Since the beginning of the aviation age, various types of flying queens have dominated the airspace under the blue sky, so much so that when people think of aerial units, people can't help but think of bird-shaped flying machines with a pair of wings. But in the first 15 years of the 20th century, the real hegemon in the sky was not the well-known Flyer, but the giant cigar-shaped Zeppelin.

Due to the technical limitations of the time, the initial airstrip could barely carry 1 or 2 people into the air, and could hardly carry any heavy objects, but the lighter-than-air airship could easily carry objects weighing several tons into the air. In addition to flying slower than smaller aircraft, airships are far superior to nascent aircraft in terms of endurance, reliability, and storm resistance. Each of the airships built by Count Zeppelin was imbued with elements and charm that were ahead of its time: the cold, hard, streamlined body, the size of a battleship, and the unique roar of lift-off...... All of them are impressed and overwhelmed, and from the source of their hearts, they produce a heartfelt admiration for this new giant.

Due to a series of advantages such as large loading capacity, long self-sustaining time, long flight distance, and relatively stable and reliable performance, the Zeppelin soon became popular in Germany; It not only opened up the first air passenger route in human history, showed great value in the civilian field, but also shined in the First World War, and made outstanding contributions to the German army. In the early days of the war, airships were not flying high and slow, and they could not evolve into fighters without machine gun coordinators, allowing airships to dominate the airspace on the battlefield with impunity. They may be cruising in the war zone, using high-powered telescopes to observe the enemy's movements in the sky; Or attack the enemy's hinterland and drop the heavy and dangerous items it is carrying on the target. The only thing that could limit the German airships from visiting the homes of their long-cherished enemies in France and their British cousins was the unknown weather. Every time they writhed their cloud-like bodies and roared from the sky, the soldiers on the opposing position were as if they were choked by a large invisible hand, and their hearts were terrified; Because the aerial bombs carried by these airships are even more powerful than the bombardment of the main guns of battleships!

Generally speaking, in order to ensure that the shells can be fired normally, the explosive charge coefficient of the shells is quite low: the charge of ordinary armor-piercing shells is only 1.8%-3.3% of the weight of the shells, and even the HE shells specially prepared for bombardment of ordinary targets do not exceed 7%. For example, the new 283-mm L47 gun developed by Krupp Military Industry for the new dreadnought, the 332kg HE shell is loaded with 21kg of explosives, which is already a shell with a high loading factor; If a single cannon strikes an unprotected target, its terrifying power is enough to tear through the earth like a thunderbolt from the sky. However, compared to aerial bombs, the destructive ability of this traditional artillery shell is really weak. Because aerial bombs do not need to have the harsh conditions required for high-speed launch, they only need to be thrown from the sky to do free-fall motion, and the requirements for the projectile body are greatly reduced; Therefore, the general high-explosive aerial bomb has a charge coefficient of about 50%, and some frantic bombs can even reach more than 70%! During the implementation of the Scythe Blitzkrieg in World War II, the reason why the German army was able to successfully cross the Maas River without heavy artillery was due to the continuous support of the Stuka bombers of the Air Force: a 250-kilogram aerial bomb was dropped, and its explosive power was dozens of times greater than that of the army's 150-mm heavy artillery. Under the bombardment of thousands of sorties that day, the morale and spirit of the French defenders on the other side had completely collapsed, so that Guderian's German armored forces were able to break into the heart of France on a rampage.

Although there was not even a shadow of the aerial bomb in the first half of 1904, this was not because the military factories could not make it, but because there was no objective carrier capable of delivering this weapon, and thus did not give rise to this demand. However, as long as the Zeppelin could enter the German military's field of vision in advance with its superior performance, then the high-powered bombs equipped with such airships would naturally come into being. Then everything will be easy.

Even if the current metallurgical process is far from the level of later generations, and more weight is needed to ensure that the shell does not disintegrate during the fall, the extra cost is unlikely to be enormous. What's more, what Qing Ying is preparing to take now is a stupid black and coarse pure bombing route, and the high-tech armor-piercing aerial bomb is not within the scope of his current consideration, which also guarantees the charge and explosive power of the upcoming aerial bomb from one side. According to Qingying's estimates, if a pure high-explosive bomb is manufactured at the current industrial level, then its charge coefficient will not be less than 40%, which means that the destructive power of a 50kg bomb explosion can be at the same level as that of an 11-inch HE shell; And an airship can carry several tons of cargo, to say the least, once a bomb is thrown, it is a super explosive firepower point!

Therefore, in the early stage of World War I, which lacked air supremacy, airships were definitely the most powerful weapons to support land warfare; And even in the middle and late stages of World War I, where the machine gun coordinator was introduced and the air power of the combat mechanism was greatly improved, airships could still play a considerable role. After all, the aircraft technology at that time was not perfect, and the airship that encountered the fighter could completely climb to get out of danger; In addition, equipping airships with various self-defense firepower is also an effective means of countering fighter attacks. Besides, as a traverser from the afterlife, how could Qing Ying let his air force not be able to suppress the enemy's aircraft? Wherever the Zeppelin cruises, the Luftwaffe will have enough strength to keep the big cigars safe!

"Monsieur Earl, I would like to admit at the outset that you have designed and built one of the most fascinating things on the planet, with such a sheer carrying capacity as no skeletal softship has ever imagined before; Unfortunately, it still seems to be a little less in the air. On top of that, the speed of the airship is also slightly slow, and as a flying machine traveling in low-drag air, it seems a little unreasonable to be slower than a battleship, right? Qingying shook her head slightly, with a hint of regret in her words. If the airship stays in the air for too short a time, its short legs will greatly restrict its combat practicality, and the target will not be able to support it if it is a little far away from the base, and the slow speed will further amplify this defect, which is not conducive to the transfer of support. In a land battlefield where every second counts (well, trench warfare on the Western Front is an exception), support is crucial to arrive 1 hour early!

"Slow speeds aren't really a big deal. When I built my first airship four years ago, it was powered by only two 16 horsepower gasoline engines, and if Your Highness wanted the airship to be faster, now I can equip your custom airship with a machine ten times more powerful than that, and it will not be a problem to reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. But this time is ...... I can't solve it. Speaking of this, a wry smile appeared on Zeppelin's old but still ruddy face, and he said, "To tell you the truth, Your Highness, the funds I can use now are very limited, and to overcome this technical difficulty, it will take a lot of repeated experiments, and the funds it consumes are definitely not a small number." I have already consumed more than half of my family's decades of savings to build the airship, and if it weren't for His Highness coming to me today and placing this order, my company would not be able to support it in a few months...... Ahem, the airship that His Highness wants must be filled with helium, right? Although this is several times more expensive than the cost of filling hydrogen, this chemically stable helium can guarantee the absolute safety of the airship, and I have always wanted to try to fill the airship, but unfortunately the high cost has always discouraged me...... Ahem, I definitely didn't want to make more money, and I didn't mean to use your goods as guinea pigs, Your Highness......"

Hearing Zeppelin's words, Qingying sighed with emotion in his heart, every successful master will encounter all kinds of ups and downs and obstacles on his way forward, and Zeppelin, the founder of the hard airship, is no exception. This highly creative and practical invention remained unknown for several years after its invention, and if it had not been for his own intervention, he would have waited until 1908, as in history, to get the development of the airship on a truly high-speed trajectory thanks to Eikena's help. As soon as she thought of this, Qingying smiled slightly and said, "Please don't worry about the problem of R&D funds, I will try my best to get this funding from the government." In fact, the German Empire has long noticed the airship designed by you, Count, which can play an unimaginable role in the field of reconnaissance. As long as the airship built by Mr. Earl can fly safely in the air for 36 hours, then I can guarantee you that you will receive a lot of orders from the army. ”

Zeppelin's lips were furrowed, his eyes were full of surprise and excitement, and even quietly glowed with a little water. He took a deep breath and whispered in a slightly hoarse voice, "I see...... My invention is still being noticed, and I always thought I was the only one alone with this cute big cigar...... Your Highness, please rest assured, as long as I have enough funds, I will be able to build an airship for Your Highness in 1 year's time! ”