The Crown Prince's so-called "little trick" suddenly awakened many people. Although this casual trick cannot be called a clever and unsolvable conspiracy, it should be enough.
Let’s do this to set a trap for the Americans!
The two Youyun II passenger planes carrying the Ming Dynasty military expedition team had ups and downs and continuous transitions during the long flight. When they landed in Constantinople...no, when they were refueling at Istanbul Airport, everyone in Nanjing city Military attachés at foreign legations were invited.
The Ming Dynasty has just sent a military observation team to the Iberian Peninsula where the war is going on, and now they are inviting everyone to a party?
It’s not a traditional festival these days. Could it be that there is some important information that you want to take the opportunity to reveal quietly?
As a result, no one was absent from more than a dozen embassy attachés from Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and Russia, and they all arrived on time.
The evening banquet was held at Tonghui Hotel, with a line of cars parked on the west side of Tongjimen Avenue.
For a while, European classical music was playing from the gramophone, and for a while, the guzheng was playing melodiously in the corner of the hall. Everyone present was chatting happily as they drank and drank.
However, this is all just pretense to a certain extent, because the embassy attaché is actually an intelligence officer with an official status, which is the acquiescence of all countries in the world.
Although the common impression is that intelligence is collected secretly and secretly, the fact is that many times the intelligence collection work is done openly and is also very effective.
Major General Anderson, the chief military attache of the United States in Ming Dynasty, was unable to attend the banquet due to the cold. However, two other military attachés, Colonel Lane and Lieutenant Colonel Graydon, were present at the banquet.
"...A gathering of hundreds of rites cannot be complete without wine. I said it is strange for you in the United States to ban all kinds of wine. It is inexplicable!"
Sitting at the same table with the two military attachés were a Ming Dynasty Army colonel and an Air Force civilian colonel. The Army colonel spoke in Cantonese and complained about his experiences in Washington in the past few years.
It was so abominable that I couldn't drink freely in those years, and it was very troublesome to buy alcohol.
Colonel Lane held his cigar and said with a smile: "What a pity, Xu. If you were in California, you could buy a few grape bricks so that you would have enough wine to drink."
"Grapes? Bricks?"
"Yes, that's right. We call it 'policies from above and countermeasures from below.' The winery dehydrates the grapes and uses a machine to press them into cubes. The merchant prints on the package "Do not put it in one gallon of warm water." Twenty-one days or it will turn into wine." "
The expression on Colonel Xu's face was first surprised and then regretful, and finally he patted the table, "Oh! Sure enough, the people always have infinite wisdom in this regard!"
"Hahaha--"
In this way, the two parties talked happily, and gradually became a little drunk.
Colonel Xu, who drank half a glass of Mianzhu Daqu and two small glasses of whiskey, looked flushed and looked half-drunk.
After the civilian colonel of the Air Force on the side intentionally or unintentionally brought the topic to aircraft, the conversation between both parties suddenly became a little more explosive.
"Douglas's DC-3 passenger aircraft will definitely be the most successful passenger aircraft, and none of its competitors will be able to defeat it."
"Old Ryan, is it too early to draw a conclusion? The aircraft itself is one thing, and more importantly, its source of power. Maybe the British can build a better passenger plane with a better engine."
"Impossible! Pratt & Whitney's 'Double Wasp' is very powerful, Xu, I can only describe it as perfect..."
Colonel Xu, who seemed to be talking openly under the influence of alcohol, immediately waved his hand, "The engines made by our country this year are no worse than yours. They have twelve cylinders and 1,300 horsepower, but the fuel consumption is a little higher. They are installed on bombers." utility……"
At this time, the Air Force civilian colonel reached out and tugged on his sleeve with a serious face, so that he stopped talking.
Colonel Lane and Lieutenant Colonel Graydon naturally noticed the whole process.
Did you just spill the beans?
Although they continued to talk and laugh, the two of them were still thinking about the previous words.
The amount of information is quite large.
After the banquet, before the two returned to the embassy, they started discussing this in the car.
"12 cylinders, 1300 horsepower, high fuel consumption, bomber", although the key data such as displacement, bore, piston stroke, and working life are not yet known, it seems that a lot of information can be guessed.
Graydon said doubtfully: "Their latest Type 36 destroyer uses an 800-horsepower engine, and the bomber has an 860-horsepower engine. But now they have tested a 1,300-horsepower engine?"
"This is a big improvement." Ryan pondered for a few seconds. "It can be seen from his words that this type of engine still has shortcomings, but it will not take long to improve."
Although both Graydon and Ryan were a little surprised by the sudden development of Daming's aviation engine, the actions and demeanor of the two people before did not seem to be fake.
After returning to the embassy, they discussed this for a while and decided to wait and see for a while to see if they could collect other evidence to support this intelligence.
This wait lasted several days.
During this period, they used insinuations to find out about the cities that Colonel Xu had visited some time ago, in order to determine the testing location of the unknown new bomber.
In this way, after unremitting efforts, they learned that a twin-engine bomber with orange-red primer used for experimental purposes of the Ming Dynasty Air Force had indeed appeared at an airport in the suburbs of Zhaoqing, and managed to get a few blurry photos.
In the photo, a large aircraft can be vaguely seen parked next to the airport runway. Although it is a bit blurry, it can still be distinguished from the characteristics of the Ming army's active bombers.
"Look at the big vertical tail on the tail. This is definitely not a Type 36 bomber."
"It's unbelievable. If this is the so-called bomber equipped with a 1,300-horsepower engine, then..."
In the American legation, several experienced military attaches looked at each other, unable to understand what they were thinking.
The Ming Army only installed the Type 36 light bomber last year. It has two small-area vertical tails, is equipped with two 860-horsepower engines, and has a bomb load of 1,000 kilograms. The overall performance is quite good. Why did a bomber with a completely different design suddenly appear? coming?
"Maybe it's just an experimental aircraft?" Lieutenant Colonel Graydon thought it was unlikely that it was in secret service. At most, it was being tested secretly.
"The key is the engine. According to the Chinese style, it is impossible for them to develop high-power engines by leaps and bounds. They have a word called 'so high and far', so it is obvious that someone has provided them with technical support." Colonel Lane shrugged.
"You mean, French?"
"They? Their new bomber that first flew last month only used a 1,000-horsepower engine from the Hispano-Suzsa Company."
Everyone excluded the British by default, so in the end the only possibility pointed to...
Graydon frowned and said: "The Germans are breaking common sense. They dare to trade the latest technology."
Colonel Lane, who calls himself a "China expert," thought of an idiom to describe this situation - lest the world be in chaos.
(End of chapter)
