Since more than five million prisoners were captured in the war against the Holy Roman Empire, they will also become miners or farmers, which will play a positive role in the economic development of the Ming Empire.
It is understandable that Emperor Haojing spent hundreds of millions of silver coins to reward the army. If nothing unexpected happens, the bonus can be fully earned back in about a year.
All the captives were transported to the mines located in the hinterland of the Ming Empire via the Northern Railway. In less than a month, these captives would be able to flourish in the empire...
Others accused Zhang Huangyan of missing a good opportunity and giving up a good situation, which was tantamount to failure, and the huge investment in the early Ming Dynasty failed to maximize benefits.
But in Emperor Haojing's view, it would be wiser for his disciples to be able to step back from the brink and stop losses in time rather than achieve greater success.
War itself is a risky investment, and the risk must be minimized so that you are less likely to lose money every time.
If the Ming Dynasty's army can capture more prisoners and kill fewer people in this war, then it will be considered as completing its primary task.
As for the failure to take advantage of victory to eliminate the Holy Roman Empire, this matter cannot be forced, and it is a secondary task.
Zhu Cixiang is an emperor and a businessman. He must see whether it is a good deal and whether he can maximize his profits. On this basis, he can consider other things.
The Air Force reported that it achieved roughly 3,000 combat results, which means it shot down 3,000 enemy aircraft. Even if there was water in it, it would not exceed 50%.
This means that the air power of the Holy Roman Empire suffered an almost devastating blow in this war, and it will be difficult to recover in a short time.
And the Ming Dynasty King Master can make a comeback next spring!
Who stipulates that national war can only be fought once every few years?
The Ming Empire has enough money and food, strong soldiers and horses, and can play like this every year!
Air Force pilots complained that although the "Black-footed Albatross" crushed the "Albatross" in speed, firepower and range, it was unsatisfactory in close combat.
Zhu Cixiang decided to invest in the newly developed "Flamingo" single-engine fighter after the beginning of next spring. The prototype is the Me-309 fighter.
Originally, I wanted to learn from the famous Bf-109, but the cab of this fighter is too narrow and the visibility is not good. It is better to use the Me-309 with a bubble cockpit.
The Me-309, which was developed from the Bf-109, is equipped with a tricycle landing gear fighter aircraft so that the pilot can see the runway when taking off.
From the appearance point of view, this is almost a mini version of the P-51D "Mustang". Zhu Cixiang did not consider copying the "Mustang" because it had to be scaled down.
Otherwise, the engine power will not increase, and the five-ton "Mustang" will not be able to fly. In the end, the Me-309 will have to be considered.
As a model that forms a high-low match with the "Black-footed Albatross", the "Flamingo" has a total combat weight of less than 2,500 kilograms, but has a considerable range of 1,500 kilometers.
It is equipped with a 20mm aerial cannon and two 10mm machine guns. Due to the use of ammunition belts, the continuity of firepower is ensured.
It can carry one hundred rounds of artillery shells and one thousand rounds of ammunition. If the pilot drives it properly, it will not be a problem to shoot down ten enemy planes in one flight.
The "Flamingo" is equipped with an engine with a maximum output of 582 horsepower, allowing the fighter to cruise at a speed of nearly 300 kilometers per hour.
This fighter's performance is inferior to the "Black-footed Albatross" in all aspects. The only one thing is that due to the reduction in total weight, its hovering ability is stronger than the latter.
It can be said that the "Flamingo" was created to hunt "Albatross". It can crush the "Albatross" in terms of speed, firepower, and range, and its circling and fighting ability is not inferior to the latter.
The Academy of Military Science's evaluation of this fighter aircraft is that the "Flamingo" has twice the range and firepower of the "Albatross", its speed is more than 1.5 times that of the opponent, and its hovering capability is about 0.7 times.
Importantly, after mass production, its cost is only half that of the "Black-footed Albatross", or even lower, which is in line with the principle of reducing air combat costs.
The cost and performance of the "Flamingo" are between the "Black-footed Albatross" and the "Albatross", and will be a good complement after the latter is phased out.
The Air Force deploys "Black-footed Albatross" at front-line airports and escorts bomber formations. Doing this every time will cause a waste of resources.
On the contrary, without the protection of enough "Black-footed Albatross", or relying solely on the "Albatross" or bomber formations themselves, they will suffer huge losses.
After the more flexible "Flamingos" are put into mass production, the task of escorting the "Hercules" bomber formation can be left to them in the future.
Generally speaking, fighter jets are deployed at frontline airports, while expensive bombers are deployed at rear airports to avoid sneak attacks by the other party.
Therefore, the range of the "Flamingo" is not a big problem, as long as the Air Force can coordinate the time so that the fighter formation and the bomber formation can complete the rendezvous in the air.
This single-engine fighter jet was actually developed three years ago and has only been equipped with troops this year. It is necessary to inspect and test its performance in all aspects, especially the reliability of the engine.
After three years of testing, it has been proven that the "Flamingo" can adapt to the cold Northland, the hot and humid Southeast Asia, and the dry Western Regions, and can operate in all-terrain conditions.
Although the performance of the fighter will be compromised in special terrain, the flaws are not outweighed, and it is still much stronger than the old "Albatross".
The Air Force placed an order for 3,000 aircraft in the early stage, and later added an additional 6,000 aircraft, hoping to replace all the "Albatross" deployed on the first and second lines with "Flamingos" so that the latter could be used as training aircraft in the future.
The Navy has no plans to replace the carrier-based aircraft force with single-engine fighters for the time being, but Jiexuan has agreed to equip the shore-based aviation force with 1,000 aircraft as a trial, and if good, more will be renewed.
The two major military services have placed orders for a total of 9,000 aircraft, which is enough to reduce production costs.
Zhu Cixiang's positioning of the "Flamingo" is that it can form a high-low match with the "Black-footed Albatross", can escort bomber formations, and can complete the mission of intercepting and hunting "Albatross", while the manufacturing cost is still within an acceptable range. .
Now, this fighter can finally be officially unveiled.
In the early stage, the annual output was about 1,000 aircraft, and Zhu Cixiang planned to put all these fighters into the European battlefield.
You can guess with your heels that Leopold and his son used this time to create a bunch of "albatross".
Including the aid from other countries, the Holy Roman Empire Air Force can have another two to three thousand fighter jets.
The biggest advantage of "Albatross" is that it has a simple structure, is easy to produce, is low in cost, and its reproductive capacity is no less than that of a hare.
The "Black-footed Albatross" equipped by the Sixth Air Force this time are dispatched so frequently that the lifespan of many fighters has been greatly reduced, and may also cause flight hazards.
It is definitely not cost-effective to replace three thousand expensive "Black-footed Albatross" for the Air Force at one time. Although the Ming court has money, it will not be too wasteful.
Because these three thousand brand-new "Black-footed Albatross" will most likely become like this batch after they participate in the second war against the Holy Roman Empire.
Smashing three thousand heavy fighter jets at once, three times in a row, totaling close to tens of thousands, it was a bit painful to do this.
If this money must be spent, Zhu Cixiang would rather use 9,000 "Flamingos" instead, and invest the remaining money into jet fighter research and development projects.
In the predetermined fighter discovery route, the "Albatross" is an F1 fighter and the "Flamingo" is an F3 fighter. The odd number means a single engine.
The twin-engine "Black-footed Albatross" is numbered F2, the prototype is A, the two improved models are B and C, and the next-generation model is F4, and the equipment time is to be determined.
Zhu Cixiang's plan is to wait until the Academy of Sciences has completed the development of the two propeller fighters, the F5 and F6, before he can start the development of jet fighters.
The F5 and F6 are the pinnacle of propeller fighters, equivalent to the Ta-152 and He-219.
The reason for continuing to develop twin-engine propeller fighters is that the nose does not require a propeller and has enough space to install weapons and radar.
If the radar can be miniaturized as soon as possible, it can be installed on the F4 fighter plane and turn it into a night fighter. Otherwise, it will have to be used by the F6.
There is no need for F7 and F8 to continue to use propellers. They can start dreaming of jets, such as Ta-183 and Me-262!
These two are considered the first generation of jet fighters, and the F9 and F10 are their upgraded versions.
By analogy, when the F23 and F24 are developed, the Ming Dynasty Air Force will be equipped with fifth-generation aircraft!
This will have to wait 150 to 200 years, and it cannot be accomplished overnight in a short period of time.
As for tanks, the T-6 light tank (Prototype 38T) and the T-7 heavy tank (Prototype 3) can already defeat the opponent.
The more combat-effective T-8 tank (Prototype No. 4) is equipped with a 79mm cannon. Since the total combat weight reaches 25 tons, it has no use.
It was already very laborious for the Corps of Engineers to set up a pontoon bridge for the T-7, so there was no need for Zhu Cixiang to let the T-8, which was on the field and could not find the enemy, go over to play.
Send at most one tank battalion equipped with T-8 and let them test the performance of this tank in actual combat.
Zhu Cixiang has sent Zhang Huangyan one hundred and twenty T-8s, which can be equipped with a mechanized infantry brigade as a weapon for house control.
If the Holy Roman Empire had similar heavy tanks, the disciples could take out the T-8 to deal with it.
On the contrary, you can continue to use T6 and T-7 to rub each other.
This will cost less and put less pressure on the engineering troops.
The Academy of Sciences has even built the T-9 prototype of the "Panther", but it just doesn't plan to put it into production yet.
This behemoth, equipped with a 95mm artillery and with a combat weight of more than 40 tons, can only be used as a test product in a short period of time.
Of course, Zhu Cixiang would not let the Academy of Sciences study the stupid staggered road wheels. If he wanted to install wide crawler tracks to enhance the stability of the vehicle body, he could completely replace the former with parallel road wheels.
Although the T-9 looks bulky, it is actually very maneuverable because it is equipped with a 582-horsepower engine like the "Flamingo".
Can aerospace engines be used interchangeably with tank engines?
sure!
The DB-601 engine used by the f-109 was originally a racing engine!
If the Air Force and Army use the same engine, the order quantity can be greatly increased and the production cost of the engine can be reduced.
Due to the excessive weight of the T-9, Zhu Cixiang was still hesitant to let it participate in the second war against the Holy Roman Empire.
Actual combat is the best place to test prototype vehicles. Apart from causing trouble to the engineering troops, it doesn't seem to do much harm...
Since Leopold and his son are determined to find trouble and become enemies of the Ming Empire, it is necessary to teach them another lesson!
Use T-9 to hit its original home. What an exciting scene it will be!
According to reports from this war, grassroots soldiers were full of praise for assault rifles. In addition to snipers, they strongly demanded that everyone get one, which meant mass production and equipment.
Originally, the proportion of automated light weapons equipped by front-line troops was not low. Because of the comparison with assault rifles, soldiers would prefer the new and dislike the old, thinking that submachine guns were outdated.
In fact, the two guns use the same bullet. The assault rifle has a longer barrel and comes standard with a scope, so it has better shooting accuracy.
Furthermore, this small weapon is full-size, which means it is more ergonomic and makes soldiers feel more comfortable when shooting.
The weight of the entire gun including the magazine is controlled within 12 pounds. Compared with its advantages, this minor disadvantage can be ignored.
The real disadvantage is that the cost of a 2x scope accounts for 20% of the total cost of the gun, and a 4x scope will rise to 30%, which is not a low price.
If it is not equipped with a sight, it will be as useless as a submachine gun.
With the money wasted on bullets, you can buy a scope.
Even if you can only install a double scope, it is much better than a machine sight.
The Army only had one request for the time being, so Zhu Cixiang had to satisfy them.
The cost of replacing 300,000 soldiers with assault rifles is much cheaper than buying a new batch of "Black-footed Albatross" for the Air Force!
Because of the need to produce enough "Flamingo" fighter jets for the Air Force, coupled with the Army's light weapons replacement plan.
Zhu Cixiang decided to postpone the second military operation against the Holy Roman Empire until the spring of 1735 AD.
A year later should allow Leopold and his son to recover a lot.
Let's cut the meat from this pig once, and when it recovers, we'll go over and cut it a second time!
If it weren't for the pitiful weakness of the Holy Roman Empire's navy, which had few armored ships, Emperor Hao Jing would have wanted to compete with it in a triathlon of sea, land and air!
Zhu Cixiang pretended not to know about the previous military aid provided by France, the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries to the Holy Roman Empire.
but!
It's perfectly okay to deal with someone who tries to collude with Leopold and his son!
Zhu Cixiang’s goal is Denmark!
In other words, find some work for Jiexuan!
This time the air force and army attacked the Holy Roman Empire, while the navy mainly dealt with Denmark!
Because the Ming Empire supported Sweden in seizing its lands in Scandinavia, the country's relationship with the Ming Dynasty has not been very good.
When the Ming Dynasty merchant ships sailed around the waters near Denmark, they were also robbed. This kind of thing is naturally inseparable from it.
Zhu Cixiang felt that the Baltic Fleet had not fought many wars since its establishment, and now it was time to take action!
