afterglow

Chapter 302 Proof of Air Force Strength; Validation of Critical Mass Theory

Although the major naval powers have done a lot of exploration on the use of aviation, and there is a lot of evidence showing their bright future, but no one dares to jump to conclusions on this major decision that "can change the entire naval warfare model".

It was not until after the Battle of Taranto in the late [-]s that people finally understood the strength of naval aviation.

At the beginning of the war, because the Italians guarded the Mediterranean area, the British tried to launch a campaign to seize command of the sea. However, the shrewd Italians chose to "avoid and not fight, and wait for opportunities to dispatch", and spent most of their time hiding in the military port. The Royal Navy It's nerve-wracking for this.

Although in the Mediterranean region, the strength of the Royal Navy is inferior to that of the Italian Navy, which is fighting at home, the famous Admiral Cunningham boldly made a careful raid plan around the aircraft carrier.

The result was brilliant, and the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet raided the Italian naval base of Taranto with a resounding victory.

This is the first time since the aircraft carrier took the initiative to attack the fleet in the military port on a large scale, and the tremendous power of the naval aviation has been proven.As a result, more and more people began to reverse their original views.

英军一共出动21架舰载机，仅仅损失2架飞机和1位飞行员，使用8条鱼雷与一些航弹，就创下了击沉、击伤意军3艘战列舰、2艘巡洋舰、2艘驱逐舰的巨大胜利。

At this point, can everyone really change their minds at once?
The fact is that some people are still stubborn. A year later, the Z fleet of the Royal Navy set off for the Far East. Despite the lack of aviation escort, Lieutenant General Philip has always insisted that the Japanese's clumsy and broken aircraft cannot pose a threat to the British Empire's cutting-edge warships. .

In the end, the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse finally slept forever on the bottom of Southeast Asia.

What worries Zhou Changfeng is that history has deviated from the track he is familiar with, and it is impossible to predict the future.

Under the current situation, Italy shrewdly disguised itself as the vanguard of the confrontation ▇▇, tried its best to show favor to the United Kingdom, and continued to harass the German Society and Austria through diplomacy, trade, and border conflicts.

With both black and red, the British naturally give priority to encouraging the former to contain the latter.

If only from a geographical point of view, the war that may break out at any time is more and more like a replica of the European War.

So, when will the battle to prove the power of aviation come?This is an unknown.

Hope that after the war in Europe, the British will carry out a battle similar to the raid on Taranto on the Germans?

Such unilateral expectations full of unknowns are naturally unreasonable, so Zhou Changfeng considered starting from his own home and focusing on promoting the use of aviation by the Ming army in combat in the Nanyang region.

If the British Z Fleet arrives as scheduled, as long as the Ming Air Force or Naval Aviation can function normally, then everything will be clear.

What I am afraid of is that the aviation force will not be able to play its due role due to various reasons such as weather conditions, command errors, and poor communication. In the end, it will have to rely on the naval fleet to deal with the Z fleet head-on, which will undoubtedly deceive many people. human eyes.

In the next few days, in addition to dealing with many affairs of the First Marine Brigade, Zhou Changfeng also spent half a day alone to go to Imperial Gezhi University.

The purpose is nothing but to continue to discuss the feasibility analysis of the militarization of nuclear energy with that nuclear physicist Xu Shangdan.

"Mr. Xu, I have carefully read your letters from the past few days. I came to you specially today to ask you to figure out theoretical calculations in your busy schedule. I am sorry."

"Zhou Daizhao is polite, the matter is of great importance, and this is also my duty, not to mention that it didn't waste much time."

Taking the "alcoholic walking problem" as a thinking model and referring to Li's random walk theorem, Xu Shangdan believed that this theoretical calculation is not difficult, so after listing the key points, he handed over the tedious calculation tasks to his students.

Although there were no electronic computers in this era, the Imperial Gezhi University was one of the scientific and technological research cores of the majestic eastern powers, and all kinds of mechanical computing equipment were readily available.

With their assistance, the students, without exception, who can be called the favored ones of heaven, have been busy for a month, repeatedly checked and deduced, and completed the chain reaction of spherical high-enriched uranium that can be stably and self-sustained under the action of thermal neutrons. the desired radius.

About nine centimeters in radius, with a total mass of less than sixty kilograms.

Although it is still not a small number, it is not an astronomical number that is unattainable.

Seeing Zhou Changfeng's satisfied expression, Xu Shangdan reminded: "It is not easy to extract uranium ore. Uranium [-] is unusable, and it is even more troublesome to separate it from uranium [-]."

However, the former didn't care, just cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, everything is difficult at the beginning, Mr. Xu, you have done a lot!"

Along with Zhou Changfeng came the palace attendants and military personnel. The two cars they drove stopped under the building of the School of Physics, and then began to hand over the calculation files to the students.

Stacks of draft papers for theoretical calculations of feasibility were stuffed into the large suitcase, including the erroneous waste drafts, and the four large suitcases were then put into the trunk of the car.

An officer of the Ministry of War said to several students very seriously: "Admonish me again, you must keep it secret, this is not a joke, let this matter rot in your stomach!"

The palace attendant next to him also said sternly: "The hush money won't be settled all at once, but will be paid out every month within ten years, which can be regarded as a regular reminder to you that there is still such a thing. If the leak becomes known to the outside world, it will be seen Whether the consequences are serious or not, you may be sentenced to ten years or even 20 years in prison."

The students responded quickly, and they were very speechless. They thought they were just completing a boring but novel calculation work on behalf of their husbands, but they didn't expect such a big event to happen.

Although you can receive money regularly, the price of not being able to withstand the leak of news is too high.

Immediately, a satisfied Zhou Changfeng left Gezhi University.

Because it was lunch time, he was hungry and found a restaurant on the street, and finished with a bowl of rice.

When he returned to the Forbidden City in time, he took the ferry all the way to the gate of Qianqing, and then walked quickly to Zhaoren Hall.

Because there are no interviews or other itinerary arrangements today, Zhu Lingjing's clothes are much more casual. Instead of wearing the usual formal clothes, she replaced it with a light-colored floral dress and high heels, and her hair was tied in a high ponytail.

She didn't sit down, but paced slowly in the room, as if she was thinking about something.

Zhou Changfeng couldn't help being taken aback when he saw this, he thought he was hallucinating.

"Your Majesty, you..." He paused for half a second before muttering, "You are very fashionable."

"The usual outfit is troublesome." Zhu Lingjing didn't take it seriously, and glanced at him, "What do you want from me?"

"Mr. Xu from Gezhi University and others have completed the feasibility analysis of the militarization of nuclear energy, and the draft paper for the specific checking calculation has been taken away by the Ministry of War and kept on file."

"What is the result of the judgment?"

"It's completely feasible, and you can guess the power. After all, it is to reduce the mass to obtain energy, and the power is very powerful."

Zhou Changfeng deliberately downplayed the feasibility, but obviously Zhu Lingjing was not so easily fooled.

She stared into the eyes of the former, and said with a half-smile: "When reporting to the superior, you must try to be as objective as possible, with less personal opinions, so as to reduce the distortion of the news from level to level."

Some embarrassed Zhou Changfeng had no choice but to say: "The calculated enriched uranium sphere needs a radius of about nine centimeters and a total mass of about 58 kilograms."

This data is actually slightly different from the standard answer, but the difference is not big, only a few kilograms, probably because of the different limit states selected during calculation.

Zhu Lingjing looked strange, she walked back to her seat slowly and sat down, and said, "This result...is not the same. Let's say it's too much...it's not a fantasy, let's say it's less...it will cost tens of kilograms so much."

"Indeed, it's sure to be a big project."

Tsk!The horoscope has not yet been written... oh no, the horoscope has just been written, and I haven't said what to do yet, why are we talking about engineering?
"If I remember correctly, uranium 90.00 accounts for less than [-]% of the mined uranium ore, and [-]% is uranium [-]." Zhu Lingjing looked calmly at Zhou Changfeng who was a few steps away , said lightly: "The difference between the two is only three neutrons. It is not easy to separate them."

"..." Zhou Changfeng nodded, but remained silent.

"Let's wait for the cabinet to discuss with the military department. This is a major event that requires all the power of the country."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Lingjing added, "I think that for such a huge matter, the same resources may be enough to build an entire fleet."

I have to say, your intuition is quite accurate.Zhou Changfeng said in his heart.

Historically, the Manhattan Project cost more than $20 billion, while an Iowa-class battleship cost $3000 million, a Cleveland-class light cruiser cost $1000 million, and a Fletcher-class destroyer cost $[-] million.

In fact, Zhu Lingjing is very interested in this and agrees with its feasibility.

Since physical experiments have proved the existence of the reaction, and theoretical calculations have confirmed its feasibility, then such a thing is destined to work, and it is nothing more than a price.

If it was in peacetime, she would definitely be willing to invest in this project for a long time, but unfortunately the current situation prevented her from being so "generous", and she had to be cautious about such a hugely expensive plan.

If she fails in the end and instead wastes a huge amount of resources, eventually causing the balance of war to reverse, then she will probably be nailed to the pillar of shame in history forever.

"Your Majesty, let's organize a special seminar after that. This matter...is too important and must be weighed carefully." Zhou Changfeng suggested.

"Sure." Zhu Lingjing agreed straightforwardly, "And no matter whether it advances or not, the initial research should continue."

After a while, she said after thinking: "Xu Shangdan is old and can teach, but he can't handle such hard work. Qian Yuankai is also talented and energetic, so he is very suitable."

Even though the world has changed, the famous Qian family is still bright, and celebrities come forth in large numbers.

Qian Yuankai, who is 42 years old, is one of them. The research team he leads has been at the forefront of high-energy physics research in Daming.

Qian Yuankai graduated from Gezhi University in Shanghai and has a doctorate from ETH Zurich. He knew Bohr and had a good personal relationship.

In the 28th year of Zhichang, in order to better study high-energy physics, he actually applied for a huge amount of funding from the Ministry of Industry and established a leading large-scale laboratory at Shanghai Gezhi University.

Subsequently, the world's first 25-inch, 800mm cyclotron was built, and another 1600-inch, [-]mm accelerator was built three years later, weighing [-] tons.

It is no exaggeration to say that half of the high-energy physics of the Ming Dynasty today is made by this genius.

In fact, as a time traveler, Zhou Changfeng has a peculiar superstition - when he hears that his surname is Qian, and he comes from the Qian family, he feels an inexplicable sense of peace of mind, thinking that the matter is a sure thing.

The emperor himself is interested in this and has a more positive attitude, and at the same time has the help of an extraordinary genius...

It's just a fission bomb, can it stop me from making you first!
If all else fails, I'll eat this cyclotron on the spot!
Because the prospect can be described as bright, Zhou Changfeng's mood is very comfortable, so that after returning home, there is a smile on his face.

"Is there any big happy event today?"

"Of course, because I see a bright future." Zhou Changfeng said pretending to be inscrutable.

"Well, I should be happy." Xia Xiaoshi said while cutting oranges with a knife, "Sir, I have already resigned today. Sigh, the seniors are quite sorry."

Except for Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and other countries, married women in most countries in the world do not work, and they mainly bear the responsibility of housewives.

Daming was no exception. Obviously Xia Xiaoshi didn't want others to take care of her cub, so she chose to resign without hesitation.

"It's a pity? Then did they say something to stay?"

"Uh...no."

Zhou Changfeng, who was smiling, asked meaningfully: "My idiot Xiaoshi, think about it again, are they really 'sorry'?"

please!No matter how bad your father is, it's the criminal department's fault, but your husband and I are the top three-rank colonel Luzheng.

If this accidentally makes you wronged, I'm afraid you shouldn't worry about it.

Xia Xiaoshi covered her forehead and said helplessly: "I won't bully others..."

In the evening, the husband and wife together with Lin Xi, the three of them gathered together for dinner, feeling comfortable and comfortable.

A peaceful life may have entered the countdown, Zhou Changfeng is now hoping that the war will come later, and he doesn't expect more, just wait until his wife gives birth.

Even in the generally peaceful present, however, not everyone enjoys the few moments of peace that are left.

Thousands of miles away in northern Xinjiang, Beihai Lake.

As night fell, a group of uninvited guests crossed the border at the place where Su Wu herded sheep according to ancient books.

More than forty heavily armed Tsarist Russian soldiers quietly crossed the border, came to a hill in the southeast, and began to dig field fortifications.

　The easter egg chapter has updated the industrial production capacity of each country

　　
　
(End of this chapter)