"No, no, no, the 'HNA A' is not the best fighter in the world. Horikoshi, it's not me bragging, my D.31 is the best! ”

"Yes, yes, the plane designed by Mr. must be the best!"

"Of course, who am I? I'm Anthony. Fogg! Those people didn't understand fighters at all, neither the Luftwaffe nor the Navy, nor Admiral Heersmann. ”

"Of course they're not as good as you, sir."

"They think that fighter jets are divided into two categories: high-altitude and low-altitude, and they also take it for granted that air-cooled engines are positioned at low altitudes, and that fighters with liquid-cooled engines are positioned at high altitudes."

"Could it be...... Isn't that so? ”

"Of course not! This method of division is outdated, and after the advent of turbochargers! The fighter of the future should be divided into heavy and light, multi-purpose and single-purpose. It should be divided ...... way

"Oh......"

"My D.31 was the world's first heavy single-engine fighter! Don't look at it now, once you can put a high-horsepower turbocharged engine on it, it will be an all-round fighter, the best fighter in the world! But they don't know the goods......"

Now whining in a very high-end tavern in Nagoya, Japan, is Hersman's brother-in-law, Anthony. Fogg.

The once handsome guy is now a big fat man of almost 200 pounds, his double chin has come out, his beer belly has also stood up, and he has no gentlemanly demeanor at all. In addition, he is also an out-and-out local tyrant!

His Fokker Aircraft Company is now the largest aircraft company in the world, accounting for 30 percent of the world's civil aviation market except for the United States and the Soviet Union.

In addition, Fokker owns 25 percent of BFW (a subsidiary of BMW), 20 percent of Fokker-Wolf and 18 of Heinkel Aircraft. An aircraft manufacturing consortium with Fokker as the core was formed.

However, in the German Empire, which practiced National Socialism, no matter how big the local tyrants were, they could not be as bold as General Hirschmann. Therefore, if the General's Excellency said a word, he could only take his assistant Carl with him. Irbitis - a native German of the Baltic region, was the chief engineer of the BF-FK complex (an aircraft factory controlled by Fokker). He was also the deputy chief designer of the Fokker D.31 -- obediently went to Nagoya, where the aircraft design institute of the Japanese company Mitsubishi was located.

However, he still complained about Hirschman's requirements for the design of the "HNA A-type" fighter, believing that it was far inferior to his proud work -- the Fokker D.31. That's why he often drinks and complains with a few Japanese aircraft designers who have studied and interned in Germany.

"Mr. Fokker, the requirements of the 'Twelve Test Ship Battles' are very high, and it seems that they want to pursue the best combat performance."

He is very thin and small, with a very long head. Jiro Horikoshi, a Japanese man with small round eyes, once interned at the BF-FK complex, and Anthony . Falk recognized. He is now an aircraft designer at Mitsubishi Corporation and has just been tasked with designing the "Twelve Test Ship Battles".

And the technical requirements of this "Twelve Test Ship Battles" are almost exactly the same as those of the German "HNA Type A". Therefore, after studying with the leaders of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the Japanese Navy agreed to jointly develop it with Germany -- in fact, the designers of the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation are having a headache with the "12 test ship battles."

Jiro Horikoshi, who designed the "Zero Style" in history, saw the "Twelve Test Ship Battles" and his first thought was: "If you want the best fighter in the world, go dream!" ”

"Is it demanding?" Anthony. Fokker took a large sip of the light and tasteless Japanese sake and laughed, "It's nothing more than the pursuit of three events: speed, martial arts, and voyage...... Actually, it's not that hard to get. ”

"Isn't it difficult?" Jiro Horikoshi and several of his colleagues all looked at Anthony, who was already half drunk, with adoring eyes. Falk - A master is a master, and when he is drunk, he can solve problems that no one can solve even if they want to break their heads.

"Of course it's not difficult!" Falk shook his head, "Such a low request can only be made by my brother-in-law Hersman......"

Is this a low requirement? Several Japanese mouths are wide open. Look at Fawker, whose face is flushed.

"First of all, he has no requirements for the high and low altitude performance of the aircraft...... The practical height is 3000 meters - 5000 meters. There is no need to think about the decrease in engine efficiency at high altitudes, and there is no need to think too much about the threat of ground and surface fire. ”

"Yes, yes, yes......"

A few Japanese devils nodded their heads again and again, and the master's idea was really brilliant - not how to meet the requirements, but from what requirements did not have to be met!

"Secondly, he does not have any requirements for the upgrade space of the aircraft...... It's confusing. My D.31 has a lot of room for upgrades, at least 10 years old! And this aircraft does not consider upgrades. In other words, it is only necessary to maintain the advanced nature within 2 to 3 years after it is put into use. This reduces a lot of weight and volume reserved for upgrades. ”

Reasonable! A few Japanese nodded again. They had all seen the Fokker D.31, big and heavy, not like a fighter but like a bomber. If it weren't for the powerful engines, the aircraft's air combat performance would have been a tragedy. It turned out that Mr. Fokker had designed the aircraft with more powerful engines in mind......

I wonder what the Fokker D.31 will look like when it is fitted with the legendary BMW 700 series high-horsepower engine with turbocharger?

However, when they think of Japanese aircraft engines, several designers can't help but sigh - if they also have engines like the BMW 700 series in their hands, then why should they be overwhelmed by the requirements of the navy?

"Third. This aircraft is an air superiority aircraft used for medium-altitude operations. There is no need for any ground-to-sea attack capabilities. Although your 'Twelve Test Ship Battles' proposed to hang two 60-kilogram bombs, what is the use of such a small bomb at sea? It's nothing more than supporting the landing, just blowing up something to scare people......"

Anthony. Fokker snorted a few times: "So this aircraft does not need to consider armor protection, does not need to consider dive performance, does not need to consider high-altitude performance." There is no need to think about upgrade performance, so it can be made light and small, and then pursue flexibility and high speed in the case of light and small. ”

Light, small, flexible and fast...... Isn't this the ideal "Twelve Test Ship Battles"?

"It's easy to be light and small, but it's hard to be flexible and fast." Jiro Horikoshi lifted his glasses, "At present, it is generally accepted in the aviation industry that it is difficult to achieve both speed and agility of an airplane......

This was the general view of the aviation industry in the 30s, and it was difficult to achieve both speed and grappling, while the mainstream fighter design pursued "one-hit disengagement", that is, hit and go, and did not very pursue the fighting performance of the aircraft.

"What's not to have it both ways? Everything is relative. "Anthony. Falk took the Japanese-style wine tray from a Japanese woman who accompanied him and drank it all again. "Flexibility is nothing more than turning, climbing, somersaults or whatever...... It's a small and light aircraft, and being small and light makes it easy to be flexible. If you add a powerful enough engine, it's a question of making the best aerodynamic shape. ”

The direction is already there! Horikoshi Jiro suddenly had a feeling of seeing the blue sky through the clouds and fog - although there were still many problems to solve if the plane was really to be made, but after having a direction, he knew where to go.

As long as the three points of weight reduction, aerodynamic shape and more fuel are achieved to the extreme, and there is an engine with acceptable performance, an excellent medium-altitude air superiority fighter can be born!

And historically, this aircraft is the famous Zero carrier-based fighter. And Hersman, who is well aware of the performance of the Zero fighter, knows its value very well...... It was the "escort fighter" that Germany needed most at the beginning of World War II!

If Germany had had had hundreds or thousands of Zeros at the beginning of World War II, they would have been able to cover their bombers deep into Britain, and they could have run rampant over the Mediterranean Sea and the North Seas to escort groups of torpedo attack aircraft converted from twin-engine medium bombers against the British naval fleet. It is even possible to escort the Fw200C reconnaissance/patrol aircraft, known as the scourge of the Atlantic, to attack British merchant ships in the Atlantic.

The course of the Second World War may have been very different!

……

Hersmann's aide-de-camp, Hans. Lieutenant Colonel Speidar walked briskly into an office in the German Embassy in Moscow, where Hersmann was sitting behind his desk looking at a telegram from the Great General Staff about the German government's agreement to negotiate an alliance treaty with the Soviet Union.

This was established in 1935, when a secret treaty was concluded, and now it is time to turn the secret treaty into a formal alliance treaty.

Of course, there are many negotiations that will take place before the treaty is formally concluded. Hitler will send a new foreign minister, Ribbentrop, to take charge of the matter, and at the same time, Germany, Italy, and Japan are actively negotiating an alliance.

"Your Excellency," Hans. Spicer saluted, then handed a list to Hersman, "This is what the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR has just sent. ”

"Oh, I'll see." Hersmann took the list and looked at it, and it was a list of technology exchanges issued by the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR - they wanted to exchange oil and non-ferrous metals for technology that Germany "desperately needed". Mainly technologies in aviation and naval shipbuilding.

The Soviets were apparently more comfortable with their army equipment, but their aviation and naval shipbuilding skills were still not up to par. And they are still looking forward to becoming fat in one bite, especially in the field of large surface ships of the Navy. Instead of following Germany's advice and starting to build 30,000-ton battleships with Germany, the Soviets wanted to build even larger battleships in one step. But now it is in great difficulty...... (To be continued.) )