Iron Sonata of World War II

This is not because Helena is indifferent to the air power building of her motherland in her previous life, but because Helena knows that if history goes according to the course of history, the "Treaty of Versailles", which restricted Germany's export of weapons, will be abolished within a few months.At that time, even if Germany directly exports the single-seat combat BF-108A, it will not attract international criticism.Unlike now, all arms exports can only be done covertly, which will add a lot of extra costs to buyers and sellers.

So under the constraints of the "Treaty of Versailles", is there any precedent for Germany to sell combat aircraft to China before?The answer is: Not only has it been sold, but the quantity is not too small.

In the early 30s, Junkers exported 21 A-35 fighter jets and 12 K-47 fighter-attack aircraft to China, and Fokker-Wulf won an order for 20 FW-44 trainer aircraft.Among them, in order to avoid the supervision of the Allied Powers, Junkers put the assembly of the aircraft in its subsidiary in Sweden, while Focke-Wolf simply called the FW-44 a civilian aircraft (FW-44 is indeed a civilian aircraft aircraft, except that China often uses them for reconnaissance and bombing missions.)

Helena did not directly intervene in the export activities of Junkers and Focker-Wulf to China.However, these transactions were not only successfully concluded as in the previous plane, but even the quantity purchased by China was exactly the same as in the previous plane. This made Helena once again lament the power of historical inertia. Where Goldfinger can't reach, it always inadvertently pays tribute to the copy of the previous plane.

The reason why Helena didn't pay much attention to these transactions in the past was because she knew that these aircrafts were designed in the late 20s to early 30s. The speed is really too fast. If Japan in this plane launched a full-scale war of aggression against China around 1937, then these old guys will be completely unable to compete with Japan's new Type 96 and Type 97 fighter jets. They can only do some detection and harassment tasks, just like what they did on the previous plane.

Junkers and Fokker-Wulf have already tasted the sweetness from the Chinese market, which makes the Bavarian Aircraft Factory unable to sit still.So far, the only order the Bavarian Aircraft Factory has received from the Chinese market is a mere M18 business jet purchased by the Nanjing government. Naturally, this cannot satisfy the appetite of the company’s board of directors. Why do other companies eat meat, but I can’t get enough of it? Can't drink anything hot?

The Bavarian Aircraft Factory has been affected by the air crash over the years, and it has not been very smooth. Although Helena helped the company immediately, it only saved the company from bankruptcy, and did not restore the company's hematopoietic function. .Due to the lack of competitive products and the economic crisis, in the past few years, the factory could only rely on OEM for other companies to maintain its operation.

Now that the BF-108 project has finally gained a reputation and opened up the market, the Bavarian aircraft factory will naturally try to use this card to turn around. In other words, it is still a piece of cake worth fighting for.

After some thinking, Helena is determined to help the Bavarian Aircraft Factory win this cake. After all, the BF-108A is indeed a fighter that is very suitable for China's current national conditions. If this fighter is only used as a transitional model before the German next-generation fighter is equipped As a time traveler, Helena would feel very regretful if she could not realize her own value on the battlefield, and the sky of Helena's motherland in the previous plane is precisely the best place for this transitional equipment to realize its own value.

Although in the skies of Europe, Helena predicts that within two years, the BF-109 fighter jets being developed by Germany and the "Spitfire" fighter jets being developed by the United Kingdom will make their first flights one after another, and the BF-108A will gradually lose Its present glory.But if you jump out of the European monster room, it may be another scene.

Because the development level of the aviation industry in East Asia is much behind that of Europe, Helena believes that if the level of Japan's aviation industry in this plane does not make a qualitative leap, then until the "Zero" fighter jet enters service in 1940, the BF-108A will be The most well-deserved fighter in the sky of East Asia.

In the last plane, the fighters with the best performance in the early stage of the Japanese war of aggression against China were: the Type 96 carrier-based fighter equipped by the Navy and the Type 97 fighter equipped by the Army.But these two cargoes are inferior to BF-108A in almost all maneuverability indicators except low-speed hovering ability.Japan will have to wait until the Zero fighter enters service in 1940 at the earliest before it can establish an advantage over the BF-108A in terms of fighter performance, and the two or three years before that are enough for the Chinese Air Force to do a lot.

And even if Japan can come up with a model similar to the Zero fighter in the previous plane, the BF-108A will not become a spectator on the battlefield like most fighters of the Chinese Air Force in the previous plane.If it can give full play to its own advantages, in a specific battlefield environment, BF-108A can still cause some troubles for opponents.

Although the power-to-weight ratio of the BF-108A is not as good as that of the Zero Type, and the wing load is also higher than that of the Zero Type, if you fall into a protracted battle with the Zero Type, it is tantamount to courting death (even if there are traversers, you cannot require BF-108A and Compete with models six years later).However, the BF-108A still has some advantages that the Type Zero does not have, that is, the extreme dive speed is fast, which is also one of the traditional advantages of the German fighters in the previous plane.The BF-109G6 of the above plane is an example, its dive speed can reach 960 km/h, and even reached a dive speed of 1100 km/h in actual combat.

Of course, the BF-108A’s dive speed on this plane is not as abnormal as the BF-109 series, but it can also reach a dive speed of 840 km/h during a dive (fast dive speed is a fine tradition of German fighters, Helena on this plane decided to Keep).The early Zero Type 21 limit dive speed was only 629 km/h, the mid-term Zero Type 32 was only 660 km/h, and even the late Zero Type 52 had a dive speed of only 740 km/h.Therefore, although the maximum level flight speed of the BF-108A is only similar to that of the early model of the Zero, and not as good as the mid-to-late improved version of the Zero, as long as it enters the rhythm of a full-speed dive, the Zero cannot catch up with it.

Although the BF-108A is diving at full speed, it is not easy to catch the flexible Zero. Instead, it may lose speed due to a large turn and drag itself into an unfavorable fight.But what if the target is replaced by a bomber with low maneuverability?Facing the Japanese bomber fleet escorted by fighter jets, the BF-108A can form a small guerrilla formation to enter from a high altitude, then dive into the opponent's bomber fleet, and after throwing a bunch of ammunition at the Japanese bomber, it will continue to dive and escape regardless of whether it succeeds or not. .

Although the advantage of this one-hit-and-go method is not very gentlemanly, it is difficult for the Japanese escort fighters to meet the enemy in advance, and it is also impossible to catch up with the BF-108A that is diving at full speed. Seeing the skin of the wing undulate like the waves of the sea, by the way, hearing the tooth-piercing groans from the skeleton of the plane.If you continue to accelerate the dive, the ridiculously thin wing skin of the Zero Type (only 0.6mm thick, really the same as paper) will be torn, and if it is more serious, it may even make the Zero Type extremely heavy due to excessive weight loss. A disintegration accident occurs when the fragile structure exceeds the bearing limit.

In short, BF-108A does not necessarily achieve results every time it does this, but it can disgust the opponent as much as possible while protecting itself.Although as long as the opponent arranges a large number of bombers in a dense formation, they can rely on the mutual cover of the rear-fired machine guns to contain the BF-108A's tactics to a certain extent, but you must know that China is an agricultural country, unlike Europe, which is worth carpeting. Most of the targets worthy of air strikes are scattered point targets in contiguous industrial areas that are bombed by Japanese style bombing. Japan's air strikes with scattered small fleets are the most efficient approach.

If Japan is forced to concentrate and dispatch a large-scale bomber fleet every time, it will weaken the efficiency of Japan's air strikes.In this case, for Japan, the formation of a small fleet is vulnerable to BF-108A raids; the formation of a large fleet is a cannon for an agricultural country like China, which is extremely inefficient and can also achieve the goal of disgusting opponents.

In short, if China can buy BF-108A, it will have a certain performance advantage over all Japanese fighters before 1940. After 1940, BF-108A can’t beat the opponent’s Zero and One fighters, but as long as the tactics are appropriate, it can Constantly disgusting the opponent's bomber fleet, reducing the utilization efficiency of the opponent's air power, so as to achieve the purpose of weakening the opponent in disguise.

So how to sell BF-108 to China?Helena decided not only to make the deal work, but to do it beautifully, so that both the buyer and the seller were in the best interests.

Chapter 1 Competitive Advantage

When Helena visited the Bavarian Aircraft Factory again, the entire company was filled with an optimistic atmosphere. Not only did the number of workers almost double, but there were also large areas of new factories under construction in the distance.Since BF-108's amazing debut in the tourist aircraft competition, new orders from all over the world have been pouring in like snowflakes, which has brought infinite sweetness to the Bavarian aircraft factory, but also added a bit of distress.

Due to the lack of new orders in the previous years, the company was forced to temporarily hibernate.By greatly reducing the number of ordinary workers in the production process, the core R&D team has been preserved to the greatest extent.There is nothing wrong with this strategy. The Bavarian aircraft factory at that time was prepared for a long-term hard life, but it turned out that happiness came too soon.So this time, after receiving a large order, the Bavarian Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, which has been suffering from drought for a long time, suddenly found sadly that its production capacity was not enough to cope with it!As a result, the company's leadership had no choice but to recruit employees and expand the factory area in a hurry, while handing over some orders to Henkel, which has a close cooperative relationship with itself, as an OEM.

Seeing that group of executives and designers who were as happy as nouveau riche, Helena couldn't help but secretly complain that these hillbillies have never seen a big world, and they are about to be giddy with orders for hundreds of planes in their hands. Well, if they knew that the company might receive thousands or even tens of thousands of aircraft procurement projects in the future, they wouldn't just roll their eyes and faint.Of course, in fact, it can’t be blamed on the high-level executives. After all, before World War II, an aircraft that could sell hundreds of units was considered a very popular model. Who would have thought that the aviation industry would evolve to What about the era of large-scale industrial production?

The current order for hundreds of aircraft seems to have suddenly soared from hell to heaven for the Bavarian aircraft factory that was still struggling on the verge of bankruptcy a few years ago.What's more, the product life cycle of BF-108 has just begun, and the total number of orders still has considerable room for growth.You must know that hundreds of BF-108s in the previous plane were sold. The design of the BF-108 in this plane is even better. There is no reason why it should not sell better than the previous plane.

"Congratulations to everyone. Your BF-108 debuted very successfully in the tourist aircraft competition. I believe that the names of all gentlemen will be recorded in the aviation history of mankind together with this aircraft." Helena first spoke to the chief designer Ruzel and his deputy Messerschmidt, including a group of senior executives and technicians of the company, expressed their sincere congratulations.These words of Helena are not shallow compliments, she really hopes and firmly believes that this aircraft will be immortalized in aviation history, not just known to the world as the predecessor of BF-109.

However, Helena's praise obviously made everyone here, especially the designers, feel extremely benefited. It is the ultimate dream of every aircraft designer to write his name in the annals of aviation history of mankind!Moreover, the 30s happened to be one of the most passionate eras in the history of human aviation. The technicians in this era also generally had a strong sense of idealism. There were many designers who built aircraft for their dreams, including Ruzel and Messerschmidt are a good pair.

Then, Helena asked about the progress of the BF-109 under development and got a satisfactory answer.The topic finally turned to the sale of aircraft to China.

"It has to be said that it is a good idea to promote BF-108 to China, but I suggest that you do not act too hastily. It is very important to choose the right time to do business." After listening to the company's sales plan to China, Helena spoke : "Actually, what we have to do now is to keep in close contact with China, so as not to get ahead of others. Wait a few more months at most, and maybe China's orders will automatically fall in front of us like ripe fruit." Helen Na narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke, with an inscrutable look on her face.

Seeing puzzled looks from everyone, Helena went on to say: "I can tell you in advance that our diplomatic efforts towards Britain and France have made staged progress. At the latest next year, the shackles of the "Treaty of Versailles" It will no longer exist, and we will no longer have to cover up about flying out of planes!"

As soon as the words came out, everyone cast surprised eyes. They more or less knew that the government was working hard to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles, but they didn't expect it to be so fast.Facing the scorching gazes around her, Helena calmly smiled and nodded.After being reconfirmed by Helena, everyone's expressions immediately changed from surprise to excitement and excitement.

"Getting rid of the "Treaty of Versailles" is just a huge piece of good news. It means that from next year, our military products will finally be able to compete on an equal footing with other countries in the international market. This means that the performance advantages of the BF-108 will be fully However, our advantages are more than these, and next year we will have more important competitive advantages.” Before everyone present could restrain their ecstasy, Helena continued to speak.

Hearing that Helena still had cards to play, everyone involuntarily leaned forward, eagerly waiting for Helena's next words. "Do you know that President Roosevelt in the United States is snapping up silver all over the world?"

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Helena did not continue to whet everyone's appetite, and directly expressed her own thoughts: "Everyone knows that China is currently implementing a silver-based currency system. If the US's rush to buy silver continues, I will It is estimated that next year at the latest, China’s currency system will collapse due to the outflow of silver, and China’s international payment capacity will also be severely damaged. And this is exactly our opportunity.”

"In order to save precious foreign exchange reserves, President Schacht is vigorously promoting my country's barter in international trade. This policy just solves our and China's respective dilemmas. China does not have enough foreign exchange reserves and precious metals to cope with international trade. Income and expenditure, and we also need to spend our limited foreign exchange reserves wisely, so in the future, our trade activities with China can be in the form of barter, using as little or as little foreign exchange reserves as possible.”

"You don't have to worry about losing money in this kind of transaction. There are countless non-ferrous metals buried in China's vast land. my country's reserves of antimony, tungsten, vanadium, titanium, and tin rank first in the world. Urgently needed resources. After you exchange the planes for these resources, President Schacht will pay you the corresponding currency.”

Although everyone here is not an expert in the financial field, but Helena explained a little bit, and they all understood the key points.Bartering is originally an expedient measure in international trade, but under the special international background, it has become a special competitive advantage for Germany. After all, it is difficult for other industrial countries to accept this transaction mode for a while. .And if you can buy arms without foreign exchange reserves and precious metals, it will still be very attractive to China.

"General Falkenhausen, the military adviser we sent to China, has already agreed with the Nanjing government on this issue. Next year, China will send a delegation led by Lieutenant Colonel Gao Zhihang to Europe to inspect new fighter jets. Thank you for flying Thanks to the impressive results in the competition, the delegation will pass through Germany."

Helena released the last big news, but she changed the subject immediately: "But for us, there is a small unfavorable factor here, because Gao Zhihang's old boss at Northeast Airlines is Zhang Xueliang, and Zhang Xueliang The relationship between Liang and Italy has always been relatively close, so the first stop of the inspection team is expected to go to Italy first. And under the same circumstances, they may be more inclined to Italian planes."

Although Helena reminded the Bavarian aircraft factory in this way, in fact, she was not very worried about the competition from the Italians. The best fighter that Italy can produce is the Breda Ba.27. That junk is not the same as the BF-108A level opponents.In Helena's memory, the Chinese Air Force in the last plane was miserable by this extremely maneuverable aircraft. In the first year of buying, five of the 12 Breda Ba.27s fell and sacrificed. Four pilots.If the BF-108 of this plane can't compete with this junk thing, Helena feels that she, a time traveler, is a fool.

Therefore, Helena is not worried about whether she can sell the BF-108A. What she is really worried about is that the skinheads are so corrupt and incompetent that the planes bought back will still be able to take off in 1927. Meet the enemy.In Helena's memory, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out in the last plane, only one-sixth of the aircraft on the books of the Chinese Air Force could fight...

Chapter 181 Security Center

Helena's worries were not unfounded. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out in the last plane, the level of combat readiness support of the Chinese Air Force was undoubtedly sadly low.If you only look at it on paper, when the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out, the Chinese Air Force had already equipped more than [-] aircraft of various types, which can even be called a beginning to take shape, but is this really the case?It is a pity that the number of [-] aircraft cannot withstand further investigation.

Before Chiang Kai-shek issued a statement on the War of Resistance on Lushan Mountain, he asked Zhou Zhirou, director of the Aviation Committee, how many planes he had that could participate in the war against Japan.Zhou Zhirou had no choice but to tell Chiang Kai-shek that the Air Force had only ten squadrons with a total of 305 aircraft available.However, the actual situation is much worse than Zhou Zhirou’s answer. The only 305 combat aircraft have a very low success rate. There are less than a hundred of them that can take off at any time, and only 91 to be precise.

If the numbers listed above still feel a bit abstract, let's look at a concrete example:

In the last plane, Chen Jitang, the warlord of Guangdong, purchased eight He-1936A111 medium bombers from the Heinkel Company in 0.Although as the earliest production model of the He-111 series, it still uses the BMW-6 engine with low power (the Germans disliked its flying too slowly and asked Heinkel to continue to improve, so the pre-produced batch of early The model was sold to China), but it was considered a bomber with better performance in East Asia at that time.However, as soon as the planes arrived, the Guangdong Air Force was instigated by the Nanjing government during the Guangdong-Guangdong Incident, so these planes went north logically, thus becoming the first medium-sized bomber force in the hands of the Chinese Air Force at that time.

However, when the Battle of Songhu broke out, among the bombers that had just arrived, there were only three planes left that could carry out bombing missions.Don't think this is just a special case!In fact, such a low availability rate was already a guarantee condition for elite troops in China at that time, and for more flying squadrons, the availability rate of fighter jets could not even be guaranteed at 30%.In this case, even if the pilot has the ambition to kill the enemy and serve the country, I am afraid they can only do nothing.

Although the performance of the only three remaining He-111s in the Songhu Battle was notable, they bombed the Japanese headquarters in Jiangwan and the armored cruiser "Izumo" on the Huangpu River.But as far as the actual effect is concerned, Helena can only say that it is of great significance from the perspective of boosting the morale of the people, but the actual damage to the Japanese army is very limited.

On the one hand, this is because the number of bombers in China is too small, and on the other hand, it is because when purchasing aircraft, the government of the Republic of China always likes to save money in inexplicable places.For example, no matter whether it was the He-111 bomber purchased from Germany or the Martin B-10 bomber purchased from the United States later, the government of the Republic of China did not purchase vital airborne radio stations for them, which were originally configured as factory standards.In addition to the radio, the He-111 bomber was originally equipped with a mechanical sight, but when Chen Jitang bought the plane, he also gave up this seemingly expensive thing.

Saving money where it shouldn't have brought serious consequences. When the Chinese bomber force attacked the Japanese armored cruiser "Izumo", they had to rely on gestures for communication, and they had to rely on their eyes for bombing.Many military fans in later generations are worried about the fact that the Chinese Air Force made huge sacrifices and did not sink the "Izumo" during the Battle of Songhu. They even thought that the "Izumo" escaped due to luck. When it comes to fighter jets, everything has already been decided.

In fact, in the absence of a radio station to coordinate attack waves, and no collimator to correct the drop point of the bomb, it is impossible for the Chinese Air Force to organize an effective attack on surface ships. Huge losses and little success are very normal results. .This cannot be blamed on the pilots who fought bravely, he has done his best.

Later, after the loss of the Songhu Battle, only one He-111 of the Chinese Air Force was able to continue to fly. Since it was no longer possible to organize a bomber formation, this aircraft had to be used for personnel training, logistical liaison, air transportation and other tasks. .In the end, this lonely Silver Eagle crashed near Kunming Airport while performing a mission on the Hump route. Since then, the elegant figure of the He-111 bomber has never been seen in the sky of China. This is the end of the legendary career of this World War II famous aircraft in China. That's it.

All in all, the service experience of the He-111 bomber in China in the last plane, on the one hand, shows the sacrifice spirit of the Chinese Air Force pilots who are not afraid of powerful enemies, and on the other hand, it also reflects the various deep-rooted problems that existed in the air force construction at that time. ills.The Kuomintang government only cares about face but does not look at the short-sightedness of actual results, and the ubiquitous corruption from top to bottom has all weakened the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Air Force, which is not considered strong.

In Helena's view, changing the corrupt and incompetent status of skinheads is probably not a task she can accomplish.If you don’t believe me, look at Hermann Kriber, Chiang Kai-shek’s second German advisory group. Although he personally helped Chiang Kai-shek draw up the battle plan for the Central Plains War, because of his straightforward personality, he always bald in front of his face. He was reprimanded for corruption and factional struggles. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek removed the position of head of the advisory group and replaced him with George Weiser.

Another example is Yang Jie, a famous military scientist in the period of the Republic of China, when he was the director of the Aviation Committee. When inspecting the newly purchased fighter planes, he found that the newly purchased planes were refitted second-hand goods, which were not usable at all, so he asked Chiang Kai-shek for a thorough investigation. In this matter, however, since Song Meiling and Kong Xiangxi presided over the purchase of the plane, Chiang Kai-shek would not blame his own family members. In the end, this matter ended with Yang Jie resigning as the director of the Aviation Committee.

So Chiang Kai-shek is not ignorant of what the four big families including their Chiang family are, but in Chiang Kai-shek's eyes, no matter how corrupt the four big families are, it is their own family's business. The head and the end of the bed quarreled.If outsiders disagree with him on this issue, it is undoubtedly a sign of ignorance.Therefore, although Helena in her own plane can be called a paper paper expert, she is not interested in paper papering the stinking dung wall of the four big families, so the wall should be demolished and rebuilt after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

Although the overall corruption and incompetence of skinheads cannot be changed, China is Helena's motherland in her previous life after all, and she can't really see what she sees.If she completely let go of it, she will be "surprised" before long to see that the cooling water tank of the aircraft sold to China is empty (because the ground crew forgot to add it), and the water is in the fuel tank (because the fuel was stolen and sold by the military supply department ) This kind of tearful scene, after all, these things happened in the last plane.

Do you know why Lieutenant Colonel Gao Zhihang (who is also one of the few ace pilots in China during World War II) who will come to Europe to inspect and buy an airplane next year has a lame leg?It was because of the negligence and corruption of the ground crew in the support that the aircraft joystick suddenly popped out during a flight training and broke his leg.It is worth mentioning that the final sacrifice of the battle hero in the previous plane is also inseparable from the garbage's ground crew. On November 1937, 11, upon learning of the Japanese air raid on Zhoukou Airport in Henan, Gao Zhihang jumped into the plane to prepare for an emergency take-off, but the plane couldn’t start, and then there was no more... In short, the anti-Japanese heroes will still go down in history after thousands of years , but the corrupt bureaucrats of the skinheads are still guilty.

Therefore, Helena is going to improve the logistics support level of the aircraft sold in China within the feasible range.She is coordinating the establishment of a joint venture after-sales support center in China between Junkers and Fokker-Wulf, which have already opened up the Chinese market, adopting a model similar to the 4S shop of later generations of automobiles, unified coordination and full responsibility for the German aircraft in the Chinese Air Force For the logistics support work, the Chinese side only needs to purchase the logistics service directly, and the specific support work will be handed over to the German company.If the Bavarian Aircraft Factory can negotiate a deal next year, she plans to bring in the Bavarian Aircraft Factory as well.

Helena is not going to block the channels of KMT bureaucratic corruption, which will create obstacles to the future sales of German aircraft in China.Therefore, for all guarantee items, including scheduled maintenance, spare parts procurement, and the purchase of supplies and fuel, Helena can acquiesce in acquiescing that the quotation is much higher than the actual selling price, so as to leave enough room for kickbacks to the bureaucratic system of the Kuomintang.

On the one hand, this is to improve the success rate of German and German aircraft in China in the future, so that when the Anti-Japanese War breaks out, China will have slightly more aircraft that can be launched into the air than in the previous plane. On the other hand, it is also to improve the German aircraft in the international market. Reputation, after all, aircraft are always lost for non-combat reasons, so it's not very nice to say it.

Do you know why when the Indian Air Force bought planes from France in the last plane, Dassault refused to accept the Indians' request to assemble them in their own country and be responsible for their maintenance?Dassault is really worried about the assembly level and ground handling level of the Indians. It would rather not sell the plane than smash its century-old signboard.

The Bavarian aircraft factory, which had finally breathed a sigh of relief, could no longer withstand the blow of another smashed signboard.Therefore, if the Kuomintang bureaucrats want to be corrupt, Helena will not stop it. In order to sell the planes to China and maintain a certain level of combat readiness, she will lose some morals herself.

But, the key is this "but", at least let me know where you are greedy for ink, so that I can at least be prepared.If this is not done, the Chinese Air Force will be like in the last plane, with more pilots killed by corrupt bureaucrats than in the battle with the Japanese army.

Therefore, establishing a centralized support system for the German aircraft sold to China, centralizing corruption and controlling it where it can be controlled is the only thing Helena can do for the Chinese Air Force in this plane.As for the establishment of a complete aviation industry system, don’t count on the skinheads anymore. During the Anti-Japanese War in the last plane, when the whole country was in urgent need of steel, the skinheads were able to bankrupt the Chongqing Iron and Steel Plant. You can still count on it. Did he bring up heavy industry and military industry?

Chapter 182 Shallow Sea Shark

Since Hitler secretly passed the resolution to rebuild the submarine force at the Arms Expansion Conference in September 1934, the German Navy and shipbuilders immediately took action in full swing.

The new type of submarine was named "Type II Submarine" by the Navy. It is planned to build six ships in the first batch, which will be handed over to the Wessel Shipyard in Bremen, the Germania Shipyard in Kiel, and the Fulken Shipyard in Hamburg. Completed, each shipyard built two of them.Since the negotiations on the new naval agreement between Britain and Germany were still in progress at this time, the cutting ceremony of the first steel plate of the new boat held in Hamburg was very low-key, and no senior officials were even present to add to the fun.

With the efforts of the "Ship Construction Engineering" Bureau located in Hiroshima, Japan, although Germany has not built a real combat submarine in these years, driven by the "Peace Fund", Germany's exploration of new generation technologies has not stopped. Pass.A considerable part of the technology has now reached a mature and practical state, and Hitler's decision to rebuild the submarine force at this time just gave the German shipbuilding industry an opportunity to put these technologies into practice on a large scale.

Although the development of German submarine technology has not been completely disconnected over the years, the loss of relevant skilled workers and the abandonment of infrastructure are still unavoidable.In order to effectively control engineering risks, after careful weighing, the German Navy decided to build a small offshore submarine with an underwater displacement of about 400 tons. After the initial recovery of the German submarine industry system, it will build a more technically complex medium-sized submarine. Submarines and oceangoing submarines.

In World War II on the last plane, most submarines adopted the so-called "half-hull" structure, that is, the ballast water tanks that control the floating and sinking of the submarine were arranged on both sides of the submarine's pressure-resistant hull.However, the new submarine does not follow this traditional structure, but adopts a relatively novel "single-hull" structure, that is, the ballast water tank is arranged inside the pressure hull of the submarine.

In the previous plane, the single-hull structure would not officially appear on the German "Type XXIII" offshore submarine at the end of World War II. Research in this area has just begun. Although there are still some technical difficulties in processing large-diameter "single-hull" submarine pressure hulls with the current coil and welding technology, the displacement under water is only a little over 400 tons. It is perfect for a small submarine.

The overall length of the new submarine is 37.2 meters, the maximum diameter of the pressure hull is 3.88 meters, and the surface displacement is only 380 tons, while the underwater displacement is 420 tons.This number is slightly larger than the "Type II" and "Type XXIII" offshore submarines of Germany in the previous plane, but it can still be called small and exquisite, and it is very suitable for the combat environment in the shoals in the offshore areas of Europe.One point that must be added here is that the 3.88-meter pressure hull diameter of the new submarine is not a product of slapping the head. The reason why the pressure hull chooses this size is because 3.88 meters is the German railway system that can transfer goods under normal circumstances. of the maximum diameter.

With the advantages of railway transportation, the construction of "Type II" submarines does not have to be confined to the shipyard. It can completely build sections in any area of ​​inland Germany, and then transport them to the seaside by rail for assembly.This not only reduces the occupancy cycle of the berth and optimizes production efficiency, but also makes the construction process extremely flexible, thereby improving the ability to resist enemy air attacks during the submarine construction process.

In Helena's plan, in the future, the production of submarines in Germany will gradually move towards standardization, modularization and serialization, just like the production of tanks.The general idea is to divide all submarines into three series: small offshore submarines, medium-sized main submarines and large ocean-going submarines. Each series adopts the same pressure hull diameter and overall structure.

Among them, small offshore submarines all adopt a "single-hull" structure with a pressure hull of 3.88 meters in diameter, and a single-layer layout is used in the pressure hull; medium-sized main submarines all adopt a "double-hull" structure with a pressure hull of 4.9 meters in diameter. The pressure hull adopts a double-layer layout; as for the structure of the large ocean-going submarine, Helena is still not completely sure, it depends on the speed of future technological progress.Now Helena can only say: in the future, if a large-diameter pressure shell can be fixed, then a "double shell" structure with a pressure shell diameter of about 7.2 meters should be adopted, and a more efficient three-layer pressure shell should be used in the pressure shell. layout.

But even if the large-diameter pressure-resistant shell cannot be handled at that time, Helena still has a backup.Like the "Type XXI" submarine built on the last plane at the end of World War II, Germany can connect a pressure hull with a smaller diameter to the lower end of the original 4.9-meter pressure hull to form a "figure 8" submarine. "The pressure-resistant shell structure can also be made into a three-layer layout in the pressure-resistant shell, but the price is that under the same structural weight, the space in the pressure-resistant shell will be reduced to a certain extent.

The above three series of submarines will all adopt a modular design idea. For example, the "Type II" submarine that has just begun to be built can be divided into four modules: the front section, the middle section, the rear section and the enclosure.The front section includes the torpedo cabin and the battery cabin, the middle section includes the command cabin and the living cabin, the rear section includes the operation cabin and the electromechanical cabin, and the snorkel, periscope, communication antenna and other equipment are distributed on the enclosure.There are standardized interfaces between the above four modules, so they can be combined flexibly like building blocks.

With the improvement of subsystem performance in the future, submarines will inevitably need continuous improvement in order to adapt to the needs of war.However, due to the modular design concept, designers do not need to redesign the entire submarine, and manufacturers do not need to laboriously adjust the entire production line.You should know that although it is not easy for a submarine to increase the diameter of the pressure hull, it is relatively simple to extend a certain module within a certain range.It is only necessary to improve the corresponding modules accordingly, pay attention to the trimming of the weight of the submarine, and ensure sufficient reserve buoyancy.

In this way, as long as the initial design is sufficiently forward-looking, German submarines will be able to iterate at a very high speed while producing at high speed in the future. You don't have to worry too much about the switching of factory capacity when the model is updated, and you don't have to worry too much about the submarine crew. The cost of retraining time.Because as long as there is experience in the production and use of the old model, it will be a matter of course for the factory and the sailors to get started with the new model.

Helena's submarine development idea actually draws on the experience of the 209 series export-oriented submarines of the Federal Republic of Germany in the previous plane to a certain extent.Due to the better modularization, the 209 series submarines designed by Germany in the last plane after the war can be described as an evergreen tree in the submarine export market.Since the delivery of the first 1971-type submarine to Greece in 209, the Germans have sold a total of more than 50 60-series submarines in the 209 years!In fact, until Helena crossed, the 209 series submarines were still in continuous delivery, which is enough to see the tenacious vitality of this model.

In Helena's plan, the underwater displacement of the three series of submarines in the future can basically cover a wide range from 400 tons to 3000 tons. As long as the iteration work of the subsystems is continued, it is impossible to cope with the threat of war in the next 20 years. There is no problem.Besides, high production efficiency, low construction cost, fast iteration speed, and short personnel running-in period are just some insignificant advantages of the submarine planned by Helena.

Helena felt that as a time traveler, we should have a higher pursuit.Therefore, to make the anti-submarine blockade and centralized escort system of the allied forces in the previous plane ineffective, so as to help Churchill in this plane complete the great cause of losing weight, this is the ultimate goal that Helena wants to achieve. You must know that Churchill, who is not fat But quite handsome.

Chapter 183 Assassin's Weakness

The so-called know yourself and know the enemy, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles.If you want to design a submarine for Germany that can adapt to the battlefield environment in the next ten years, you must first figure out how your opponents deal with Germany's submarine warfare before you can formulate tit-for-tat countermeasures.

According to the experience of the previous plane, although Britain, the United States and other countries used various specific methods to deal with submarines in World War II, they generally followed the following three guiding ideas: The first is to use geographical advantages to build anti-submarine blockades, making it difficult for opponents’ submarines to be free. Enter and exit key sea areas; the second is to adopt a centralized escort system, concentrating one’s own merchant fleet under the protection of the escort formation; the third is to organize a high-speed transport fleet, directly relying on a high speed of more than 25 knots to get rid of submarines tracking.

To be honest, for the third method of "only fast and unbreakable", submarines during World War II basically have nothing to do.If the opponent uses a high-speed cruise ship or even a warship as a transport ship, and the whole journey arrives at the port at a high speed of more than 25 knots, the submarine that cannot run fast will have to watch the tracks left by them unless they are lucky enough to burst.However, Helena will not feel disappointed about this. Due to the number of high-speed ships and transportation costs, in the previous plane, the sailboats were mainly used to transport combatants and high-value supplies, not during the war on the previous plane. Mainstream form of maritime transport.

Helena believes that before nuclear-powered submarines and long-range high-speed torpedoes mature, submarines should not consider such missions that are not suitable for them.If you want to counter the opponent's high-speed transport ships in the future, you can only hand it over to high-speed ships and naval aviation when the time is right.Therefore, the threats that need to be considered in the design of German submarines at this stage are mainly the first two, that is, the anti-submarine blockade constructed by the opponent, and the centralized escort system.

Some people think that the main goal of anti-submarine is to directly sink the opponent's submarine.But in fact, whether it is building a blockade or organizing an escort formation, the real goal to be achieved is to protect one's own ships and sea transportation lines by curbing the activities of enemy submarines.As for sinking the opponent's submarine, that's just a means. It's like whether the fleet's air defense is organized successfully. It doesn't depend on how many enemy fighters are shot down, but on whether it can successfully protect its own ships from air threats.

So what can be done to effectively curb the opponent's submarine's ability to move?To answer this question, we must start with the technical characteristics of submarines during World War II.This is because the means used by the Allied Forces to contain the activities of German submarines in the previous plane was precisely formulated for a series of technical weaknesses in the submarines at that time.There are three main weaknesses:

The first major weakness of submarines in World War II was that survivability was highly dependent on concealment.

We know that the biggest advantage of a submarine is its excellent concealment. If you are determined to squat on the bottom of the sea as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, even with a full set of anti-submarine detection equipment, it is actually very difficult to find it.But just as the so-called success is also Xiao He's failure, the survivability of submarines is highly dependent on concealment, which is also the biggest weakness of submarines.

This is because the high concealment of the submarine is not full-time. It may reveal its whereabouts when it floats up to charge, and it may also reveal its whereabouts when it launches an attack.Once the natural "invisibility cloak" of seawater is removed, the submarine will be in a very disadvantageous position whether it is fighting surface ships or anti-submarine aircraft.

The second major weakness of submarines in World War II was their poor information gathering and exchange capabilities.

As a weapon for asymmetric warfare, the ideal position of submarines in the battlefield information network is: I know where you are, but you don't know where I am. Unfortunately, this is only an ideal state.The more common situation in the last plane is: the opponent does not know where the submarine is, but the submarine does not know where the opponent is.

This is because the observation conditions of the submarine are simple and the method is single: when sailing on the water surface, the low and narrow enclosure is not conducive to looking out at the sea surface, and it is difficult to install a large search radar. As for the water reconnaissance aircraft, the submarine is basically useless (Britain, France, Japan and other countries have tried to install seaplanes on submarines, but they have not been very successful); when sailing underwater, submarines can only rely on periscopes and sonar to search for enemies. However, the observation capabilities of periscopes are severely limited. The range of action is also not optimistic.

Submarines not only have poor eyesight, but also have relatively large restrictions on sending and receiving information.When a submarine is submerged, it is difficult to receive radio signals from the outside world, because except for very long waves, ultra long waves and extremely long waves, most radio signals cannot penetrate thick seawater layers.Although the submarine can receive external signals when it is on the surface, it is difficult to guarantee the safety of the submarine at this time, and the information transmission speed of the long-wave radio station is very slow, which makes this problem even more serious.

As difficult as it is to receive information, sending it is equally difficult.During World War II, there was no satellite communication, and submarines mainly relied on short-wave signals to send information to the outside world, but this approach was easily intercepted and positioned by opponents, which was undoubtedly a very uncomfortable thing for submarines that highly relied on concealment.Therefore, submarines in World War II generally only maintained a single-line communication with the command center on the shore unless it was a last resort.In this way, the low information exchange capability of submarines is not difficult to understand.

The third major weakness of submarines in World War II was mobility, especially the relative lack of underwater mobility.

The basic propulsion methods of conventional submarines in World War II are as follows: when sailing on the surface and in the state of the snorkel, start the diesel engine, drive the propeller through mechanical or electric transmission, and charge the battery at the same time; when sailing underwater, turn off the diesel engine and rely on the electricity stored in the battery Drive the propeller.After the power in the battery is exhausted, the submarine floats up to charge, and the cycle repeats.

Although this propulsion method allows the submarine to sail normally both on the surface and underwater, this complex structure also brings about bulky and heavy problems.However, the submarine has strict restrictions on the volume and weight of each subsystem, which makes it impossible for the power of the submarine power system to be too large, otherwise the hull cannot bear and accommodate it.

In addition to the limitation of engine power, the dilemma of submarine linear choice also restricts the improvement of its maneuverability.This is because there is no one line shape that can perfectly balance the requirements of surface navigation and underwater navigation.

If, like most submarines in the last plane, adopt the "boat shape" line shape suitable for surface navigation, then the underwater navigation resistance of the submarine will become larger; ", which will adversely affect water navigation.As for the mixed line shapes such as "whale shape" and "cigar shape", their surface navigation ability is not as good as that of "boat shape", and their underwater navigation ability is not as good as that of "drop shape", so it can only be regarded as a compromise design.

Therefore, in the linear design of submarines, only trade-offs can be made according to needs, and it is impossible to have a perfect balance between both ends.In addition, the power of the power system is limited. In World War II on the last plane, the speed of submarines on the surface of the water basically did not exceed 20 knots, and the underwater speed was mostly less than 10 knots.That is to say, it can barely catch up with medium and low-speed merchant ships on the water, but can only move at a turtle speed underwater.

The shortcomings of submarines in maneuverability are not only manifested in the maximum speed, underwater range is also an obvious constraint.Due to the low fuel consumption of diesel engines and the need for ocean operations, most of the medium-sized conventional submarines in World War II had a super-large range of more than 8000 nautical miles, but this was a state of cruising at an economical speed on the water.If it is underwater, even with an economical speed of 4-5 knots, most submarines can only sail less than [-] nautical miles continuously and have to float up to charge.And if sailing at full speed underwater, it only takes a few hours to drain the power in the battery.

To sum up, we can almost outline the technical outline of submarines in World War II. They are all professional assassins wearing invisibility cloaks. (It will fail every once in a while, and also when attacking).Moreover, this professional assassin's eyesight is not very good, his ears are not very good, his legs are not even very sharp, and his explosive power is seriously lacking...

Speaking of which, now that we have mastered the strengths and weaknesses of this assassin, how did Britain and the United States on the previous plane counter the submarine, an assassin who is elusive but has many shortcomings?Why can the Allied anti-submarine blockade and centralized escort system work against submarines?

Chapter 184 Anti-Submarine System