"The Super Flying Fortress you mean?"

"If it can be arranged, I hope to put it into production ahead of schedule, and first meet the needs of the southwest and eastern aspects of the Guia, and also need to purchase air-dropped mines."

After Nitz had finished speaking, Lofos pondered only a little, then called the secretary in and told him to inform Marshall and Arnold.

Although no clear answer was given, it is clear that Lofos already had an idea.

Marshall, the chief of staff of the Army, and Arnold, the commander of the Army Aviation, were called in, nominally to ask for their opinions, but in fact to inform them.

Once Lofos has made a decision, no one can change it.

Nyze knew that his proposal was the only way to buy enough time for the Nuland army to recover and help the Newland Federation weather the storm.

To put it more bluntly, this is the only way to avoid defeat.

Without this method, the Nuland Federation will be defeated in two years at the earliest, and three years at the latest.

Soon, two army generals rushed over.

As Niz had expected, Lofos told the two of Niz's proposal to bring the XB-29, nicknamed the "Super Flying Fortress", into mass production ahead of schedule, and to deploy it to Ozhou first, and send them to the Yanhai and Throat Straits to carry out minelaying missions in the direction of the Yanhai Sea and the Throat Strait.

Until he finished speaking, he didn't ask for the opinions of the two.

Then Lofus turned the conversation to the details.

The first is whether the XB-29 can be mass-produced ahead of schedule.

This is a difficult question to answer, or impossible to explain in a few words.

In front of Lofos, Arnold made several phone calls before giving an ambiguous answer.

Even if it can be mass-produced ahead of schedule, it will definitely not be able to achieve the preset performance indicators, and the reliability is very bad, and the effect of combat use will not be too good.

Of course, Arnold didn't talk nonsense.

Although the XB-29 project was launched before the outbreak of the Great War, due to various factors, it was not until after the outbreak of the Great War, to be more precise, after the entry of the Newland Federation into the war, that the development and design work was on the right track, and there were still many problems in the initial stage.

The most serious problem is actually the engine.

If it is to be said, the first thing to determine in the design stage of all combat aircraft is the power system, and the power system is the number one problem.

The development of the new engine did not keep up with the design of the fighter, and in the end dragged down the entire project, which is not something to make a fuss about.

Because the supporting engines could not keep up, many combat aircraft could only use old-fashioned engines with poor performance at the beginning of their service.

Of course, the same is true of the Liangxia Empire.

For the XB-29, the engine reversal is an easy problem to solve, or it can be put on hold for the time being.

Even with a slightly lower engine, the XB-29 can fly into the sky, but it is nothing more than a smaller bomb load and a shorter range.

The number one problem encountered in the design stage was actually the fuselage.

The XB-29 was the first all-metal heavy bomber designed by the Nuland Federation to use a pressurized cockpit with a practical ceiling of more than 10,000 meters and an aluminum alloy load-bearing frame.

The issues involved far exceeded those estimated at the time of the project.

Of course, there are many more problems that arise from this.

To put it more bluntly, that is, the cost of production.

Although the power generation capacity of the Nuland Federation and the output of electrolytic aluminum are second only to the Liangxia Empire, and the gap is not large, the price of electrolytic aluminum has always remained high, and the difficulty of production and processing is also very large, which indirectly leads to the increasingly expensive combat aircraft made of aluminum alloy.

Because it was too expensive, the kingdom of Bran began to make combat planes out of wood.

These problems have caused the development progress of the XB-29 to lag far behind the plan.

According to Arnold, the mass production time of the XB-29 was originally scheduled for the 104th year of the new calendar, and even if it is a quick horse, it can only be advanced to the 103rd year of the new calendar at the earliest.

Obviously, it's too late!

Even if the technical specifications are lowered, the mass production time cannot be advanced much.

Fortunately, Arnold also proposed an alternative.

Retrofitting a batch of B-17 bombers included replacing them with new, high-powered engines, increasing the volume of internal fuel tanks, shortening the length of the bomb bay to carry more fuel, and even eliminating the self-defense machine guns to maximize the combat radius for mine-laying missions.

According to Arnold, with only two 1,000-pound air-dropped mines, the B-17 has a combat radius of up to 2,500 kilometers.

Obviously, the key is a combat radius of 2500 km.

Although the bomb load of 1 ton seriously reduces the efficiency of the B-17 in carrying out minelaying tasks, it is better than nothing, and laying 2 mines at a time is already good.

More importantly, the number of B-17s is large, and the production is also very huge, so it can be used casually.

To date, more than 5,000 B-17s have been produced, and after the expansion of production capacity, the monthly production has exceeded 200. If nothing happens, by the beginning of next year, with the new production line coming online, it will increase by 100%, and the number of deliveries per month is expected to exceed 400.

Of course, the cost of production of the B-17 is low enough.

All in all, sending 1,000 or even 2,000 B-17s to Austria to carry out mine-laying missions is not a matter for the army aviation at all!

Arnold also mentioned that the personnel problem is also easier to solve.

In order to fight against the Empire, before officially entering the war, the Nuland Federation sent pilots to join the Royal Bran Air Force on a voluntary basis. After entering the war, the Nuland Army sent an expeditionary force to participate in the bombing campaign against the Hindan Empire, and the main force was the B-17.

Because of its large scale, the training difficulty of the B-17 crew is relatively low.

According to Arnold, the Army now has about 6,000 crews, compared to 5,000 B-17s available.

Obviously, it's about making up for the lack of performance with quantity.

Of course, there is also the need to consider logistics.

However, this has nothing to do with the army aviation, and the navy will solve it on its own, and it will open up a sea route from the southeast to the northwest of Austria as soon as possible.

As for air-dropped mines, the Navy is also responsible.

Mines are not a problem relative to bombers.

Do not forget that during the last war, in order to block the Watcher Strait, the Confederate group produced hundreds of thousands of mines, as a result of which 80% were not used.

Now, these mines, which have been stored in warehouses for more than 20 years, are finally useful.

Finally, bombing tactics were implemented.

Arnold put forward a suggestion that mine-laying operations be carried out at night as much as possible, and that reconnaissance planes be dispatched in advance to determine the approximate mine-laying area.

The point is that after dismantling the self-defense weapons, the B-17 can easily be shot down by fighters.

During the day, he flew to the Shiquan Strait to carry out a mine-laying mission, and I am afraid that there will be no return.

In addition, Arnold promised to send experienced commanders to Ojau to help the navy plan and direct mine-laying operations.

Although he knew that Arnold did not want the Navy's actions in the Guia to have a negative impact on the development and production of strategic bombers, which were most valued by the Army Aviation, after getting what he wanted, Nitsu did not play tricks with Arnold.

He didn't want bombers, but to blockade the Shiquan Strait with mines.

Of course, the bombers carrying out the mine-laying mission had to be deployed at the airfield in the northwest region of Austria, and became a thorn in the side and flesh of the Liangxia Navy.

After getting this result, Niz didn't leave immediately.

Quite simply, there are some things to discuss with Lofus, or other troubles.