The efficiency of the Navy's office was amazing, and Tirpitz personally came forward to hold talks with the major shipyards, such as the Royal Shipyard, the Shuoxiao Shipyard, the Germania Shipyard, and the STT Shipyard.

Tirpitz, vouching for the credibility of the navy, said that the major shipyards began preparations for the construction of the warships the day after the talks, and when three months later, when the Congressional appropriations were in place and the contract was formally signed for the two sides to negotiate and amend, the four battleships had already started construction for seven weeks.

At this time, the Kiel Naval Shipyard was undertaking the construction of two coastal defense battleships of the Qing Dynasty, and the expanded Royal Shipyard was awarded the construction of the successor ships of the fleet mine-striking ships that had been built for the Russians in 1893 in early 1897 after a long tug-of-war with the Russians, and the Royal Technical Shipyard was responsible for the construction of 10 ships, and then provided technical support to build 16 ships in Russia.

Later, in 1898, he received an order for two armored cruisers each from the Japanese and the Chileans, and the construction of a total of four armored cruisers allowed the shipyard to be running at full capacity.

Thus, 2 heavy cruisers were handed over to the Volkeng shipyard and the Pula naval shipyard, and 2 light cruisers were handed over to the Trieste shipyard and the Danube Ganz shipyard.

All ships were built by June 1898, and during this time Tirpitz demonstrated his unparalleled energy, adaptability, and charisma.

Not only did each shipyard agree to concentrate all its efforts to fulfill the Navy's orders first, but it also developed the owners or heads of each shipyard into members of the Naval Alliance.

While the Tirpitz Empire was running around, running around for the construction of the navy, Jochen was going to see the new toys he had financed.

Stuttgart. This is not only the headquarters of BMW, but also the most important research and development site for domestic combustion engines in Germany, so Jochen is based on the principle of proximity. Invest in a real yàn room here. This room is not engaged in the research of internal combustion engines, but the work of BMW's engine research team led by Maybach. The work of this practical yàn room is to install the research results of BMW on a new platform.

It is said to be a real room, but the entire facility covers a huge area, with several domed warehouses more than 100 meters long and tens of meters wide side by side, but they still only occupy a small part of the entire facility's footprint. When Jochen's car pulled into the facility and stopped in front of these warehouses, it was really busy in front of the warehouses.

The huge warehouse door was slowly pulled open, and four giant balloons 100 meters long were slowly dragged out of the warehouse. Unlike the majesty of the battleship, you can only look up to observe its huge objects, which makes the people standing under it have a huge sense of oppression.

"Your Highness, welcome to you." A stout middle-aged man with a mustache who was directing the intense work in front of the warehouse saw Jochen standing not far away looking up at these behemoths, and immediately trotted all the way over, and then bowed down to Jochen, who was enjoying the spectacular view.

"Thank you, Ferdinand, how are you preparing?" Jochen asked.

"A qiē shun lì, Your Highness, a formation of 4 giant airships flew overhead. We will present to everyone a spectacle that has never been seen before, unparalleled. Ferdinand said proudly.

This is Jochen's investment in the construction of Deutsche Aeronautical Technical Practice, and in this Ferdinand? Feng? The airship research team under the leadership of Count Zeppelin came up with the first results of the real yàn room.

Ferdinand? Feng? Zeppelin was born on July 8, 1838 into an aristocratic family in Konstanz am Constance am Lake Constance, Germany. His father, Friedrich? Feng? Zeppelin was the court governor of the Grand Duchy of Baden. As a child, Zeppelin developed a great interest in mechanics and novelty technical watches.

After ending his military career. Zeppelin devoted all his energy to the study of airships, and in 1896 he was recruited by Jochen into the Aeronautical Technology Laboratory to lead the airship research team.

Airships were not a rarity at this time, as early as 1852, the French Henri ? Gifar built the first power-powered airship, 44 meters long and 12 meters in diameter, with a three-bladed propeller powered by a steam engine.

However, at this time, the airships were all soft airships, and the shape of the airships could only be maintained by filling the airbags, and the volume was relatively small. The load capacity is also low. Zeppelin's team also started with a soft airship.

In the long run, the productivity index (useful load x speed/empty weight) of a soft airship is higher than that of a hard airship, because the shape of a soft airship is completely maintained by the air pressure inside. Rigid airships, on the other hand, use a portion of the lift to maintain the weight of the internal frame. But now the technology of airbag material, air pressure control and so on is limited. Rigid airships are large airships that are easier to achieve.

The airship in front of you is more than 120 meters long and more than 12 meters in diameter, but it is the first time that such a huge airship has appeared in human history.

When these giant airships were side by side in front of Jochen's eyes, Jochen somewhat understood why Wilhelm II was so obsessed with the Sky Battleship.

"It's a pity that there are only 4 airships that can be displayed, and it would be better if there were a few more." Zeppelin shook his head and sighed regretfully.

"Each of your hard airships is made of gold marks, and the aluminum alloy frame is expensive, and now your research team is a gold-swallowing beast that can only enter and leave, so save me a little money. What is the progress of research on the cost of a wood-framed airship? Jochen joked.

"Your Highness, please rest assured, the wooden-framed airship has basically been completed, and the current progress is slow, mainly because the production process is not proficient, and when it is officially put into production, there is basically no problem to complete 2 ships per month." Zeppelin assured that it was not what Zeppelin wanted to make only a few airships to verify the technology, and that making it practical on a large scale was his ultimate goal, so cost control was naturally in his consideration.

"If it is officially put into production, it must be affirmed by the army first, and then we can only have the possibility of formal production, and it would be better if our display could get some foreign orders. In the civilian field, it is not so easy for this kind of big thing to fly in the sky to open the market. Jochen said as he looked at the airships that looked like giant cigars.

"Yes, for flying in the sky, it is estimated that many people will have no sense of security, and it is very difficult to use it for commercial purposes, and the military use of this airship is huge, and the only question is whether it can meet the requirements of the military." Zeppelin, who was born in the military, has a keen sense of the military value of this new flying machine, and now the only question is whether his gadgets can meet the standards.

The airships in front of you all use aluminum alloy frames, which are surprisingly expensive when the power application is not cheap in Germany at this time, and the electrolytic aluminum technology is not perfect.

There are a large number of longitudinal and radial tension lines between the aluminum alloy frame to ensure the structural strength of the frame, and 36 cotton independent airbags are arranged in the frame, which can provide 14 tons of lift and a load capacity of 8 tons when these airbags are full. The split independent airbag has an effect similar to that of a ship's compartment, which greatly improves the safety factor. The skin on the outside of the frame is a specially treated tarpaulin, and the seams must also be sealed.

However, because it has only been 4 years since helium was discovered by humans at this time, the industrial method of making helium does not exist at all, and if you want to use real yàn room means to make enough helium for airships, then Jochen is waiting for bankruptcy, so the airbag is still filled with unsafe hydrogen, which is also a helpless move.

However, although hydrogen can only be chosen, in order to avoid the tragedy of being wet by rain and then ignited by sparks caused by static electricity, as in the historical Hindenburg air disaster, and then a century of fireworks, the exterior skin of the airship is covered with tree glue paint to isolate the current.

While this is still a palliative solution, the problem of helium production is not solved, and the airship will always be a big flower that can be lit at any time, but there is no better way for Jochen.

The reason for the Hindenburg air crash is that the Germans do not have the ability to produce industrial ammonia, and the United States has to continue to use hydrogen because it is afraid that Germany will put the airship into military use like World War I and ban the export of helium. And even the United States, which has the ability to produce helium industrially, built very few helium airships in the more than 20 years between the two world wars.

In this regard, Yoheng can only be very irresponsible, it is safer to use helium, as for where helium comes from, you have no other choice but to think of it yourself, and hydrogen can only be used now.

Of course, Jochen summarized all the possible accident hazards of the airship to the airship research team, and then asked them to find a way to solve it as much as possible, so although these things are still dangerous, they are safe and secure in 1899.

Two engine pods are suspended on the left and right sides of the rear of the airship, and two BMW 60-horsepower engines installed inside push the two propellers to give the behemoth a speed of 85 kilometers per hour, and the fuel carried by the airship can fly 1,300 kilometers and stay in the air for 17 hours.

Such a big guy already has a certain practical value in Jochen's opinion, although Jochen still wants airplanes most, but when he thinks of the pile of wooden shelves in the aviation technology room, forget it, don't count on them in a short time.

As short flight and handling tests have already been completed at low altitudes, the airships will undergo their first long-distance flight tests, a 1,200-kilometre round trip from Stuttgart to Berlin. (To be continued) R580