At the time of Li Xiaofeng's unexpected reap, there was one person who was very depressed, not Trotsky or Sverdlov, but Arxness. So what exactly did the marshal of the Red Air Force have a headache for?

Still for the long-range aviation he loves. It is known that in the time of Tukhachevsky, Arksnis was fiercely debated over whether to give priority to the development of long-range aviation or to the development of front-line aviation. Although the end result was that both sides took a step back and long-range aviation had a better living space than it had historically, the priority was always inferior to that of front-line aviation.

Especially after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army once relied heavily on front-line aviation, and if it were not for the front-line aviation, which risked death to attack the pursuing German tank clusters, I am afraid that the situation on the battlefield would have been even more ugly.

At the same time, the strategic bombing that Arxnis had been advocating and the operational attempt to annihilate enemy planes on the airfield were categorically failed. The heavy four-engine bombers suffered from the dexterous German fighters, and the Red Army was highly lacking in long-range fighters to escort these four-engine bombers, which made the bombing of enemy depth and airfields a suicidal attack. Anyway, it was a loss of troops and few results.

This has given rise to the opposition to long-range aviation in the Military Commission, which has repeatedly criticized these resource-consuming, but practically useless aircraft, as waste. For a time, Alksnis was under a lot of pressure, and he had to urgently ask for a new long-range escort fighter project on the one hand, and on the other hand, like a certain immortal before him, he tried to prove the value of long-range aviation.

To be honest, the new long-range escort fighter project was very difficult from the beginning, mainly because the capabilities of the major design bureaus and manufacturers at that time tended to be saturated, and the large-scale production and improvement plans had overwhelmed them, and they were really unable to launch a brand new fighter project.

So after receiving the request of the Air Force, the design institute was located. It is more inclined to improve on the original design. At that time, there were three main schemes, one was to improve the Pe-2 fighter, such as increasing the fuel tank; the other is the MiG-5 created by the MiG Design Bureau; The last one is the all-metallized version of the La-5 with an enlarged fuel tank.

The most mature of the three fighters is the Pe-2, which has previously been improved to the Pe-2M2, and again improved to the M3 with little work and quickly put into production. But this easy-to-implement solution is not liked by Arksness. Because the Pe-2 is a high-altitude and high-speed fighter, it is more suitable to be an interceptor rather than a fighter that emphasizes combat performance. For the Air Defense Forces, the Pe-2 worked well, and the interception of German bombers worked well. However, for the Air Force, the clumsy interceptor is really unable to fight the enemy's dexterous fighters, and will be miserably abused.

So, although it was simple to improve the Pe-2, Arksnis and long-range aviation did not buy it. They want to have a fighter with better performance than an interceptor.

By the same token, the MiG-5 of the MiG Design Bureau was quickly pronounced out of the competition for the simple reason that it was announced. This cargo is also a high-altitude and high-speed fighter, in fact, it is an interceptor. Even the MiG-5 project competed with the Pe-2 from the beginning, but the previous work of the MiG Design Bureau focused on the MiG-1 and MiG-3, and the MiG-5 did not pay much attention. After the Pe-2 is put into production, the MiG-5 will naturally be out of play.

This time, hearing that the Air Force was going to tender for a new long-range escort fighter, the MiG Design Bureau, which was already at a critical moment of life and death, urgently turned over the design of the MiG-5 from the pile of old papers, and after some new creations. It was delivered to the Air Force. It is conceivable that the MiG-5, which is on the same level as the Pe-2, naturally cannot enter the eyes of the Air Force. So the MiG Design Bureau is tragic again.

In fact, Arxness's favorite project is the new La-Pull fighter based on the La-5 improvement. Because the La-5 still has a lot of potential to be tapped, replacing the gold wood structure with an all-metal structure can completely increase the fuel tank of the fuselage by saving weight. Moreover, the performance of the La-5 is relatively ideal, at least it is more suitable for participating in air dog fights. The escort of long-range bombers by the La-5 will inevitably reduce considerable losses.

Another key reason for Arksness' preference for the Yila-5 is that its air-cooled radial engine is simpler, cheaper and more durable than the V-cooled engine. Actually, it's cheap. In this way, it does not occupy too many resources, and it will not be opposed by other branches of the military.

It should be said that the idea of Arksness is still good, and the all-metalized La series fighters are also in line with the direction of future development, but what he did not expect was this. Front-line aviation, on the other hand, has a strong opinion on this.

The reason is simple, it is in that all-metallization. Because of the intervention of a certain immortal in this time and space, although the Soviet Union's aviation aluminum is not as tense as it was in history, as a strategic resource, its use is still very limited. For front-line aviation, the valuable aluminum alloy must first meet the most important fighter, that is, the production of the Yak-3, which has a much higher priority than the La-5, although the Yak-3 is designed to be small because of its emphasis on agility and speed, which makes its range not good-looking. But for front-line aviation, a small range is not a big problem (the range of the La-5, La-7 is not large).

And now, in order to meet the needs of long-range aviation, it is absolutely unbearable to compete for resources with the precious Yak-3! So from the very beginning, Arxness's idea was met with strong opposition within the Air Force, and the idea was stillborn from the beginning.

So is this the end of the long-range escort fighter in Arksness? No, in the end, Li Xiaofeng found a way to help him solve the problem, and the solution was also very distinctive, a bit of a machine.

The specific method was to improve the lowest-grade fighter in the Red Army, the Yak-7, replace the metal wings of the Yak-7 (the fuselage and tail are still wooden), and increase the fuselage fuel tank to increase the fuel load to the level of 880 liters.

With just one improvement, the fighter, originally known as the long-range Yak-7, had a range of 2,200 kilometers. Initially equipped with the ability to escort Pe-8 and Tu-3.

However, making such improvements alone does not fully meet the needs of Arxnis. After all, the speed of the Yak-7 is too slow, and even if some of the weight is reduced with an all-metal wing, the enlarged fuel tank can offset many of this weight reduction advantage. Escorting long-range bombers with the performance of the Yak-7 is probably no match for the latest German models of the BF-109 and FW-190.

Therefore, enhancing the performance of the Yak-7 has become a top priority. The most intuitive way is to increase the engine power and replace the Yak-7 with a more powerful engine. It's just that this is easier said than done, because the higher-power VK-105P or VK-105CP-2 and VK-107 can only guarantee the production of the Yak-3 in a limited way, and it is not the turn of the low-grade Yak-7 at all.

As for the AM-34 series, it is standard for the Il-2 as the heart of front-line aviation. This is also impossible to use for the low-grade cannon fodder Yak-7. As for the replacement of the star-shaped air-cooled engine, although the ASh-82FN series power is as high as 1850 horsepower, the wind resistance at that time was not ordinarily large. Fitting the streamlined Yak-7 with air-cooled engines would greatly reduce performance, and this improvement would be equivalent to redesigning a completely new fighter.

So, this thing seems to have reached a dead end again. But who let Li Xiaofeng do more ways? Soon, he came up with a way from the British, the option of replacing engines with anti-submarine ships. He introduced Rolls-Ro's Merlin XX engine, which was originally installed on the Hurricane fighter and was indeed much worse than the Spitfire Merlin 61, but still much stronger than the VK-105 used by the Yak-7. It was even stronger than the VK-9, which was later used on the Yak-105PF-3.

The Yak-7 powered by Merlin XX was named the Yak-7DD, which is an abbreviation for Daldego Deysvija (Ultra Long Range). After reasonable design, the aircraft has a long range and its speed can reach the level of 610 kilometers per hour. Although it was still insufficient compared to the latest BF-109 and FW-190, this was the best solution that the Soviet Union could come up with at that time.

And after absorbing the experience of improving the Yak-7DD, the Yak-7 was soon improved into the Yak-9. The Yak-9D and Yak-9DD, which were developed on the basis of the Yak-9, further increased the range. And with the increase in Soviet engine production capacity, the VK-107 and AM-38 began to be used in more fighters, which also made the long-range version of the Yak-9 even better.

Of course, the development of long-range escort fighters is only a direction that Arksnis is concerned about, and the most important thing in really expanding the living space of long-range aviation units is to speak with the results of battle. And since the beginning of the war. In addition to doing a big job in Norway, there are not many long-range aviation forces that can show their hands after that.

So Arxnis had to do something, and his eyes were soon set on Romania.

The Wallachian Plain is located in the southeastern part of Romania. The Danube, the Balkhatians, and the Black Sea give the country a fascinating setting and alluring wealth. In the Middle Ages, it was known as the "Happy Dacia" for its many gold mines. The Balkhatian Mountains, which contain treasures, are also affectionately known as the "Treasury of Green Gold" and the "Backbone of Romania" by Romanians.

Of course, after entering the modern world. After exploration, we can know that these treasures in the Balkhatians are not particularly rich. The sun, air and water are particularly suitable for the growth of grapes. As one of the world's leading wine regions, Wallachian wine has become almost the most important asset of the Romanians.

Unbeknownst to the Romanians, however, that the Wallachian plains were not just grapes, but that another immense, unprecedented wealth was lying beneath their feet. In the summer of 1856, there was a commotion in the town of Bucuresti, located in the Ploiesti region, in the central part of the Wallachian plain.

It turned out that the town's artisans had made the first barrel of kerosene for lamps in Romania from a distillation kettle. In this way, the town's homes and streets were lit with kerosene lamps, and soon the news spread throughout the Ploiesti region.

Only then did the locals discover that their hometown had long been documented about the production of oil. About two centuries ago, a missionary named Badinas wrote in his diary: "In some parts of Ploiesti, the locals dig pits for oil. The same account appeared in 1716, when a Moldovan prince wrote: "There are oil seedlings on the banks of the Taslau River near Moinešti, and the natives lubricate their wagon axles with oil that has spilled over the surface!" ”

The name Ploiesti is destined to become famous all over the world because of the value of oil in industry. It is no longer just about "lubricating the axle of the carriage".

In 1857, the first oil refinery was built in Ploiesti, which produced 275 tons of crude oil that year. You know, it wasn't until two years later that the Americans drilled the nation's first oil well. Soon, speculators who spotted a business opportunity flocked to it. And the fastest of them were the British. They were the first to invest 7 million lei (Romanian currency) to create the first oil company in Romania, Volecin Petroleum. In addition, another oil company, Soyz Petroleum, also has a British background.

Of course, the most influential oil company is from Germany. It's called Steva. The oil company in Romana occupies 60% of the share of the Romanian oil industry!

The injection of foreign capital has directly stimulated the oil production capacity of Ploiesti. In 1896, Romania produced only 80,000 tons of crude oil a year, but by 1900, it had reached 247,000 tons, making Romania the second largest oil producer in Europe after Russia.

It's just that the Romanians never thought that she would become a loser and lose Xiao He, and she produced 1.58 million tons of crude oil in 1915. Under the threat of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Romania joined the Entente. This led to a direct German invasion. In order to avoid Germany gaining access to valuable oil resources, Romania, with the help of the British, destroyed almost all of its own oil industry. By 1917, Romania's oil production capacity had recovered to a third of what it had been in 1914.

After the end of World War I, Romania's oil industry flourished, and in 1923 there were 178 oil companies and 63 refineries, with a crude oil production capacity of 1.86 million tons. And in 1936. On the eve of World War II, the country produced 8.7 million tonnes of crude oil. And its Astra. The Romana refinery also became the premier refinery in Europe.

It is conceivable in the future. The 70-kilometre-long and 25-kilometre-wide Ploiesti region will be the focus of attention for both warring sides in World War II. Especially when Romania was forced to board the German tank, it became a thorn in the side of Britain and the Soviet Union!

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Churchill eagerly asked the Chief of Staff of the Royal Air Force, Charles Murphy. Viscount Portal: "Regarding the air strikes on the Romanian oil fields, when will we make substantial progress!" ”

The old smoker's judgment is quite clever, he knows it well. Fuel was a key factor in Germany's efforts to keep the war going. Germany has no oil resources of its own, and relies on Romania for most of its crude oil.

In fact, long before the outbreak of the war, the British did everything to prevent the oil fields of Romania from falling into the hands of the Germans. In 1939, Britain and France provided economic and military aid to the Romanian government, thus suppressing the rising nationalism in Romania and the increasingly fierce calls for foreign capital to withdraw from oil exploration in the country.

At the time, Chamberlain and Daladier thought that through monetary bribery and military support, Romania would no longer fear the rapid Nazification of Germany. Thus obediently following their baton.

But what these two did not expect was that Romania at that time was not afraid of Nazi Germany, on the contrary, Romania, which was rampant in nationalism, had a good impression of the Nazi system. It was the Soviet Union in the east that really caught the Romanians on pins and needles, which was pressuring the Romanian government to return the territories that had been part of Tsarist Russia (Bessarabia, or Moldova), which had been acquired from the last world war.

The pressure of the Soviet Union virtually neutralized the efforts of Britain and France, and the Romanians had to move closer to Germany under the strong pressure of the million-strong Soviet Red Army, and with the rapid fascism of Romania, the Western European forces, led by the British, were soon squeezed out of the Romanian oil industry.

With the "help" of the Soviet Union, Hitler was able to gain access to Romania's oil fields without bloodshed, and this time the mustache did not have to worry about the Romanians destroying their own oil fields as they did in the last world war.

The British, who lost their wives and soldiers, whimsically tried to persuade the Romanians to destroy their oil industry, for which they were willing to "generously" pay 60 million dollars as compensation. Of course, Romania scoffs at this.

After that, Britain still did not give up, and tried to send spies to infiltrate Romania to sabotage its oil facilities, but to the great shame of the British Empire, this plan was discovered by the Romanians before it was implemented, and the result was naturally fruitless.

After that, the British did not intend to send their air force to destroy the oil fields and refineries in Ploiesti, but unfortunately, the British did not have bombers with a long enough range, so they could only stare at Ploiesti...... (To be continued.) )