After finishing the visit to the airship and effectively verifying the operability of this weapon after throwing the cargo of the ballot, Qingying finally left this open area deep into the suburbs with satisfaction.

I don't have to worry about the airship at all. Zeppelin, who had been fully funded for research since 1904, had made great strides in the design and construction of airships, far better than he had been in poverty until 1908. The giant airship he saw this time almost made people feel that it was not a product of this era at all, but more like an unreal illusion. The throw ceiling of up to 7 tons is enough for it to load a full 140 50kg aerial bombs; Although these guys weigh not much more than a 150-mm shell, their astonishing explosive reload coefficient can achieve ten times the destructive effect of a shell! The frenzied Qingying is also ready to let the military industry department develop a super-heavy bombshell weighing 800kg, so that this bombing airship with reliable defense against machine gun bullets can really get close to Kirov; In this way, the earth-shattering explosion of a giant bomb alone is enough to make the enemy soldiers on the ground lose all faith in resistance!

Thinking of a large group of giant airships with beige bodies emitting a dull roar, writhing their huge bodies like mountains and mountains, surging majestically like a city in the sky; The brutal and ferocious giant shark livery on the bow of the boat became synonymous with terror, and the 800kg aerial bomb dropped suddenly burst on the ground with a terrifying power like a thunderous sword...... Qingying felt a strange pleasure in her heart that her prank had succeeded, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but hook up a strange smile.

Of course, this airship has its own inherent flaws. The huge target and the demanding front-line take-off and landing bases are all among them. And what gave Qingying the most headache. It is more expensive than this type of airship.

Despite the fact that the German chemical industry is highly developed. In the last century, a set of large-scale cluster industrial chains has been formed. But as much as 22,000 cubic meters of pure hydrogen and a double-layer shell of large-scale synthetic materials still greatly stretch its cost. The airship built by Zeppelin cost as much as 2.8 million marks, almost one-twelfth of a dreadnought-class battleship; Even if a large number of orders are received in the future for mass production, the construction cost will be greatly diluted, and the cost will be extremely staggering. According to Zeppelin's estimates, the price of the mass production of the bomber airship will not be less than 2.3 million marks; This is already the cost of a large 900-ton destroyer! The "Kirovs" inherited the characteristics of beige shape, good defense, scary shark mouth paint, and large-capacity bomb load, and also greatly increased the original unscientific setting speed, but also completely had a staggeringly high price!

Due to the specific properties of the airship itself, it is determined that its price is unlikely to fall significantly; Faced with this situation, Qingying set her sights on a brand-new toy - an airplane.

December 1903. When two brothers who were repairing bicycles in a humble shed in a remote township in Ohio, USA, sent a rudimentary aircraft with two wings and skin into the air at a height of tens of meters, mankind turned a new page in its history. This machine, which can fly freely in the sky, has become the absolute ruler of human warfare more than ten years after its birth; The side with a large number of flying queens and air supremacy will have an unparalleled overwhelming advantage over the enemy on the battlefield. The Second World War, which almost swept the whole of Europe, was an excellent embodiment of Fei Ji's decision on victory or defeat on the battlefield. The reason why Germany's army, which was inferior in tank quality, was able to sweep Poland, France and the Soviet Union in succession at the beginning of the war was that its powerful air force played a crucial and decisive role; In the later stages of the war, the hastily recruited young soldiers of the United States were able to triumphantly defeat the battle-hardened German army on land, and the final death toll was only 300,000. It was also completely relied on by their terrifying aerial power that did not give people a way to live. If the Air Force and the Army are as incompatible, then Qingying will choose the former without hesitation; The German Army, which did not have tanks, could still carry out blitzkrieg with motorized units. And no matter how powerful the army units without the support of combat aircraft are, they will eventually be bombed by the superior air force!

During World War I, however, the role of airplanes was quite limited. As a new type of weapon that has just been invented for more than 10 years, its technical strength is undoubtedly at a rather inferior level; The appearance is frustrating and barbaric, the speed is slow, the time is short, the loading capacity is low, the firepower is weak, and the stability performance is poor...... The planes of this period concentrated almost all the attributes of the nascent weapons, and were very different from the large and technically mature Zeppelins. More importantly, every pilot of an aircraft needs young and strong people who have undergone long-term formal training to be able to perform flight missions, so the quality of personnel is extremely high; However, the operation of the Zeppelin is completely untechnically difficult, and Zeppelin, who is currently over seventy years old, can control his airship to fly from Berlin to Munich on his own.

For these reasons, Qingying didn't pay more attention to the wooden-skinned little guy like the plane for a long time, just thinking that he could escort the bombing of the Zeppelin; However, through today's conversation with Zeppelin, he has confirmed his firm will to develop this weapon as soon as possible. The cost of the zeppelin is so high that even a top industrial country like Germany cannot build an airship in this field and mass-produce it like a bean, and the area that the airship cannot cover must be compensated and filled with airplanes. A large airship is enough to produce three squadrons of tactical bombers, and although the latter will cost far more in terms of pilot training, personnel expenses, equipment maintenance, and daily attrition, it is necessary to replenish the blind spot of airship bombing!

After some consideration, Qing Ying already had a training plan for the aircraft unit in his heart. The first thing to do is to publicize the new type of aircraft that can soar more flexibly in the sky in Germany, and to form a non-governmental group similar to a flying club to attract a wide range of enthusiastic citizens who have curiosity and love for such aircraft. Only with a good civilian foundation, and a deep understanding of this machine, which is far more complex than the automobile, can the German public, who have a good knowledge of machinery in their heads, have enough suitable pilots at a time when the aircraft force is rapidly expanding. Qingying clearly remembers that the reason why the air force of Germany and Japan almost collapsed in the late stage of World War II was that in addition to the extreme shortage of fuel, the lack of a sufficient number of skilled pilots was also a key factor. In the United States, due to the strong flying atmosphere, there are countless flight teams composed of folk enthusiasts; Therefore, after entering the war, he quickly formed a huge pilot force that was intimidating to all other countries, and directly swept Germany and Japan with an invincible posture with excellent aircraft.

In addition to the pilot, a well-performing aircraft is also the key to victory. Qingying, who was familiar with history, made some comparisons and focused on the imitation of the Fokker E.III monoplane fighter and the Gotha bomber.

Because the Air Force played a decisive role in World War II, classic aircraft such as the Mustang and the Corsair are familiar and deeply remembered by the majority of military fans. However, when we go back to World War I 20 years ago, there is little detailed understanding of the Air Force of that era. Due to the limitations of the technical conditions of the times, there was a huge gap in the performance of the aircraft of both warring sides compared with World War II, so that the development of the air force during this period was largely ignored by most people, and gradually became a blind spot of the times. During the First World War, the Luftwaffe's aircraft manufacturing level was undoubtedly among the top in the world. Whether it was the "Fokker Disaster" in the history of fighter air combat before 1916 or the "Gotha Disaster" caused by the bombing of London later, the initiators behind it were all two combat aircraft with superior performance produced by Germany.

The Fokker E.III monoplane fighter successfully flown by Germany in May 1914, although it had many defects such as low output power, low flight altitude and short time in the air, but with its revolutionary machine gun coordinator design, it became a feared death endorsement for British and French pilots. The cleverly designed coordinator allows the machine gun to shoot bullets from the propeller rotation gap in the center of the fighter without hesitation, which greatly increases the pilot's aiming ease and the ability to shoot down enemy aircraft. In front of this plane, British and French fighters were shot down in large numbers like turkey hunts, so much so that the angry British House of Commons passed a resolution strongly condemning the Fokker plane for "brutally killing the royal plane". As a substitute for the Zeppelin Red Bomb of London, the Gotha bomber that flew in March 1916 could still fly more than 800 kilometers at a speed of 140 kilometers per hour while carrying 1,000 pounds (454kg) bombs, which was an extremely remarkable achievement in World War I!

In Qingying's plan, the German military industry will focus on the development of these two models, in order to achieve early imitation like the MG08 machine gun. With conceptual guidance and strong support from R&D funds, Qingying believes that these weapons will definitely enter service with the military much earlier than the historical facts. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the monthly pass support of cllyf~~~

I saw that there were book friends in the book review area who questioned the cost performance of airships, in fact, airships were still very marketable in the early stage of World War I, when fighter jets were in the ascendant, not to mention that Debashi Kirov was cool, wasn't it?