Xiao Zhenlei is already very satisfied with the all-steel propeller aircraft developed by Feng Ru, with an engine of 120 horsepower, and you must know that the aircraft engine at the beginning of World War I was only about 100 horsepower, which is more than two years ahead of European and American countries. There are two categories: in-line engines (represented by Germany) and rotary cylinder engines (represented by France); The propulsion mode mainly includes two types: front propeller traction and rear propeller propulsion; The speed is about 110~120 km/h; The ceiling is 3,000~4,000 meters.

However, only about two years ahead is not enough, Xiao Zhenlei asked Feng Ruhe Engine Research Institute to increase research efforts, and strive to make a major breakthrough in engine research and aircraft material research and overall design.

After more than half a month, the director of the aircraft factory sent a telegram saying that they had rebuilt an aircraft in accordance with Xiao Zhenlei's previous instructions and opinions, and the material of the aircraft was replaced with an aluminum alloy wrapped in a lightweight and strong cloth, which greatly reduced the weight of the aircraft, and the people of the weapons carrying research institute also invented a coordination device to perfectly solve the contradiction between machine gun fire and propeller blade rotation, and the result was very surprising, the heavy machine gun that fired 10,000 rounds of bullets, not a single bullet hit the propeller blades, They had already put heavy machine guns and machine gun firing coordinators on the remanufactured plane and flew and fired real yàn, the effect was quite good, the performance of the aircraft was greatly improved, although the engine horsepower did not increase, but due to the reduction of the weight of the aircraft, not only the ceiling was increased to 3,500 meters high, but also the speed was increased to 140 kilometers per hour. With the addition of mailboxes, the maximum range was reached to 300 km.

After receiving the telegram, Xiao Zhenlei immediately rushed to the aircraft factory. The range was increased to three hundred kilometers, which was definitely a qualitative leap. He personally watched a flight test and an airplane dive firing test, and the results were very good, as long as the performance of the aircraft can be maintained steadily, and the fuel carried by the aircraft can be increased, the range should be improved, and it will be even better if it can be improved to more than 600 kilometers.

Xiao Zhenlei immediately ordered Yan Guoliang, the director of the aircraft factory, to immediately recruit more workers for training in aircraft manufacturing, and then build 60 of these planes with heavy machine guns and ammunition boxes, and he pointed out that the planes could also be reduced. After all, there is only a pilot, and there is no need for such a large fuselage, which can not only save manufacturing costs, but also reduce the burden on the aircraft.

He immediately asked Jiang Baili to set up an air force headquarters and sent soldiers with good physical qualities, culture, and political skills to the aircraft factory for flight training. After the establishment of the Air Force Command, the problem was the lack of pilots, planes and airfields, which were already under construction and the training of pilots had begun, and the most important thing was the construction of airfields. Xiao Zhenlei decided to build airports in five places, namely Shanghai, Nanjing, Nanchang, Hangzhou and Xiamen, and after the airports were built, each airport was temporarily equipped with ten aircraft. While training pilots to gain flight experience, ground support and airport control tower managers can also be used to reconnoiter the surrounding area, and the remaining ten can be used for another purpose.

On the issue of creating aircraft. This time, Xiao Zhenlei kept it strictly confidential and forbade any information to be leaked. so as not to attract the attention of the great powers.

To be able to fly into the blue sky, aircraft need not only aircraft, pilots, ground crew, and tower commanders, but also fuel. General gasoline can only allow the aircraft to fly under normal temperatures, once the temperature drops suddenly, the fuel of the aircraft is easy to freeze or explode due to high temperatures to affect the flight, which requires special aviation fuel, for this point, Xiao Zhenlei has sent someone to start researching, to add some anti-condensation substances or anti-riot substances to gasoline.

The establishment of the Air Force Command was very cumbersome, but Jiang Baili was responsible for all this, and the Air Force Command was responsible for the formation, training, and operations. The headquarters has one commander, two deputy commanders, one chief of staff, and one director of the political department, and consists of the political department, the operations department, the air defense department, the training department, the logistics department, the first department (in charge of personnel), the second department (in charge of intelligence), the third department (in charge of operations), the fourth department (in charge of logistics), the fifth department (in charge of planning), the sixth department (in charge of statistics), the law and regulation department, the research and development office, the design office, the ground safety office, the combat planning office, the flight safety identification office, the flight safety office, the general affairs office, the secretariat, the adjutant office, the finance office, Engineering Agency, Communications Office, Meteorological Office, Military Judge Advocate General's Office, Military Medical Office, Military Dependents Management Office, Commander's Office, Commander-in-Chief's Office, Chief of Staff Office, Director's Office, Liaison Office, Inspector's Office, Military Discipline Picket Office, Data Room, Research and Development Office, etc. Under the administrative hall, there are also secretaries' offices, offices, administrative offices, statistics offices, government offices (personnel), government offices 2 (heart warfare), government offices 3 (party affairs), government offices 4 (security), and government offices 5.

The Air Force Command is a very important unit, and Xiao Zhenlei has thought about the candidates for the commander, the two deputy commanders, and the chief of staff for a long time before making a decision, and the selection of the director of the political department is equally important.

After thinking about it, Xiao Zhenlei decided to personally concurrently serve as the commander of the Air Force, the Air Force has just been established, and various departments have just begun to drive their functions, the development of the Air Force is very important at the beginning, and there can be no deviations, if there is a deviation at this time, it is easy to be chased by other countries, and we must always maintain a leading position in technology, maintain a leading position in combat effectiveness, and when the time is ripe, we must also maintain a leading edge in scale.

Xiao Zhenlei brought Song Shijie, Fan Zhiyong, Cai Guodong, Ma Hanlong and others to discuss, and asked, "What do you think of Chen Jizu and Zhou Chuandong as deputy commanders of the Air Force?" ”

Song Shijie said: "Chen Jizu is okay, is Zhou Chuandong too old to become a little?" The Air Force has just been established, should we let those who are bold and dare to take on the heavy responsibility? ”

Cai Guodong shook his head and said: "I don't think so, it's enough to have a Chen Jizu who has momentum, if both of them are reckless, there will inevitably be problems in the future!" ”

Fan Zhiyong said: "Guodong is reasonable, although the president is also the commander, but the president cannot stay in the Air Force Command all the time, the specific work is still in charge of the two deputy commanders and the chief of staff, with a calm person to check, and then with a person who dares to charge, so that it is much safer!" ”

After some discussion, Xiao Zhenlei finally decided to let Chen Jizu and Zhou Chuandong be the deputy commanders of the Air Force, responsible for the affairs of the Air Force.

After the meeting, Xiao Zhenlei brought Chen Jizu and Zhou Chuandong over again, and said: "You two prepare, start to take up your post at the Air Force Headquarters tomorrow, I will temporarily serve as the commander of the headquarters, and the two of you should be the deputy commanders, responsible for specific affairs, and discuss the question of how to divide labor with the chief of staff!" ”

"Yes, resolutely obey the organization!"

"Sit down, sit down!" Xiao Zhenlei said again: "I called you here today, there are a few things, you must also know some situations, the plane wants to get the plane up, there must be pilots, ground staff and airport management personnel, now we have not yet, although Chief of Staff Jiang has sent some soldiers to participate in the training, the number of pilots is still too small, in the future we will have far pilots, which requires us to set up a flight academy and ground service school, to train pilots, airport management personnel and responsible for aircraft maintenance, maintenance, and loading." , oil supply and other ground staff, the school should open a special specialty, such as the airport needs engineering and transportation management personnel and so on.

I hope that you will do your best to set up these two schools, no flight instructors can find an aircraft factory to ask for a few test pilots, their test flight experience is very rich, the students in the school not only have to learn the knowledge related to the aircraft, but also learn cultural knowledge, I hope you will train 1,000 pilots and 10,000 ground and airport management personnel within two or three years, you can recruit a large number of students at the beginning, mainly facing the society, especially the educated youth, but you must pass the guò political zhì review, When our demand for pilots is not so strong, we will consider reducing the number of students as appropriate! ”

Chen Jizu asked, "President, how many planes do we have now?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei said: "I am preparing for the Air Force to build an airport in Shanghai, Nanjing, Nanchang, Hangzhou and Xiamen, the aircraft factory has begun to build aircraft, the early production of sixty aircraft, according to their production speed, about two months to complete the delivery, so you have to build five airports within these two months, I will allocate a regiment of troops to each airport to garrison, these regiments will also be organized under the establishment of the Air Force, after the production of sixty aircraft is completed, each airport will get ten, For pilot training and reconnaissance, and ten more for flight schools and ground handling schools! This kind of aircraft can already be combated, but we will not produce too much, because the next aircraft with better performance will soon be available, and then we will be equipped on a large scale, and we will either not engage in it, or we will shock the world, and when the great powers find out, they will be powerless to stop it, so in two years I will see more than a thousand aircraft that can be used in real combat, and your work is very important, do you have the confidence to complete this task? ”

Hearing that the aircraft they produced could already be used in combat, Chen Jizu and Zhou Chuandong were both a little dazed, but they quickly sobered up, and hurriedly got up and saluted after being excited: "Guarantee to complete the task!" (To be continued......) R1292