In 1915, Germany's military structure changed at the same time as the economy was booming.

As a result of the demands of the battlefield and the leap in technology, a dazzling array of new weapons appeared in the year-long war in Europe: airships, airplanes, tanks, poison gas...... Among these weapons, the most promising is undoubtedly the aircraft equipped with full-time aviation power. At the end of World War II, the combat effectiveness of the United States and Britain allies in six places can only be said to be average, but the reason why they were able to sweep Europa after D-Day was because of their ability to dominate the sky with mosquitoes and flies. And Germany's defeat on the Eastern Front was also directly related to the gradual exhaustion of its air power: the number of Maozi was far more than theirs, and without the support of the air force, it would really be impossible to fight!

In view of this, Germany must vigorously develop the aviation industry in the coming time and give it a priority position that is even more important than the traditional 6 navy. Only in this way will Germany be able to avoid a situation in which the aviation industry is far inferior to that of Britain in the past, and thus maintain an advantage in hard power in the future.

Under the vigorous impetus of the Qing Ying, the German army underwent the largest institutional change since the founding of the country: a new branch of the army called the "Kaiser's Air Force" was established, outside the traditional 6 navies. The armed forces under the Iron Cross then entered the era of the troika driving together. In fact, in addition to being able to more effectively invest funds in the aviation industry and support this vital military exhibition, Qingying also has a political point to consider. At present, the power of the chief of general staff is too great, and he is responsible for the command of wars, the appointment and dismissal of officers, the production of equipment, and the use of funds. Although the Chief of the General Staff himself is precisely the core representative of the Juncker officer corps. It was in line with the emperor's interests, but this model undoubtedly weakened the monarch's power in a considerable way.

As a result, Qingying could no longer merge the aviation forces into the 6th Army, as the United States and Japan did before World War II, but formed them into a separate army to avoid over-inflating the power in the hands of the chief of the General Staff. And in the selection of the commander of the Air Force. Qing Ying parachuted Sickert, who had worked closely with him in the war, into this position: as the founder of the "100,000 6th Army" in another plane, Sickert's ability in organization and training was undoubted, and he could shoulder the mission of laying the foundation and expanding the development of a large military branch in the early stage. And the Junker background of Siketna's military family also gave some comfort to the high-level leaders of the 6th Army who failed to establish the "6th Army Air Force".

To the surprise of the military leadership, it was somewhat surprising. For the airship that also belongs to the Air Force, Qingying no longer has the enthusiastic attitude before the war. He ordered the suspension of research on a new heavy bombing airship, and the work that had been ordered but did not have time to be built was also stopped; The sizeable Zeppelin Airlines began to make a significant transition to civilian use, and its future airships will be built with the sole mission of carrying passengers.

As soon as this order was introduced, it was met with doubts from the military. Because according to the table xiàn in the war. Heavy bombing airships are impeccable: from the fortress of Liège to the defense of Paris, these behemoths painted with the gruesome shark's mouth have played an irreplaceable role in all the key battles of the past. Especially in the offensive and defensive battle of Liège, when the German infantry was helpless in the face of the strong Belgian fortresses, and the heavy siege cannon of the Great Berta was still struggling to move dozens of kilometers behind, these big guys loaded with terrorist explosives had already flown above the battlefield and quickly cleared the way for the attacking troops with the thunderous fire of Guò. When fully loaded with bombs, a giant airship can have the same firepower as two battalions of heavy artillery, and the former can move at a fantastic 7o kilometers in total, completely ignoring the terrain!

In the face of the military's incomprehensible doubts. A single drill completely calmed down these strange voices. In a simulated confrontation in which an airship is intercepted by a fighter jet, an airship thousands of times larger than an airplane is no match for the other side at all; Within minutes, the airship's canvas skin was covered with dense dots of dye. And the nimble and light aircraft did not suffer. If it had been replaced with a real machine gun bullet, the hydrogen gas bag in the airship would have exploded under this blow, and it would have been irretrievably destroyed!

A heavy airship worth more than 2oo marks was so powerless that it was destroyed by a monoplane fighter that was only a few thousand marks, and even Zeppelin, the chief designer of the airship, was silent, and there was no more opposition. Although the airship used for the exercise only added a few machine guns in the gondola position. There is still a lot of potential for self-defense modifications, but through guò this exercise. Zeppelin, who has been immersed in this practice for decades, has already understood the birth defects of airships. Since the principle of airships floating is Archimedes' theorem, their huge airbags doom them to be extremely large and inflexible moving targets; Unless you have the Klein Force Field, a black technology that deflects a qiē attack. Otherwise, it is simply impossible to survive under the watchful eye of fighters!

At this point, the German heavy airship project came to an end. The bombing airships, which had been in service with the German army for some time, were converted into various palaces in the sky with their large payload, and the iconic shark mouth livery on the bow was removed. Huge research and maintenance funds were invested in the research of aircraft, which further contributed to the development of German aviation technology. This is also the last wealth left to future generations after a short service career that was born and retreated from time to time.

Although the Qing Ying separated the 6th Army from the Air Force, they showed mercy to the Navy: the High Seas Fleet was allowed to have its own air force directly under its own in order to replenish their fledgling carrier-based air fleet. Although the current technology of aircraft is still very primitive, its irreplaceable role in naval warfare has already emerged, and according to the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Germany is allowed to have a fleet of up to 150,000 tons of Barbarian aircraft carriers, and a large number of aircraft in the meantime can obviously only be commanded by the navy. Tirpitz, who was at the helm of the navy, was happy to do the same, and in any case, the navy's family could be further expanded by the addition of these new members.

With its own air force, the German Navy was thinking about how to use it more effectively. In addition to the traditional reconnaissance and school firing for his own capital ships, Qingying, who belongs to the navy half physically and mentally, put forward a bold vision: the planes taking off and landing on the ship should also have the same fighting and bombing capabilities as the planes in six places, and even carry a torpedo to attack from a distance! For the year 1915, when aviation technology was still quite primitive, this prospect was undoubtedly extremely prescient. However, Qingying decided that these guiding concepts should be presented to the navy as soon as possible, so that the German navy could always move quickly on the right path and maintain its lead over the potential enemies of the United States and Britain.

Since a seaplane with a pair of large pontoons could not meet the needs of combat and bombing under the current technical conditions, the German Navy adopted the simplest and crude tactics and began to test the possibility of taking off and landing conventional 6-base aircraft on warships. The USS Americar, a large merchant ship, was once again the guinea pig for experimentation, with its superstructure almost completely dismantled and its chimney moved to starboard, creating a 14o meter-long all-through deck. According to the experience of 6 airfields, this length is already able to meet the needs of the take-off and landing of Fokker II fighters. However, in the process of trying new things, human beings are always accompanied by various setbacks and even pains: because of the inevitable roll of ships on the sea, it is undoubtedly much more difficult to take off and land planes while moving than at six airports, and the two tests conducted by the navy have failed, and one pilot has lost his life. However, Qingying's will remained unwavering, and he firmly believed that this was by no means an insurmountable obstacle for the German navy in the process of moving towards the air and space.

Qingying's persistence soon bore fruit. On September 17, 1915, a silvery-white Fokker fighter jet lifted off the deck of the American Eagle again; After circling in the air for several laps, he immediately reduced his dive and made accurate contact with the flight deck of the mothership, and landed successfully in one fell swoop with the hook of the arresting cable. Qing Ying, who was attending the launching ceremony of the last Bavaria-class battleship "Württemberg" at the Vulkeng shipyard, immediately rushed to the nearby pier after the ceremony to award the pilot with the Red Eagle Medal for this historic feat. The pilot in front of him was tall and strong, with an angular face, and there was a hint of familiarity in his eyebrows that Qingying rarely had; Just as Qingying racked his brains to recall that he had seen this person there, the other party's self-reported home made him feel shocked. This young pilot of his age is none other than Herman, who is famous in another plane? Goring.

Spurred on by the news of this successful landing, Qingying decided to build a full-time small test aircraft carrier in the following year, in order to lay a solid enough foundation for the future path of the German Navy. Unfortunately, because Qing Ying was an orthodox cannon giant ship party in his previous life, it was difficult for his understanding and design of aircraft carriers to have the same profound attainments as those on gunboats, and many things had to be explored by German designers themselves. However, Qingying can still put forward opinions on the overall situation in terms of combat tasks and application concepts, and has also dabbled in some classic aircraft carrier layouts; Under this Sasuke, it is believed that the German Navy's aircraft carrier road will not take more detours than the historical United States, Japan, and Britain. (To be continued)

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