On the other hand, even if other countries transform their navies into aircraft carriers, they will not be able to do so in a few years. The aircraft carrier formation is also a systematic project, from establishing tactical thinking, to designing fleet aircraft carriers, overcoming technical difficulties in construction, and launching into service. From the establishment of aircraft carrier formations to form battleships, to the design of new escort warships. After the formation of an aircraft carrier formation, tactical exploration and application are not something that can be completed in a day or two.

More importantly, the core of the aircraft carrier fleet is aircraft, including reconnaissance aircraft, escort fighters, bombers and torpedo attack aircraft, which cannot be realized by the existing aircraft design and manufacturing capabilities of various countries, and are not even imagined by aircraft experts.

After the end of the Far East War, countries began to copy Chinese fighters and bombers, and the real Chinese planes obtained through various channels became priceless things. After gradually understanding China's technology, advanced industrial countries such as Britain, Germany, France, and the United States began to design aircraft with their own characteristics according to their own needs.

At the beginning of 1909, Britain's first fighter with the basic data of the Chinese F01 rolled off the assembly line from the factory, marking that Britain had a considerable degree of aircraft design and manufacturing capabilities. Due to the instigation of the Chinese butterflies, a large number of various technologies in this time and space appeared early and were conquered by scientists, and the technology tree was suddenly raised, which led to the improvement of the industrial capacity of various countries, and also provided more advanced weapons for the army.

The Balkan War provided the best testing platform for new weapons from all countries, with Britain and France equipping the Balkan Allies with new tanks, artillery, and aircraft, and Ottoman Turkey armed with new German weapons. Through actual combat testing, each country improved the new weapons in their hands based on the feedback, and finally decided on a mass production model, which was put into mass production after being put into the factory. Among them, the "Camel" biplane fighter produced by the British Sopoweis company performed eye-catchingly and became a star in the Balkan War, shooting down 25 German "Fokker 3" biplane fighters equipped with the Turkish Air Force, and only 11 of them were lost.

Germany, of course, had more advanced fighters, they received more technical assistance from China, and German scientists were no less than the British, the "Fokker D" that the Luftwaffe was equipped with. The "VII" fighter surpassed the "Fokker 3" in terms of performance, and the Luftwaffe generals called this fighter "a mediocre man who pilots it to be excellent, and a good person who pilots it can become an ace". However, due to the need for secrecy, the Germans did not allow the most advanced fighters to be unveiled in the Balkan wars.

However, the role of aircraft in the Balkan war is not obvious, the degree of influence on the war situation is not as great as that of new artillery and tanks, the tactical use of aircraft by various countries is still in the initial stage, in addition, the range of key bombers, bomb load, etc., are limited by technology, and do not play much role in the war.

How could these aircraft pose a threat to battleships? From the perspective of countries such as Britain and the United States, there is no mistake in thinking so. The problem is that the strength of the Chinese Air Force and Naval Aviation is very different from theirs, and the technological gap is 20 years!

Speaking of naval aviation alone, since 1908, when the whole army was reequipped, the navy received new fighters and bombers for coastal defense. At this time, the aircraft of the naval aviation were no different from those used by the army, but the new fighters and bombers allowed the original pilots to adapt for a long time. Faster speed, more firepower, higher ceilings, etc., are very different from the previous aircraft, and the corresponding tactical use is also different. Pilots rarely use their previous experience, and it takes a long time to train to master the new aircraft.

After the launch of the aircraft carrier Baiqi, the aviation group was formed at the same time and received aircraft for the exclusive use of the aircraft carrier. The pilots have been training on land platforms for some time, and after boarding the ship, they have to train for take-off and landing in different sea conditions, but the aircraft carrier air group makes the pilots forget their fatigue and indulge in the power of the new aircraft.

The choice of dive bombers for the air brigade has caused controversy in the upper echelons of the Navy, which was previously equipped with the same Stuka dive bomber as the Air Force, which was designed and produced by the Lanzhou Aircraft Factory, and the Air Force was full of praise for it, and some generals in the upper echelons of the Navy admired this ugly but powerful attack aircraft.

It's just that the ability of the Stuka dive bomber on the aircraft carrier is limited, and the bomb load can also be satisfactory, and the performance of the Dreadnought dive bomber designed and produced by the Weifang Aircraft Factory is more superior, but this small factory only produced aircraft parts before, and there is no experience in the production of the whole machine, so it can be said that it is unknown. If it weren't for the attention of a technician in the bidding, it would not have allowed the upper echelons of the Navy to contradict it.

Claiming nothing, the Navy decided to let Stuka and the Dreadnought test it out, and the end result was surprising, the Dreadnought performed better and better met the Navy's requirements. After being selected, the Dreadnought dive bomber became the main force of naval aviation, and a total of 3,500 units were produced during the war.

The Dreadnought's performance, reliability and stability are outstanding, with more sophisticated metal skin technology and perforated air brake flaps for increased fuselage stability during dives, while Stuka needs to add additional ailerons for stability. The Dreadnought's collectible landing gear also reduces wind resistance by more than the Stuka and is thwart for top speed. With a high-horsepower engine, a self-sealing fuel tank and bulletproof armor, and a larger bomb payload, the Dreadnought's attack performance surpasses that of the Stuka.

It's just that the addition of armor causes the Dreadnought to fly slightly lower than the Stuka equipped by the Air Force, and the slow flight speed has become the only factor that the Dreadnought has been criticized for. Compared to its unbeatable flight record and extremely low crash rate, it is more favored by pilots.

The Type 07 torpedo attack aircraft equipped with the Carrier Air Group is a newest type of aircraft that pilots have never touched before, but torpedo attack aircraft pose a greater threat to warships than dive bombers (for super battleships). During the Bohai Bay military exercise, the heavy damage to the two battleships was mainly caused by torpedo attack planes, and the dive bombers and torpedo attack planes coordinated with each other, and although the aerial bombs carried by the dreadnoughts could not inflict fatal losses on the Wuyue-class battleships, they could attract the attention of anti-aircraft artillery fire and create conditions for torpedo attack planes entering low altitudes to drop torpedoes.

In comparison, the torpedo attack aircraft suffered higher battle damage than the dive bomber, it flew slower, and the altitude at which the torpedo was dropped was very low, and it was easily hit by flattened anti-aircraft guns. The survivability of torpedo planes is relatively weak, and the pilots of suicide torpedo planes have to face greater danger under the interception of fighters, and the use of tactics determines their greater losses.

The Type 07 torpedo attack aircraft can not only hang a torpedo, but also maintain a speed of 280-350 km/h when flying parallel to the sea surface, and carry out torpedo attacks at an altitude of about 100 meters. It can also bomb large ship decks and superstructures by hanging an 800-kilogram armor-piercing bomb at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters at a five-plane formation horizontal projectile.

However, with the advancement of the war, the quality of the fighters equipped by various countries has skyrocketed, and the Type 07 attack aircraft has faced more and more threats, and the record is no longer as outstanding as before, and the losses have become unbearable. In 1912, the Type 07 attack aircraft were completely replaced by the new carrier-based attack aircraft, and by the end of the refit, a total of 1,250 Type 07 aircraft were produced, with a loss of more than 130 aircraft, most of which occurred in the later stages of the war.

The "Corsair" fighter specially designed for carrier-based aviation was the main aircraft carrier fighter until the end of the war, and China produced a total of 5,500 during the war. This fighter has excellent acceleration performance, and the powerful 2000 horsepower engine gives it unparalleled acceleration and climb performance, and for a long time the Corsair fighter was the fastest flying piston fighter in China and even in the world. Six 12.7 mm machine guns or four 20 mm cannons made it powerful enough to easily tear enemy fighters to pieces in battle, but in the early stages of the war, the enemy navy had very few targets for Corsair fighters to attack, and even in the later stages, none of the carrier-based fighters were Pirate opponents.

Even with complete technical information, a design team and senior technicians who are the backbone of the genetic man, and a well-developed aircraft manufacturing industry, it took Huaguo a year and a half to complete the prototype of the first Corsair fighter. The technical difficulty lies in the manufacture of aircraft engines, and it took a long time for the Guangzhou Engine Factory, the largest aircraft engine manufacturer in China, to break through the technical difficulties of engines.

The Corsair carrier-based fighter also had some problems, such as a long nose that caused the pilot's forward vision to be poor, and repeated changes in the future tried to improve this problem, but the results were mediocre. Another problem is that the flexion of the wings is too low, which limits the pilot's judgment and makes it easy for the pilot to have an accident when landing due to improper operation (such as the mistake between opening the landing gear of the fighter).

As soon as the carrier-based aircraft came out, China set up several high mountains, allowing the enemy countries to catch up during the war, but they never broke through the altitude of the above three types of aircraft, and the pain accompanied the scientists of Britain, France, the United States and other countries for almost their lives. Because of the simplification of the design and construction process, the aircraft types have not changed much, and China's industry can maximize its production capacity, so that the naval aviation can be replenished with sufficient aircraft at any time.

The documents were marked with a top-secret designation of five stars, and were not transmitted by telegram, but were escorted by a squad of gendarmes along the route. Such an important document is due to its content: "The East China Sea Fleet should leave port before January 29, 1910, and after forming a joint fleet with the Second Fleet of the South China Sea Fleet, it will attack the Japanese port of Yokosuka, wait for an opportunity to destroy the warships of the US Navy stationed in Yokosuka, obtain sea supremacy in the western Pacific, and provide fire cover for the subsequent battle!" ”

President Lu Liangda's instructions at the end of the document were: "China is ready for war, the foreign affairs department has provided the best political environment for the navy, and the intelligence department has provided detailed information, and the battle for the fate of China will begin at this moment!" (To be continued.) )