"Dear Führer, the new aircraft will implement the four principles of heavy armor, heavy firepower, high speed, and easy production." "This is a promising aircraft, and we have proposed a plan to modify the design within three months. ”

Sichuan West Company is a seaplane manufacturer and lacks experience in landing gear and land-based aircraft design, so Zidian has some very low-level problems: including the trapezoidal anti-center monoplane layout of the "Strong Wind" model that follows when used on land-based aircraft, which will cause blind spots in the field of view during take-off and landing; The main landing gear strut is too long, the retraction mechanism is too complicated, the wheel base is too wide and the rudder is too small, which brings many hidden dangers to landing. However, these problems did not pose any challenge to Dornier, and the Germans quickly came up with improvements to improve the front and lower visibility and landing gear design.

Of course, the DFK design bureau plans to make more changes than these, in the eyes of German designers, the structural strength of Japanese aircraft has always been a bit of a problem, although the performance of Zidian in this regard is acceptable, the first thing the German side got its hands on is to consider structural strengthening, and there is also a practical necessity - when the carrier-based aircraft is transformed, the structural strength must be strengthened before it can be ejected and taken off.

"For the sake of productivity, most of the parts of the new aircraft, including landing gear, radio, etc., can be used with existing mainstream fighters, and the total number of parts is expected to be no more than 45,000, which is extremely producible, and the cost is only about 15-20% higher than that of the Bf-109." Mr. Dornier is particularly interested in productivity, and the simpler the production, the lower the cost, and the more valuable it is for large-scale promotion.

Speer nodded in agreement, so that after mass production, it will basically not exceed the price level of the Bf-219.

"Our target is the currently more successful Bf-219, according to the design idea, although the new aircraft wing load will be larger than the Bf-219, but due to the use of more powerful power and automatic flap design, its air combat performance will far exceed that of the Bf-219."

Although the Messerschmitt company is also further digging the potential of the Bf-219, but the size of the fuselage, the diameter of the engine is placed there after all, there is not much room for tapping, and now we can only consider the installation of the MW-50 system, the use of emergency power to improve the combat response capability, it is expected that the speed can be increased by another 20-25 km / h after this transformation, the companies have seen the broad market for this aircraft, the reason for competing for the Gale project, is nothing more than that they feel that the Gale is better and easier to succeed.

The new model finally declared by the DFK Design Bureau was set as Do-412, and after the joint study of the three parties, high technical indicators were determined: the design weight of the empty aircraft was 3000 kg (more than 100 kg for the carrier-based aircraft), the maximum land speed was 697 km / h, the carrier-based aircraft was 684 km / h (calculated with 2300 horsepower engines), the maximum range was 1700 km, it was equipped with 4 MG213 guns (240 rounds of ammunition), and the maximum climb speed was 1800 m / min. The range can be more than 2,500 kilometers after adding the auxiliary fuel tank.

Mr. Dornier was ruthless, and his goal was to be in the airspace below 6,000 meters, the Do-412 must have the best fighting ability, maneuverability, range, firepower and armor, and the strongest comprehensive performance, which can be used with the Ta-152 or Me-262 high and low, and can withstand Gale or other similar items, and perfectly replace the current Bf-219.

The Do-412 also attaches great importance to the protection performance, the internal fuel tank realizes a full set of bulletproof treatment plus automatic fire extinguishing device, in addition to the front of the driver equipped with bulletproof glass, in the back of the installation of 13mm thick bulletproof steel plate. Since this thickness has surpassed the thickness of the conventional bulletproof steel plate of German aircraft, Mr. Dornier was very interesting to ask his manufacturer to buy a piece of Tiger tank armor steel, but his subordinates came back and said that the thinnest Tiger armor steel was also 25mm, which did not meet the requirements, but in the repair shop, he encountered a batch of Sherman tanks being converted into engineering tanks, and the top armor removed was exactly 13mm, so he happily cut a piece back, and did not even pay half a mark. The test results show that it can basically defend against American 12.7mm aviation machine gun bullets at a distance of 300 meters. Then according to technical statistics, the DFK Design Bureau also carried out bulletproof steel plate reinforcement on the tail wing.

Hoffman calculated in his heart, the performance of the purple electric reform has been more prominent in history, and now the indicators of the Do-412 are more advantageous, if it can really be made, of course, it is crushing against the F6F, and it is also better against the F8F, and the Allies can hardly come up with an aircraft comparable to it before 1945, as for waiting for the carrier-based aircraft that are stronger than the F8F to come out, it is estimated that it has already been completely replaced by jet aircraft. The only concern is whether the Do-412 can be successfully put on board, and if it can be shipped, it will indeed be superior to Gale - the size and weight are slightly smaller than Gale Wind, which is conducive to increasing the number of carry.

But he will not say these concerns now, he can't predict whether the Do-412 will be perfect on the ship, at least the F6F \ F8F with R-2800 engines installed in the United States are very successful carrier-based aircraft, and theoretically the Do-412 should also be able to. Carrier-based aircraft is a very urgent model, historically the F6F did not go into battle until September, and now the situation is pressing, he expects that the Americans will adopt the F6F in large quantities after June, and the F8F is estimated to be used on a large scale in the fall of 1944. Although the performance of the Bf-219 after the installation of the MW-50 system is significantly stronger than that of the F4F, it may still be slightly inferior to the F6F, and can only be compensated for by the pilot's technology.

"Mr. Dornier, your initiative to set up a joint design bureau has laid a solid foundation for Axis cooperation, and I hope that I will have the opportunity to be present to observe the test flight of the new aircraft."

"It is our pleasure and it is estimated that it will be ...... no later than April 15"

"That's great, if you have any difficulties, please communicate with Speer, he can't solve it, you can come to me directly." Hoffman explained as he shook hands with several designers.

"Thank you very much, can I take a picture with you?"

"Of course." Shizuo Kikuhara, the chief designer of the Japanese side, was also in the group photo procession, and Hoffmann quickly recognized him, and while shaking hands with him warmly, he asked with special concern: "Are you used to living in Germany?" ”

"This is my first time in Germany, and I feel ......" Shizuo Kikuhara was very nervous, not to mention the prime minister in Japan, even the chief of the aviation headquarters drank and drank to them, how can they have this kind of treatment now? Flattered, he replied, "Very good! Whether you live or work, it's like coming to heaven. ”

"That's good, I hope that the cooperation between the three countries can bear fruit, and the previous aircraft have proven the great potential of cooperation."

"Honorable Führer, we will do everything in our power to ensure that you will not be disappointed."

After the Zidian project ended, Hoffmann asked Speer unsatisfactorily: "Is there anything else?" ”

"And one more ...... It's a project you designed. ”

"I designed it?" Hoffman was stunned, he really couldn't remember that he had also designed airplanes, "No kidding! ”

"Really!" Speer replied solemnly, "Do you remember the diagram you drew during the first rearmament of aviation?" Dr. Tank's designers have produced a prototype, but they can't fly yet, so you can only look at the model. ”

It was Hans Müerthoff who reported to everyone, although Tan Ke hung the title of chief designer, but the specific work was done by the design team led by Muerthoff, Tan Ke played more of a technical advisory role, he was not willing to covet the credit of his subordinates, and decided to let Moerthoff report directly. The latter had never seen such a big scene, and he spoke very restrained at first, but when it came to the design ideas and specific performance of the aircraft, the tension finally relaxed completely.

"According to the Führer's drawings and our initial design, this new aircraft was identified as a single-engine jet-engine fighter, which we nicknamed 'Raven'."

From a traditional point of view, the Raven does not look very good, with a low and short fuselage, and the air intakes located under the cockpit that extend to the rear to connect with the engine, which looks like a stubby arrow, and the cockpit is equal to the entire ride on the engine head. Hoffman knew the story: early jet engine air intakes were too long and caused a lot of power loss, so it had to be this shape. The wings used by the Raven are very thin, with a 40-degree sweep angle, and the medium wing configuration is made of aluminum alloy because there is no shortage of metal in Germany - historically, the wing ribs of the Ta-183 were made of multiple layers of glued wood boards, and the skin was also made of laminated wood boards, which had an impact on performance.

Hoffman immediately found the problem: "Just now Mr. Dornier told me that the medium wing configuration is not only not conducive to production, but also has a great damage to the pilot's downward vision when landing, so he changed it to a lower wing in the Do-412 project. ”

Müerthoff cautiously replied: "Dear Führer, this statement is very reasonable, but the maneuverability of the lower wing is worse than that of the middle wing, and his new model has automatic flaps, and the Raven is not equipped with automatic flaps, and after comprehensive consideration, it ......"

"To what extent does mobility affect?"

"The ability to fight in close combat will be poor."

Hoffman laughed: "Jets are fast, and they don't even have time to aim and shoot, let alone hand-to-hand combat, so I don't think your concerns are serious, of course, this is just layman's advice, you can think about it again." ”

Muerthoff's face was a little embarrassed, but he continued to introduce: the Raven's firepower equipment is almost the same as the Me-262, the same 4 20mm MG213 cannons, but due to the small size, the R4M rocket can only carry 24, and the Crow with a single engine weighs less than the Me-262, with an empty weight of about 2600 kg and a full weight of only 4000 kg, and is expected to have a maximum speed of 970 km / h, a maximum range of about 1000 km, and a maximum ceiling of 14,000 meters.

The indicators of the crow are still on the drawings, because the HeS-011 engine to be used has not yet been successfully developed, and the engine launched by the Heinkel company is expected to have a thrust of 12.5 kN, which can only be verified with a Jumo-004C engine with a thrust of 10 kN for the time being, and then the designers told about the key differences and performance characteristics of the two engines, and thought that the wait was completely worth it.

Compared to the Me-262, the Raven has many advantages, including small size and light weight - both of which make it much cheaper than the Me-262, and has better speed and ceiling, which can be regarded as an excellent representative of the second generation of jets, and the Ministry of Armaments has given them the code name Ta-183, but the finalization time is estimated to be at least a year. Hoffman smiled in approval, knowing that the Ta-183 project could not be rushed.

At the end of the project presentation, as various data presentations became more and more professional in the field, everyone began to be at a loss, seeing that Hoffmann had entered a state of absent-mindedness, Keitel called off the report meeting on the grounds that the Führer had other work arrangements, hoping that Moulthoff would invite the Führer to come and watch during the test flight, and the latter happily agreed.

On the way back, Speer added: "Just now Dr. Tan Ke was touched by the DFK Joint Design Bureau, considering that Mr. Jiro Horikoshi will not be able to go to Germany until after April, coupled with the contact between the Japanese Kawasaki Company and them in the early stage, considering that the Wolf Company has never been involved in the field of carrier-based aircraft, he formally submitted an application to the Ministry of Armaments on behalf of the company, and is willing to abandon the application for the carrier-based fighter project and develop a new project instead." ”

"What's new?"

"Kawasaki has designed a fighter for the Japanese Army, codenamed Type 5 fighter (Ki-100), which is also positioned as a liquid-cooled engine and undertakes high-altitude interception missions, and the progress is much slower than ours, Dr. Tan Ke hopes to strengthen the force to invest in the research and development of Ta-152 technology, and Kawasaki has promised to send a technical team to Germany early next month."

"Does this help us?" Hoffman asked suspiciously, he didn't think there was anything particularly strong about the Type 5 battle, and if he had to cooperate with the Japanese Army to develop the aircraft, it would be better to study the Type 4 battle (Hurricane......

He didn't say it explicitly, but in short, he nodded in approval, and the Japanese side couldn't ask for it. However, he offered to transfer the design team of the Italian company Markey to him together. ”

Speaking of which, Hoffman finally realized that the technical team of Markey Company was led by the famous Italian aircraft designer Mario Castoti (who designed the MC-200\MC-202\MC-205), and the design force was very strong, and Dr. Tanke's intention was probably not to fight in Type 5, but to absorb two technical teams to join in to speed up the design process of the Ta-152, and the demand for talent overwhelmed the demand for the project.

He smiled and nodded, "Totally agree." ”

The WAK Joint Design Bureau was formed immediately after that, taking the initials of Wolff, Markey, and Kawasaki, and then the remainder included Messerschmidt, Italy's Regiani (who designed Re-2001\Re-2005) and Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation to form the MRM Joint Design Bureau, but they didn't start until April.

At the same time, Horikoshi also worked part-time to improve various defects of the 96 ship battle, such as the landing gear that was easy to break. In the work, a team of three people was gradually formed: Horikoshi, the general designer, Sone, an expert in structural calculations, and Shonaka, an expert in weapons and instruments. Later, landing gear expert Masahiko Kato also joined the group. Horikoshi developed the habit of working in a group in his previous designs, and according to his words, "make the most of people's abilities and say goodbye to piecemeal." Of the three assistants in the group, Sone was responsible for careful calculations to reduce weight, Shōnaka was responsible for coordinating the cannon and fuselage, and Kato was dug up by Horikoshi from Hattori with the phrase "Retracting the landing gear is good for air combat performance, give me a veteran", which shows that Horikoshi did not come out of preparation to build this group. (To be continued.) )