Before Li Guang left Vladivostok, he had been in an extremely busy state.

From this time on, Li Guang and Premier Yuan Ye agreed that from now on, the two of them could not leave Madagascar at the same time, otherwise in trouble, no one would be able to make a decision immediately, it was too dangerous, and Haitang could not afford to make a mistake.

The professor returned from the United States, and a series of news was not very good. There is really not much good news.

First of all, the US government has very strict restrictions on the procurement of several fighter jets.

According to Li Guang's plan, just two aircraft carriers, the Indian Ocean and a light aircraft carrier promised by the United States, will require 150 fighters, and with training and backup, at least 300 will be needed to ensure the needs of continuous operations. If it is three aircraft carriers, it will take 500 fighters to be enough.

However, the United States has not only restricted the purchase of new fighters by the Naval Resistance Force, but has even limited the number of fighters that the US military has already installed.

The Americans allowed the purchase of only a limited number of fighters: F4F Wildcat, TBD torpedo aircraft, SBD dive bombers and P40 fighters, Gray Bird water reconnaissance aircraft.

The United States has already begun to put into production several cutting-edge fighters, not to mention selling them to the Naval Resistance Force, even if the Haitang State says that it can deliver them in a year, the United States refuses to accept the order. For example, the PDF torpedo machine that Shao Fuxuan once piloted at Midway Island has good performance and super survivability, but it is a pity that the United States does not sell it at all, does not sell it at a higher price, and does not even accept orders.

As for the large strategic bombers, except for the twelve B17s brought back this time, they also refused to accept orders, and all medium bombers, no matter which model, refused to be ordered by Haitangguo.

The reason of the Americans is that the US military is not fully equipped and does not have excess production capacity to supply Haitang.

The Americans say a fair share of the truth. You must know that although the current production of fighter planes in the United States has been greatly increased, the monthly output is only about 600 aircraft. It is indeed tense not only to use it itself, but also to supplement it to the Allied countries.

But with the industrial capacity of the United States, production is now growing rapidly, and in a few months, it will not be difficult to double production capacity again. The refusal to accept the order is enough to explain the restrictions on the Haitang Kingdom.

And even if there is no limit to the number of fighters ordered, in fact, only two are in sufficient supply. The first old-fashioned TBD torpedo aircraft, the second Gray Bird water reconnaissance aircraft.

The Gray Bird water reconnaissance aircraft did not receive much attention in the US military. Therefore, there are no restrictions on sales. However, after all, a water reconnaissance aircraft is a water reconnaissance aircraft, and although it can support ground operations, its survivability is limited and it cannot replace fighters. After the Navy's one-time order of sixty aircraft, it was enough to meet the training and patrol requirements. It is not possible to buy again.

And the TBD torpedo machine, the name of the torpedo machine - the Destroyer's performance over Midway proved to be a death trap for pilots.

Unusually slow speed. Almost zero maneuverability. Light defensive weapons and armor that is comparatively weaker than weapons, combined with restrictions on the use of aviation torpedoes, could not exceed 115 miles (185 km/h) when dropped. And it takes a long time to aim a torpedo in real combat operations, and at this stage it can only be an approximately straight route. All this makes it have almost zero survivability under the fire of the devil's fighters and anti-aircraft guns of battleships.

In the Battle of Midway, the casualty rate of TBD torpedo aircraft reached an astonishing ninety percent.

After this battle, the US military was both a pilot and a general. For this torpedo machine is now a serious protest, and the US Navy refuses to receive even one more. The pilots even went on strike, and they were not even willing to use this fighter for training.

The performance of the TBD torpedo machine is actually similar to that of the old biplane swordfish torpedo machine used by the British army. After hanging the torpedo. The cruising speed is only a pitiful one hundred and sixty kilometers. Once you are targeted by the devil's fighter, it is definitely a dead end. Moreover, the outrageously slow speed of breaking the defense was really difficult to intercept through the Japanese anti-aircraft fire.

Even with the dropping of torpedoes, the planes did not have much survivability. Without hanging bombs, the maximum speed of the empty plane could only reach 320 kilometers, and it would not be able to escape the pursuit of the fighters at all.

Other aspects of performance are even more unacceptable, with a flight altitude of just over 6,000 meters and a maximum range of more than 1,100 kilometers.

A torpedo machine, the power is a pitiful 850 horsepower, even the P40 fighter is far inferior, it is really garbage in the garbage.

This torpedo machine was not only frowned upon by the US Navy, but even the British Royal Navy refused to accept the use of old biplane torpedo planes (similar to the British biplane torpedo planes).

The Douglas Aircraft Company, which produces TBD torpedo aircraft in the United States, approached Professor Yuan Ye in order to dispose of the inventory. If the Naval Resistance Force can buy all of the nearly 200 aircraft in Douglas Aircraft's inventory, Douglas is willing to sell them at an ultra-low price of $18,000. Moreover, the U.S. government will absolutely allow it, and there will be no restrictions at all.

Li Guang knew a lot about this torpedo plane, and he even piloted it once when he was in Pearl Harbor.

In the Battle of Midway, Shao Fuxuan piloted a new TBF torpedo machine to find out the tactics of fighting in the water. This kind of tactical penetration can be achieved at high speed. During battle, the penetration speed of the fighter is doubled, and the survivability can be more than doubled.

But even with this tactic, the performance of the TBD torpedo aircraft did not guarantee the survivability of the pilot when he was targeted by Japanese fighters.

The question now in front of Li Guang is, knowing that this is a garbage fighter, but when he can't buy an advanced fighter, do you want it or not?

Originally, even if this fighter was very poor, the Naval Resistance Force also needed to buy a small amount. But the amount is so large, and it seriously exceeds the plan, which really makes Li Guang scratch his head a little.

Li Guang summoned the aviation officers of the Naval Resistance Army, Liu Guobang, Liu Kejin, Shao Fuxuan, and others, to discuss for a long time.

Liu Guobang believes that although the bomb load of this fighter is not as good as the transport aircraft used by the Maritime Resistance Force, its survivability is always much stronger than that of the transport plane, and it can take off on an aircraft carrier or a short runway, so it still has a little value as a light bomber of the army.

LIU KEJIN BELIEVES THAT IF THIS FIGHTER IS TRANSFORMED AND EQUIPPED WITH FOUR 20MM CANNONS, IT SHOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN FIGHTERS AGAINST THE ENEMY ON THE GROUND. IF YOU INSTALL A SINGLE OR TWIN 20MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN, THE EFFECT AGAINST TANKS ON THE GROUND WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE BAD. As a torpedo machine, it is not a problem to carry these weapons and withstand the recoil of the cannon or anti-aircraft gun with a slight modification.

Shao Fuxuan believes that using the tactics of fighting and drifting, this fighter can make do.

Li Guang thought about it for a long time and felt that in the future, it would be a good reconnaissance plane to install this torpedo plane with sea and air search radars. Since there is no heavy torpedo, it is completely possible to attach fuel tanks, and even set up fuel tanks in the belly, the range should be able to reach more than 1,500 kilometers, and it can be used improvised.

In addition, Madagascar's perimeter defense, as long as it is not attacked by Japanese aircraft carriers, with these torpedo planes, it is completely possible to keep French or other countries' warships and submarines out of the country.

More importantly, it seems that the United States does not have any more severe restrictive actions against the Naval Resistance Force, but once the US Government suddenly restricts the export of all fighter planes one day, the Naval Resistance Force will have no fighters available. It's better to have something than nothing.

Intuitively, Li Guang believes that this is not groundless, and that the interests of American politicians, the US government, and American businessmen are intricately intertwined. Unless you don't have any conflict with these groups at all, but that's impossible, if you don't conflict, the Haitang Kingdom won't make any money, and you won't be able to feed the army and the people.

Haitang Kingdom has no qualifications to be picky now, even if it is a little junk, the fighter should not be missed. Therefore, the TBD torpedo machine, the garbage in this garbage, is still listed as a procurement item.

Again, it's better to use something than nothing.

Among other things, at least three aircraft carriers (the Indian Ocean, a light aircraft carrier promised by the United States, and an Essex-class aircraft carrier) should be prepared. According to the minimum of one use and one backup, it is also necessary to purchase 500 aircraft.

In addition to TBD torpedo machines, it is necessary to continue to purchase F4F Wildcat, SBD dive bombers. Although none of them are advanced, the United States, although it has limited the number of purchases, has not refused to export after all. The United States finally did not do anything, and it still left an opening for the Naval Resistance Army. Li Guang really has no more options than passively accepting.

In the later stage, the foreign affairs of the Haitang Kingdom on the part of the United States almost always revolved around these 500 fighters.

During this period, the United States' restrictions on the export of aircraft to the Maritime Resistance Army directly affected Li Guang's concept of national defense development, and even after the war, the development of the aircraft industry still became a pillar industry of the Haitang Kingdom even though it could not create benefits for decades. (To be continued......)