However, Song Zhewu always has a mystery in his heart that cannot be relieved, that is, in real history, Ba Yuzao went to Germany to participate in the Berlin Air Expo in 28, and after returning to China in the summer of 29, he died because he was secretly poisoned by someone during his time abroad, and there was no cure. But it's the beginning of the 30s, and it's been half a year since his death, what happened in between?

Song Zhewu asked tentatively: "Brother Yunhua, after participating in the Berlin Aviation Expo, you will set off to return to China?" ”

"Nope." Ba Yuzao laughed heartily.

"Yu Peng (Wang Zhu Zi Yu Peng) told me about the commander inviting him, I am also very interested in the commander can vigorously develop our aviation industry in China, especially when I was at the Berlin Air Show this time, I saw that foreign aviation technology is developing rapidly, which gave me a great stimulus, if we do not increase investment in research and development now, we will soon be pulled down by foreigners, once pulled down and then want to catch up, it will be difficult. It's just that there is only one Mawei Aircraft Engineering Agency under the Navy in our country that can manufacture aircraft, and it is still those of us who do it from scratch. ”

Ba Yuzao sighed and said worriedly: "Mawei has been short of funds since the establishment of the factory, only two or three hundred thousand yuan a year, and Mawei does not have any ancillary factories, many parts and metal materials have to be bought abroad, and the already small funds are even more tight, and it is difficult to even buy more wood for making aircraft." The best wood used to make airplanes is still European fir wood, but this costs money, so we have no choice but to use the wood we can find in China instead, for example, we use elm, walnut, white pear and silver fir instead. If our country's aviation industry continues like this, it is inevitable that it will be pulled down by foreign countries, and Wang Zhu said unconvinced: "If we have sufficient funds like foreign aircraft companies, with our people, our Chinese-made aircraft will definitely not be worse than them." ”

Wang Zhu's words resonated with these experts, and Zeng Yijing, Wang Xiaofeng and others also showed unconvinced expressions.

Ba Yuzao let out a sigh of relief and said: "Don't hide it, Commander, the Mawei Engineering Agency is subordinate to the Navy, so the planes produced are all needed by the Navy, and the number is still extremely limited, we have only produced a total of 11 planes over the years, most of which are seaplanes. And this time I went to the Berlin Air Show, and the fastest growing aircraft in various countries are still used by the army. ”

Seeing that Song Zhewu had been listening carefully, Ba Yuzao suddenly realized that he had taken the topic away, and said with an apologetic smile: "I am also very happy to receive the news from Yu Peng in Berlin, but I think that our national political axe does not have the funds to build aircraft, and the political axe cannot do our aircraft manufacturing industry, so the commander has a ......."

Ba Yuzao suddenly realized that something was wrong, and tried to hold back the word warlord without saying it, and said with some unconsciousness: "I still have some doubts about whether the commander of a local force can have enough financial resources to build airplanes. So, after I went to England to order some equipment, I didn't go back to Marseille and go back to China with a few people I had agreed with, but crossed the ocean from England to the United States. I wanted to see with my own eyes whether Brother Ling had the huge financial resources to support the cause of the commander, as Yu Peng's younger brother said. ”

In the memory of Song Zhewu's previous life, he remembered that people suspected that Ba Yuzao was poisoned by his peers, but now it seems that this matter is true, Ba Yuzao did not return to Marseille, France, to go with him, so naturally he could not carry out his poisonous plan with the evil intentions. He must have been very jealous of Ba Yuzao's first-class aircraft design ability, and was afraid that he would design an advanced aircraft and hinder their coveting of China's mainland plan, so he wanted to assassinate him.

"Then what conclusion did Brother Yunhua get in the United States?" Song Zhewu said knowingly.

"Haha!" Ba Yuzao laughed heartily again. "The conclusion is naturally to build a plane for the commander."

After laughing, Ba Yuzao said with emotion: "I was very surprised by this trip to the United States! Wang Dong led me to meet Brother Ling, who was very happy when he learned my intention, and he said that the commander was going to build an aircraft factory in China, and that the economic crisis in the United States was the culprit, and many enterprises went bankrupt because they could not sell their products, and even the Curtiss Company, the largest company in the United States, was also facing financial difficulties, and it was just the right opportunity to acquire a bankrupt aircraft manufacturing company. Wang told me that Brother Ling raised $100 million for Curtis. ”

"100 million dollars." Everyone in the audience couldn't help but take a cool breath.

Ba Yuzao continued: "Now they can't come up with the money, and they are discussing with Brother Ling to compensate with the company's shares. When I was a chief engineer at General Motors in the United States, I worked as an aircraft design engineer at Curtis, and I knew this company very well, Curtis was a large company that produced more than 10,000 aircraft during World War I, not to mention that it had just merged with Wright, and if Brother Ling had a stake in Curtis, it would be of great help to us. ”

"Brother Ling looked for a suitable aircraft manufacturing company for the commander, but he didn't have a professional he could trust to take care of this matter, so he asked me to handle it. The commander is very clever in buying ready-made enterprises, which is much faster than building a new factory. I learned from my former American classmates that the owner of a medium-sized aircraft company that had just been built and had not yet started production was being urged by the bank to collect debts, and in order to avoid bankruptcy, he was looking for a buyer to sell the new plant. After I went to see it, I suggested to Brother Ling that I buy the company's equipment. Because no one in the United States would take out the money to buy the company at this time, the price was very low, and it only cost more than 5 million. I've seen equipment, it's all new, it's not only for airplanes, but also for engines, and these devices are never less than $30 million in normal times. ”

Ba Yuzao couldn't suppress his excitement and continued: "Brother Ling is now the most popular person in the United States, and all major banks and consortia are tightening their monetary shackles one after another, and they dare not lend, and various companies and enterprises dare not spend a penny indiscriminately except for buying raw materials necessary for production, but Brother Ling is purchasing equipment for the commander on a large scale. The bankrupt owners who were eager to sell their companies were about to form a long queue in front of Brother Ling's company. ”

Ba Yuzao, who was still unsatisfied, continued: "Wang Dong also bought a tractor company and a small car company for the commander, and when I left, Wang Dong was negotiating with a steel factory according to Brother Ling's arrangement, and I couldn't bear to see the price." ”

"By the way, Brother Ling is very discerning, taking advantage of the opportunity of major enterprises to lay off employees during the crisis, recruiting many engineering and technical personnel, with these people, the equipment can be installed and put into production soon. It's just that I don't understand one thing, why should the equipment and personnel arrive in China after August this year? One day earlier, we can install and put into production one day earlier. ”

In the history of the previous life, the Central Plains War did not end until September when Zhang Xueliang led the Northeast Army out of the customs to participate in the war, and now because of him Song Zhewu, he naturally will not let the war last so long, according to Song Zhewu's plan to end the war before July, although it may be a little hasty, but he will not let this war drag on until September, that is, to prevent Zhang Xueliang from leading his troops out of the customs, resulting in the emptiness of the Northeast, which made the Kwantung Army feel that there was an opportunity to launch the 9.18 incident in 31.

If Zhang Xueliang had not led the Northeast Army out of the customs, it was not certain whether the Kwantung Army would have launched the 9.18 Incident, at least in terms of time. By postponing the full-scale invasion of China as much as possible, we can give him more time to prepare. But these Song Zhewu can't be said here.

"Brother Yunhua, participated in the Berlin Air Show, do you have any thoughts and feelings about the development direction of aircraft in the world today?" Song Zhewu changed the topic at the right time.

At the mention of the Berlin Air Show, Ba Yuzao sighed.

"This time to Berlin to participate in the air show, the harvest is not small, the pressure on me is also very great, now countries are very attached to the development of aviation technology, so the rapid development of aviation technology, can be summed up by the rapid development, in contrast, we are still focusing on the development of seaplanes, it seems outdated."

"Brother Yunhua is right." Song Zhewu took over the conversation.

"Seaplanes were still very useful at the beginning of development, and they were indispensable for patrolling, reconnaissance, communications, and water search and rescue of the ocean-going fleet. But now it is different, because of the radio, it is no longer needed for communication, and its role in patrol and reconnaissance is becoming less and less, because there are now aircraft carriers. Since the American Eugene. On November 14, 1910, Erie took off from the USS Birmingham light cruiser in a Curtiss biplane and successfully landed on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania. ”

Subsequently, countries have built giant ships that can provide aircraft take-off and landing, that is, aircraft carriers, such as the British Fury, the Hundred-Eyed Giant, the Athletic God, the Fengxiang of the United States, and other aircraft carriers. In particular, the Fengxiang aircraft carrier, with its all-through flight deck and superstructure island structure, has become a model for aircraft carriers of various countries. With aircraft that can take off on aircraft carriers, there is naturally no longer a need for slow-flying seaplanes.

"Since the Washington Naval Treaty signed by the naval powers after the end of World War I strictly controlled the construction of battleships, the treaty allowed the signatories to convert some of the battleships that had been discontinued into aircraft carriers, such as the Lexington-class aircraft carrier, the Akagi aircraft carrier, and the Kaga aircraft carrier. In the future, the navy will inevitably be an era in which aircraft carriers are the main types of ships, because with aircraft carriers, seaplanes will gradually withdraw from the stage of history. Song Zhewu said with great certainty.

Ba Yuzao nodded approvingly and said, "The commander is very right, and I also discovered this problem during this trip to Europe and the United States. At present, the planes on the aircraft carriers are basically still carrying out reconnaissance and other tasks, but I heard from my classmates in the United States that both they and the British Navy have begun to use torpedoes on a large scale to attack each other's ships, and if the range of the aircraft increases in the future, the planes taking off from the aircraft carrier can also attack targets on the ground. ”

Ba Yuzao sighed and said regretfully: "The seaplane has indeed come to an end. ”

Ba Yuzao's words, let Wang Zhu and other people who came out of the ponytail can't help but be a little depressed. After all, it is an indisputable fact that they have been mainly developing seaplanes for many years, and now they are only leading in this aspect, and they are inferior to Europe and the United States in terms of aircraft for land use.

Seeing that everyone was a little discouraged, Song Zhewu said with a smile: "Any man-made object in the world is only better, but not the best, even the same is the airplane, there will never be the best plane, only better and more advanced aircraft will continue to appear." In the past 30 years, although the aircraft has been continuously improved and improved, the current aviation technology is far from being mature, and for a long time in the future, the aircraft will mainly develop in the three directions of high, fast and far, and of course, it is necessary to pursue the continuous improvement of the bomb load and be more flexible. ”

"If the planes of one side of the battle can fly higher than the planes of the other, it is not afraid of local planes, and can attack safely; Flying faster can not only safely attack the opponent's ground targets, but it also has an advantage in air combat, you can fight when you want, and run if you don't want to fight; Flying farther is more advantageous in war, because the combat radius is large, the front-line airfield can be built farther away from the battle line, avoiding being bombed by enemy aircraft, while you can bomb the opponent and destroy the enemy plane on the ground. ”

"For an airplane to fly high, it needs to be as light as possible with the materials that make up the airframe; Flying faster, it also requires sufficient strength in the materials that make up the body; If you fly farther, you need to carry more fuel while maintaining the bomb load, or you can carry the same fuel and be more fuel-efficient than the opponent's aircraft. This requires the production of aircraft materials in terms of strength, weight and other aspects to have higher requirements, now the materials for making aircraft are still using a large amount of wood, but now foreign countries have begun to study the application of steel materials in aircraft, metal skin is a large number of appearance, which will give birth to material mechanics and increase the research of new materials. ”

"The most important thing about the quality of an aircraft is the "heart" engine of the aircraft, which requires the engine to have more power and higher efficiency. There is also the need for the aircraft to be more flexible, which also allows the aircraft to have a better aerodynamic layout, which is not enough to rely on wind tunnel tests, but also to have a very deep theoretical study of aerodynamics. What we just said, Europe and the United States have just started, and in some aspects they have not even realized it. As long as we get off to an early start in these areas, we won't be left behind in aviation. ”

Song Zhewu concluded: "Generally speaking, the development direction and concept of the aircraft for a long period of time in the future is the six words 'high, fast, far, heavy, smart, and accurate', and the specific meaning of these words is that a good aircraft should not only fly high, but also fly fast and far, which I have just said; Heavy means that the take-off weight should be larger, so that it can carry more weapons and ammunition, and the attack on the enemy will be more violent, and the damage caused will be greater; The spirit is the agility of the aircraft, and only the flexible aircraft can achieve victory in air combat; As for accuracy, it is necessary to aim accurately, which is particularly important for bombers, and Wen Yuan has already done some work in this regard, not only improving the optical sight, but also developing and improving the mechanical sight, and in the future we will develop better aiming equipment. With accurate sighting equipment, it is possible to carry out bombing at high altitudes, which can avoid enemy anti-aircraft fire and increase the survival rate of bombers. ”

In fact, Song Zhewu really wanted to add the words clear and hidden after the six words "high, fast, far, heavy, spiritual, and accurate". Concealment refers to invisibility. It's just that he doesn't want to throw out the epoch-making military weapon of radar at present, because his scientific and technological strength, especially electronic technological strength, is still very weak, and now if he and the West understand the efficacy of this radar, even if they only know a concept, they will quickly develop a better and stronger radar.

Because the principle of radar is not complicated, no one has imagined this magical thing yet, and what is missing is just an idea. Let him have a radar at the same time as the aggressor and potential opponent he has to deal with before the big war, that is not what Song Zhewu wants to see.

As for stealth, it is even more impossible to bring it up now, without radar you can't see anything outside the line of sight, and since you can't see it, there is no need for stealth. And the stealth problem Song Zhewu does not believe that he can do it in more than ten years, in his previous life, but in 1978, Lockheed began to develop this type of aircraft, in 1981, the first flight of the aircraft was successful, and it was officially put into service in 1983. The level of technology at the end of the 70s was by no means comparable to that of the 30s.

Looking at these experts who were dumbfounded, Song Zhewu said with a smile: "You are all first-class experts in aviation, do you think what I just said is correct?" ”

Song Zhewu said: "It's strange if it's incorrect." These have been tested by the practice of his previous life, which is the direction of aviation development,"

The reason why he risked causing doubts to talk about the development direction of modern aircraft was to let Ba Yuzao and them take fewer detours and keep moving in the right direction, and only in this way could Song Zhewu have the confidence not to be pulled down by the West. As for surpassing the West, at least for now, Song Zhewu does not believe that it may still be possible if it is decades from now. However, in a short period of time, he could not surpass the West in the field of aviation, and Song Zhewu did not care, as long as he could surpass Yuben and the Soviet Union.

"Right, so right! The commander's remarks are not only insightful, but also can be called the guiding concept for the development of world aviation for a long time to come. Ba Yuzao's face turned red with excitement.

Over the years, Ba Yuzao has been thinking almost all the time about how to build China's own aircraft factory and create China's aviation industry, for this reason, he has been trying to catch up with his colleagues in the embarrassing environment of Mawei, but it is easy to catch up, it is difficult to surpass, that is the need for advanced and advanced concepts, without advanced concepts, can only chase behind. And now Ba Yuzao believes that as long as he is given enough time and resources, he will definitely become a frontrunner.

(To be continued)