Opening game, American Tycoon

Get out of range of the enemy fleet and bombard it with devastation!
It was this sentence in Lu Rende's report that attracted Cheng Bichen's attention and made him temporarily change his plan.

As an admiral, and a naval admiral who won the South Pacific sea battle with a weak force, the fleet commander knew how he won the war last time.

It's technology!
It was the absolute superiority in technology that allowed him to win the naval battle.

Because of this, he has always paid great attention to technological innovation, and of course, he is also one of the supporters of dreadnoughts.

The Imperial Navy is indeed a beneficiary of technological dividends, and even has a certain dependence on technological change, which is path dependence!
In fact, this is the biggest characteristic of the imperial military and enterprises. They attach great importance to technology research and development, because they have all enjoyed the technological dividends.Businessmen believe that technological innovation can bring them wealth, but what about soldiers?believe that technological innovation will allow them to win wars.

Over the years, through technological leadership, the imperial army, which has repeatedly won many battles, has one eye on the practice of war and one eye on new technologies, and is extremely sensitive to accepting new technologies.

"If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools."

The generals of the imperial army never doubted this, and because of this, after seeing Lu Rende's report, Cheng Bichen immediately changed his plan.

The dreadnought may be powerful, but it is a warship that has been launched, and it is a technology that has been put into practical use. Even if it is ahead, it is only temporary.Even if dreadnoughts are the future soul of the navy and the guarantee of victory in naval battles, but... so what?

He went a day late, and the dreadnought would not run away, but the young officer in front of him brought him a brand new idea.

Sensitive to new technologies, Cheng Bichen made a choice.

Even if his idea is impossible, it's no big deal.

It's just a few hours of delay, the dreadnought can't escape!

"Take off from the ship, um, like a Helicarrier?"

Cheng Bichen asked.

Helicarrier, this is the original of the empire, in fact, it is just a rebuilt cargo ship, it can carry four small combat airships, it can provide air cover for the fleet during naval battles, and it can prevent the fleet from being attacked by airships.

"It's almost the same, but it's completely different, because planes need a deck to take off, and an aircraft carrier can carry up to twenty planes. After they take off from the ship, they can not only provide air cover for the fleet, prevent airship attacks, but also Importantly, it can attack warships."

Attacking warships with air power, in fact, the floating troops have already tried this, but the airships carried by the helicarriers are not suitable for this job, because the combat airships have too little load, and the large airships are too large.

"Twenty planes! They can actually carry so many!"

"It may even reach thirty! Besides having a machine gun, each plane can also carry a 250 kg bomb and fly 300 kilometers. Sir, do you know what this means?"

what does this mean?
Cheng Bichen smiled and motioned for him to continue talking.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Rende continued.

"Dreadnoughts are indeed powerful, but sir, the cannons of dreadnoughts have a range of less than 250 kilometers, but our planes can carry 100 kilograms of bombs to bomb them [-] kilometers away. Sir, if we build As for the aircraft carrier, it will certainly be able to play an unexpected role in naval battles, sir."

When Lu Rende made this suggestion, Cheng Bichen's adjutant walked into the room, holding a tray of porcelain cups and a matching teapot in his hand, and he heard Cheng Bichen say to him:

"...What you are talking about is the key point. This is its biggest advantage. The distance, even the most powerful naval gun, has a range of only 30 kilometers. Even if our technology is more advanced and the firing angle is increased, Breaking the sky, which is 40 kilometers, indeed, as you said, our advantage will be greatly increased in this way, and it will definitely play an unexpected role in naval battles."

It is always joyful to be praised, and Lu Rende is no exception, he nodded with a smile.After the adjutant served the tea and left, Cheng Bichen gestured to the cup, and then picked up the cup himself.

"My only question is, can the plane take off on the ship? Or, what should we do, I don't know much about planes, or even how it flies, so I hope you can explain it to me. "

"Sir, it's very simple. It needs a runway, its wings, and an engine. It relies on the power of the engine to drive the propeller to rotate to generate forward traction..."

Then Lu Rende explained the operating principle of the plane, of course it was a simple explanation. Although it was simple, Cheng Bichen still understood it.

"So it needs a platform, and then taxis to take off? It's similar to a glider, but the glider is towed by a car, and the plane has its own engine."

Gliding is very common in the current empire. Not only many university-related clubs, but even several universities have started to hold glider competitions. As a sport, it is becoming popular in the empire in an unprecedented way.

"Yes, that's about it. As long as there is a runway of about 100 meters, it can fly..."

Nodding, Lu Rende explained.

"We now have ships ready to conduct experiments on this."

"A ready-made ship?"

"Yes, it is the "Shenzhou Class Immigrant Ship". The right side of the ship is a deck more than 150 meters long and 20 meters wide. If the railings on the side are removed, it is the most suitable platform for take-off. It is not even needed How to reform."

"Oh? Is the "Shenzhou-class immigrant ship" ready? Hmm..."

After thinking about it, Cheng Bichen said.

"Then what do you need me to do?"

Looking at the Chief Cheng in front of him, Lu Rende took a deep breath and said,

"I hope the commander can requisition that ship, um, temporarily requisition, and then we can conduct take-off and landing tests in this area. Sir Cheng, you must believe me, when the aircraft carrier appears, it will definitely change the war!"

Just before leaving, Lu Rende repeatedly said his point of view.

"It will definitely change the war, Chief Cheng. On my head..."

"You don't need to use your head to guarantee, whether it is success or failure, you must first try bravely."

Cheng Bichen patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about this matter. Report to you to tidy up first,
Before we start trying, there are always some details that need to be considered.For example, I don't understand the details of the takeoff and landing of the plane on the ship, but you must be a professional, and you have to figure it out first. "

After thinking about it, he continued.

"The other thing is that Unit 903 is a confidential unit, including your aircraft. Regarding the matter of the aircraft boarding, um, I can go to the Ministry of the Army to coordinate, but we still have to consider various aspects such as secrecy. Of course, there is also the requisition of the upload, which also needs to find a suitable reason. But I will handle these issues, and now your task is to study the matter of the plane boarding..."