In the foggy early morning, in the Irish Air Force base, 60 kilometers west of Belfast, the runway and open apron were empty, and a few dozen IR-29 biplane fighters and a few IR-30s were parked in the warehouse-like arc hangar. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

But below the ground, in the bunker-style hangars with some bombing resistance, bright lights illuminate neat rows of warhawks, and uniformed people are busy shuttling around. Most of the fighters here are common biplane constructions, the IR-30 is roughly the same as the IR-29, they are simple but extraordinary, they are the backbone of the Irish pilots to defend the airspace of the motherland, they have long had a great reputation in the field of international aviation, in this underground space where the air flows at a slight speed, the nose is held high, like a fighter full of fighting spirit, always waiting for the order to go into battle.

In these well-equipped concealed hangars, there are also a number of brand-new lower monoplanes, their conical fairings and raised propeller shafts are integrated, the cockpit in the middle of the back adopts a box-like closed structure, the wings and fuselage are covered with smooth metal skin, the overall display of excellent streamlining, the roots of the wings on both sides are thick black concave cannon shooting holes, and the middle of the wing has two barrels with stamped heat sinks, and the firepower configuration is the same as that of the IR-30, which has been very successful. Far less exposed than the IR-29 and IR-30, the monoplane warhawk is the new generation of the Irish Air Force's main fighter, the ME-50, which is the designation developed by the Bavarian aircraft factory. After a comprehensive assessment, the Irish Air Force placed an order for 1,200 aircraft from the Bavarian Aircraft Factory, of which 800 will be produced by the Royal Aircraft Factory of Ireland on a purchase license basis.

Although the new fighter was not in production for a long time, the Bavarian Aircraft Factory, with the instruction and support of the Bavarian government, organized the production of 86 aircraft to the Irish Air Force at the turn of spring and summer in 1933, 55 to the 3rd Air Regiment of the Kingdom of Bavaria, and 20 to the 1st Air Regiment of the Reich, and the Royal Aircraft Factory of Ireland was already producing 50 aircraft per month after absorbing all the technology. At the time of the unsuccessful meeting between the British and German princes in Limerick, the Irish Air Force had just received its 121st ME-50, and the new fighters were already equipped with seven fighter squadrons and one training squadron, representing one-seventh of Ireland's active fighter force.

With the sound of crisp footsteps, two middle-aged officers with bearded lips walked side by side on the corridor of the underground hangar, and the pilots and orderly personnel in the hangar stopped their work and saluted them.

The officer on the left is a tall man with a short-brimmed German cap with a winged ring cockade that is the Luftwaffe logo. The collar of the gray trench coat reveals a blue-on-gold collar badge, symbolizing his status as an officer in the Luftwaffe, but it is slightly strange that he wears a pair of Irish Air Force boots at his feet, and if he opens his trench coat, one will also see the Golden Clover Medal, the highest military medal of the Kingdom of Ireland, on his left chest.

The officer on the right is the standard Irish Air Force officer's attire, his military hat and military uniform are seven or eight points similar to the Luftwaffe in style, but the materials are more elaborate and the visual effect is better, and the military rank and decoration have their own style, and the military merit medal has formed a complete system.

The Irish officer introduced to the German general as he walked: "Look, Earl, all our fighters are organized into three groups, and the ordinary level of combat alert only needs to send IR-29, if the British group is detected, the elite pilots will fly the IR-29 and IR-30 into the air to intercept it, and the third group will be composed of IR-30 and ME-50, and then pursue after the enemy group returns." ”

The German general, who wore the boots of the Irish Army, said approvingly: "Well, a very good tactic, I guess it must have been devised by His Majesty the King himself?" ”

"Just heard. His Excellency the Earl is close to His Majesty, have you ever heard him talk about it? ”

Walked to a ME-50 that dismantled the fairing for power overhaul, the German general stopped, put his hands behind his back, and looked up at the new and shiny V-shaped liquid-cooled engine under the light, since BMW launched BMW-290A, the liquid-cooled engine quickly became popular in Europe, and the powerful Daimler quickly developed a first-class 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine DB-400, which was used by the ME-50 is an improved model of this engine DB-404, Although the output power is only 960 horsepower, it is a perfect match for the ME-50, which is small in size and light in weight, and equipped with an empty weight of only 17 tons. As early as the test flight stage, the ME-50 surprised the audience with a sea level speed of 476 kilometers per hour, you must know that the Luftwaffe favored Fokker G-51 used a 1200 horsepower Daimler DB-402, and the sea level speed of the test flight only reached 460 kilometers per hour. However, the ME-50 has a top speed of only 445 kilometers per hour under combat load, while the G-51 overtakes it with a score of 449 kilometers per hour, while the latter has a combat radius of 920 kilometers and the ME-50 has a combat radius of only 690 kilometers without a drop tank. In addition, the Fokker G-51 is armed with two fierce 20mm cannons and four 7-point 92-mm machine guns, each with 120 rounds/1000 rounds of ammunition, and the ME-50 is equipped with two 13-mm cannons and four 7-point 92-mm machine guns, each with 120/480 rounds of ammunition.

"He's a guy who doesn't like to show off, and usually only describes the results, not the process, so ...... I'm not sure either. "But it is certain that this strategy is very clever and can achieve maximum results with the least number of troops." ”

"Indeed, as you have said, His Majesty Joachim is a very humble leader, who never boasts of his exploits, and who, together with Her Royal Highness, quietly donations to orphanages throughout the country every year, and who also contribute to the construction of many monuments and memorials, which he does not want to be reported in the newspapers. But then again, our kind Royal Highness is British after all, and if the war really starts, she should be very sad! ”

But how many people have been able to control their own destiny throughout the ages? When I was young, every time I flew a plane, I felt a sense of pride and conquest in my heart, and then I encountered several technical failures and almost lost my life, and I realized that man did not become the conqueror of nature, and then every time I flown up, I was no longer proud and proud, but in awe of the Almighty Creator. ”

The German general expressed his emotion while walking from the nose to the tail of the ME-50, compared to the mighty and domineering Fokker G-51, this fighter from Bavaria is like a cheetah, seemingly thin and thin, but it is a combination of strength and agility, engine superchargers, retractable wheels, electric flaps, alloy armor plates and self-sealing fuel tanks, almost every detail adopts the most advanced design, so that the ME-50 with an empty weight of 17 tons, the mass production cost is only slightly lower than that of the G-51 with an empty weight of 25 tons. As the technical director of the Luftwaffe fighter jet, the horse of the Hohenzollern royal family, he should have a higher say in the choice of the new generation of main fighters, but his opinion did not prevail over the practical interests after all, the Luftwaffe ordered 1,500 G-51s from Fokker in one go, and with the deterioration of Anglo-German relations and the tense international situation, an additional 1,500 orders were placed to fully replace the previous Fokker-XI, in addition to the aviation forces belonging to the Kingdom of Bavaria, The Luftwaffe ordered only 60 ME-50s for evaluation and training.

The Irish officer followed the 42-year-old Max Inmaiman, who was handsome and charming in his youth and still in middle age in the eyes of ordinary people, and was a fantastical legend: he created a series of classic aerial tactical maneuvers, among which the "Inmaiman Tumble" with a jump and roll to get rid of the rear-end collision is the most famous; He won the heart of the only jewel of the German royal family, becoming the first commoner-born colt of the Hohenzollern family in hundreds of years; He was a hereditary earl of Ireland with honorary titles from Germany, Austria and Italy, was appointed Technical Director of Fighter Aircraft in the Luftwaffe, was employed by the Irish Air Force as a special adviser, and was an honorary instructor at more than twenty aviation schools.

In the last war, Yinmaiman became the number one trump card of the Luftwaffe, and when the clouds of war once again loomed over Europe, he was no longer able to fly a fighter plane in the sky at a young age but shouldering the responsibilities of a husband and father. The operational deployment of the Luftwaffe was handled by the General Staff, the Air Force Command, and the Air Corps Command, which had little to do with him, the technical director of fighter aircraft, and instead of sitting idly next to the prominent marshals and generals, he simply flew to Ireland to see what he could help.

Suddenly, a low alarm sounded in the orderly underground hangar, and everyone's expressions suddenly became tense.

Soon a deep, powerful voice came from the loudspeaker, speaking Irish Gaelic language. Having spent several years in Ireland, Inmaiman mastered the most basic communication skills and was familiar with every military term associated with the Air Force.

The Irish officer next to him couldn't bear this, and he translated the broadcast into German at the first time: "Enemy reconnaissance aircraft intrusion has been discovered, pay attention, this is not a drill!" ”

"Is it a British reconnaissance plane?" Yin Maiman's face was calm, and he didn't see any surprise.

The Irish officer calmly revealed: "It used to be very rare, and it has only been frequent until the last few weeks, almost every three days." We sent fighter jets to intercept each time, but the speed of the IR-29 was not as fast as the high-speed reconnaissance aircraft of the British, and at most it could only prevent them from continuing to fly inland. ”

"If the ME-50 is dispatched, how sure are you that you will shoot down the enemy's reconnaissance aircraft?"

The officer who led him to inspect the plane replied quickly: "The British reconnaissance planes are not as fast and fast as our ME-50s, and if they strike in time, as long as there are two fighters, there is at least an eighty percent chance of beating them down!" ”

"Eighty?" Yin Maiman touched his chin noncommittally, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, thinking that in the French battlefield in those years, the Luftwaffe firmly held air supremacy, so nearly half of his combat achievements were accumulated by the reconnaissance planes of the Allied countries. Fighting a reconnaissance plane with a fighter may seem like no difficulty, but in fact it is no easier than picking up rats in a warehouse.

(End of chapter)