afterglow

Chapter 659: Famine Threat Emerges; You Expel Me, I Accept You

"You had an accident last month, but it will be done soon. Once you recover, you will probably be able to see results."

"I will be able to be discharged from the hospital at the end of the month." Zhou Changfeng said impatiently.

"What's the hurry?" Zhu Lingjing glanced at him and said calmly, "Let's wait until the beginning of next spring."

"Your Majesty, this injury is actually not serious..."

"Then stay still."

The Special Crop Research and Development Committee reported that as of November 11, 15 kg of "special raw materials" had been produced and accumulated, and production is still ongoing.

The first phase of the Jinwu Project includes five graphite reactors and two chemical separation plants, while the second phase adds three graphite reactors and two plants.

The designed peak power of each reactor is 18 kW, which produces a steady supply of plutonium. According to calculations, 6.4 kg is enough to reach the critical mass.

When it comes to weapon design and structure, the design team under the R&D committee proposed several plans, most of which were rejected by theoretical calculations. The remaining two plans still need to be actually tested to compare their rationality.

After being incorporated into the Ministry of War, the small team from Yanshan University of Science lived up to expectations and, with strong support, successfully developed the second generation of the "Arithmetic Cabinet".

The first generation "Arithmetic Cabinet" used a total of 402 vacuum tubes and could only solve partial differential equations, with a computing power of roughly 100 additions or 3 multiplications per second.

The second generation was no longer limited by scarce funds, so it was much more powerful. It used 10640 vacuum tubes and could solve linear or nonlinear multi-order partial differential equations, with a computing power of about 2800 additions or 140 multiplications per second.

At the same time, Ziyun Precision Instrument Company also completed the manufacturing task it had undertaken - the large-scale mechanical relay computer "Ziyun No. 1".

This giant machine weighs 6 tons and has a total of 9.4 mechanical components. It can perform 5 addition operations per second. Although its speed is far slower than that of an electronic computer, it is highly accurate, with calculation accuracy up to 20 decimal places.

A groundbreaking early electronic computer and a pinnacle of traditional mechanical relays, both provided great help to the Golden Crow Project.

When talking about the progress of the nuclear program, we cannot ignore others' as well as our own.

Based on the many fragmentary intelligence obtained from various channels, it can be inferred that the US nuclear program is also proceeding in full swing.

Zhu Lingjing leaned forward slightly and said in a low voice, "The black job is basically ready, but the prospects are not good."

Zhou Changfeng also nodded slightly and said: "It's just a matter of luck, I hope it will work."

"You have a good eye for choosing places."

"I'm just guessing based on common sense. For a secret plan like this, that kind of wasteland would definitely be the first choice."

This topic is not suitable for detailed discussion here, so Zhu Lingjing said no more.

The two looked at each other, and she changed the subject, saying, "The British Indian authorities are still plundering and forcibly requisitioning food. The food shortage in India has been very serious since the beginning of this year, and it is still getting worse. There are sporadic food shortages. The court estimates that if this continues, a major disaster will occur next year."

"It looks like they are going to collapse without a fight."

"Oh, the British don't care about these things. What does the life and death of the local people have to do with the dignitaries in London?"

Suddenly Zhou Changfeng thought of a famous scene in a later movie, "Your Majesty, if conditions permit, you can let the Indu Corps allocate some transportation capacity and use rice instead of bombs..."

Zhu Lingjing smiled slightly, "Good, this conspiracy is very bad, just what I want."

The Bengal region was the main rice-growing area in British India, with about one-third of the rice produced there, but it had long been occupied by the Ming army.

The fragile food supply balance in British India was thus broken, and this year a large-scale rice brown spot disease broke out in farming areas across India, resulting in a significant reduction in grain production.

Against such a dire backdrop, it was only natural for the colonial authorities to continue collecting grain for military needs and even to export it to the British Isles. A severe famine was imminent.

Zhu Lingjing didn't stay too long. After briefly discussing the battle situation, she prepared to leave.

"Focus on recuperating and don't leave the hospital for the next half month." She gave another instruction before leaving.

After she left, Xia Xiaoshi opened the door and walked into the ward, scolding: "Your luck will eventually run out. Zhou Kexing, you must have been careless on the front line. The saying 'Those who are good at swimming will drown' is so true!"

Just now when the two were talking, she asked outside in detail the causes and consequences of Zhou's injury.

"I don't want to leave the door open either." Zhou Changfeng spread his hands helplessly and said, "Do you know how hot it is in the car? It's over 40 degrees. If you stay in it for too long, you'll get heat stroke."

Xia Xiaoshi couldn't blame him, so she sighed depressedly, "Alas...it's been a long time, this battle should be over by now."

"It's almost there. It's just around the corner."

"Really? When?"

"That's not accurate."

"Everything will be fine when that day comes." Xia Xiaoshi said with anticipation, and then added: "I'll bring the kids over tonight. If we don't meet again, I'm afraid Jian Jian will forget that she has a father who is away from home."

"Okay. By the way, speaking of this, why did the emperor come with you?"

"His Majesty suddenly came when I was about to go out at noon..." There was a hint of helplessness in Xia Xiaoshi's tone.

Zhou Changfeng was speechless for a few seconds, and finally said with a smile: "She really has a refined taste."

Zhou Changfeng's original plan was disrupted by his sudden return to the mainland due to injuries, but fortunately the impact was not significant and the situation on Maui was still under control. In order to avoid damaging morale, he carefully formulated a "tactical transfer" plan - gradually withdrawing the First Landing Army, but the First Marine Brigade and the First Regiment would remain and fight side by side with the 38th and 31st Divisions.

The method of material transportation has also been further optimized. It is still difficult to meet the demand by relying solely on torpedo boats. Therefore, the Hawaiian force of the Ming Navy quickly used the existing available weapons to modify some minesweepers to increase transportation capacity.

The main structure of the Gen-shaped minesweeper was designed by Technical Lieutenant Colonel Cao Yuan, who was recently accused by the Third Company. This is the most widely used small minesweeper by the Ming Navy. It has two versions, steel hull and wooden hull. More than 600 of them have been built so far.

钢制船壳版本标准排水量260吨，全长38米，动力配置为两台1000匹马力柴油机，极速19节。武器装备为前甲板一座双联装20.8㎜高射炮、刺猬弹、深水炸弹滑轨、扫雷具、18颗深水炸弹。

The Ming army converted 21 minesweepers on site at the Pearl Harbor Shipyard, 15 of which were transport-type. All weapons and equipment except anti-aircraft guns were removed, and each boat could carry 8 tons of supplies.

The other six ships are escort type, with greatly enhanced firepower. After removing the hedgehog bombs and minesweepers, a 6mm anti-aircraft gun was added to the stern of the boat, and two single-mounted 38.4mm anti-aircraft guns were added to each of the left and right sides.

This batch of temporarily converted minesweepers made a round trip every night, making a total of 15 voyages, transporting 120 tons of various supplies to the Ming army on Maui, and could carry 330 to 360 people on the return trip.

The main reason for choosing a minesweeper instead of a landing craft is its speed. The maximum speed of a Gen-shaped minesweeper can reach twice that of a landing craft. In terms of efficiency and safety, the faster the better.

Combined with the transport capacity of the torpedo boat unit, the two can replenish 70% of the Ming army's daily consumption on Maui Island every night.

Considering that troops are being withdrawn every night and the consumption of troops on the island is also decreasing accordingly, it is sufficient in the long run. Moreover, there are dozens of torpedo boats and minesweepers on the way by sea, and it won't be long before more reinforcements are added.

Compared with the situation of the ground forces, Zhou Changfeng now pays more attention to the air force. The tactical advantages brought by Britain and the United States' leading position in the electronics industry are so great that he finds that he still underestimated the electronic confrontation of this era.

In response to the inquiry, the military attaché of the GSS Embassy, ​​after obtaining authorization from the local government, roughly explained the response of the GSS Air Force, which mainly focused on trying to expand the radar operating frequency, develop frequency conversion technology, and increase the transmission power.

Historically, in 1944, faced with the endless supply of foil strips and active electronic jammers from the Allies, the German army ambitiously attempted to increase the radar electromagnetic wave transmission power by a hundred times. This was obviously a fantasy and ultimately seemed to be a distant dream.

A slightly more reliable device is the manual frequency conversion device. The German army found that the Allied interference on the C frequency was relatively light, so they made use of this. In actual combat, they first activated the A frequency radar to trick the Allied forces into tuning the interference frequency to the same frequency, then activated the B frequency radar to further attract interference, and finally activated the C frequency radar.

But this is only a stopgap measure. The Germans' best solution is a brand-new hunting palace warning radar with semi-automatic fast frequency change capability, as well as the more advanced centimeter-wave radar Egeland system.

Centimeter-wave radar is basically not afraid of the electronic jamming technology of this era. However, it was not until the beginning of 1944 or 1945 that Germany produced the first Egeland system. The original plan was to mass-produce 1,000 sets, but it was ultimately abandoned due to its failure.

Germany's electronics industry is half a step behind that of Britain and the United States, and overall it can only be said to be slightly ahead of the Ming Dynasty, a late-developing industrial country.

The most advanced radar of the German Army is the FuMO26 search and fire control dual-purpose radar that was recently installed on the battleship Engels. It is a decimeter wave radar with a wavelength of 81.5cm, a ranging accuracy of 55m, and an azimuth accuracy of about 0.25°.

The British Army's similar type of fire control radar is the Type 274, which is a centimeter-wave radar with a wavelength of 9cm, a ranging accuracy of 25m, and an azimuth accuracy of 0.03°; the performance of the US Army's Mk8 fire control radar is roughly the same.

The suppressive effect of electronic interference on the air defense system is obvious, and the German army is very troubled by this, but the national air defense operation is relatively not that difficult. There is enough strategic depth, and the German fighters can still fight in formation, but they may not get radar guidance, and the interception efficiency is reduced. Therefore, the data shows that the losses of British and American strategic bombing have been reduced, and the other changes are not obvious.

But the same method is completely different when used in Hawaii. No matter how big Oahu is, it is only an island of more than 1,000 square kilometers. There is no room for maneuver at all. The reaction time and window period are extremely short.

Because of this dilemma, both the front and the rear came up with a series of desperate measures and folk remedies, but to no avail.

In Zhou Changfeng's opinion, at least he had to first obtain several ground radars that were immune to electronic interference to resolve the urgent situation of being in the dark.

Looking at the world, there are only a few great powers. We have to eliminate ourselves first. The options left for the Ming people are very limited. We can no longer count on the Germans. The only hope is the French.

Although it was a bit strange, the Ming court had long recognized the French Socialist Republic as the legitimate regime, and the trade between the two sides had never stopped in the past two years - no one thought that the embarrassing exiled Third Republic would be able to fight back one day.

Surviving in the cracks is not suitable to describe the French Society. A more appropriate description would be cleaning the house behind closed doors.

While dealing with dissidents, the AFP has also taken the time in the past two years to clean up the many messes left over from the Third Republic.

By reforming the labor and workers' law, nationalizing important enterprises, granting women universal suffrage, and drafting a new constitution, the messy domestic affairs were finally greatly improved.

After diplomatic negotiations through the military attaché of the embassy, ​​the French agreed to the sale of four long-range early warning radars and two dual-purpose search and fire control radars to the state-owned Thomson Electric Company.

Thomson was founded as early as the 19th century. In later generations, it gradually evolved into France's largest military industrial enterprise - Thales Group, exporting a large number of various weapons and equipment.

Now Thomson has been nationalized and is responsible for providing various electronic equipment to the French army.

The SkyGuardian 312 long-range early warning radar is a decimeter wave radar with a wavelength of 40cm and a frequency of 890MHz. It can detect an aircraft at an altitude of 130km at a distance of 2km. It has its own special filter and can work normally among foil clouds with echo signals up to 15 times stronger than those of enemy aircraft. It has semi-automatic frequency conversion capability.

The Sky Hunter 120 search and fire control dual-purpose radar is a centimeter wave radar with a wavelength of 8cm and a frequency of 3200MHz. It can detect enemy aircraft at a distance of 60km, with a ranging accuracy error of 30m, and has automatic tracking capability.

In addition to their performance, the biggest advantage of these two radars is their ease of transfer. Both can be installed on Berliet heavy trucks for mobile deployment, reducing the risk of being destroyed after being discovered.

The French were well aware that the Ming people were in urgent need of these radars, so they raised the price, demanding payment of gold and three rare metals (nickel, chromium, and tungsten) at the same time, and signing an immigration agreement to persuade at least 300,000 young and middle-aged men to immigrate.

France is facing a serious problem of shortage of young and middle-aged men. The European War caused France to lose nearly one-tenth of the country's labor force, most of whom were young people. It has not recovered until now. Therefore, France has further strengthened its policy to encourage immigration.

To be honest, the officials of the imperial court were very unhappy because the conditions offered by the French Society were too many. They demanded so much for just a few radars, and they wanted both things and people.

However, the war situation is tense now, so we can only accept it.

Just as the major powers in history secretly discussed post-war affairs before the end of a war, the French upper echelons were also optimistic that the major issues had been settled. Therefore, after the signing of the radar foreign trade contract, they sent a special commissioner to make a secret visit to inquire about the Ming Dynasty's post-war treatment of Australia.

New Caledonia, an island east of Australia, is a French colony and is now under the control of the US-Australia coalition forces. The island is rich in precious nickel mines and is known as the Nickel Capital of Oceania.

In addition to the ownership of the island, what is more important is how to deal with the Australian population, because there are voices in the Ming Dynasty that the descendants of exiled prisoners will be expelled, so the French society wants to confirm whether this is true, or whether it is true or not, it hopes to strive for one to two million refugees.

Those whom they expel are good citizens whom I accept.

(End of this chapter)