"It's half past ten!"

"Okay, let's go back!"

Tan Renhao stood up, and when he turned around, he saw the jeep coming over.

"It seems to be General Luo Yunchong."

Duchenne said next to him.

Tan Renhao nodded and walked over quickly.

"I guess you're on the beach, why are you a little uncomfortable leaving the fleet?"

Luo Yunchong ran over with a stack of papers.

"Isn't that something?"

Tan Renhao smiled awkwardly.

"I've gone and got some information for you to see, if you don't have time, then we'll talk about it tomorrow!"

"You don't have to go to my dorm!"

Tan Renhao called Duchenne over: "Go buy a few bottles of beer, and some appetizers, let's talk while eating when we come back!" ”

Tan Renhao took Luo Yunchong's car back to the dormitory, and not long after, Du Xing bought back the wine and food. Of course, Du Xing also took the initiative to call Luo Yunchong's adjutant to chat in his dormitory, so as not to cause trouble to the two generals, which can be regarded as one of the adjutants' jobs.

"These are the materials of the new bomber."

Luo Yunchong is the kind of person who doesn't want to die at work. He has been silent in the 6th Voyage for so many years, and after coming to HNA for so many years, he has been reused, and his leakage points and energy have also exploded. "I'm coming directly from Hafei, you take a look first, and then we can discuss it."

When Luo Yunchong opened the beer bottle, Tan Renhao lit a cigarette and then flipped through the document in his hand.

The bomber developed by Hafei was tentatively named the "Sea Eagle" (later the official name of the bomber was "Wolf Dove", a bird of prey on the African Big 6. Officially codenamed "H-11", after the improved design, this bomber has some changes from what Tan Renhao has seen before, but they are all minor changes, mainly to improve the flight quality and improve the performance of the bomber.

The power system of the bomber was four modified "Feng-12" fourteen-cylinder air-cooled motors. The biggest change from the fighter engine used in the Sparrowhawk was the change from turbocharged to mechanical, which delayed the development of the bomber by two months. This improvement also increased the reliability of the bomber. And the weight of the engine was reduced a lot, which was a great help in improving the performance of the bomber. The maximum output of the motor is 14oo horsepower. It can reach 165o horsepower in a short time when sprinting. The aircraft has a cruising degree of 4oo meters at an altitude of 22o knots and a maximum of 235 knots at sea level. The maximum ceiling when fully loaded is 78oo meters, and the maximum ceiling at half bomb load and half fuel is 87oo meters.

The original tandem arrangement of the double bomb bay was changed to a single bomb bay, and the bomb bay had a pipe on the top for the crew to pass, and the volume of the bomb bay was also greatly expanded. According to the design drawings provided by the aircraft factory, it can hold up to 24 bombs of the 25o kg class or 48 bombs of 1oo kg. But. This design is not entirely certain, especially in the way in which bombs are planted in the bomb bay, and it is possible that modifications will be made prior to the formal finalization of the site to maximize the ammunition carried.

The bomber had a total of three main fuel tanks and three in-board auxiliary fuel tanks. The design requirement is that in the case of the maximum bomb load, it is necessary to ensure that the three main fuel tanks are fully fueled, take off and land with one-third of the fuel. And when only three tons of bombs are hung, they can fill all the fuel tanks and land when they have a third of the fuel left. If only three main fuel tanks are filled. Take off with a full load. The maximum range of the bomber must be 24oo km, and in the case of a full tank and half a bomb load, the range is required to be more than 45oo km. And when only two tons of bombs are hung on full fuel, the range can reach 5ooo kilometers. Of course, this is all an ideal result, but in reality, because the bomber is running at full power during the sprint, fuel consumption is much faster. In addition, the different flight altitudes of the headwind, the need to fly around in the middle of the flight, and so on. When carrying three tons of bombs, the combat radius of the bomber can reach 12oo kilometers, and when carrying two tons of bombs, the combat radius can reach 15oo kilometers, which is already very good. As for the actual situation, this can only be determined by test flights, and on the drawings it is only theoretical data.

The self-defense armament was ten machine guns, of which there was a double-barreled machine gun in the upper part of the rear of the cockpit, one in the lower part behind the bomb bay, and in the nose, cockpit, lower tail. And in the rear of the bomb bay, on each side of the fuselage, there was a machine gun. The crew consisted of six machine gunners, two pilots and co-pilots, a navigator, and a bombardier (the bombardier was later eliminated and replaced by a machine gunner at the nose), for a total of ten (nine) members.

"I've carefully scrutinized all these figures, and it's possible to achieve them, but don't get your hopes up."

Luo Yunchong picked up the braised beef on the side: "In order to be able to pass the Naval Equipment Technology Office, the aircraft factory will have some moisture in performance, and the actual use environment is more complicated, so it is difficult to meet the design indicators." The battlefield is not a place where there is no way to achieve ideal conditions. ”

"And how much do you think it can go?"

Tan Renhao picked up the beer bottle.

"At least 10% will be deducted."

Luo Yunchong laughed: "But as long as it can reach ninety percent of the design index, then this is a very good bomber." At least now, there is no bomber whose performance is higher than that of the several bombers that Britain and the United States are engaged in. And the B-17 being developed by the United States has some problems, and it will probably not be able to be mass-produced until the end of next year. So if we can get the Sea Eagle flying by the end of this year and start mass production, then we will have the best heavy bomber in the world. ”

"How's the pilot training?"

Tan Renhao attaches more importance to talents.

"This has been arranged by General Liao Hanxiang for the first batch of pilots to take part in the test flight work, and the second batch of pilots will go to the unit to participate in the test flight work before the unit's equipment. Subsequently, these three groups of pilots will become the backbone of the force, and we will probably be able to form at least two bomber groups by February next year. ”

Luo Yunchong lit a cigarette: "According to Liao Hanxiang's intentions, the First Strategic Bomber Wing will be established first, and then continue to expand on this scale. By the middle of next year, we will be able to bomb Japan at least a thousand bombers at once! ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and he also lit a cigarette. The degree of training pilots is still quite fast, and it seems that there is a reason why Liao Hanxiang is so busy.

The topic of the two quickly broke up. After talking about the establishment of the bomber wing, the two talked about the direction of strategic bombing. And Tan Renhao, why did Liao Hanxiang dig Luo Yunchong back then, because Luo Yunchong is a talent who really understands the great significance of strategic bombing, and what Tan Renhao is proficient in is actually just the tactical bombing of the Navy's aircraft carrier fleet. Relatively speaking, Tan Renhao's attainments in aviation combat are one level lower than Luo Yunchong.

"Actually, the 'Sea Eagle' is not our ideal bomber."

After a few bottles of beer, Luo Yunchong was also a little excited: "If you want to ensure your safety while destroying the enemy." Then we need a bomber that the enemy can't hit, a bomber that can drop bombs outside the enemy's fighter interception range. Such bombers had to fly fast enough and fly high enough that enemy fighters could not catch up with them, and anti-aircraft artillery could not hit. There must be enough bombs in one load so that a single bomb can damage more large areas. Self-defense firepower should be strong enough so that an air fleet can be formed to defend against enemy fighters. And the most important thing is still. The range has to be long enough! ”

Tan Renhao nodded again and again. He also drank a lot, and was already very tired, and a few beers went down. People are a little drifting.

"If we take into account possible wars in the future, such as our war with the United States, our war with the Western powers, then we have to let the bombers fly far enough so that we can drop the bombs on the heads of the enemy."

Luo Yunchong smiled and lit a cigarette: "If you don't say anything else, even if you deal with the 'sea eagle' of the Russian Empire, it is difficult to be competent." Unless the German Empire and the Persian Empire are willing to provide us with airfields, we will be able to cover the strategic points of the entire Russian Empire with 'sea eagles'. That's it. We will have to get involved in the European theater, and the North African theater may not have the strength of the empire. So I've been thinking that if I really want to develop a bomber that can destroy the enemy, then its combat radius should be at least 35oo kilometers to 4ooo kilometers, and it can be loaded with at least ten tons of bombs, and the flight altitude should be more than 9ooo meters, or even more than 10,000 meters. The degree must be at least 36o knots, and the self-defense weapon must have at least 12 machine guns. ”

"That's an aerial giant!"

Tan Renhao laughed: "Our current technology can make such a bomber?" ”

"Of course, it's actually hard to say."

Luo Yunchong smiled and opened another bottle of beer, "I roughly calculated, if you want to build this kind of bomber, it is still prepared with four motives, and the power of the motive must reach 4ooo horsepower, and our current power, including those that are still under design, is only 3ooo horsepower." But we can use a six-motive formulation, so the problem is much easier to solve, isn't it? ”

"But what about the rest?"

Tan Renhao shook his head: "One is the layout of the aircraft, the second is the strength of the structure, the third is the manufacturing process, and the fourth is the cost. Especially the cost, if the money to build such a bomber can build ten 'sea eagles', who do you think is more cost-effective? ”

Luo Yunchong was stunned for a moment and then said, "I haven't considered this yet. ”

"Actually, your idea is very good. Even if you don't have to think too long-term, just the current situation of the war, on the Russian side, we all need better bombers, don't we? ”

Tan Renhao took the beer bottle, "But this is a matter of the 6th Voyage, as long as the 6th Voyage bites the bomber and does not let us go, it is impossible for us to participate in the battle in the 6th area." In addition, if we can successfully destroy Japan with strategic bombing, the 6th Air Force will also learn from its experience, and then the 6th Air Force will find a way to make better bombers, so what does it matter to us? ”

"But ......"

Luo Yunchong hesitated for a moment: "Why can't you set up a separate military branch?" Just like the German Empire, let the Air Force become independent and become a new branch of the armed forces and become a branch of the armed forces that will work in parallel with the 6 Navy, then whether it is a naval bombing or a 6 bombing will be the business of the Air Force, what can the 6 Air Force say? ”

Tan Renhao was slightly startled and didn't hurry to speak. The reason is very simple, if an independent air force is established like the German Empire, then it will lose more than just 6 voyages, and the navy will definitely lose a large number of forces, which will not benefit the navy.

"Hey, I'm just talking about it casually, in fact, it is impossible to set up an air force according to the current military system of the Empire, at least not during the war."

Luo Yunchong also said too far, "But we do need a better bomber." ”

"Do you have an idea?"

Tan Renhao glanced at Luo Yunchong, and he was not very satisfied with the performance of the "Sea Eagle".

Luo Yunchong nodded, and then handed a folder to Tan Renhao. "This is a performance design proposal that I have probably worked on. It has not yet been submitted to the Technical Office of Naval Armament, after all......"

"I knew I was going to look at it and decide what to do."

Tan Renhao nodded, Luo Yunchong was not from the Navy, after all, his opinion would not be taken seriously by many people. "If this is feasible, I will bring it with me next time I go back to Zhoushan, and hand it directly to Chief of Staff Gan Yongxing or Marshal Nie Renfeng, so that they can decide whether it is necessary to display new bombers."

"Then I'll come up with a detailed plan in the next few days, so it will be more convincing!"

Luo Yunchong immediately saw hope.

"Don't worry, I won't be able to go back for a while. In addition......"

Tan Renhao raised his head, "The marshal values you very much, and this is the fruit of your labor, I suggest that you submit it directly to the marshal, so that the effect will be better, isn't it?" ”

"This ......"

Luo Yunchong smiled awkwardly, and then nodded: "Okay, when I get it out, I'll show you first, and then we will submit a report to the marshal after we discuss it!" ”

"No problem, anyway, I don't know what to do yet!"

Tan Renhao sighed: "That's it for today, I want to rest early, and I will go to the staff tomorrow." ”

Luo Yunchong was now past two o'clock, and he immediately got up and said goodbye.

After sending Luo Yunchong away, Tan Renhao didn't fall asleep immediately, and after talking to Luo Yunchong about these things, he also had a lot of new ideas.