The three machine guns on the airship roared desperately, and the sound of machine gun fire completely drowned out the sizzle of the airbag leaking. Strings of orange-red bullets kept flying from the French "Antera" fighters, meeting and shuttling in the air with the bullets fired from the airship.

"Quick, drop all the bombs, we have to climb the altitude as soon as possible!" The captain shouted ahead.

No one cares what is under the airship, whether it's a river or a village, no one wants to hang here for nothing. When one of the crew pulled the bomb lever, the airship began to rise as if it had been lifted by a pair of large hands, while the French fighters circled not far away, looking for the next chance to attack.

A few seconds later, an explosion was heard on the ground. It sounded like the bomb had fallen on the dirt, but the crew was not in the mood to enjoy the bomb explosion at night.

"Ensign, come, put this on your back, and in case of an accident, don't hesitate to jump out of the pod with us. Remember, pulling this pull tab parachute will open, otherwise you'll be broken into a meatloaf. Do you understand? Marcus said loudly as he helped Dirk with the parachute on his back.

Dirk looked at the others, who were also carrying their parachutes on their backs, and all were taught that "weapons can be recreated, but they only live once".

These parachutes were produced in the weapons laboratory in Königsberg, and in that highly secret laboratory, many weapons and technical materials that were not yet known to outsiders were stored, and these inconspicuous things seemed to be ordinary, but they were mortal threats to certain things.

Of these weapons, four weapons technology is the most important, and once they are mass-produced and equipped with troops, the German army's combat effectiveness will be greatly improved.

No. 1 Technology: Military Sonar.

Purpose: Detect and locate targets in the water or on the surface.

In 1880, the British scientist Pierre. Curie et al. successfully manufactured a transducer to realize the conversion of electrical and acoustic signals. In this way, through the transducer, the radio waves can be turned into sound waves and emitted into the sea; When the sound wave hits the object, it is reflected back, and the transducer picks up the sound wave and turns it into an electric wave and displays it. Based on the time it takes for ultrasonic waves to be emitted and received, the distance between the transmitting site and the object can be measured, which is the first generation of sonar.

In 1913, the Königsberg Weapons Laboratory improved sonar based on the above principles and successfully developed military active and passive sonars suitable for use on surface ships and submarines.

Note: The UK has developed a similar weapon, the hydrophone, a hydroacoustic device capable of determining the position of a submarine submergling in a very quiet environment, but it does not provide enough positioning accuracy. Once the sonar weapon technology is mastered by the enemy, Germany's submarine superiority will be reduced by 10 years.

Classification Class: Top Secret.

Technique No. 2: Depth Charges.

Purpose: Attack submerged submarines.

This kind of bomb uses a special fuse, which is usually separated from the detonator by the tension of the spring, ensuring that the bomb is in a safe state; When it enters the water to a set depth, the water pressure is greater than the spring elastic force, the spring is compressed, and the firing pin hits the detonator, which detonates the bomb. Since water is much denser and less compressible than air, water is a good transmitter of explosive energy for ZHA. Depth charges produce extremely high-pressure gases at the moment of explosion, forming powerful pressure waves that radiate to all sides, causing destructive power that is incomparable to that of a land explosion. Even if it explodes at a distance from the submarine, it will shatter the submarine.

In 1911, the first depth charge was successfully developed in the Königsberg weapons laboratory.

Note: Britain, France and other countries are actively developing them, among which Britain has developed a test bomb with less power, but it has not yet been mass-produced and equipped with troops for the time being. Once the depth charge technology of Britain, France and other countries matured, it would pose a huge threat to German submarines.

Classification Class: Top Secret.

No. 3 technique: anti-aircraft guns

Purpose: Effectively attacks aircraft.

In 1906, according to the characteristics of airplanes and airships, the German Eihart Arms Company designed a special artillery for shooting airplanes and airships. At present, this kind of artillery is divided into three kinds according to the caliber of 50 mm, 65 mm and 77 mm, with a maximum firing height of 4200 meters, 5200 meters and 6000 meters.

Note: Britain, France and other countries have developed similar anti-aircraft guns, but the shooting effect is poor, and Britain, France and other countries will put them on the battlefield in the near future.

Classification Level: Confidential.

No. 4 technology: special bullets.

Purpose: Effectively attacks aircraft.

There are three types of special bullets here, high-explosive bullets, white phosphorus bullets and mixed bullets. The high-explosive bullet is filled with fire, which explodes after hitting the target; White phosphorus bullets are incendiary bullets filled with white phosphorus that burn after hitting the target, while mixed bullets are mixed with high-explosive bullets and white phosphorus bullets in a single bullet chain. High-explosive and white phosphorus bullets are extremely lethal to skinned aircraft, while mixed bullets are effective in detonating hydrogen airships.

In 1911, the above-mentioned special bullets were successfully studied in the Königsberg weapons laboratory.

Note: Britain and France are under development, and it is estimated that it will take more than 1 year to put it into the battlefield.

Classification Class: Top Secret.

When the war had been going on for three months, only a very small number of people knew about this confidential technical information, and although according to the historical trajectory, Britain, France, and other countries would soon develop the same or similar weapons, but at least for the time being, German submarines and aircraft were relatively safe.

Second Lieutenant Dirk and all the crew of the airship on the SL-41 should have rejoiced in the note on Technique 4, because the French fighters attacking them were still using ordinary bullets, and if they were replaced with special bullets, the airship might have turned into a flare during the first few attacks by the French planes. All normal bullets can do is poke a few rows of small holes in the thick outer skin of the SL-41, but no one can guarantee that they will never deflect the hydrogen that is constantly leaking out of the gas bag.

The airship was still slowly rising, the engines were running at full strength, the whole airship was turning eastward, the telegram of the attack had already been sent, and all the crew had to do was fight and pray.

The French fighters wisely chose to launch one attack after another from the airship, where the machine guns on the airship were fired.

"Damn the French!" When the four "Strikes" finished attacking again and circled again, Marcus chased the tail of one of the planes with a string of bullets and pulled the trigger desperately until the entire cartridge belt was gone. However, the bullet did not hit the French plane, and the airship was rising more and more slowly.

"Hell! It seems that our hydrogen leak is serious! Marcus scolded indignantly.

"Guys, it looks like the French are going to spend time with us today! Hold on a little longer, and our reinforcements will be coming soon! The captain was still shouting from the front, and Dirk's mood calmed down a little with the deep voice.

Nearby airships are also climbing and turning, and it is not wise to use airships against planes, as the machine guns on the airships are not only difficult to hit planes, but also can accidentally hit nearby companions. The reinforcements that the captain spoke of were German fighters who risked taking off from the rear airfield, and everyone believed that Germany would not abandon them.

The news that the SL-41 had been attacked by French planes quickly reached the airship command, and the German efficiency characteristics were vividly displayed at this time, and the information was reported to the command level, and only five minutes later, a whole squadron of "Hummingbird" fighters on the rear airfield had begun to slide off the runway.

In between the machine-gun firing on the airship, Dirk felt that the sizzling sound was getting louder and louder, and the gas inside the airbag was leaking out in large quantities, as if the entire airship had been thrown into a vacuum.

By this time, even the captain could not sit still, and he walked to the middle of the pod, lifted a large piece of the floor, and a cool breeze rushed up from the opening. Dirk leaned in, and below was the bomb bay, the magazine had not closed after the bomb had been dropped, and this position was large enough for two people to jump at the same time, if the two men were not particularly large.

"Once the airship catches fire, everyone jumps down in order of distance from the escape hatch! May God bless us! The captain said and ran back to the machine gun at the front, which was the farthest away from the opening. If a hydrogen airship is ignited, it will not explode immediately, but will deflagrate. Therefore, as long as they jump out of the airship as soon as possible when it catches fire, the lives of the crew will be saved.

(In the famous "Hindenburg" Zeppelin accident, 61 of the 97 passengers successfully escaped)

The SL-41 is only a medium-sized airship, and the nearly 30,000 cubic meters of hydrogen in its 16 airbags are not enough to squander it forever, and when the hydrogen content outside the airbags gets higher and higher, the French bullets become very dangerous.

The airship finally stopped and did not rise, although the engines were running at full speed, and the 60 km/h speed of the airship was really not worth mentioning for the plane, and the French planes soon surrounded it again.

"Everyone, run!" I don't know who shouted, Dirk's heart was shocked, and the night outside seemed to brighten up all of a sudden. Before Dirk's body could get any further instructions from his brain, Marcus had already pushed him to the escape.

This feeling was like falling off a wall with one foot in the air, but the wall seemed to never have a bottom, and Dirk's mind suddenly went blank.

"Pull the rope! Pull out the parachute! ”

Marcus's voice came from above, and Dirk woke up with the tab at his fingertips. When he pulled the tab, Dirk's heart fell helplessly in the air like his body, and then something skewed out of the backpack with a whirl, and then his body was suddenly pulled by the backpack belt, and his hanging heart was slightly loosened.

He tried to look up, and what he was holding on to was a large round white flower, and it seemed that several other crew members had also escaped, and white flowers bloomed in the air, with the violently burning airship and the red night, the scene gave people a spectacular and peculiar feeling.

Looking at the airship that was spewing a large ball of fire from the right rear side, and its whole body was gradually turning red and brighter like a lit cigar, Dirk suddenly wondered if the big torch would fall and fall on his head. Luckily, the airship had been sailing at full speed, and the first burning on one side had caused it to turn sideways. Eventually, the big fireball began to fall unstoppably, and when it passed hundreds of meters away from Dirk and the others, everyone could even feel a strong sense of heat.

The airship burned as it fell, and the airbags and skin inside were the first to be burned out, and by the time the entire airship fell to the ground, only a pile of wooden skeletons remained. Soon even the last wooden frame collapsed, leaving only a pile of remnants in the open field.

After a long struggle to shoot down the SL-41, the French fighters began to turn back, not only because they had consumed most of their bullets on the German airship, but also because the humming of the large number of planes was coming towards them from far and near. Looking at the cigar-shaped black shadows in the distance, the helpless mood of the French pilots was so similar to that of the British pilots when they fought against the German airships that attacked London, and they urgently needed some tools that could effectively attack the airships.

Judging from the distance of the wreckage of the airship, Dirk found himself getting closer and closer to the ground, he had never jumped the parachute, he almost failed to open the parachute just now, and his heart was still terrified. He didn't know how to land on the ground or what to pay attention to when landing. Dirk stared at the ground illuminated by the silver-white moonlight, but it was difficult for him to tell the exact height, and directly below him appeared to be an open field, and the wreckage of the airship was still burning not far away. If the airship were to fall further west, it would probably set ablaze a large area of woods there.

Suddenly, Dirk felt his feet hit a hard object, and then his whole body touched the solid ground at once, and his heart finally let go. However, before he could rejoice, a piercing pain came from his leg, and Dirk, who had not been trained to skydive, seemed to have injured himself because of the incorrect landing position, and he lay on the ground clutching his leg in pain, allowing the parachute, which had not yet been fully retracted, to pull himself in the direction of the wind.

Soon, Marcus and others also landed near him. After untying his parachute, Marcus hurried to Dirk's side and helped him untie the parachute from his back, but Dirk still had a pained expression on his face.

Marcus gently touched Dirk's leg, and Dirk screamed in pain.

"Poor ensign, your right leg seems to be broken!" Marcus glanced around, and several of the other crew members were putting their parachutes away, so he beckoned the others to come and help.

"It's time for us to figure out how to get out of here! The French will be here soon! The captain looked worriedly at the wreckage of the airship not far away, while Marcus looked for something that could be used as a makeshift splint.

"But here is still dozens of kilometers away from our front line, and the second lieutenant's leg is injured again, how can we go?"

The boatman who asked the question was quickly stunned, and a large number of French soldiers who appeared in the direction of the woods had already answered his doubts.

In this environment, the German crew had to raise their hands in cooperation.

Above them, German and French planes were still chasing and shooting at each other, and one plane after another was dragging black smoke down from time to time. Eventually, the French pilots were no longer able to risk landing, and one German fighter was shot down and one wounded. When another white flower bloomed in the air, several French officers in front of Dirk and the others said something in their ears, and then one of the officers and a group of French soldiers hurriedly ran towards the white flower.

"Hell! How could there be so many French troops here! Dirk, who was lying on a stretcher from a Frenchman, scolded indignantly.