channel, Rock asked Winston and Neville to help lobby the British government to purchase the aircraft.

Winston and Neville did help a lot, but little progress was made. The generals of the Ministry of War did not believe in the prospect of aircraft at all. Even though more and more airships had been equipped in Germany, the generals of the Ministry of War still disregard.

The airship equipped by Germany is the famous "Zeppelin airship".

In 1900, Earl Zeppelin of Germany manufactured the first rigid airship. This airship uses a structurally complete keel to maintain the shape of the airbag and is powered by a piston engine, so it has good flight performance and large loading capacity. The airship manufactured by Zeppelin Airship Company Not only for commercial use, but also for military use, the company built 113 military airships in the first ten years of its existence alone.

These military airships formed Germany's powerful airship force. Airships could be used not only for reconnaissance, but also for ground bombing. The British War Department turned a blind eye to all of this and did not prepare corresponding countermeasures at all.

Unlike the arrogant and conceited Ministry of War, Rock is ready. The "Strong Wind" fighter is the best weapon against the "Zeppelin". For the hydrogen used by the "Zeppelin", Nyasaland Arsenal has developed a high Explosive bombs and incendiary bombs. If war breaks out and Germany dispatches "Zeppelins" to fly over the English Channel to bomb London like in another time and space, Roark invites the citizens of London to watch the fireworks.

(End of this chapter)