1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Check the landing gear."

"Start the engine, I want to listen to the engine sound."

"Where's the oil pump? Bring it over, the fuel is less than expected."

After Hu Feng's plane landed, more than a dozen ground crew rushed up to check the engine, landing gear, wings and other parts to see if there was any problem.

This plane is a monoplane, China's third combat medium-wing monoplane, internal number fz18.

The wingspan is 9 meters, the length is 4 meters, and the height is 6 meters. The fuselage skin and the main internal structure are made of metal, mainly aluminum alloy, and some other alloys.

This is the world's first aircraft with an all-metal layout. Of course, the cost and weight are not comparable to those wooden planes in Europe.

The empty weight of the aircraft is 1060 kg, the maximum take-off weight is 1600 kg, and it uses an air-cooled nine-cylinder radial engine with a maximum power of 280 horsepower and a maximum level flight speed of 296 kilometers per hour.

The fastest plane in World War I was the British SE5 fighter, which had a maximum speed of 222 kilometers per hour after replacing the engine, but it was not put into service until 1917.

If the two sides met, the difference in maximum speed of dozens of kilometers could easily determine the outcome of the battle. Moreover, the all-metal body could withstand a greater load, which means it could perform a large-angle dive.

Pull up and hover to store energy, start diving after discovering the enemy, and pull up again after a wave of attacks. This was the way fighters fought in World War II.

As for dogfighting? That was something that was considered after being bitten after a dive. Why were the Americans beaten to a pulp by the Zero fighter in the early stage? Because the Zero fighter was fast enough, it would run away after hitting, and the Americans could not catch up.

In fighter combat since World War II, the importance of dogfighting has been compromised compared to World War I. Who can retain more energy has become the key to determining the outcome of the battle.

"Can this plane carry torpedoes?" Liu Yiming looked at the people busy on the deck.

"Yes, but we can only bring special air-dropped torpedoes, and they cannot be thrown too high. The power of the torpedoes is not great, and they can only deal with light cruisers at most."

"But I believe that with the development of technology, we can carry larger and larger torpedoes, and then we can sink even battleships."

Yang Boning answered on the side.

"Not powerful?" Liu Yiming looked at him and motioned for him to explain the reason.

"Standard naval torpedoes cannot be carried by aircraft. We temporarily do not have better aircraft, so we can only work on torpedoes."

"At first, we wanted to use 450mm light torpedoes, which weigh 800 kilograms. After the aircraft takes off, the speed is very slow and it is very difficult to operate. When it is close to the sea surface, the wind is even more chaotic and it is impossible to aim."

"Finally, we had to use 450kg 381mm torpedoes for experiments. This time, it is much easier to operate, and the hit rate can be increased to 60% when attacking slow-moving fixed targets."

"However, the charge of this torpedo is less than 100 kilograms. When attacking large warships, it will be insufficient."

Yang Boning was a little regretful. He still preferred the big stuff on his torpedo boat, which started at 533mm. The largest one was even 600mm and weighed two and a half tons. One shot could kill a 10,000-ton cruiser.

At present, warships of various countries do not pay much attention to underwater defense. At least the current ships look very comfortable. There will not be a big bulge below the waterline like the warships in World War II, which is used to prevent torpedoes.

The scientific name of that thing is anti-torpedo bubble, which was born out of the brilliant record of German submarines and was widely used by various countries after World War I.

It is precisely because of this that, except for some warships with particularly bad luck during World War II, the rest of the large warships can basically withstand a few torpedoes and maintain their mobility.

Just like Yamato Musashi, one sank after taking 7 bombs and 10 torpedoes, and the other sank after taking 17 bombs, 20 near misses, and 19 torpedoes.

During World War I, the British pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Formidable tilted 20 degrees in 20 minutes after taking only one torpedo. After that, the German army added the second one and sank.

Torpedo attacks on warships are fatal, so after the end of World War I, countries were frantically looking for underwater defense methods, giving birth to many strange designs, and anti-torpedo bubbles are one of the few useful and normal designs.

"I remember that we don't have 381mm torpedoes. The smallest caliber should be the 457mm torpedo before the Southwest War, which is an old item from 20 years ago." Liu Yiming was curious about where the torpedo came from.

Weapon development is not that simple. This aircraft has only been in service for a year, and the remaining time is not enough to develop a suitable new torpedo.

"Your Majesty, your memory is really good. Even Chief of Staff Gu can't remember the 457mm torpedo in the warehouse. It was a British product removed from the Jiaolong-class armored cruiser." Yang Boning flattered Liu Yiming by the way.

"This 381mm torpedo is also imported, but not by us. It was obtained by Beiyang from the Russians after the Qing-Japanese War."

"I only found out later that at that time, the whole world imposed an embargo on the Qing Empire, except for us. Lord Li also flirted with the Russians and imported a batch of 381mm torpedoes and matching launch tubes at a high price."

"I heard from General Deng that this batch of torpedo launch tubes were dismantled from the ships of the Tsarist Russian fleet, but it was not until the end of the war that the Russians delivered the launch tubes, and the torpedoes were delayed for another half a year."

Yang Boning glanced at his watch and the sky while speaking.

"This... is older than the 457mm torpedoes in the warehouse? Is it suitable for use?" Liu Yiming didn't know what to say. Those torpedoes probably didn't even have gyroscopes, right?

"It's really too old. There's no gyroscope. It still uses the old-fashioned steam propulsion. It can't be used directly."

"I went to many factories to modify it to the point where it can be used."

When Yang Boning said this, some resentment appeared on his face.

Aircraft carriers are actually not very popular in the navy. Although everyone knows that this kind of warship is useful, it is indeed not the world of aircraft carriers at this time.

When the aircraft carrier began to be designed, according to Liu Yiming's intention, the standard of the main battleship was made, and everything was verified very rigorously. For this purpose, a transport ship that was about to be scrapped was also modified.

In the final stage of the experiment, it was declared that the aircraft carrier is a warship with a promising future, but at present, it has no other use except reconnaissance.

In the sky battles in Europe, hundreds of aircraft are involved. Even if the dozens of aircraft carried by the aircraft carrier are powerful, they cannot cope with the large number of shore-based aircraft, so the function of attacking the shore is rejected.

As for the attack on the ship, facing the high-speed warships, the hit rate of the aircraft's airdropped torpedoes is very low, and the warships generally have a large number of machine guns and machine guns, and the safety of the aircraft itself is difficult to guarantee.

Even with a full metal layout, it can't stop bullets.

Finally, the Navy Design Bureau positioned the aircraft carrier for fleet reconnaissance and anti-submarine, and the sideline is to carry out torpedo attacks.

This ship was incorporated into the reconnaissance fleet when it was built. After it was built, because the reconnaissance fleet was a fast warship with a speed of more than 30 knots, this ship failed to meet the design indicators and was not needed.

Moreover, the reconnaissance of the aircraft carrier relies on aircraft, and most of the warships in the formation are responsible for protecting the aircraft carrier. It is a bit wasteful to use warships with a speed of more than 30 knots to undertake this task.

It seems a bit out of place to be incorporated into the main fleet, and the main fleet can't play with aircraft carriers.

Moreover, the aircraft carrier needs to bring a supply ship, and the matching high-speed supply ship only exists on the desk of the design bureau. The supply consumption of the aircraft carrier is large, and incorporating it into the main fleet will only reduce the self-sustaining power of the main fleet.

Therefore, the navy formed a separate fleet for the aircraft carrier, and planned to equip it with a cruiser, a destroyer fleet and six destroyers to protect the aircraft carrier, but it is not yet fully equipped.

Then, the aircraft carrier was thrown to Yang Boning, on the grounds that the aircraft carrier is to play with torpedoes, and Yang Boning is also to play with torpedoes. Yang Boning is experienced and suitable for this.

Yang Boning refused at first. He played fast warships, some destroyers and those fast torpedo boats of 40 or even 50 knots. The range is mainly around various military ports. Where has the near-shore navy played with 10,000-ton warships?

However, because he really likes to play big, Yang Boning finally took over this burden.

Then, he found that this was a mistake.

Aircraft are used to drop torpedoes, but the navy only assigned aircraft, not matching torpedoes, because the manufacture of torpedoes requires the opening of a new production line, and whoever uses it pays for it.

The torpedo boat unit does have money, but the design and manufacture of torpedoes is not something that can be done overnight. During this blank period, Yang Boning can only use the old torpedoes to make some changes.

"The problem of torpedoes must be solved, otherwise what is the difference between having a gun but no bullets? If there is a shortage of money, I will ask the Ministry of Finance to give a research and development fund, in name... to update the old torpedoes."

Liu Yiming knew the general reason as soon as he heard it. The navy was reluctant to spend money and wanted military funds everywhere. A torpedo that can only be used by aircraft is meaningless and expensive.

The money of the torpedo boat unit is the military funds allocated, which is not much compared to the main fleet. It can't buy many even if you squeeze out a little like squeezing toothpaste.

Aircraft airdrop torpedo training, even if it uses training torpedoes, will not consume less. After all, airdrops are more intense, which is different from the gentle launch of the launch tube.

"Hey? Is it taking off?" Liu Yiming saw that everyone on the deck had dispersed and looked at the plane curiously.

"Next is the take-off show." Yang Boning nodded on the side.

"What's next? Bringing torpedoes, are you going to shoot targets?" Liu Yiming saw the torpedo hanging under the plane and asked.

"Formation take-off and landing, then formation live-fire shooting training, the target ship is already in place." Yang Boning nodded.

Buzz buzz buzz! !

Liu Yiming wanted to ask something else, but the plane made a huge engine roar on the spot, then slowly glided, accelerating on the deck, until it reached the front of the ship, and then took off clumsily.