"Liu Pengfei, you must live up to your name this time." Dong Shuheng looked at the movement demonstration of the airship and said to Liu Pengfei beside him.
"Yes, President, I will definitely live up to your expectations." Liu Peng said seriously.
"Okay, this is the first mission of your airship unit. It can also be regarded as the first military operation of our air force."
"From now on, what we call the officers and soldiers of the three armies no longer refers to the left, center, right, front, center and rear in the original sense, but refers to the three armies of the sea, land and air force."
"Do you know what this means?"
Liu Pengfei naturally knows what this means. From now on, Liu Pengfei will be the commander-in-chief of the air force. That is as famous as the commander-in-chief of the army and navy.
In the past, they only served as underlings for the Army and Navy, serving as their eyes.
At that time, the hot air balloon unit did not even have an independent designation.
Seeing that his friends who were soldiers with him all became regiment commanders or even division commanders.
When his comrades gathered together, Liu Pengfei could only feel envious.
His comrades mostly expressed comfort and sympathy to him.
But things are different now. The Air Force finally has its own designation.
As Dong Shuheng said, Only when your ability is great enough can you obtain a matching status and be recognized by others.
Therefore, Liu Pengfei is very motivated now, and so is the entire flying brigade.
They are eager to join a war to prove themselves.
"President, I understand that we will definitely complete this mission, please rest assured."
Dong Shuheng is planning to send his flying brigade to the Indian battlefield this time.
The terrain on the battlefield there is dominated by plains and low hills.
Very suitable for airship troop operations.
"President, our Air Force Command has arranged relay stations along the way in advance. We will be able to reach the subcontinent in just ten days," Liu Pengfei said.
This is the first time that the airship unit has carried out a long-distance combat mission, and Dong Shuheng attaches great importance to it.
The newly established Air Force Command was also fully prepared.
The newly formed headquarters was small.
The entire air force has only five airships and one brigade of them.
But there are a lot of ground staff. This time for the subcontinent, they plan to go southwest from Xinjing and cross the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
The high mountains in the southwest are the biggest challenge for airships.
An airship may not be able to climb a mountain that is too high, so it is important to choose a route.
Each relay station is like an airport, allowing airships to dock and perform inspection and maintenance.
This is both a combat mission and a test of the airship's performance.
"Well, Pengfei, you have to remember that this time, combat is not your main task. Testing the performance of the airship is the most important. Safety first in everything." Dong Shuheng warned.
"Yes, President, Pengfei will definitely bring all the airships back safely."
Dong Shuheng knew that this battle with Daying was the most critical.
If this battle is won, there may be no war for a long time in the future. But if it loses, the Renaissance Army must continue to fight against the Great Army.
Perhaps the battlefield has retreated to the Nanyang region.
The loser has no right to choose when to stop the war.
Dong Shuheng left the airship base in Xishan and immediately took the train south to Hankou.
The railway from Xinjing to Hankou has been opened to traffic. This is the second north-south line.
Dong Shuheng was not here for inspection, and even the local officials did not know that he was here.
Dong Shuheng went directly to the secret shipyard.
When Dong Shuheng arrived here, more than a dozen transport ships and four Jianghe-class frigates were docked at the dock of the artificial lake.
And there are twenty black "big barrels" neatly arranged on the pier.
This is the first submarine detachment of the Renaissance Army.
They will be towed by transport ships to Ceylon Island to participate in the joint operations of the Indian Ocean Fleet.
This time the scale of the navy was much larger than the Renaissance Army had imagined.
The most critical thing is that Dong Shuheng doesn't know the performance of the opponent's armored ship.
Therefore, no one is sure whether the Indian Ocean Fleet can defeat the Great Navy.
Perhaps only Commander Bao Youzhi of the Indian Ocean Combined Fleet is the most confident.
In order to unify the command authority, the command of the combined fleet was unified into the hands of Bao Youzhi.
Du Hang was temporarily based in Singapore, coordinating and commanding the navies of each vassal country to form a second line of defense.
Dong Shuheng added some new warships from the shipyard to the First Fleet.
In this way, Du Hang had a little bit of troops to mobilize.
However, his mission is also simple, just to protect the safety of the strait.
Bao Youzhi gathered almost all the main forces of the Renaissance Army Navy in his hands, a total of eight destroyers, sixteen frigates, and a torpedo boat detachment.
This made Bao Youzhi full of confidence. Although the tonnage of Da Ying's fleet was larger.
Bao Youzhi did not take it seriously. The Donghua Fleet only had a few capital ships and defeated the Daying Navy.
The Donghua Fleet is also the younger brother of the Fuxing Army.
Therefore, Bao Youzhijue will definitely be able to defeat the Dayu Navy.
For a general leading an army, having such an emotion is actually not a good thing.
It is precisely the kind of preconceived understanding brought by the Donghua Fleet.
In Bao Youzhi's eyes, he underestimated the four giant-level quasi-battleships in the Dayu fleet.
Bao Youzhi was still superstitious about the great role of torpedoes.
You must know that any weapon will have its shortcomings.
At the beginning, the enemy will suffer a loss because they don't understand.
But the enemy is not a stick. When they suffer a loss, they will naturally think of solutions.
If you think that your enemies are stupid and don't come up with a way to break the situation quickly, then failure is not far away.
On the pier, standing next to Dong Shuheng was Deng Bolin, the head of the submarine laboratory.
This dark-skinned, middle-aged naval architect looks more like a welder.
In fact, Deng Bolin is not only an engineer, he is also a proficient welder and fitter, and his hands-on ability is comparable to that of a master craftsman.
Because of this, none of the skilled workers in the shipyard were dissatisfied with him.
Many of the things he makes are made by himself, so he can better control the performance of the things.
"Old Deng, do you really want to go there by yourself this time? You are the chief technical officer. If something goes wrong, the loss will be greater than that of the entire submarine detachment."
"President, I don't want to cause you any trouble, but this is the first actual combat test of our submarine. What tricks can others see in the past?"
"This is related to the improvement of our submarines in the future. So I have to go. This kind of actual combat test is of great significance to our future improvement of submarines."
"Okay, but Lao Deng, I have a request. During actual combat, you must not get on the boat."
"This...how do I get first-hand information about this?"
"I don't care, unless you train a submarine engineer who is more capable than you."
"I won't warn you anymore. I will give orders directly to Guo Yan. He is the military commander, and you must obey him on the battlefield."
Deng Bolin looked helpless on the surface, but in his heart he was already thinking about how to deal with Guo Yan.
These submarine officers and soldiers are actually his students.
While training, they also need to understand the structural principles of submarines and even be able to repair and maintain submarines themselves.
Deng Gong personally taught them many courses.
Chinese people respect their teachers the most. Deng Bolin believed that when the time came, he would only have to use some small means, so little Guo Yan would have to submit obediently.
When Cao Cao arrived, Guo Yan, wearing a white navy uniform, ran over.
He is not tall, but his face is very handsome.
Slender cheeks, thick and thick eyebrows, eyes with single eyelids, slightly raised eye corners, high nose bridge, and full lips.
I don’t know how many girls it will charm if I release it.
"Hello, President." Guo Yan saluted in front of Dong Shuheng with a look of admiration.
They, the children who came out of the Youth Military Academy, were the most loyal to Dong Shuheng.
It was Dong Shuheng who saved them and established a military academy to train them into talents.
Many of those children have already entered the workforce and are thriving in all walks of life.
Although they graduated from the Youth Military Academy, not all of them went to serve as soldiers.
After children in the Junior Military Academy enter senior grades, they will be divided into different classes based on their specialties and hobbies.
They will enter social academies to study.
Of course, there are also some children who do not have high qualifications and go directly to factories to become apprentices or enter work-study technical schools.
There are also some children who are determined to be soldiers, but they can't get into the military school, so they will directly become soldiers when they reach adulthood.
Guo Yan is naturally the best among all the children, and his grades have always been among the best.
"Long time no see, Guo Yan, he has become stronger and more handsome." Dong Shuheng said with a smile. Many of these children are actually a few years younger than Dong Shuheng. But Dong Shuheng regards them as his own children.
Dong Shuheng will also feel happy watching them grow and become talented.
Being praised like this by Dong Shuheng, Guo Yan was a little shy.
"Where is your sister now?" There was nothing going on at this time, and Dong Shuheng had time to chat with Guo Yan.
"My sister is still studying in nursing school. She will work in a hospital after graduation." Guo Yan replied.
"Is it that nursing school that Mrs. Nightingale founded?"
Nightingale was abducted to the mainland by Liu Qingnan. In order to help his old brother, Dong Shuheng specially approved her to establish a nursing school.
After realizing her life dream, Ms. Nightingale was finally willing to accept Liu Qingnan's proposal, and the two became a couple.
But now Ms. Nightingale has followed Liu Qingnan to Canada.
She is now building a new nursing school in Jincheng.
She also founded the Amelia Red Cross Ambulance Corps.
On the battlefield in Kansas, this ambulance team saved the lives of many soldiers on both sides.
This selfless act earned them the respect of everyone.
So much so that whenever the Red Cross flag appears on the battlefield, soldiers on both sides will automatically cease fire and send greetings to them.
Even the most cruel people dare not attack the rescue team. Otherwise, they will suffer the wrath of everyone.
These things gave Lady Nightingale a high reputation.
As a result, Liu Qingnan kept a lower profile, fearing that he would affect his wife's reputation.
Liu Qingnan originally had the title of Butcher Liu.
…
"Um, yes, President."
"Yes, you two brothers and sisters are both excellent."
At this time, Deng Gong on the side became impatient: "President, let's go there. Guo Yan comes over. Everything must be ready over there."
"Yes, President, teacher, the first submarine detachment is ready and ready for inspection at any time." Guo Yan stood at attention and reported.
"Okay, let's go."
Under the guidance of Guo Yan, Dong Shuheng walked towards the dock where the submarine docked.
"Deng Gong, this time our submarine still needs to be towed by a transport ship, but my ideal submarine is one that can sail freely in the sea."
On the way, Dong Shuheng told Deng Gong and Guo Yan his thoughts.
"President, this is necessary, otherwise our submarines will never be able to become the main force. But in order to do this, we must make the submarine bigger so that it can carry enough fuel and the performance of our diesel engines will also exist."
some problems."
"Today's diesel engines have a high failure rate after working for a long time. After long-distance sailing, the submarine is likely to lie down on the sea." Deng Gong knew the problems with his submarine best.
"Deng Gong, our diesel engines have been improving. Now the navy is not only using diesel engines for you, but also for torpedo boats. The more they are used, the faster they will be improved."
"Actually, what I'm most worried about is that battery research can't keep up. Batteries are directly related to the submarine's submarine performance."
"President, the submersible aspect is enough for us for the time being. After all, we only need to submerge in combat mode now. And since we are fighting on the inside, there is no need to submerge all the time."
"I just said that making submarines bigger is actually very difficult. The steel we use to make submarines still has problems. It has insufficient pressure resistance, so it is difficult to build a submarine that is too big."
"Yes, although the submarine is just one thing, it involves topics in various laboratories."
Guo Yan, who was leading the guide, was confused.
He was thankful in his heart that he didn't go to a science and engineering college in the first place.
It's really nerve-wracking to do research. It's more relaxed and comfortable than leading troops to fight.
"So, I say Deng Gong, go and do some research and come back early and don't stay out for too long."
"You may not know that the Materials Research Institute will develop new materials one day, or that the Power Research Institute's diesel engine will make a breakthrough. All of these are waiting for you to come back and put them on the new boat for experiments."
…
Soon the three of them arrived at the dock where the submarine docked.
Twenty submarines floated neatly on the water, like twenty black turtles lined up.
Sailors wearing sailor uniforms stood on the hull of the submarine, and there were two neat rows of people standing on each submarine.
Prior to this, the Renaissance Army had actually built several experimental boats.
This submarine is the first submarine to be mass-produced.
The codename given by the Navy is "Squid" class submarine.
This submarine already looks a lot like the submarine Dong Shuheng knew.
There are still two torpedo launch tubes, one on each side under the bow.
The time and speed of underwater navigation have been greatly improved.
Even without a tugboat, this submarine can sail thousands of nautical miles on its own.
This is why Dong Shuheng will send them to the Indian Ocean battlefield this time.
If the combined fleet can deal with the Great White Fleet on its own, the submarines may not show up.
They are equivalent to adding a layer of insurance to this battle.