"Air combat? That's a bit of a stretch. ”

Hearing this unfamiliar and familiar word, Jiang Baili's pupils shrank, and there was an inexplicable expression on his face: "If I'm not wrong, there is an aviation school in Nanyuan, Beijing, and I did something amazing a few months ago." ”

Cheng Nuo sneered: "Bombed the imperial city, of course it's amazing, I heard that a total of three bombs were dropped, one fell outside the Longzong Gate, injuring a palanquin man; One fell into the pool of the Imperial Garden, destroying it; The last one fell on the eaves of Longfu Gate on West Chang'an Street.

The remnants of the Qing court were frightened, and after this battle, the arrogance of the restoration was beaten down a lot, and it is estimated that they will have to live in peace for a while. ”

In the days when Cheng Nuo and them left Beijing, the pigtail army led by Zhang Xun was restored, and Duan Qirui, as the commander-in-chief of the rebel army, specially arranged for the then Nanyuan Aviation School to rebel in order to look good in action.

In order to further enhance the propaganda effect, Qin Guoyong specially arranged for Qin Guoyong to distribute leaflets "Down with Zhang Xun and Oppose Restoration" over the Forbidden City, and dropped three small bombs by the way, achieving unexpected results.

Being in Beijing, it is impossible for Jiang Baili not to know about this matter, even more detailed than Cheng Nuo, an outsider, and he is noncommittal about these words.

"As far as I know, the journey of Nanyuan Aviation School has not been smooth, the 'pigeon' monoplane bought at the beginning was also donated by overseas Chinese, and the later spent hundreds of thousands of silver dollars to buy small-horsepower aircraft. Because of the shortage of funds, from the first year of the Republic of China to the present, only one or two students have been recruited.

If the government is still like this, it will not be easy for you and me to do this on our own. ”

"Is there a possibility that it is because of the public that things have become so difficult?" In the face of these worries, Cheng Nuo calmly responded and put forward another angle: "How can we support the development of the domestic aviation industry if we pass the buck to each other in terms of funding and retreat in case of trouble?" ”

Jiang Baili instinctively wanted to refute, but when he thought of his own situation, it happened to confirm the other party's words, and the words turned into a sigh on his lips: "Before returning to China, I naively thought that 'soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty, and soldiers don't care about politics'.

As long as you do your own thing, you will naturally not be too embarrassed to do things in the public, and now in retrospect, you can't get around the word 'fame and fortune'. ”

Cheng Nuo smiled: "Although the European war has not yet ended, the war situation is gradually becoming clear. I believe that if a world-class war breaks out again, then the war of the future will be a general war, and the enormous power of aviation weapons can bring a devastating blow to the enemy country.

The air battlefield has become a decisive battlefield, and the seizure and control of air supremacy is a prerequisite for winning the war, and in order to achieve this, an independent air force must be established.

In other words, in the future, the role of air supremacy will become more and more important, and it will not be a dream to destroy enemy posts thousands of miles away in an instant. ”

"Air supremacy!?" Jiang Baili's expression tightened, and he recited these three words repeatedly, and the more he reminisced, the richer the expression on his face became: "Can Zhiyuan elaborate?" ”

"The aircraft, by virtue of its own performance, enjoys full freedom in the direction of action, and it can fly back and forth in a straight line to any convenient route in the shortest possible time, which makes all factors that have traditionally prescribed and influenced the characteristics of warfare seem powerless against activities in the air."

As he spoke, Cheng Nuo took a piece of paper from the table, folded it into a paper airplane, and simulated a flight in the air: "The plane can appear inside and outside the battlefield, can attack and destroy all targets on the ground and at sea, and carry out strategic bombing of the enemy's cities, which can quickly and completely disintegrate the residents, morale and social structure there." ”

With his experience in the army and his wealth in military theory, Cheng Nuo's theory of air supremacy was quickly absorbed by Jiang Baili, and he was able to make a difference: "That is to say, safe and peaceful living areas no longer exist, and combat is no longer limited to actual combatants."

On the contrary, the battlefield has expanded to cover the entire territory of the belligerents, and there is no longer a distinction between the front and the rear. ”

Cheng Nuo smiled and nodded, picked up the plane in his hand and sighed on his lips, and then threw it out: "The future war has not only changed from a plane to a three-dimensional nature, but also has really become an overall nature. Because of the presence of aircraft, the traditional sense of safety zone will no longer be safe. ”

Hearing this, Jiang Baili couldn't help but gasp, the plane that had just been thrown out happened to turn around and returned to his hand, looking at this paper airplane, although his hand was light and fluttering, he felt heavier than Wan Jun in his heart, and muttered in his mouth:

"Don't talk about the Air Force, the current public navy is not yet systematic, and the road ahead is not easy."

The chaotic future is not terrifying, but the powerlessness of knowing the direction of the future and not being able to reach it is really uncomfortable.

Cheng Nuo knew this, but he didn't rush to criticize it at the moment, but took another piece of paper and refolded the plane: "Under certain conditions, an independent air force can win the war, and thanks to the huge combat radius, it can even complete the war mission independently."

Imagine that when your army has not yet moved, our planes will blow up your fuel depot and ammunition depot, and no matter how powerful the steel barrier is, you have to lie down in advance, what do you use to fight me on the battlefield, do you use crowd tactics, and how long can you hold out in the absence of military supplies? ”

Seeing another brand-new plane appear in front of him, Jiang Baili said seriously: "Then I can understand that Zhiyuan, you think that the key to air combat and victory in the war is to master air supremacy?" ”

Cheng Nuo smiled and nodded: "Your understanding is no problem, air supremacy is for the core of the war." ”

"So important, then what is air supremacy?" Jiang Baili asked.

"It's a posture that prevents the enemy from flying while keeping itself flying." Cheng Nuo did not hide it, and told the other party the concept of air supremacy clearly and clearly: "If it is extreme, winning air supremacy is victory, and being defeated in the air is defeat." ”

Jiang Baili stopped talking, picked up the plane and pointed at it in disbelief: "This is a bit too much, isn't it?" ”

"It's a bit extreme, but if you think about it, it makes sense." Cheng Nuo smiled and shook his head: "The side that gains air supremacy will be able to cut off the enemy's army and navy from its operational base, so that it will lose the opportunity to win, and at the same time, it can protect its own army and navy to fight smoothly, and the residents can carry out safe production in accordance with the order of peacetime."

The side that loses air supremacy will have to fight with a huge disparity in forces, the army and navy will fight in a situation where bases and lines of communication are constantly attacked and threatened, and rear cities and production centers will be bombed, affecting the production of material materials and military industry. ”

After saying this, Cheng Nuo picked up the second paper airplane and released it, went straight behind Jiang Baili, put away his smile and said seriously: "Judging from all prospects, unless there is a great advantage in weapons and resources, the fighting spirit of the country controlled by the sky will inevitably be greatly negatively affected by the land struggle alone. ”

Jiang Baili thought thoughtfully: "Then as far as you are concerned, how can you seize air supremacy?" ”

"Simple, it's strategically active offensive action." Cheng Nuo got up and picked up the plane, holding one in each hand to make a fighting shape in the air, while doing various tactical movements, he explained: "In essence, the plane is an offensive weapon, not a defensive weapon.

Aircraft are not constrained from the ground, have great speed, and are agile and maneuverable on the attacking side, capable of striking at any enemy assembly area or supply line of their choice. ”

Jiang Baili was puzzled: "Offense and defense are not in conflict, what if I have to focus on defense?" ”

"Then you will fall into great passivity." Cheng Nuo stopped the flight tactical action in his hand and put one of them on the table to display: "The scale of the airfield is often relatively large, and in order to protect him, it is necessary to use a larger force for defense than for attack. ”

Jiang Baili asked, "If you were a military commander, what would you do?" ”

Cheng Nuo's eyes flashed with fierceness: "Soldier, treacherous." The example of Song Xianggong is vividly placed in front of us, and the real war cannot tolerate pedantic. If it were me, I would have quickly destroyed all the combat aircraft and production centers of the Dai army with lightning speed! ”

The style switched too quickly, Jiang Baili was taken aback by this formation, and asked again driven by curiosity: "What if you seize air supremacy, what will you continue to do?" ”

Cheng Nuo calmly replied: "Then naturally carry out surgical-like precision strikes around major local targets such as infrastructure, arsenals, and transportation arteries, causing psychological panic and mental breakdown among civilians. ”

After a set of theories of "Air Supremacy", the look of surprise on Jiang Baili's face became more and more intense, and in the end, he was even a little unbearable, fell into silence, and carefully recalled Cheng Nuo's words.

Of course, Cheng Nuo's theory is also mainly born from the theory of "air supremacy" by the Italian military strategist Du Hei, who believes that the air force is inevitably superior to the army and navy, and that it is necessary to seize air supremacy by means of surprise attack and preemptive strike to inflict huge material and psychological trauma on the enemy.

This theory was published after World War I and was widely used in World War II, reflecting the predictability and great influence of this theory.

Of course, from the perspective of later generations, this set of theories is too arbitrary and exaggerated, for example, he believes that as long as the continuous bombing of local central cities is enough, it is enough to destroy the will of the other side of the army and the people to fight.

What he did not expect, however, was that the indiscriminate bombing might arouse the unity of the entire people and the determination to support the government's resolute resistance. For example, during the Anti-Japanese War, air supremacy was always in the hands of the Japanese army, and the cities in the rear were bombed by Japanese planes.

But we did not give up the fight, but showed extraordinary courage and determination to fight to victory.

At the same time, throughout World War II, although the Air Force, as a branch of the Army and Navy, played a huge role, it was the Army's Big Brother that played a decisive role, not the Air Force.

Of course, from the overall content, the merits of this air supremacy theory are far greater than the exaggerated parts, so Cheng Nuo took it out at the right time.

It's just that he is only going to spread it in a small area, and he will not make it public.

After all, judging from the comparison of the industrial bases of China and Japan, the theory of "air supremacy" came out in advance and was perfected, which will only cheapen the little devils, and in the end it will be their own compatriots who will suffer. For the sake of fame, there is no need to do this.

I don't know how long it took, Jiang Baili finally came back to his senses, holding the paper airplane and looking left and right, he really didn't expect this small plane to make such a big wave in the future.

"Will the future war really be what you say?" After Jiang Baili finished asking, he answered by himself: "On our Jiaodong Peninsula, the German-Japanese war used aircraft, and presumably the situation of the future war is already clear. ”

Cheng Nuo sighed: "Although the Air Force is good, we don't. The lack of proper technology and industrial systems makes it impossible to provide technical support and equipment for these new armies. ”

Although our warlords are busy fighting each other at the moment, their weaponry and combat standards are basically above the world average.

Unfortunately, in 1919, Western countries began to impose an arms embargo on us, prohibiting the sale of most military equipment to China, including aircraft, artillery and even rifles, with the exception of pistols, so that in the 20s and 30s, the pistol units of various warlord forces in China were abnormally inflated.

Our own country is unable to manufacture weapons and equipment, and we cannot buy them from foreign markets, so that the reform of our armed forces has become "talk on paper."

It is impossible for Cheng Nuo not to know that this happened in history, but his subordinates also lacked military talents, so he hit the idea on Jiang Baili, a Confucian general.

was seduced by the above words, Jiang Baili's face could be described as gloomy: "Can we only watch the military aviation being surpassed by others step by step, I am really unwilling!" ”

The goal was achieved, and Cheng Nuo changed his expression: "I have a method, I don't know whether to talk about it or not." ”

"Hey, my good Zhiyuan, what else should not be said, if there is, hurry up." Jiang Baili, who was hanging his appetite, was impatient.

"The public can't do it, why don't we develop civil aviation first?" Cheng Nuo quickly organized the language and explained his theory: "The army is in the people, and the army and the people are integrated." In a sense, the development of civil aviation has great potential and practical value for military aviation.

With proper modification, civil aviation can be quickly converted into military use, which can save a lot of money for military aviation.

Organize a powerful civil aviation that can be immediately transformed into a powerful military aviation when needed, and reduce the former to a reserve force for training and command in peacetime! ”

Like the United States in later generations, national defense construction has always implemented the principle of combining production, education, and research, and has formed a layout of defense, science, and industry alliances.

At the same time, it is also in line with the industry-university-research policy set by Cheng Nuo for the Academy of Sciences at the beginning.