Although the grassland of Outer Mongolia is snowy, it is extremely busy, and everything is on the right track.

Zhao Yun needed the master of the aircraft factory, and Adjutant Sun had already invited someone over with the gimmick that someone was willing to buy an airplane.

"Ba Yu and Wang Zhu came to visit County Magistrate Zhao!" The two young men were invited in by Adjutant Lin's people.

"Huh! I have admired the daimyo for a long time! I have long heard that the two are masters of our country's aircraft industry! Adjutant Sun also admired the two of them very much and gave me a lot of information. Since it is sincere to invite the two of them to come, then Zhao someone will open the skylight and say bright words, this time the two of them are not invited to see the two of them seaplane, but need two of them to help and modify the aircraft. Zhao Yun finally saw the "talent" of this era!

Although Ba Yu and Wang Zhu had already guessed Zhao Yun's intentions, no one would rush to place an order when they saw a test flight aircraft for the first time, but after hearing about the modified aircraft, they still listened carefully.

"I'm sure you've heard about it, we're a global company, and our European division recently received an order for an airplane, but some parts of the plane needed to be improved, so we went around Europe to visit famous teachers. Coincidentally, some time ago, I saw your plane on the Yangtze River being test-flighted, and I felt that there are still many masters in this area in my country, but no one cares. If this order can be won, it will be a major affirmation of Europe's aircraft industry in China. So I took a telegram and went to the headquarters, took this order, and wanted my Chinese masters to try it. For this reason, I have applied for a research grant of 100,000 marks! ”

Ba Yu and Wang Zhu couldn't help but be overjoyed when they heard this, the two sides glanced at each other, and Ba Yu said, "Our aircraft will never fall behind Western products in manufacturing, and I have confidently and reluctantly achieved this layer." But to improve the plane, I dare to pack a ticket, I need to see the actual sample to judge. I don't know where the plane is, can you take us to check it out right away? ”

"Yes, but we have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and we both know that this is a normal thing in Europe!" Zhao Yun took out a stack of contracts, and whether he could tie up these two big names depends on this time.

"Yes, this one can be signed. However, whether we can modify it or not depends on the aircraft first. Wang Zhu was afraid that Ba Yu would say too much, so he left a back door for himself, he was not familiar with this Zhao County Magistrate, who knows if he had made a whimsical modification plan, this kind of thing has happened in Europe and the United States before.

"Okay! Get in the car and I'll take you to the hangar. Zhao Yun looked at this Mr. Wang Zhu twice, it is reported that this person was once hired as the chief engineer of Boeing, and it is normal for him to keep an eye on it.

The aircraft industry in China at this time did not lag behind the world, and after the first aircraft successfully took off in 1903, the development of the aircraft immediately formed a global trend, and the Chinese were not willing to stay out of it. In September 1909, Feng Ru, an overseas Chinese living in the United States, made an airplane and successfully tested it. At that time, many of the students sent out by the Qing government learned good skills, like this Ba Yu is a banner man who has learned good skills.

In fact, after Ba Yu and others returned to China, they also received the attention of the Beiyang Army at that time, after all, they had drunk foreign ink, and this kind of talent was more comfortable in Beiyang. Ba Yu and others proposed the idea of establishing an aircraft factory to the then Admiralty, and received strong support from Chen Zhaoqiang, director of the Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Bureau, and approved the establishment of an aircraft factory in February 1918, but only 50,000 yuan was allocated for the start-up costs. Later, the quality of the aircraft factory passed, but it can be said to be a failure in terms of quantity, because there is no capital, and the domestic warlords are fighting, and the aircraft is also a high-end weapon, and it cannot be done as a commercial business.

The hangar is not far from Zhao Yun's small courtyard, it takes less than five minutes to drive, and now the vacant land around the county has basically been bought by Zhao Yun, not to mention the hangar, warehouse, and airstrip, and the farm, shipyard, and dormitory are also large households.

As for the Naval Submarine Academy, it has long been relocated to the sea off Zhoushan for actual combat training. This group of students studied quite hard!

Zhao Yun was envious, but unfortunately it wasn't his own navy!

There are now hangars next to their academy, but the hangars, warehouses, airstrips, and the like are guarded by arrow towers, and anyone who trespasses is killed. Farms, shipyards, and dormitories were much more relaxed, with only local garrisons standing guard.

After checking his identity, Zhao Yun took the two big men to run wildly and came to a huge hangar.

The four militiamen stepped forward to open the door of the hangar together, and when they saw the scene inside the hangar, Bayu and the others were stunned.

Zhao Yun got all the fighters in France here, the famous German "Xinyao Weng" DVa, the German Fokker Dr.1 single-seat triplane, the German double-wing fighter Fokker D.VII, and the French main fighter Sparder series.

"All of this needs to be modified?"

"Of course not!"

"You're targeting it!" Zhao Yun walked straight to an airplane, knocked on the wooden frame of the airplane and said, "The French Spard XIII., which can reach 200 horsepower, needs to change its weapon." The light machine gun on its nose is so bad that you're going to have to replace it with one of these! Zhao Yun pointed to the piles of light and heavy machine guns piled up in a corner of the hangar, "As for what it is, you can do it." How about we can sign a contract? ”

"Wait a minute!" The two picked up the tools in the hangar and climbed onto the plane, and after a while, the two climbed down, "The plane is still new, it shouldn't be a big problem, try it!" ”

"Alright, let's go back and sign the contract!" When Zhao Yun heard the good news, he really wanted to leave these two masters behind.

"Wait, we have a few conditions, I hope County Magistrate Zhao can agree!" Wang Zhu said.

"Tell me about it!" For the predecessors of these national industries, Zhao Yun still admires them.

"First, we have to call a few people to help, because we have to call some people for weapons." This time, it was Wang Zhu who came to negotiate conditions with Zhao Yun.

"That's no problem, I was going to look for some weapons talents, and it's better for you to have someone. However, it is still to be kept secret. "Zhao Yun thought to himself that it would be better if all the talents were packed.

"That's fine, they're all veterans too. Second, the source of these planes is known to County Magistrate Zhao and cannot be disclosed, but County Magistrate Zhao has great powers, and we want to buy some parts for the aircraft, I wonder if County Magistrate Zhao can help draw a line? After Wang Zhu finished speaking, Ba Yu and him were both looking forward to it.

"Pull a line?" Zhao Yun didn't know what they wanted to buy?

The two of them smiled wryly, "Due to financial reasons, the materials used in our flight premises are purchased from China as much as possible. European and American planes are mostly made of poplar, walnut or mahogany, and the flight production department has been replaced by fir wood, white pear and Yulin from northern Fujian since its establishment. However, materials that cannot be manufactured in China, such as steel wires, manifold steel wires, steel pipes, aluminum plates, aluminum bars, etc., especially coating oil, cheese glue, etc., are purchased from abroad. And we can't make our own engines. ”

"So?" Zhao Yun touched his head and thought about it, isn't this an arms embargo! "The engine is ready-made, I have a plane here for me to disassemble, I can't install it, you see what parts are available there, take them!" But that cannon can't move! Zhao Yun pointed to another hangar and said, and finally couldn't figure out what kind of engine it was, so he took the two of them there.

The dismantled one was the Spad XII.CaI. that could fire 37mm shells from the propeller shaft core, and this aircraft was also a wonder.

For aircraft fans, Ba Yu and Wang Zhu are also unstoppable, and the 37mm cannon is also what Zhao Yun is preparing to study, so after returning to the small courtyard, the research of this aircraft and the cannon was added to the previous contract for a period of one year.

The two of them lived in the hangar, and the meals were provided by the county town, and Zhao Yun agreed that the planes in the hangar could be studied casually, but they must come up with results in a short time.

The two confidently waited for weapons experts from Fujian and Shanghai, and wrote a letter from the Jinling Arsenal in Nanjing with their own connections, and also invited two experts in related fields.

A month later

"Bayu, this is too difficult!" The experts in the three places can be said to have concentrated the most authoritative group of people in the Jiangnan area, and they are helpless to look at the machine guns all over the ground. It can't be said that Zhao Yun took bad goods to fill the times, but it was too good, but it was also too heavy.

Zhao Yun's requirement is that the firepower can suppress any kind of aircraft, so this can only be thought of in the weapon, and then handed it to Ba Yu to arrange the installation position.

There are many good machine guns of this era that have been invented, in terms of light machine guns:

Hatch Chase series machine guns produced by the French company Hatch Cars. Both light and heavy machine guns are available.

The prestige of the Hatch Chase machine gun was fought on the battlefield. In the decisive battle between the French and German armies in July 1918, the French army was completely reequipped with Hatch Chase machine guns, which had great lethality, and more than half of the German attacking troops were killed and wounded, and they were forced to retreat. It is currently adopted by the French army and the British army, where the French army uses the 8mm Lebel caliber and the British army uses the 0.303-inch caliber.

Zhao Yun chose the 1909 8mm Hatch Chase light machine gun (later crooked handle) equipped by the French army.

There is also the captured Louis light machine gun from the Russians, which weighs 12.25 kilograms, has a butt that can be easily carried and used by a single person, and has 97 rounds in the cartridge. Its most striking feature was its thick and round barrel, which was filled with metal flakes, and it was precisely because of its large barrel that Zhao Yun thought it was a small cannon when he first saw it. This air-cooled method of heat dissipation is more convenient than water-cooling. It was possible to equip cavalry, which later was also used in armored vehicles.

Heavy machine guns: The masters here are more experienced, but they are drooling while shaking their heads. As early as 1888, the Gatling machine gun was introduced by the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, and since then, China has entered the era of heavy machine gun manufacturing. But I've never seen so many good guns!

The Gatling gun was copied on a large scale in the former Qing Dynasty. Production lines have been established in Shanghai, Nanjing and Tianjin. Because this machine gun, which spits out a large amount of ammunition in an instant, makes a sound similar to that of artillery, the Qing army simply called it a "cannon". A book published by Jane's Group in England contains a lead engraving of a Qing soldier operating a Gatling gun. The picture shows the "Chinese characteristics" of the Gatling machine gun, the machine gun is mounted on the wheelbarrow, in order to fear that the machine gun will be exposed to the sun and rain, the Qing army also specially installed an oilcloth umbrella on the car.

As early as the trial production stage, the Qing government showed a strong interest in this powerful new weapon.

He changed the traditional way of feeding bombs and added a 6-meter-long canvas chain. Continuous feeding of ammunition for machine guns. In order to cool down the barrel that heats up due to continuous high-speed firing, a water cooling method is also used. It was the world's first machine gun capable of automatic continuous fire, with a rate of fire of more than 600 rounds per minute.

The power of the machine gun led many famous mechanical designers of the time to devote themselves to the development of the machine gun. The American Browning, the master of pistol design, was not willing to be outdone, and successively launched a number of machine guns.

The U.S. military used the air-cooled M1895 heavy machine gun, the Browning M1919 (7.62mm) heavy machine gun (M1917 air-cooled), and the Browning M1921 (12.7mm) heavy machine gun developed by John Browning.

The Browning M1921 was actually designed to counter the 13mm anti-tank rifle ammunition of Germany during World War I, and the enlarged caliber of the Browning M1917 is a remastered version, due to the rate of fire of 450 to 550 rounds per minute, the barrel is prone to overheating, and the use of water cooling or switching to a heavy barrel. Developed by Winchester, USA, the ammunition can fire 12.7 mm caliber bullets including ordinary rounds, armor-piercing rounds, incendiary grenades and even flash grenades, etc., with a maximum range of 7.4 kilometers (4.55 miles) when fired ordinary rounds, which can be used for air defense and anti-armor. At this time, the armor protection of most tanks was only 10-15mm, and the aircraft was still a wooden frame.