The world map was spread out on the table, and a lot of people gathered around it. Xiang Xiaoqiang slid his fingers on the map, slowly crossing half of the world, from northern Xinjiang to France, and said in a deep voice:
"From here to here, the fastest one-way trip by boat takes half a month, right?"
Qiu Qiu nodded:
"Yes, the last time we went to Germany, wasn't it just half a month? The average speed of the ship was still 30 knots, and it won the Red Ribbon Award."
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and said:
"Well, okay. What if we take a plane?"
Several people were stunned.
Qiu Qiu looked at him and smiled:
"Xiaoqiang, are you kidding me?"
Not only Qiu Qiu, but also Xiuxiu, Shi Shigege and several people from Dongchang looked at him with strange expressions, as if they were looking at aliens.
Xiang Xiaoqiang also knows that there is no concept of "international routes" in this era. Even if there is, it refers to sea routes. The civil aviation industry at this time has just started, and there are only some important mail flights, or just for the rich.
Small planes, flying clubs, etc. The air passenger transport industry of later generations has not yet developed. Generally, those who fly are military and political officials like them. Even if they occasionally fly to foreign countries, they are from neighboring countries.
The Ming Dynasty flew to Siam and India, and it was not the norm.
As for what Xiang Xiaoqiang said about "flying from Ming Dynasty to France", it is a complete fantasy in this era. At this time, the range of a large aircraft is only one or two thousand kilometers, and how many times does it have to land halfway around the earth? There is no mature way
International flight system, it is easier said than done.
But this is exactly what Xiang Xiaoqiang is trying to achieve. He pointed at the map and said:
"We have a good relationship with France, right?"
Deputy Director Zhang of Dongchang looked at everyone, nodded and said:
"That's true, that's true, but...it depends on what's going on."
Xiang Xiaoqiang asked:
"It's not a big problem to borrow a transport plane from them, right?"
Deputy Director Zhang hesitated for a moment, nodded and said:
"It should be no problem. - If it's a military transport plane, it might be a little more troublesome."
Xiang Xiaoqiang said:
"It doesn't need military use, it's just an ordinary civilian mail plane, one with a longer range will do."
"That should be no problem."
"Okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang continued, "our relationship with Britain is better than with France, right?"
"Well, you can also say that."
"Then it shouldn't be a big problem if we say hello to them and let our civilian aircraft land in their overseas colonies or areas of influence for refueling and food, right?"
Deputy Director Zhang looked at everyone. At this time, everyone had guessed what Xiang Xiaoqiang had planned. Deputy Director Zhang frowned, feeling that this matter was not that easy. He hesitated and said:
"This... is not impossible in theory. After all, this is not a big deal... but... Your Majesty, you mean that we borrow a transport plane from France and carry the blueprint across half of Eurasia.
, flew all the way back, right?”
"Yes."
"Where do you plan to land the plane for refueling along the way?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang asked:
"What model is that French mail transport plane? How far is its range?"
Deputy Director Zhang said skillfully:
"It's an American DC-3 just like us. It has a range of more than two thousand kilometers, no problem."
"Okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang lowered his head and pointed at the map and said, "First take off from Paris, cross the Mediterranean, and land in Tunisia. Tunisia is French territory, right? Then from Tunisia to Tunisia
Fly east, across the North African continent, and land in Cairo. Egypt is British territory, right? After refueling in Egypt, fly east again, across the entire Arabian Peninsula, and land in the United Arab Emirates... No, it shouldn't be there by this time.
The United Arab Emirates...ahem, what is this place called?"
He pointed to the place that would later be called the "United Arab Emirates", raised his head and smiled.
Deputy Director Zhang looked at the map and said:
"There are seven emirates in this area, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fajra, Umm Al Quwain, and Ajman, all of which are British protectorates."
"Well, which country has an airport?"
Deputy Director Zhang thought for a moment and said:
"Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two largest and second largest emirates, should have airports. Abu Dhabi definitely has them."
"Very good, then land in Abu Dhabi. After eating, drinking, and refueling here, fly eastward, across the Arabian Sea, and land in Mumbai on the west coast of India. Of course, India is British territory, and Mumbai is so
A big place must have an airport.”
"Well, there should be. Even if not, there must be somewhere nearby."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was very satisfied and said with a smile:
"Then it took off from Mumbai, crossed the entire Indian subcontinent, and landed in Calcutta on the east coast of India. Then, after eating, drinking, and refueling, it took off from Calcutta, crossed the Bay of Bengal, and landed somewhere on the Indochina Peninsula. You see
Ha, there are so many places to choose from here. Myanmar to the west is the British territory, Indochina to the east is the French territory, and Siam in the middle is our territory. We also have a military base, which is more convenient."
Qiu Qiu's eyes were sharp and he pointed directly with his hand and said:
"Then it's better to land directly in Kunming. The longitudes are almost the same. Why go south?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Yes, Qiu Qiu is right. You can fly directly to Kunming. Then fly from Kunming to Lanzhou, and then from Lanzhou to Dihua... Ah, isn't this just flying all the way back? Isn't there anything unrealistic about it?
Yes? It's very realistic! ...Xiu Xiu, Qiu Qiu, you two do the math to see if there is any section of the journey that exceeds 2,000 kilometers, and then calculate how long the total voyage is and how many hours it will take."
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang waved his fingers and made gestures like this. Although everyone found it incredible, it did sound reasonable. At least they couldn't think of anything that couldn't be done for the moment. Indeed, it is not difficult to borrow a plane. Let planes from friendly countries fly in
It is reasonable to land in overseas colonies and refuel, and it is not difficult... After all, it is really realistic to fly directly from Europe to Daming by plane. The key is that all the way is the territory of friendly countries.
There is no need to fly over Soviet-controlled areas, so it is very safe.
Qiu Qiu and Xiu Xiu took compasses, set squares and abacus, and lay on the map for a while to calculate, and quickly reported the results. None of the voyages exceeded 1,800 kilometers, and they were all within safe range. The whole journey was about 13,000 kilometers, according to DC-3
With a cruising speed of 260 kilometers per hour, it theoretically requires 50 hours of flight.
"50 hours," Xiang Xiaoqiang's eyes shone with excitement, "that's a little more than two days. Counting the time for landing to refuel and eat, plus the entire day flight and two nights of sleep in the middle, it's only four days at most.
.”
Qiu Qiu also became excited:
“It takes 26 days less than taking the boat!”
Deputy Director Zhang smiled bitterly:
"Your Majesty, this does not include the time of the voyage. It also does not include the time we spent communicating and coordinating with Britain and France through diplomatic channels, as well as the time it took for Britain and France to make arrangements and coordinate with overseas military bases and airports."
Shi Shigege seemed to be quite supportive of this idea. She smiled and said:
"Deputy Director Zhang, as far as I know, the problem of wandering can be solved by radio navigation. That is to let each airport along the way send out fixed radio signals so that our aircraft can constantly correct their course. Of course, all of this
It all requires communication and coordination. However, isn’t this the time when the East Factory and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs need to work more efficiently? Haha, as long as the whole process can be controlled within a week.”
Deputy Director Zhang stared at the map, considered for a while, nodded and said:
"I'll do my best..."
Then, he hurriedly resigned and went to call the factory supervisor in Nanjing and request coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Fourteen Gege approached Xiang Xiaoqiang and whispered:
"If you really want to do this, you'd better talk to His Majesty and ask His Majesty and the Foreign Secretary to put some pressure on you and don't let them drag their feet."
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and said:
"You're right, I'll go tell her right now."
…
Sure enough, when Zhu Yourong heard this, he was very supportive of this idea. He immediately sent an "imperial edict" to the Foreign Minister, urging him to arrange ambassadors to Britain and France, and the military attache to handle this matter as soon as possible.
Now that the problem of borrowing the blueprint from France has been solved, the next problem is planning the operation itself.
There are three most critical issues to address here:
First, how many troops should be sent to the commando team?
Second, how to enter the target area?
Third, how to evacuate the target area?
A large blackboard was hung in the conference room where the action was planned. These three questions were written on the blackboard by Xiang Xiaoqiang.
After Xiang Xiaoqiang finished writing, he threw the chalk away, patted the chalk dust on his hand, and said:
"Actually, these three issues are interrelated. How much force we need to deliver directly determines how we deliver it. And what kind of delivery method we adopt directly determines how much force we can deliver. We need to deliver
The number of troops depends on how many Soviet troops are stationed there. At least we can't be too disadvantaged. Okay, everyone can speak freely."
The commando commander knows this problem better than anyone here. Now, he is the expert among these people.
His name is Wang Bingcan, with the rank of colonel. He is the commander-in-chief of the Ming Army’s Army Aviation Commando Team, and he is also an old comrade who participated in the rescue operation of the Northern Qing Dynasty with Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Wang Bingcan saw that no one else said anything but looked at him, so he did his part and said:
"Your Majesty, the general is so presumptuous."
"Brother Wang, there is no need to be restrained, just give me guidance."
"How can the general dare to give advice..." Wang Bingcan said, "It's just that we still don't know how many Soviet troops are stationed in Kanas Lake. We don't have intelligence personnel there, so we can only make rough estimates. However, the general feels that
, in this helpless situation, we do not need to be bound by the number of Soviet troops. We only need to consider the upper limit of the troops we can deliver. If we can deliver a hundred, we do not plan to deliver fifty. In this way
, no matter how many Soviet troops there are, we will only do our best."
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded, glanced around the crowd, and said:
"Well, it makes sense. Indeed, if we can deliver a hundred, we will not deliver fifty. The larger the force, the greater the chance of victory. However, while we are planning, we must also step up the collection of intelligence from Altay and Kazakhstan, and try our best to
Calculate the approximate strength of the Soviet army."
"Your Majesty is right."
"What about the delivery method? How about airdrop?" Xiang Xiaoqiang said, "I think nighttime airdrop is good. There is no limit on the number. We can also airdrop a regiment. And at night, the threat from Soviet anti-aircraft artillery is relatively small."
Xiuxiu hesitated and said:
"I'm afraid the sound will be louder... If we really want to airdrop hundreds of people, it will take dozens of planes. The Soviets will know that we are coming from a long distance away. Then the suddenness will be lost. If the Soviets look at the sky and the sky is full of
It's a parachute. It hid Guangwu directly in the forest, so what should we do...Also, if it's airdropped, how can we evacuate after the battle..."
Everyone nodded lightly. Shi Shigege said:
"Yes, Xiu Xiu is right."
Wang Bingcan said:
"What the two princesses said is right. Airborne landings have this problem. But it is not just a problem. This kind of airborne landing of dozens or hundreds of people is only suitable for plain areas. In mountainous areas, especially high mountains like the Altai Mountains,
They are all covered with forests, so the danger is too great. It would be good if one-third of the people landed without falling and getting injured. Also, after landing, it usually takes a long time to regroup, and many times they don’t get together at all.
I can’t get up. This is still a plain area. It’s even more impossible in mountainous areas. My lord, think about it, there may only be one or two seconds between two people jumping out of the hatch, but after they land, they may be one or two snowy mountains apart. It’s impossible to gather together.
.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded with a solemn expression. He remembered the airdrop of the Taihang Mountains. At that time, it was not an airdrop of troops, but only an airdrop of supplies. There were still thousands of people below lighting fires and responding. Just like that, in the end, half of the packages were still missing.
Found it. If the airborne troops were to land in the Altai Mountains, they would probably be looking for death.
Obviously, Guangwu was not a fool. If he could stay in that place so peacefully, he must have known that that kind of place was naturally anti-airborne.
Xiang Xiaoqiang hesitated for a moment and wanted to ask if it was feasible to sneak there on foot from the foot of the mountain, that is, from the Outer Mongolia side, but after looking at the map, he gave up the idea. This side of Outer Mongolia is also the Altai Mountains, and also has endless mountains.
, didn’t even know that the access road was blocked. Even if the access road could reach the border by car, then even from the border to Kanas Lake, it would still be dozens of kilometers of mountains. The commando team carried heavy weapons, equipment, and supplies, and climbed over the mountains.
There are tens of kilometers over mountains and ridges... I can't imagine that even if I don't get lost, I will still be able to fight. The key is whether I can still come out after the battle.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was about to ask Wang Bingcan directly, "If this doesn't work, that won't work, what do you think we should do?" Wang Bingcan stared at the map, pinched his chin, and spoke to himself:
"Hmm...how long is Kanas Lake? I wonder if this map is accurate..."
As he spoke, he took the pile of aerial photos and looked at Kanas Lake on the map of northern Xinjiang to study it. Then, he picked up the compass and ruler and made a simple calculation.
"Well, almost...the total length from north to south is more than 20 kilometers...enough for a seaplane to land."
After he said these words, everyone's eyes lit up:
Yes, seaplane!
…
However, Fourteen Princess spoke immediately:
"The sound is too loud, which is a problem with airdrops. That one is still at high altitude, but this one flies directly to the lake, and the sound is louder."