The Italian shipyard La Spezia is the second largest shipyard in the kingdom after the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa, and currently two aircraft carriers from China have completed the conversion of hangars and begun installation works on the upper flight deck. At the same time, there are also the battleship "Jinghai" in the dock that is undergoing power system modification and the battleship "Imperial" built by the Italians themselves, and the shipyard seems to be very busy.

Not far from the La Spezia shipyard is a naval base, and on the military airfield attached to the base, a Chinese naval delegation headed by Chen Shiying is testing carrier-based aircraft supplied by the Italian side.

The Chinese Navy, accustomed to the shape of the SM35 Saker provided by Austria-Hungary and the BF109D fighter provided by the Germans, was not interested in the Fiatg.52 fighter with a star-shaped air-cooled engine from Fiat, but preferred to equip the MC202 Thunderbolt with a liquid-cooled engine provided by Markey.

Mario. Castillo is a world-class excellent aircraft designer, Markey MC202 "Thunderbolt" has an excellent aerodynamic shape, the fuselage is an aluminum alloy semi-monocoque structure, the most avant-garde is Mario. Castino had two fuel tanks inside the wings, which greatly increased the range of the aircraft. However, the Italians' lack of a high-performance liquid-cooled engine dragged down its performance.

The Italian military believed that the fuel tanks equipped in the wings were prone to bullets and fires, and demanded that the two fuel tanks be abolished, but the Chinese side thought that it would be more beneficial to do so, so they kept the two fuel tanks in the prototype provided to the Chinese side.

However, the Chinese side still put forward the following suggestions for improving the MC202 "Thunderbolt" according to the standards of the German and Austrian armies: the engine was required to be replaced with a 1250-horsepower Daimler-Benz engine, the aircraft cockpit canopy was made of Austro-Hungarian integral streamlined glass canopy, and the two Breda machine guns on the wings were replaced with two Islaja YLS-20mm/50 aircraft guns, so that the firepower was greatly enhanced.

"At our strong request, Maqui accelerated the pace of improvement of the new carrier-based fighter, which the Italian Navy also took a keen interest in. The production tasks of this company are heavy, and it is expected that by the end of the year we will get only two squadrons of such aircraft! ”

Colonel Fang Ying, dressed in a dark blue naval uniform, reported to Chen Shiying, who is now in charge of organizing and training naval aviation in Italy, on the testing of Italian aircraft. Mussolini approved a total of 5 billion lire of borrowing to China, of which 2 billion lire was allocated to the navy, and the remaining funds were basically used to buy aircraft from Italy, in addition to ordering two aircraft carriers from the Ansaldo shipyard.

Markey agreed to help the Chinese Navy build an aircraft assembly and repair plant in Kunming. This is one of the reasons that were enough to impress the Chinese Navy in its decision to purchase the MC202.

"We need to build up our combat strength as much as possible and return home after the aircraft carrier has finished outfitting, and now the army is fighting the Japanese, and we are watching from the sidelines, which is anxious." "Now we only have eight old submarines that can still cause some trouble for the Japanese to transport, but these submarines built during the European war are old and spend more time in the harbor for maintenance and repair." ”

The MC202 Thunderbolt is equipped with an engine that uses Daimler's technology to achieve a top speed of 610 km/h. The shipborne version strengthens the landing gear to accommodate high-speed landings, and a landing hook is added to the belly in front of the stern wheel to hook the arresting cable when landing on deck.

Fang Ying replied: "Yes, sir, in order to build up combat effectiveness to the fullest, we have gathered the naval pilots who have completed their primary training and used the Austro-Hungarian Navy's 'Hun King' for ship flight training. But. About half of the personnel had to train at Italian airports using the older aircraft they provided, and the aircraft they provided were not even as good as the ones we used for training at home. ”

"That's all there is to it. It will not be so difficult when we have our own production line of naval aircraft, and the government has planned to build an aircraft factory in Kunming in a joint venture with the Italian side to manufacture military fighters for the navy. In about two years, the situation should be much better than it is now. ”

He turned his gaze to the runway of the airport, near the bay, not far away, where it was. Two BA.201 dive bombers produced by the Italian company Reggini with German technology were slowly landing, and after a while, the figure of Colonel Sa Shijun came out of the cockpit of the plane, and as he walked, he was still gesturing with the flying veteran around him from time to time.

Sa Shijun turned out to be the captain of the destroyer "Yiyang", but. The battleship was sunk by Japanese planes during the Battle of Zhenjiang, and he was also seriously wounded, and went to Europe with Chen Shiying for surgery. Because he suffered greatly from the attack of Japanese fighters, after being discharged from the hospital, he simply took the initiative to participate in the study and training of aviation pilots, and now he has been able to start the flight training accompanied by his instructor.

"How does it feel? I've heard of people who have been injured in flight. Chen Shiying saw Sa Shijun walking to his side, so he asked.

"It feels good, you're talking about someone with a dark wound, my wounds are all healed. You don't know, the feeling in the air is completely different from that on a warship, and one day I will take you to the air to experience it. Sa Shijun said.

"Are you really going to transfer to the air fleet?" Chen Shiying said, "In view of your bravery in the defense of Zhenjiang, the Admiralty is ready to make you the captain of the battleship 'Dinghai'. ”

"'Dinghai'?" Sa Shijun hesitated for a moment, becoming the captain of a battleship is the dream of every naval commander, but he still chose to refuse, "No, I still want to go to the aircraft carrier, even if it only lets me be a pilot." I was bombed by a devil's plane, and I had to get it back. ”

"Well, it is true that aircraft are playing an increasingly important role in naval warfare, and since you have chosen to join the aircraft carrier fleet, we respect your choice." Chen Shiying said, "At the time of the national crisis, we have to return to China as much as possible." ”

"Aren't you waiting for these capital ships to be completed?"

"No, I have to go back to China as much as possible, there is still a mess over there in Qinzhou, and we have to guard against the Japanese army coming from the sea." Chen Shiying said.

"Isn't it the Austro-Hungarian statement prohibiting the Japanese naval fleet from entering the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin ?"

"That being said, but we can't just count on others, if the Japanese attack brazenly, will the Austrians declare war on Japan for us? In fact, the strength of the Japanese Navy was superior to that of their Far Eastern Fleet. "After the outbreak of the war, the Gulf of Tonkin became China's only channel of communication with the outside world by sea, and the German-Austrian aid and equipment were continuously transported to the country through the Guiyue and Yunnan-Vietnam railways, and in 1937 alone, nearly 200 factories closely related to the military industry were built in China, including three iron and steel plants in Chongqing, Kunming and Liuzhou and the development of attached mines, with the construction and expansion of Baotou, Taiyuan, Linxian, Hanyang and Chongqing arsenals. China has basically been able to meet the equipment needs of its own army and the war attrition.

In just one year, the size of the domestic army has expanded to 3.5 million people, forming a situation of stalemate with the Japanese army, and Japan has to form a large number of new troops and put them into the Chinese battlefield in order to maintain some offensive in the local area.

The Japanese army had realized that if it did not cut off the route of aid from China and Europe, it would very likely lose the war. On the one hand, it actively engaged in peace talks with Beijing, and even announced that it could withdraw troops from the Yangtze River valley.

However, Beijing has made it clear that only the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Japanese troops from the entire northeast will be the bottom line of peace talks.

The two sides are now at a deadlock, with the Japanese Navy intensifying its activities in the South China Sea and beginning blockade and interception of merchant ships bound for China. (To be continued......) R1292