Although all the major naval powers have made considerable exploration into the use of aviation, and there is a lot of evidence that shows their bright future, no one dares to make a conclusion on this major decision that "can change the entire pattern of naval warfare."
It was not until the Battle of Taranto in the late 1940s that people finally understood the power of naval aviation.
In the early days of the war, as the Italians were guarding the Mediterranean, the British tried to launch a campaign to seize control of the sea. However, the shrewd Italians chose to "avoid fighting and wait for opportunities to be dispatched" and spent most of their time hiding in the military port. The Royal Navy It was nerve-wracking to do that.
Although the Royal Navy was inferior to the Italian Navy fighting at home in the Mediterranean, the famous Admiral Cunningham boldly formulated a thorough raid plan around aircraft carriers.
The result was a brilliant one, with the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet successfully raiding the Italian naval base of Taranto.
This is the first time since the aircraft carrier entered service that it has proactively attacked a fleet in a naval port on a large scale. The tremendous power of naval aviation has been clearly proven. As a result, more and more people began to reverse their original views.
The British army dispatched a total of 21 carrier-based aircraft, losing only 2 aircraft and 1 pilot. They used 8 torpedoes and some aerial bombs to sink or damage 3 Italian battleships, 2 cruisers, and 2 destroyers. huge victory.
At this point, can everyone really change their minds at once?
The fact is that some people are still stubborn. A year later, the Royal Navy's Z Fleet set off for the Far East. Although there was a lack of aviation escort, Lieutenant General Philip always stubbornly believed that the Japanese's clumsy and broken aircraft could not pose a threat to the British Empire's cutting-edge warships. .
In the end, the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse finally fell asleep on the seabed of Southeast Asia forever.
What worries Zhou Changfeng is that history has increasingly deviated from the track he is familiar with, and it is impossible to predict the future.
Under the current situation, Italy has shrewdly disguised itself as the vanguard of the confrontation, tried its best to show goodwill to the United Kingdom, and continued to harass Germany and Austria through diplomacy, trade, border conflicts, etc.
Black and red coexist, so the British naturally give priority to encouraging the former to contain the latter.
If we only look at it from a geographical perspective, the war that may break out at any time becomes more and more like a replica of the European War.
In this way, when will the battle that proves the power of aviation come? This is an unknown.
Is it hoped that after the war in Europe begins, the British will carry out a battle similar to the raid on Taranto on the Germans?
Such unilateral expectations full of unknowns are naturally unreasonable. Therefore, Zhou Changfeng considered starting from his own country and focusing on promoting the use of aviation by the Ming Army in operations in the Nanyang region.
If the British fleet Z arrives as scheduled, and as long as the Ming air force or naval aviation can function normally, everything will be clear.
The fear is that by then the aviation force will not be able to play its due role due to various reasons such as weather conditions, command errors, poor communication, etc. In the end, it will have to rely on the naval fleet to deal with the Z fleet head-on, which will undoubtedly deceive many. human eyes.
In the next few days, in addition to handling many matters of the First Marine Brigade, Zhou Changfeng also spent half a day alone to go to Imperial Gezhi University.
The purpose was to continue discussing the feasibility analysis of nuclear energy militarization with that nuclear physics boss Xu Shangdan.
"Mr. Xu, I have carefully read your letters from the past few days. I came here specifically to ask you today to ask you to think about theoretical calculations in your busy schedule. Sorry for the trouble."
"Zhou Daizhao is polite. It's a very important matter and it's my responsibility. Besides, it didn't waste much time."
Using the "drunkard's walking problem" as a thinking model and referring to Li's random walk theorem, Xu Shangdan believed that this theoretical calculation was not difficult, so after listing the key points, he handed over the tedious calculation tasks to his students.
Although there were no electronic computers in this era, Imperial Gezhi University was one of the core science and engineering research centers of the great Eastern powers, with all kinds of mechanical computing equipment readily available.
With their assistance, the students, who without exception can be called the pride of heaven, have been busy for months, repeatedly checking and deducing, and completed the chain reaction that spherical high-concentration uranium can stably and self-sustain under the action of thermal neutrons. required radius.
It has a radius of about nine centimeters and a total mass of less than sixty kilograms.
Although it is still not a small number, it is not an unattainable astronomical figure.
Seeing Zhou Changfeng's satisfied look, Xu Shangdan reminded: "It is not easy to refine uranium ore. Uranium 238 is not available, and it is even more troublesome to separate it from uranium 238."
However, the former didn't care and just said: "Thank you very much. Everything is difficult at the beginning. Mr. Xu, you have done a great job!"
Zhou Changfeng was accompanied by palace attendants and Ministry of War personnel. The two cars they drove parked under the building of the School of Physics, and then began to hand over calculation files to the students.
Stacks of draft paper for feasibility theory calculations were stuffed into a large suitcase, including erroneous scraps. The four large suitcases were then put into the trunk of the car.
An official from the Ministry of War said to several students very seriously: "I'm warning you again, you must keep it secret. This is not a joke. Keep this in your stomach!"
The palace attendant next to him also said sternly: "The hush money will not be settled all at once, but will be paid monthly within ten years. It can also be regarded as a regular reminder that there is such a thing. If it is leaked and becomes known to the outside world, it will be regarded as Whether the consequences are serious or not, the offender may be sentenced to ten or even twenty years in prison."
The students all hurriedly responded. They were very speechless. They thought they were just completing a boring but novel calculation work on behalf of their husband, but they didn't expect that they would be involved in such a big thing.
Although I can receive money regularly, the price of not being able to withstand the leakage of information is too high.
Immediately, the satisfied Zhou Changfeng left Gezhi University.
Because it was lunch time, he was hungry so he stopped by a restaurant on the street and had a bowl of rice with it.
After grabbing the time to return to the Forbidden City, he took the shuttle bus all the way to the Qianqing Gate, and then walked quickly to Zhaoren Hall.
Since there were no interviews or other schedules today, Zhu Lingjing's clothes were much more casual. She did not wear the formal clothes of the past, but instead wore a light-colored floral dress and high heels, and her hair was tied into a high ponytail.
She was not sitting, but was walking slowly in the room, seeming to be thinking about something.
Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but be startled when he saw this, thinking that he was hallucinating.
"Your Majesty, you..." He paused for half a second and muttered: "You are dressed very fashionably."
"My usual outfit is troublesome." Zhu Lingjing didn't care and glanced at him, "What do you want from me?"
"Mr. Xu from Gezhi University and others have completed the feasibility analysis of the militarization of nuclear energy, and the specific draft calculation paper has been taken away by people from the Ministry of War for files."
"What is the result of the judgment?"
"It's completely feasible, and you can guess the power. After all, it's reducing mass to obtain energy, so it's very powerful."
Zhou Changfeng deliberately downplayed the feasibility, but obviously Zhu Lingjing was not so easily fooled.
She stared into the former's eyes and said with a half-smile: "When reporting to superiors, you must try to be as objective as possible and use less personal opinions. Only in this way can you reduce the distortion of the message being conveyed level by level."
A somewhat embarrassed Zhou Changfeng had no choice but to say: "The calculated enriched uranium sphere requires a radius of about nine centimeters and a total mass of about fifty-eight kilograms."
This data is actually slightly different from the standard answer, but the difference is not big. It only differs by a few kilograms. It is probably because the limit state selected during calculation is different.
Zhu Lingjing looked strange. She slowly walked back to her seat, sat down, and said: "This result... is neither better nor worse. Let's say it's a lot... It's not a fantasy. Let's say it's a little... and it's dozens of kilograms." So much."
"It's definitely going to be a big project."
Tsk! The horoscope has not yet been written... Oh no, the horoscope has just been written, and we haven't said anything about what to do yet. Why are we talking about the project?
"If I remember correctly, among the uranium ores mined, uranium 235 accounts for less than one percent, and 99% is uranium 238." Zhu Lingjing looked calmly and looked at a few steps Zhou Changfeng, who was outside, said calmly: "The difference between the two is only three neutrons. It is not easy to separate them."
"..." Zhou Changfeng nodded and remained silent.
"Let's see the discussions between the cabinet and the military. This is a major event that requires the full strength of the country."
After finishing speaking, Zhu Lingjing added, "I think for such a huge thing, if the same resources are invested, it will probably be enough to build an entire fleet."
I have to say, your intuition is quite accurate. Zhou Changfeng said in his heart.
Historically, the Manhattan Project cost more than two billion U.S. dollars. An Iowa-class battleship cost $100 million, a Cleveland-class light cruiser cost $30 million, and a Fletcher-class destroyer cost $10 million. .
In fact, Zhu Lingjing herself is very interested in this and agrees with its feasibility.
Since physical experiments have proven the existence of the reaction, and theoretical calculations have confirmed its feasibility, then such a thing is destined to work, and it is nothing more than a price.
If it were in peacetime, she would definitely be willing to invest in this project for a long time. Unfortunately, the current situation prevents her from being so "generous". She must treat such a costly plan with caution.
If she fails to succeed in the end, but wastes a huge amount of resources, and ultimately causes the balance of war to reverse, then she will probably be nailed to the pillar of shame in history forever.
"Your Majesty, let's organize a special seminar after that. This matter... is too important and must be weighed carefully." Zhou Changfeng suggested.
"Yes." Zhu Lingjing agreed simply, "And regardless of whether it is advanced or not, the initial research should continue."
After a while, she thought for a while and then said: "Xu Shangdan is old and can teach well, but he is not qualified for such hard work. Qian Yuankai is also talented and energetic, so he is very suitable."
Even though things have changed, the famous Qian family is still splendid and has numerous celebrities.
Forty-two-year-old Qian Yuankai is one of them. The research team he leads has been at the forefront of Ming Dynasty high-energy physics research.
Qian Yuankai graduated from Shanghai Gezhi University and holds a doctorate from ETH Zurich. He met Bohr and had a good personal relationship.
In the 28th year of his reign, in order to better study high-energy physics, he actually applied for a huge amount of funding from the Ministry of Industry and established a leading large-scale laboratory at Shanghai Gezhi University.
Subsequently, the world's first 25-inch, 800㎜ cyclotron was built, and three years later another 50-inch, 1600㎜ accelerator was built, weighing 300 tons.
It is no exaggeration to say that half of the Ming Dynasty’s high-energy physics is now achieved by this genius.
In fact, as a time traveler, Zhou Changfeng has a strange superstition - when he hears that his surname is Qian and he comes from the Qian family, he feels an inexplicable peace of mind, feeling that this matter is already certain.
The emperor himself was interested in this and had a more positive attitude, and at the same time he had the help of unusual and unparalleled geniuses...
It's just a fission bomb, can it stop me from creating you first?
If this fails, I'll eat the cyclotron on the spot!
Because the future was so bright, Zhou Changfeng felt so comfortable that he even had a smile on his face after returning home.
"Is there any big event today?"
"Of course, because I see a bright future." Zhou Changfeng said pretending to be unpredictable.
"Well, you should be happy indeed." Xia Xiaoshi said while cutting oranges with a knife: "Sir, I have resigned today. Alas, some seniors are quite sorry."
Nowadays, except for Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and other countries, married women in most countries in the world do not work. They mainly bear the responsibilities of housewives.
Daming was no exception. Obviously Xia Xiaoshi didn't want others to take care of her children, so she chose to resign without hesitation.
"Sorry? Did they say anything to persuade me to stay?"
"Um...no."
Zhou Changfeng, who was smiling, asked meaningfully: "My stupid little poem, if you think about it again, are they really a 'pity'?"
Please! No matter how bad your father is, he will still get caught in the criminal department, and your husband-in-law, I am a third-grade colonel and brigade chief who is second to none.
If this accidentally makes you feel wronged, don’t be afraid.
Xia Xiaoshi covered her forehead and said helplessly: "I will not bully others..."
In the evening, the couple and Lin Xi gathered together to have a cozy dinner.
The countdown to a peaceful life may have begun. Zhou Changfeng now hopes that the war will come later, and does not expect more. He will wait until his wife gives birth.
However, even in this generally peaceful moment, not everyone can enjoy the few remaining peaceful times.
Thousands of miles away in northern Xinjiang, Beihai Lake.
As night fell, at this place where Su Wu herded sheep as recorded in ancient books, a group of uninvited guests crossed the border.
More than forty heavily armed Tsarist Russian soldiers quietly crossed the border and came to a hill in the southeast, where they began to dig field fortifications.
The Easter Egg Chapter has updated the industrial production capacity of each country
(End of chapter)
