Heldon's visit was to fly to the Sinai Peninsula by special plane, and then to the Far East by warship.

His royal plane was accompanied by 12 high-ranking officers of the Imperial Army and Navy, including the Imperial Admiralty, Field Marshal Horti. The SM28 "Royal Air Yacht" built by the Imperial Standard Aircraft Manufacturing Company can carry 26 passengers is well-known throughout the world, this kind of civil aviation aircraft with a novel cylindrical shape, using the latest technology such as semi-monocoque fuselage and retractable landing gear was put into operation in 1932, but it was sought after by civil aviation companies around the world, and received orders for 152 aircraft in just over a year.

In order to advertise his aircraft manufacturing company, the Austro-Hungarian emperor also ordered a royal plane to replace the aging Etrich J-12 airliner.

The SM28 is a medium-range twin-engine civil airliner, and after testing, the Austro-Hungarian military also ordered 120 of them to be used as transport aircraft and tactical bombers.

The SM28 has a length of 23 meters, a wingspan of 29.6 meters, a maximum speed of 468 kilometers and a range of 2,300 kilometers. However, the maximum load capacity and range are really not satisfactory for a bomber.

Lechelton wanted the military to equip a four-engine heavy bomber or transport aircraft with a larger load capacity and longer range, and for this reason, the Austro-Hungarian military has issued a tender letter to the four major aircraft factories in China. In this era, the aircraft is still a relatively simple structure, relatively easy to manufacture, the production and manufacturing process is not complicated, and the establishment of an aircraft manufacturing company does not require much capital.

As long as the designers can design an aircraft with excellent performance, if they can win orders from the military, the aircraft manufacturing company will be able to grow rapidly. At its peak, there were 56 aircraft manufacturing companies in Austria-Hungary, but with the increasing improvement of aircraft manufacturing technology, the requirements for manufacturing processes have also become higher and higher, and they have been merged and reorganized. At present, there are only four large aircraft manufacturers and six small aircraft manufacturing companies left in the entire empire.

The planes flew over the Mediterranean, and the naval aviation sent four fighters to escort the emperor. Sit in the relatively comfortable seats of this royal plane and look around at the passengers on board. A strange thought popped into Lechelton's mind: What would have happened to history if the plane crashed?

Honestly. He didn't like to fly, and unless necessary, he usually traveled by train or warship, patrolling the empire's not so small territories, including the African colonies.

The Admiral, Marshal Horty, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Pachner, sat beside him, and the Emperor needed to exchange some views with the two naval chiefs on the construction of the Navy during the trip. Due to the rapid development of the Imperial Navy during the European War, most of the senior generals of the First World War are still alive today. In the army, some of the generals that Li Haidon trusted have passed away one after another, and most of them have passed away.

"I think it's necessary to conduct several confrontation exercises with aircraft carrier formations and battleship formations to change your mindset." Lechelton offered his views to the two admirals, and it was time to put an end to the debate in the Imperial Navy over the future of battleships or aircraft carriers.

"I think it's okay, three 'Grand Dukes of Istria' class have been refitted and are currently in service, plus the 'Pilotion' and 'Attila'. It's almost time to show the corresponding combat effectiveness. Pachner said that he was deeply influenced by Heldon and had gradually accepted the views of the "aeronautical school." And Marshal Horthy is still an out-and-out leader of the "fleet".

"There is no problem, we will complete the preparations for the exercise before His Majesty returns from the Far East!" Marshal Horthy looked confident.

"Well, hopefully when I come back, I'll be able to see a good fight." "In addition, all surface ships must be equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, and this work has already begun, right?" ”

"It's ongoing, according to the plan. The four 'Austria' class ships will be refit at the end of the year, while the 'Archduke Friedrich' class refit will take place after the completion of the 'Austria' class refit. The main thing is to modify the power system and increase the number of anti-aircraft guns. Pachner said.

"I would like to see that the 150mm secondary guns on the capital ship can be replaced with twin 120mm high-level guns. It can also be used as a long-range anti-aircraft gun. Li Haidun said.

"This needs to be decided based on the results of the confrontation with the aircraft carrier group." Horty frowned, he didn't like the emperor's idea of weakening the caliber of the battleship's guns.

"Okay. Well, Miklosh, if you bet, I'm sure you'll lose to me again. Lechelton laughed.

"Okay, I'll bet again, 100 crowns!" The marshal said helplessly.

"Why don't you bet a little bigger, Marshal?" Helton Lee said.

"I need to provide for my family, Your Majesty, and you know I have seven children." Horthy argued.

Both Lehedon and Pachner burst out laughing, much to the surprise of the commander of the Imperial Navy's submarine force, Egon Egon Brown, who was sitting behind them. Lylci sat up straight and looked at them with wide eyes.

Promoted to admiral last year, the commander of the submarine force has shown his superiority in the training and peacetime drills of the submarine force, and there is no doubt that under his leadership, the Imperial submarine force remains an important force to be reckoned with in the world.

Under the leadership of General Lerch, the Imperial Submarine Force, although currently with only 58 submarines, was one of the most elite units in the Imperial Navy. The most striking thing is that the Imperial Navy's newest equipment, the No. 0110 boat, has just completed a round-the-world cruise exercise without land replenishment.

The newly developed ocean-going submarine with a surface displacement of 2,300 tons has reached 36 days and an astonishing endurance of 14,500 nautical miles, and has quite strong combat capability. It is foreseeable that in the event of a war in the future, Lyrchy's forces will definitely cause considerable trouble for the enemies of the Empire.

The plane landed at the port of Arish in the Imperial Sinai Province, and in 1920 the Austro-Hungarian Empire brazenly announced that Sinai would be incorporated into the Imperial territory, which met with fierce opposition from the British. But it didn't work, and the Habsburgs continued to go their own way. The relationship between states is like this, and the axioms are always within the range of the cannon.

In Arish, the emperor proposed his own proposal for the development of the empire's navy for the next five years: the imperial navy's eyes should be focused on the Indian Ocean in order to maintain a dominant position in the Mediterranean region and to ensure the security of the sea route from the Red Sea to the South China Sea, which was the main task of the imperial navy. To this end, the Imperial Navy needs to increase the number of maneuverable light cruisers and destroyers, and in terms of large surface ships, the Empire will add six large surface ships in the next five years, but whether to build aircraft carriers or battleships will need to wait for the results of naval confrontation exercises before making a final decision.

In addition, the navy needs to speed up the development and bidding of new fighters and dive bombers, and the navy needs to update a large number of old biplanes with new fighters that are faster and have a longer range.

As far as the threat is concerned, there is currently no country in Europe that can threaten the German-Austrian alliance, and although the British have always been hostile, after the European war, its development has fallen behind Germany, and even Austria-Hungary has now surpassed the old empire in the main industrial fields. At present, the entire Austro-Hungarian steel production has reached 15 million tons, and Germany's steel production has reached 38 million tons, and the industrial capacity of the German-Austrian alliance has almost reached the same level as that of the country on the other side of the Atlantic.

Of course, there are some disturbing phenomena: due to the impact of the great economic crisis, the Popular Front in France, dominated by the Communist Party, came to power, is vigorously rearmament, and has re-formed the so-called "Eastern Alliance" with Soviet Russia. Although this move was strongly opposed by Germany and Austria, the French Popular Front, which tended to be totalitarian, remained the same.

The political situation in the Ottoman Empire has been in turmoil since the end of the war, and it is now on the rise.

These are all factors of regional instability, and of course, the most tense is in the Far East. (To be continued) R640