Hatred can get carried away, and so can Tukhachevsky, and the succession of unsatisfactory blows and blows that made the too-young Marshal of the Red Army a little annoyed.

Anger will make sane people make the most wrong choice, and Tukhachevsky was swayed by anger and made an absolutely wrong choice, and he decided to take revenge on Li Xiaofeng. Tukhachevsky's idea at that time was simple: "You Andrey. Didn't Petrovich want to get along with me, interfere with my right decisions, and make trouble for me? Well, I'm going to see who's afraid of whom, isn't it just troublemaking? Who wouldn't! ”

If Tukhachevsky is determined to raise the bar and make trouble with Li Xiaofeng, it will not be ordinarily destructive. For example, continuing the previous topic on the construction of aviation, Tukhachevsky, out of consideration for maintaining the status of the big brother of the army and the actual needs, strongly proposed to give priority to the development of front-line aviation.

To put it bluntly, it is an aviation unit that is mainly used to carry out close support tasks and battlefield interdiction missions on the battlefield. In terms of specific types of aircraft, that is, the focus is on the development of attack aircraft and light bombers.

If the main body of the Red Army Air Force is placed on these tasks, then, firstly, this determines that the Air Force is to give the ground land, and secondly, it greatly limits the Air Force's strikes on the enemy's depth, to put it bluntly, the Air Force becomes a small short leg.

Look at how the U.S. Army Aviation became the U.S. Air Force, which was the previous Army Air that carried out excellent strategic strike missions in World War II, greatly destroying the strategic capabilities of the Axis powers. It is precisely because of the strong strategic lethality of the Army Aviation that the Air Force has gained an independent status.

And now, the Red Army Air Force is nominally on an equal footing with the big brother of the army. But in essence, at that time, no one felt that the status of the Air Force and the Army was really equal. There are quite a lot of people like Tukhachevsky who are ready to turn the Air Force into flying artillery. In this case. Brilliant air force generals such as Arksnis naturally have to fight hard to protect the legitimate rights and interests of their own services.

Moreover, judging from the later development trend, the development of an offensive strategic air force is in line with the trend of history, and Tukhachevsky's approach is too narrow.

This is the fundamental reason why Li Xiaofeng resolutely opposes Tukhachevsky's proposition; fundamentally speaking, Li Xiaofeng is upholding correct principles and is right about things and not about people. And Tukhachevsky, after suffering a setback, did not think about the essential reasons for his setback, but was very narrowly angry with a certain immortal, which I have to say is a pity.

So how is Tukhachevsky going to take revenge on Li Xiaofeng? Very simple. That is, if Li Xiaofeng supports him, he will oppose it, and if Li Xiaofeng opposes it, he will vigorously support it, which is commonly known as raising the bar.

The confrontation between the two began very quickly, and it was around the creation of long-range aviation. At that time, the TB-3 had just been put into service, and as the first bomber to apply the advanced structure of the all-metal semi-monocoque, the TB-3 was still very dazzling when it first appeared.

However, after leaving aside those dazzling flashiness, TB-3 is actually still a strong "turtle wind" in its bones, TB-3 uses an advanced all-metal semi-monocoque structure, but at the same time, it must be seen that this cargo is still a "wood" aircraft, in essence, this is still a gold-wood hybrid structure aircraft!

In terms of structural and material characteristics. TB-3 is really earthy, very Soviet. The massive use of "wood" aircraft was really the greatest feature of the Red Army Air Force in World War II. However, this characteristic is also a last resort, not that the Red Army likes this kind of "turtle style", but it is really the huge loss on the battlefield that makes the Red Army have to be turtles.

In fact, the Red Army applied light alloy materials very early, as can be seen from the TB-3, and for any aircraft, the relationship between the weight of the structure and the thrust is very important, and the thrust-to-weight ratio is, naturally, the greater the maneuverability. Especially for long-range aviation, it is extremely valuable to reduce the dead weight of the structure as much as possible and allocate the precious weight to the bomb load and fuel load.

Remember the previously mentioned Dnieper hydroelectric power plant? Why did the Soviet Union embark on the world's largest hydropower project? The reason is very simple, it is used for steelmaking and aluminum. The rapid fall of Ukraine also dealt a heavy blow to the Soviet Union's aluminum alloy industry, and the lack of supply of aviation aluminum was also an important reason why the Red Army had to use a mixed structure of gold and wood.

Of course, to say this is not to say that Tukhachevsky is against all-metal semi-monocoque construction, he is not really brain-dead, and aluminum alloy and steel have always been Trotsky's key projects, even if he is brain-dead, it is impossible for Xiaotu to oppose Trotsky, right?

So what is Xiaotu going to make a fuss about? In addition to reducing the weight of the structure, the fastest and easiest way to make an airplane fly faster, farther, higher, and more bomb-carrying is to increase the power of the engine.

In the twenties and thirties, in this period of great development of the aviation industry, the power was naturally changing with each passing day, and there was a debate in the mainstream aviation industry at that time about what power should be used in the aircraft.

Of course, it was not a debate about whether to use jet engines, at that time the jet engine project was just getting started, and it was far from practical. The key point of contention is whether the aircraft should be air-cooled or liquid-cooled. Specifically, it is whether to use a star engine, a V-engine, or an in-line engine.

To put it simply, the so-called star engine and V-type engine or in-line engine are essentially piston engines, all of which are powered by the movement of the piston in the cylinder. The so-called star, V, and in-line refer to the way the cylinders are arranged.

The cylinders of the star engine are arranged in a manner similar to that of a five-pointed star, with one cylinder arranged in each "corner". The cylinders of the V-shaped engine are arranged in two rows, and the cylinders have an angle like the letter V. As for the in-line engine, it is simple, with only one vertical exhaust cylinder.

In short, all three cylinder arrangements have disadvantages and advantages. For example, the star-shaped engine has a large frontal projection and a natural drag because the cylinder presents a "five-pointed star" shape, which is objectively unfavorable for increasing the flight speed. Therefore, you can see that the "body" of the fighter with the star engine is almost "cigar-shaped", which looks short, thick and fat, while the fighter with the V-type liquid-cooled engine has a more "slim" body. More streamlined.

This disadvantage is still morphological. The bigger disadvantage is that the radial engines can basically only be cooled by air. Because it is quite cumbersome to use liquid cooling for the star engine. Because of the cylinder layout, installing liquid cooling equipment for a star engine is definitely a big test for engine designers!

The advantages of the V-type engine are just the opposite of the star engine, because the cylinders are arranged in two rows, and the frontal projection is quite small, which makes the V-shaped or in-line engine can be arranged longitudinally along the fuselage of the aircraft, which can make the aircraft design simpler and more streamlined, and the resistance is naturally small, which is more conducive to high-speed flight.

Moreover, the V-shaped engine cylinders are arranged in two rows. And it's all lined up, making it much easier to lay out liquid cooling equipment. In short, radial engines are better suited for air cooling, while V-engines and in-line engines are more suitable for liquid cooling.

So is it better to be liquid-cooled or air-cooled? This is a matter of the wise and the wise. Anyway, there were a large number of people in the aviation industry who supported liquid cooling and air cooling back then, and the two sides were constantly talking about it.

The same was true in Soviet aviation, but basically there were slightly more in favor of liquid cooling. Why? Quite simply, the power potential of liquid-cooled engines is a little greater.

Let's put it this way, if you only need an engine under 1,000 horsepower, then it is more practical to use a star engine with air cooling. At this power density, the cylinder can generally withstand it without any cooling means. Although the star-shaped layout has a slightly larger windward area, it is easy to produce. Eliminating the dead weight of liquid cooling equipment is conducive to improving the power-to-weight ratio of the engine.

And the liquid-cooled engine also has a key problem, that is, once the liquid-cooled equipment is damaged due to failure or in battle, then the engine will soon strike due to overheating, and the aircraft will really be turned into bricks immediately.

The air-cooled engine is not worried about this, and it can be seen from the actual combat results of World War II that the air-cooled engine is indeed more durable and very solid. For example, a French MB.152 fighter using the Lorna 14N air-cooled engine of the Earth God was once dried 360 holes and flew back. Switching to a liquid-cooled engine, it is estimated that it is necessary to take a break.

For example, in the early days of the Soviet Union, the United States Wright Hurricane SGR1820-F-3 and the British Bristol Jupiter V1 engine, the Soviet Union's domestic code names were M-25 and M-22, these two are star engines. According to the reactions of Soviet pilots and aircrew, both engines were well evaluated, especially the M-25 against Hurricane Wright, which was quite high (you must know that the Soviet version of the M-25 was worse than the American original because of the substandard workmanship).

Now, according to the plan for the development of long-range aviation, a new four-engine heavy bomber and a twin-engine medium bomber will be developed, and these two bombers will be equipped with the same engine. According to the research of central fluid science, it is believed that whether it is a twin-engine medium bomber or a four-engine heavy bomber, a high-power engine is necessary to ensure sufficient speed, range and bomb load. It even states that the engine must be at least 1,000 horsepower, and that there is plenty of potential for upgrades in the future.

So could the industrial conditions of the USSR at that time be able to develop such a powerful engine? The answer is no!

Let's put it this way, the aforementioned copycat version of the M-25 has only 750 horsepower, and the M-22 has only a pitiful 480 horsepower, especially the M-25 is the best engine that the Soviet Union could get in 1933! The best M-25 is 250 horsepower short of the requirements, and this M-25 is to be used in large quantities for the I-16, and there is simply no spare capacity left for bombers.

As a result, the design work of the new bomber has reached a dead end at the beginning, and there is no power to publish it, what should I do?

Thanks to the economic crisis of 1929 and the coming to power of the aggressive Hitler, the introduction of foreign technology by the Soviet Union was much less hampered. For example, the United States, France, and Britain were willing to provide the Soviet Union with a full set of new engine technology. And at this time it was the turn of the Soviets to have a headache, and sometimes too many choices were also a problem. Who should you choose among the engines offered by these countries?

Anyway, after some selection and measurement, there were two opinions within the Soviet Union, one is based on the American and British technology that has been introduced, and develop a high-power engine in the country, although it will take a long time, but first of all, whether it is a twin-engine or a four-engine bomber, the demand is not so urgent, and there is no need to waste money on foreign exchange.

And another opinion is. Domestic technology is still too thin. Based on existing technology. God knows how long it will take to make a high-power engine for publication, and if the development does not go well, isn't it a waste of precious time?

This opinion is held by Li Xiaofeng and the veteran aircraft designer Polikarpov. The two agreed that they must walk on two legs, and it is okay to engage in self-research in China, but they can't put all the treasures on it. Moreover, based on the experience of the middle and late stages of World War II, Li Xiaofeng believes that air-cooled engines are powerless in the pursuit of higher altitudes and speeds. He believes that it is necessary to introduce an advanced water-cooled engine as a technical reserve.

Specifically, Li Xiaofeng based on Polikarpov's construction. I fell in love with Hispano in France. Susa 12Y liquid-cooled engine, because Polikarpov really appreciates this water-cooled engine. As for Lao Bo's construction, Li Xiaofeng still attaches great importance to it.

However, as soon as this proposal was put forward in the Military Commission, it was resolutely opposed by Tukhachevsky: "What is the point of introducing the French 12Ybrs engine? The power of this engine is only 760 horsepower, which has no advantage over the M-25, since there is no advantage at all, why introduce such a useless engine? This is a waste of precious foreign exchange! ”

Is Tukhachevsky right, just from the point of view of power, the 12Ybrs engine really looks like a chicken rib, the 760 hp engine turned out to "weigh" 470 kg. Both the power and the weight seem excessive. Objectively speaking. It really had no practical significance for the Red Army.

But the problem is that Li Xiaofeng and Polikarpov are not interested in the practical significance of the 12Ybrs engine. It's about the technical sense. Water-cooled engines naturally have advantages over air-cooled engines in the field of high altitude and high speed, and the development potential of 12Ybrs engines is still relatively large, and the introduction of 12Ybrs engines is just a stepping stone!

In fact, what Li Xiaofeng really wanted was the 12Ycrs engine, which was an improved version of the 12Ybrs engine, and the power was increased to 960 horsepower, but the stingy and shrewd French were unwilling to sell the 12Ycrs engine directly, but asked for a package for sale, and the Soviet Union had to buy a part of the finished 12Ybrs engine before selling the 12Ycrs engine and the technology of the land god - Rhone 14.

In fact, the French have always been so petty in the arms business, and in the thirties, the Soviet Union was originally preparing to import a full set of destroyers and related artillery and fire control equipment from France. But the French insisted on a high price, and in the end forced the Red Navy to cooperate with Italy, which offered a lower price.

In the 21st century, when the French sold Leclerc tanks all over the world, Saudi Arabia, a big dog, had already taken a fancy to it, and during the negotiations, Saudi Arabia asked to use part of the AMX30 tanks purchased from France to offset part of the payment, but the proud French chose to flatly refuse, and as a result, a large order of hundreds of tanks was lost.

All in all, the French are really doing business because of small losses, which makes Li Xiaofeng quite speechless, buying a 12Ybrs engine is really a pain, but if you don't buy it, you can't get the technology of the 12Ycrs engine. After struggling for a while, Li Xiaofeng chose to grit his teeth and admit it, buy it, anyway, the 12Ybrs engine is always stronger than the current Mikulin V-type engine (AM-34) at this time, the maximum power of the goods now barely reaches 750 horsepower, but the weight has reached an astonishing 765 kg (including cooling equipment), it is really Yan zhòng overweight, and due to the unreasonable design of the liquid cooling system and the technical bottleneck, the reliability of the guide is outrageous. It's always okay to use a 12Ycrs engine to top it for the time being, right? It can also be regarded as giving Mikulin to improve the AM-34 and buy time for the AM-35.

However, Tukhachevsky did not admit it, and did not let go: "The Mikulin engine has only encountered a little technical problem, I believe that the Mikulin Design Bureau will soon be able to solve this problem, in the field of liquid-cooled engines, we do not need to introduce French technology at all, we should be based on our own country!" ”

This made Li Xiaofeng speechless, if Mikulin can solve the problem of overweight and reliability of the AM-34 in a short time, will he introduce the 12Ycrs engine? And the technology of introducing the 12Ycrs engine can also be used for the technical improvement of the AM-34? I believe that with Mikulin's skills, after seeing the new foreign technology, he will definitely be inspired, and he will be able to turn the egg-hurting AM-34 into a series of AM families that are easy to use as soon as possible.

And the French not only sell 12Ycrs engine technology, as long as the introduction of 12Ybrs engine and 12Ycrs engine, they can also sell the land god - Rhône 14 engine technology. It is important to know that in history, both the 12Ycrs engine and the LandGod-Rhône-14 engine played a huge role in the Great Patriotic War, and the M-105 engine used in the Lag-3, Yak-1, 3, 7, and 9 series was developed on the basis of the 12Ycrs technology, and the Soviet development models M-71, 87, 88, and 90 of the LandGod-Rhône-14K are also widely used.

It can be said that these two engines included almost half of the engines of the Great Patriotic War in the USSR, and in the long run, most of the engines can be solved at once, and it is completely worth buying a part of the 12Ybrs engine.

But Tukhachevsky said: "No! It just doesn't work! This is duplicate construction, this is a waste of resources, with Mikulin's AM-34, the 12Ybrs engine is not needed at all! I am firmly against it, and I am against it to the end! ”

The reason is very simple, not only Tukhachevsky is opposed, but also Stalin's little friend Ordzhonikidze, who is strongly opposed to it, and at this time, as the People's Commissar of the Soviet Aviation Industry, he also strongly opposed the introduction of French engines, and even he not only opposed the introduction of French engines, but also strongly opposed the task of handing over the design of the new bomber to Tupolev!

At this time, Li Xiaofeng was very embarrassed, the Trotskyists and Stalin were strongly opposed, and it was very difficult to do things. (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you Comrade Bridge and Comrade Juventus!