In the sky above the Beiyang position, three French "Gaudelon" planes were carrying out reconnaissance missions at a low altitude―――――― of course, in the eyes of the Beiyang officers and men below, this was another routine bombing mission by the planes of the National Social Army.

In a fortification deep underground, a Beiyang soldier who was playing cards with his companions in the faint light of the cave entrance cursed after hearing the faint but distinctive sound of the engine outside. (After the Opium War in 1840, playing cards began to flow into China, and in the later period, because the price of poker was cheap, most of the poker that flowed into China was called poker.) ）

"Damn, can't this group of birdmen rest for two days? Those who fly around in the sky all day long are not idle, tired and panicked. ”

A few soldiers who were looking down at their cards, almost seeing themselves as short-sighted, also looked up and laughed when they heard the scolding of their companions.

"You also said that they are birdmen, and since they are birdmen, of course they will do some of the things that birdmen should do."

As if to confirm his words, several explosions were heard outside in a short time.

"Look, I'm right." As he spoke, the soldier lowered his head again. "Come on, it's your turn, hurry up and play your cards..."

Hearing his companion's words, the soldier grinned twice and then refocused on the card in his hand, and after a moment threw a card down.

――――――――――

At the beginning, although the Air Force was not treated well by Zhu Qinglan and other generals, because the Air Force was under the direct jurisdiction of Yan Guang, Zhu Qinglan and the others could not interfere with the freedom of the Air Force.

And since Yan Guang himself didn't have any expectations for the Air Force―――――― what could the planes do before the war in Europe? Yan Guang slapped the table after thinking hard for a long time at the command headquarters: Train the driver.

Because Zhu Qinglan and others didn't care much, and Yan Guang didn't look forward to it, the Air Force carried out mostly free missions, that is, flying planes to the sky above the Beiyang Army to go for a ride, throwing some cluster grenades or something, Feng Guozhang's general headquarters was forced to transfer by this group of teenagers―――――― after getting the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Zhu Qinglan already knew where Feng Guozhang's location was, but the general headquarters was outside the range of 120mm and 150mm cannons, So even if you know Zhu Qinglan, you can't do anything about him...

Later, a pilot was on a "Ride" mission when he stumbled upon something that seemed to be wrong below. Because the pilots of the aviation unit were carefully selected at the beginning, they reacted quickly.

"Haven't the people at the headquarters been looking for the artillery of the Beiyang Army?"

Because they are not welcomed, the people in the Air Force do not treat those in the headquarters very well. Of course, because of each other's status, it is useless even if the Air Force does not want to see the command. What's more, even Yan Guang didn't expect anything from them? You must know that Yan Guang is the general backer of their air force.

Therefore, since going to Hanyang, the entire air force from top to bottom, even those foreign instructors have held their breath and want to prove themselves on the battlefield. However, the bloody facts have proved that at this time, there are very few planes with actual combat significance, and forcing Feng Guozhang to transfer the command is probably the only record that the Air Force can be proud of...

The Air Force had to look everywhere for opportunities to prove itself, and as a result, having discovered the unusual below, the pilot, who had been on a "Drive" mission, lowered the plane to an extremely dangerous altitude ―――――― within the range of the Commission's rifles.

The people of the Beiyang Army had already hated these planes that flew on their heads all day long and threw a few bundles of grenades down from time to time, but today when they saw that they were flying so low, they naturally picked up the guy and fired hundreds of shots, so when the pilot was sure that the artillery group below was indeed hidden, and when he flew back to the airport with the plane, the pilot's fuselage had more than a dozen gun holes―――――― fortunately, Makqin had a problem with the angle of fire, otherwise the pilot might not have a chance to fly back alive.

After flying back to the airport with the plane, the pilot ignored the ground crew's astonishment when he saw so many bullet holes, and went directly to the person in charge of the air force to report to him what he had observed in the air.

Although Ran Rui, the person in charge of the Air Force, also has the rank of colonel, and he is more or less a figure in the National Socialist Army, but at this time there are at least 100 colonels in Hanyang, and the people in the army have always been prejudiced against the Air Force, and Zhu Qinglan and other lieutenant generals have played a "leading role" in it, Ran Rui, the colonel of the Air Force, can be said to be quite a wretch―――――― although now Hanyang has only one flight squadron of 16 planes for him to command (composed of four four-plane formations).

“……… Those guys! ”

In the command tower of the frontier airport, Ran Rui, who was drinking boiling water to keep warm, was still scolding. Obviously, Ran Rui was angry again with the army officer just now.

However, it is not for nothing that Ran Rui will be angry with army officers, although the air force is still only a small branch of the army in the national social army, but because of the strong technical surname, the treatment is much higher than that of army officers, and it can basically be on par with naval officers―――――― if it is only the navy's treatment is higher than his own, after all, it is now the ocean age, and the officers of the navy with important surnames are also very clear, but now even a new air force is paid higher than their own? It's really unbearable!

Just when Ran Rui was still angry in the office in the command tower, there was a short knock on the door.

"Come in." Ran Rui said a little impatiently.

After getting permission, Ran Rui's deputy head Tong Xiang opened the door and walked in.

"It's Lao Tong, what's the matter?"

Tong Xiang knew when he saw Ran Rui's appearance that he was still angry with those soldiers, if it was usual, he might have scolded with Ran Rui, but today...

"Commander, I have good news for you."

Saying that, Tong Xiang beckoned behind him, and after a while, the pilot who had discovered the Beiyang artillery group walked in.

"Come, tell the head of the regiment what you just discovered?"

The entire Hanyang area is subordinate to the Air Force, including ground crew pilots, with a total of less than 200 people, plus the rejection of the Army, so they are very familiar with each other. Therefore, when facing Ran Rui, the head of the aviation regiment, the pilot was not very nervous, but simply recounted what he had just said to Tong Xiang.

And after hearing his words, Ran Rui directly pulled him in the direction of the headquarters―――――― as long as they can pass the news to those guys in the army, who would dare to say that their air force is useless?

After listening to Ran Rui's words, Zhu Qinglan was a little skeptical, but the group of staff officers on the side demarcated several areas on the sand table according to their words―――――― whether it was mountain artillery or field artillery, it had his ultimate range, according to this range, the staff officers of the headquarters had also predicted several positions, but because the range of prediction was too large, they had not dared to be sure, and now after getting the data provided by the pilot, it was combined with the predicted positions in the past. These staff officers quickly decided that what the pilot found was indeed very likely to be the artillery group of the Beiyang Army...

Zhu Qinglan didn't believe much in the Air Force, but he believed in his staff officers very much, so after hearing what the staff officers said, Zhu Qinglan also felt that what this pilot saw was probably really the artillery group of the Beiyang Army.

"In that case, then you can find out all the locations of the Beiyang artillery group..."

Although Zhu Qinglan's admission is reluctant, it is also an admission after all. Therefore, although the army and the air force belong to different branches of the armed forces, and Zhu Qinglan does not have the right to command the air force, the air force personnel still frequently carry out reconnaissance missions in the skies above the Beiyang Army, and sometimes the pilots of the air force will even take the generals and colonels of the army to the sky to observe together. Of course, in order to hide the real purpose behind it, they always had to bring a few bundles of cluster grenades as gifts for the Beiyang Army when they traveled.

However, in the end, although the people of the Air Force found out more than half of the artillery group in Beiyang, the Air Force also suffered a lot of losses, such as one plane was blown up in the air, another one crashed after being shot down, and three were hit hard, and these planes were all piloted by "domestic" pilots.

It is precisely this kind of dedication that makes Zhu Qinglan, especially those army officers who have been to the sky with the pilots, have a great recognition of the Air Force. When the air force people had almost found the location of the Beiyang artillery group, Zhu Qinglan even sent a telegram to Yan Guang, hoping that Hanyang's air force could be put together into a flying group, and that he would take command of this group.

In this regard, Yan Guang naturally has nothing that he cannot answer. So soon, not only 5 planes were used to replenish it, but Yan Guang also transported 3 squadrons of planes by train, so that the number of planes on the Hanyang front reached a total of 68 aircraft in one flight group. (The German four-squadron formation, four squadrons of sixteen aircraft each, and four aircraft of one brigade headquarters ...) ）

――――――――――

While the people of the Air Force were still performing reconnaissance missions in Hanyang, Yan Guang was also busy with other things, as for the Air Force reinforcements and Air Force Command that Zhu Qinglan asked for some time ago? Yan Guang nodded in agreement without even thinking about it―――――― to be honest, although Yan Guang had great expectations for the future of the Air Force, he really didn't expect the Air Force people to make any contributions in the Wuhan Campaign.

Letting them go to the front line in Wuhan is just to let them accumulate more experience.

In order to accumulate experience for a certain type of 4-engine large bomber...

Just when Yan Guang was holding the juice in the office, Yue Chang suddenly walked in with two documents.

"Governor, the Russians have replied..."

Hearing Yue Chang say this, Yan Guang hurriedly put down the juice in his hand and asked.

"Oh? What do the Russians say? ”

Yue Chang threw the two documents in his hand on the table, and Yan Guang noticed that one of the two documents was in Russian and the other was translated into Chinese.

Sure enough, it didn't take long to hear Yue Chang speak.

"This is a telegram from the Russians, and the other has just been translated by someone from the communications office. It said that the Russians agreed to our conditions and could ship the two prototypes to Sichuan by ship as soon as possible, along with a full set of drawings―――――― as long as we were really willing to pay the price on the contract..."

Hearing Yue Chang say this, Yan Guang smiled and nodded.

"Money is not a problem, the key is when can the plane and drawings be transported to Sichuan at the earliest?"

"It's going to be February at the earliest, and this Russian can't be sure..."Yue Chang said and looked at Yan Guang. But Governor, is it worth it for us to spend so much money on two planes and a set of drawings? ”

Is it worth it? Of course it's worth it!

Because this time Yan Guang is going to buy Ilya? Muromets...

If you just talk about Ilya? Muromets's words, I'm afraid few people know what Yan Guang wants to buy. But if his inventor Igor is mentioned? Ivanovic? Sikorsky's words, I'm afraid there are few people who don't know, and Ilya? It was the world's first heavy bomber created by Sikorsky that Muromets did.

Ilya? Muromets is a biplane, is a large aircraft with four engines, each engine power of 162 kilowatts, the length of the aircraft is 22 meters, the wingspan is 35.5 meters, the flight weight is 7.5 tons, the flight speed is 137 kilometers per hour, the maximum ceiling is 4000 meters, the maximum range is 540 kilometers, and the crew is 4~8 people. The maximum number of machine guns that can be installed on the aircraft is 8, and tests have been carried out to install 76-mm machine guns. Aerial bombs could be hung in the fuselage, and for the first time, an electric bomb dropper was used. The bomb load of the aircraft is 400 kg, and it can reach 700~800 kg when overloaded. The aircraft was equipped with pilot and pilot instruments, as well as bombing sights. During the First World War, neither the Allies nor the Allies had ever built a heavy bomber comparable to it.

For the aircraft of this era, Ilya? Muromets is a true aerial behemoth...

(The world's first four-engine aircraft, the Russian Warrior was also developed by Sikorsky, in fact Ilya?) Muromets was improved on the basis of the Russian warriors)

Ilya? Muromets successfully flew at the end of 1913, and after learning of this news, Yan Guang sent people to Russia to buy two prototypes from Sikorsky and Ilya? Muromets's complete set of drawings would have been worth the cost―――――― of course, and it would have been better if Sikorsky himself had been invited to Sichuan, since it would have been better to buy fish from fishermen than fishermen.

Good thing at this time Ilya? Although Muromets was a high-tech product, the Russians had no interest in banning this aircraft, so after paying a certain price, Yan Guang bought two prototypes and a full set of drawings from Sikorsky. But alas, Sikorsky himself does not seem to have any interest in coming to China to work for a Chinese, otherwise...

"Fortunately, the plane and the drawings are in hand, which is enough for us..."

A bomb load of 400 kg, which can reach 700 to 800 kg when overloaded, which means Ilya? Muromets could carry at least four 100-kilogram bombs or one 500-kilogram bomb, and this bomb load could also be increased with the replacement of engines, such as the V-type, which reached 522 kilograms after the new engine was replaced in 1915. You know, the shell of a 150mm caliber cannon is only 41 kilograms, and the killing range of this kind of artillery shell can already reach about 30-50 meters, and the 100-kilogram aerial bomb is much more powerful than a 41-kilogram artillery shell no matter how you look at it, as for the 500-kilogram aerial bomb?

Whether in theory or in practice, 500 kg of aerial bombs are enough to pose a sufficient threat to the battleships of this era, and if the number of bombers is large enough, it is not impossible to really blow up and sink the battleship―――――― and it can also make the battleship lose its combat effectiveness.

As long as he can equip enough Ilya before the European war breaks out? Muromets bombers, so even if he dispatches the navy to support the army in the waters of Jiaozhou Bay, Yan Guang is not without the ability to resist. And what about Ilya? Murome could also be used as the earliest torpedo bomber.

Moreover, in the early days of the European War, he said that he was equipped with old-fashioned battleships and armored cruisers, which belonged to the first generation of eight? Eight fleets. By the time the European war broke out, the second generation of eight? Of the capital ships of the Eighth Fleet, only one of the British-built Kongo-class battlecruisers was able to enter service, and the remaining Hiei was completed on August 4, 1914, and it would take a long time for it to be commissioned.

As for the dangerous surname? In the early days of the European War, the navies of the great powers did not seem to have considered the threat from the air, so even if Yan Guang flew over his head with a bomber, how could he endure me?

Of course, even so, compared to the Chinese Navy, the Navy is still a behemoth, after all, even the former Dreadnought-class battleships are not something that the Chinese Navy can deal with, after all, the largest displacement of the Chinese Navy today is only the Haiqi ordered by the Manchu Qing Dynasty to Britain in 1896, with a displacement of only a pitiful 4,300 tons, not to mention that this poor cruiser was also sunk in the Shanghai Naval Port by Yan Guang...

――――――――――

After determining that the Russians, that is, Sikorsky, would Ilya? After Muromets sold it to himself, Yan Guang sent four research assignments to the Sichuan Arsenal. They are 50 kg, 100 kg, 250 kg and 500 kg aerial bombs.

As for the 1000 kg class? At least until the end of the European War, it seems that aircraft with such a bomb load did not exist. And the technical content of the aerial bomb is not complicated, so there will be no problems even if it is developed when needed.

Of course, Yan Guang also considered whether to let the people in the arsenal develop an incendiary bomb of the same level by the way, but in the end, considering that this weapon is really harmful―――――― Yan Guang asked the people in the arsenal to develop it by the way, anyway, when the time comes, it will be thrown on his head, even if it burns more, it is estimated that it will not hurt much...

Just when Yan Guang was thinking about equipping his air force with a sufficient number of bombers, the pilots of the air force finally completed their task―――――― the 75mm mountain guns and field guns hidden by Feng Guozhang were at least half of the number of them, and the rest could not be found because they couldn't find the rest no matter how they looked, so Zhu Qinglan decisively stopped the mission of the flight group, after all, it was just a waste of time if it went on like this.

As a result, under Zhu Qinglan's order, the pilots of the Air Force not only stopped their reconnaissance mission, but also stopped their original "drive" mission.

Although Zhu Qinglan agrees with the reconnaissance ability of the air force units on the battlefield, he has not yet recognized their attack power on the battlefield, so in Zhu Qinglan's opinion, since the reconnaissance mission of the air force has ended, it is good to let this group of guys flying around in the sky save some fuel, after all, the fuel transported from Sichuan also needs to occupy a lot of space on the train.

After discovering that the Air Force of the National Social Army had stopped their "Ride" mission, the soldiers of the Beiyang Army were also relieved. It is not that they are afraid of the bombing of the National Socialist Army, although the cluster grenades dropped by the air force pilots are very powerful, equivalent to the power of a one-kilogram TNT blasting canister, but it is nothing more than that.

In order to prevent the sudden shelling of the Nationalist Army, the Beiyang Army usually hides in fortifications during wartime, and even if the Nationalist Army really often throws cluster grenades from above, it will not hurt the Beiyang Army in the slightest, after all, even dozens of kilograms of artillery shells cannot collapse the fortifications, how can these cluster grenades with only a charge of more than 1,000 grams of TNT be blown up? So the people of the Beiyang Army just think that these guys flying around in the sky are really annoying.

That is, while the Beiyang Army was relieved that these disturbing flies were leaving, the artillery of the National Social Army had begun to aim at new targets, those that had been discovered by the Air Force and outlined by the staff officers on the sand table.

"As long as the artillery of the Beiyang Army can be defeated, our mountain artillery group and field artillery group can also be put into use..."

Looking at the artillery troops who were preparing for battle there, Zhu Qinglan looked at Yang Shan and Peng Xiu and the others on the side.

Listening to Zhu Qinglan's words, Yang Shan and Peng Xiu also nodded.

"That's right, as long as the mountain artillery group and the field artillery group can be freed from the shackles, we will definitely be able to take the first line of defense of the Beiyang Army in the next attack..."

The number of 75mm mountain artillery and field artillery in the National Social Army occupies the vast majority, and these artillery pieces are bound by the field artillery group of the Beiyang Army, and now at least the artillery group of the Beiyang Army can be eliminated, even if it is only half eliminated, the mountain artillery and field artillery group that have been bound can break free from the shackles, and then give the Beiyang Army a fatal blow in the next attack...

(To be continued)