Li Kongrong has never understood the significance of the aero-engine factory in Dading, Guizhou, during the Anti-Japanese War, which did not produce about 1,000 aero engines until 1945. By this time, the propeller engines were completely obsolete. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Of course, hindsight is not good, in 1939, the mainstream engine power was indeed around 1,000 horsepower, but why did a factory built in 1939 not produce an engine until five years later? There was only one answer he could think of, and that was planting trees in the desert.

What feels very ordinary and ordinary in Jiangnan is a luxury in the desert; What feels very ordinary in the United States is a luxury to put in a cave in Guizhou. Hardware may be enough to buy, but skilled workers need to be retrained, and it takes countless effort and time to train talents.

After the discussion on the train, Li Kongrong resisted Boston South Station with such a question, and when he got off the train, there were twenty or thirty welcoming international students, both men and women. At the head of the group is Captain Limcher, who was recruited by the Navy last year, and he is a staff member of the Technical Information Section. After greeting the energetic students, Li Kongrong asked, "Why did you find so many people?" ”

Lin Shimo is a big-nosed, Cantonese person, and speaks with little Cantonese accent, he smiled embarrassedly: "I asked them not to spread it, and they told others not to spread it, and then ......"

"And then one by one?" Li Kongrong also laughed, he was rarely strict with students and international students.

"Yes, that's right." Lin Shimo introduced Qian Xueyu and others, as well as Li Yaozi and Liang Shoupan, who lived in the same apartment with him. They are all young people, Li Kongrong likes them, but he is worried that their hands-on ability is too poor.

"Let's talk about it at the hotel." Li Kongrong only made a polite appointment with the two dozen international students, and then checked into a hotel in Boston as originally planned. The specific work is to first have Zhi Bingyuan learn about the research and development of some liquid float gyroscopes from Lin Shimo's side, and he wants to see what the situation of these aviation talents that Lin Shimo is talking about, and of course, he also has to explain what the navy's helicopter is.

"Colonel Lee, are the helicopters you are talking about the kind of German aircraft that can hover in the air?" After Lin Shimo's clarification, Qian Xueyu at this time was completely clear that what the navy wanted to build was not a propeller aircraft, but an aircraft that could hover in the air and take off and land vertically. Wu Xuelin and Bei Jiyao immediately lost interest, they have now graduated and are working in the US office of the Central Machinery Factory, and only Qian Xueyu and others, who are not giving up, hope that the navy can produce aircraft engines and even open an aircraft factory.

"It's similar, but the helicopters of the Germans are biplanes, the Navy doesn't like this design, we need a more compact aircraft. The Navy wants you to be part of the development of this aircraft. Li Kongrong didn't know the thoughts of the international students, thinking that he would come back as soon as he beckoned.

"Colonel Lee, has the Navy already purchased machines in the United States?" Bei Jiyao asked. He's doing this right now, but it's not aviation-related, but it's all kinds of machine tools. "Where will the future aircraft company be located?"

"In the future, the aircraft company will be based in the United States." Li Kongrong said that he had already asked about the investment situation in the United States at this time, and a small number of Chinese engineers could also enter the United States through commercial visas.

"In the United States?" Li Kongrong's answer surprised Bei Jiyao and Qian Xueyu. "Why in the United States?" Gu Guangfu asked, he is actually the engine talent Li Kongrong said, but his degree is not a bachelor's.

"Why can't it be done in the United States?" Li Kongrong asked with a smile, and he wanted to know what questions the students had about where the factory was located.

"The country is fighting the war, isn't it more conducive to the war of resistance to run factories in the country?" Gu Guangfu said.

"Officially, because the country is in the Anti-Japanese War, the military situation is like fire, and it is easiest to produce products in the United States," Li Kongrong thought of Dading Aircraft Engine Factory again. "At home, Japanese planes bombed constantly, raw materials were scarce, technicians were scarce, and by the time the planes were built, Japan had already surrendered. The idea of the Navy is to set up factories abroad, manufacture abroad, and use them domestically; The Navy also believes that it does not produce what others have, for example, the Navy does not produce propeller aircraft because it will be obsolete in ten years. ”

Li Kongrong smiled and expounded the Navy's thinking, which was actually his own thinking, which surprised the foreign students, and Li Yaozi asked: "Colonel Li, will the propeller aircraft you said really become obsolete in ten years?" ”

"Yes. This is only my judgment, but my judgment is correct. "Li Kongrong is becoming more and more like a god, and his words are categorical." The United States has developed basic science and technology, but its military technology is actually not as good as that of Europe. Europe has already made jet engines, but the United States has not, and Europe has helicopters, and the United States has not yet. The Navy's research in Switzerland has an aero-engine project, but not a propeller engine. ”

Hearing that what they had learned would become obsolete in ten years, several international students looked at each other, and Gu Guangfu said: "Colonel Li, if we don't study the manufacture of propeller planes now, then how can we fight with the Japanese?" ”

"Although I am very reluctant to admit it, with the backward industrial base in China, the best principle for aircraft in the event of war is that it is better to build than to buy." Li Kongrong replied, he could see the disappointment in the eyes of the students as he spoke, and he had to persuade: "On the battlefield, we can only seek truth from facts, enthusiasm is not of much use, and enthusiasm belongs to the soldiers, and those of us who are in the rear must be objective and realistic."

The current engine horsepower is about 1,000 horsepower, or even 1,000 horsepower is already a very good engine, but now, in the Wright company factory on the other side of Manhattan, the lowest-end model of the fourteen-cylinder R-2600 engine has reached 1,600 horsepower, and in Hewlett-Packard, the eighteen-cylinder double wasp engine has also come out, the initial model horsepower has reached 1,800 horsepower, and the subsequent model horsepower will definitely exceed 2,500 horsepower.

As long as the power is strong enough, the bricks can also fly into the sky! What kind of maneuver shape, fluid mechanics, these are all secondary issues, the decisive battle in the air is all in the power, the main engine power is roughly the same, this is the emphasis on aerodynamics and design, as well as pilot tactics and formation. The greater the power, the faster the speed, the longer the range, the stronger the firepower, the stronger and more durable the fuselage, and the new fighter jet currently tendered by the Navy is ready to be equipped with four 20mm aviation cannons, while the current aircraft is only 7,7mm aviation machine guns.

The Americans' aero engines have exceeded 1,500 horsepower, and the highest ones are close to 2,000 horsepower, and although the Japanese are not as skilled as the Americans, their aero engines will soon be eliminated from 1,000 horsepower and upgraded to 1,500 horsepower. In the face of such an adversary, is there a way for us to subdue it without resorting to the industrial power of the United States?

Will Wright transfer R-2600 engine technology to us? Will Hewlett-Packard transfer his 18-cylinder twin Wasp engine technology to us? Li Kongrong asked the students who were gradually listening, "This is a dream." They will only give us a nine-cylinder R-1820 with about a thousand horsepower. What's the value of that? In peacetime, it may be said that it is necessary to train human resources, but in wartime, such engines, which are still obsolete on the production line, are outdated.

And even if there is an aero engine, what will China use to build an airplane? Where does aluminum come from? Where does the supporting instrument come from? As long as any of the key instruments are not bought, even if 99% of the aircraft is built, it is almost zero. Of course, the country hopes to get on the aircraft project, but there are no such conditions in the country, and when these conditions are ready, the war is over. So, factories have to be located in places with a strong industrial base, and then they produce planes like helicopters, which are not available in the United States, not propeller planes. ”

Li Kongrong's words are reasonable, he is not blind to aero engines, but the more this happens, the more disappointed the students are, which is equivalent to saying that the domestic aircraft dream can not be realized in his own hands, and there is still no way to serve the country.

Gu Guangfu had such thoughts, but Qian Xueyu asked: "Colonel Li, if the factory is in the United States, what will be used to buy planes in China?" Isn't it precisely to save precious foreign exchange that we set up factories in China? ”

"Helicopters are not mainly sold to the country, but to Britain and the United States, and the money earned by the helicopter company will be invested in the construction of naval aviation, although there is a certain amount of export tariffs, but this is also a helpless thing, after all, you earn American money. If you want the latest aircraft, you can only buy it from the United States. Li Kongrong continued: "In addition, I would like to introduce that the naval project has been entrusted to the Swiss company Xinzhong Defense, and this is Mr. Zhou Maobai, the head of the company's engine project. ”

It has always been Li Kongrong who is talking, and Zhou Maobai is watching, and now Li Kongrong finally introduces Zhou Maobai to everyone.

"This is a company that has nothing to do with the Navy at the legal level, although its products and its profits will be transferred to the Navy for free in the future. I hope that you will join this company and contribute to the fight against Japan. After the end of the war, in addition to the original investors, a small part of the company's shares will be donated to the technical personnel who have contributed to the development of the company, and it will be transformed into a private company.

Of course, that's all for later. What I can tell you is that the New China Defense is designed to serve the war of resistance, and although it is limited to the navy, it will also support the army and air force if it has the ability. The actual salary you get for joining this company will not be too high, but after the end of the war, you will use your shares to make up for it fairly. ”

For Qian Xueyu and others, today's cold water is one after another, they thought that the navy would build airplanes, and they would be people from the navy, like Lin Shimo, with a formal military rank. I don't want to say that it's just a private company. Maybe shares or something are attractive to some people, but for those who are full of enthusiasm to serve the country, it is like entering the market of a philistine. The naked smell is coppery.

Li Kongrong can't do anything about it, according to the plan, he will eventually leave the navy, and even give up his Chinese nationality in extreme cases, so as to avoid his actions from bringing diplomatic pressure to the national government - what he wants to do is too evil and too evil, it is simply intolerable. Under such circumstances, he was very worried that once the government reprimanded, the entire Xinzhong company and research institute would be in chaos and unstable. Therefore, after fooling Zhi Bingyuan, he began to revise the image and positioning of the Xinzhong Defense Company to the middle and lower-level personnel, and the rhetoric was 'This is a private company, and the company will go all out to build a navy and fight against Japanese invaders in the Anti-Japanese War......

Qian Xueyu and the others were silent, and a girl behind these people actually spoke, and she said, "May I ask Colonel Li, why is it a private company and not a company of the state government?" Does this mean that our efforts are all about accumulating wealth for the capitalists? ”

The girl has a Beijing accent, she should be from the north, and she is a little embarrassed to ask such a question. Li Kongrong said unconcernedly: "In fact, every penny spent by the New China Defense Company does not come from state grants, but from private individuals, so it cannot be a state-owned company." From the operational level, any state-owned company is inefficient, and many people are actually government officials, or who are the seven aunts and eight aunts, and their abilities are too poor to be reformed, so they can only be raised; Private companies are different, although everyone is a member of the company, but if the ability is too poor, they will be replaced immediately, and if they can't do it, they will sweep the floor and leave the house without any mercy.

As for whether it is a ...... for the capitalists or not, this is a matter of opinion. During the Anti-Japanese War, all the profits of the company were used to resist the Japanese, and after the Anti-Japanese War, the profits went to the investors and the technicians and managers who contributed to the factory, and those who did not want to stay could resign, so that they would not accumulate wealth for the capitalists. ”

Li Kongrong laughed at the end, and under his infection, the students also chuckled a few times. He looked at the student in front of him who wanted to serve it in a pot, and said very frankly: "Let's be honest." If you can't, the Navy will not continue to let you master the project with the attitude of cultivating talents and leaving some affection. If the allotted time is not completed, only whites will be hired to continue the project. This is just like the Air Force will not wait for domestic aircraft to be built, but will fly imported planes to fight first. Personally, I hope you can try it, even if you fail, and gain some experience with the project. ”

The more Qian Xueyu and the others listened, the cooler they became, but Li Kongrong's honesty was a kind of agitation, Gu Guangfu asked: "Colonel Li, is this talking about a helicopter?" What is the stipulated time? ”

"Half a year must see hope." After a moment's thought, Li replied that this was the final deadline for whether to invest in Sikorsky. (To be continued.) )