Expedition to Europe

Regarding the hit rate of torpedoes, this is really a sad story.

The Americans once did a statistics, and the torpedoes fired by the US Navy and Air Force in World War II had a hit rate of only 50%.

Even this 50% was only counted in the middle and late stages of World War II.

As for the early days of World War II, I am afraid that the Americans are too embarrassed to count.

In the early days of World War II, the torpedoes equipped by the Americans included the air-launched Mark13, the submarine-launched Mark14, and the ship-launched Mark15.

The three types of torpedoes met the various needs of torpedo planes, submarines, and surface warships. They seemed complete, but in fact, there were so many problems at the beginning of the war that it was unbearable.

The navigation depth of US torpedoes was often several feet deeper than the set depth of torpedoes, which caused many torpedoes to slip under the target and fire blanks.

Torpedoes using magnetic fuses had the problem of premature detonation, and contact fuses had the problem of failure to detonate. There were also problems with gyroscopes, which caused the torpedoes fired by the US military to often circle back and hit themselves...

It seems that it is not easy for Lan Fang's torpedo machine to deliver a record of four out of six.

However, in Long Chengyuan's view, such a record is obviously unqualified, so when he found that only four out of six hits were hit, Long Chengyuan's face immediately turned into a pot bottom.

"There are still some problems with our torpedo fuses. This has happened many times before. The institute has also made improvements, but the effect is not significant. The problem of the seal has not been completely solved. I plan to set up a research team to solve the fuse problem." Fortunately, Long Chengyuan was determined and signed a military order in front of Qin Zhiyuan.

This is just an exercise. The torpedo plane attacked the motionless target ship, and there was no threat of anti-aircraft firepower, so the hit rate was guaranteed.

Then since there are still two torpedoes that have not exploded, there is only one explanation: there is a problem with the fuses of the two torpedoes.

"Don't worry about this problem. Scientific research work must follow objective laws and proceed step by step. It cannot be accomplished overnight. Don't have too much pressure. Work should be relaxed and work hard. It is not easy to have this situation now. I will give you a credit." Qin Zhiyuan is not harsh.

As early as the Corsica period, Qin Zhiyuan paid attention to the training of researchers.

Now, Lan Fang has nearly a thousand scientific researchers, assigned to more than a dozen large and small research institutes. These people are Qin Zhiyuan's treasures, and Qin Zhiyuan has always been tolerant of scientific researchers.

"It is because of your majesty's favor that we, the "lower nine classes", have today's glory. Just as your majesty said: there is motivation only when there is pressure. So please rest assured, your majesty, we must solve this problem as soon as possible, and we must not let the opportunity won by the front-line soldiers with a statement be destroyed by a small fuse." Long Chengyuan is ambitious and takes the initiative to put pressure on himself.

"Scientific researchers" is a title only used by Lan Fang. If it was in the Qing Dynasty, "scientific researchers" were collectively called "craftsmen", and studying "strange skills" has always been unacceptable to the mainstream Chinese society, so Long Chengyuan was grateful for Qin Zhiyuan's attention.

Think about it, in another time and space, even in the 1980s, the Chinese society still circulated the saying "Those who make atomic bombs are not as good as those who sell tea eggs", and the status of scientific researchers in Chinese society can be imagined.

But in Lan Fang, the status of scientific researchers has been infinitely elevated. The salary of Michelle and Sandy, who have come to Lan Fang from Corsica, is even higher than that of Prime Minister Huang Bohan.

Not only is the salary high, but for those scientific researchers who have made outstanding contributions, the Lan Fang government provides them with life secretaries, drivers, doctors, and guards, not to mention cars and villas.

As the saying goes, "A scholar will die for his confidant", in Lan Fang's scientific research institutions, the work enthusiasm of researchers is no less than that of factory workers. It is normal to work continuously all night long, and sometimes it is not uncommon to work continuously for several days and nights for public relations.

"In our Lan Fang, the most honorable people are not officials, foreign guests, or even me, the king, but you, the down-to-earth frontline workers. So in order to build a better Lan Fang, please take care of yourself. I hope that when we are all 80 years old, we can still witness the glory of Lan Fang together." Qin Zhiyuan certainly understands the hard work of frontline workers, so he is quite emotional.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that we will work hard until our death!"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!"

"Long live!"

The ground staff who lined up spontaneously shouted in unison, and finally merged into a unified slogan of "Long live".

Perhaps at this exciting moment, only "Long live" can express the feelings of these frontline workers.

In the Chinese society that advocates the idea of ​​"officialism", officials have always been the most honorable, and even those scholars who are only "reserve officials" will benefit from it. At this time in the Republic of China, "foreigners" are even more noble than officials, and as for "kings", there is no need to mention them, because they are "Son of Heaven".

Son of God!

In Lan Fang, Qin Zhiyuan actually put the frontline workers above the king. For frontline workers, this is a great honor.

Before the cheers stopped, six torpedo planes flew back in formation, passing over the "Taishan" and preparing to fly back to the nearby airport for landing. But when the torpedo plane formation flew over the "Taishan", the six torpedo planes swung their wings up and down in unison to greet everyone on the "Taishan".

This action attracted another round of cheers, and then the "crackling" sound of metal breaking came from afar.

Qin Zhiyuan looked back and saw that one end of the target ship in the distance had sunk into the water because of a large amount of water, while the other end was lifted out of the water due to the lever effect. Finally, due to the insufficient strength of the steel, it broke into two parts in the middle. The broken warship hit the sea heavily, causing a splash, and then sank quickly.

"Good!" Qin Zhiyuan applauded vigorously.

"Good! Let's go back and celebrate for you!" Qin Zhisheng was overjoyed.

Foch had a complicated expression and remained silent as he looked at the calm sea.

Perhaps at this moment, the world's top military man truly felt "old and frail".

There was nothing he could do about it. Birth, aging, illness and death are the laws of nature, and no one can violate them.

In fact, although there was a little regret, the exercise could be declared a success, so the "Taishan" returned to the sea amid cheers.

The original text is available at Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

That night, Qin Zhiyuan hosted a grand celebration at the 203 Naval Weapons Research Institute in Zhenyuan City. Lan Fang's military industry departments, those with the number 1 are all affiliated with the army, factories and research institutes are mixed in sequence, those with the number 2 are the navy, and those with the number 3 are the air force.

Because of Qin Zhiyuan's participation in this celebration, the level was raised to the highest level, and the navy commander Antonio also rushed back from the Sulu shipyard to participate.

Antonio was the captain of the flagship "Yangtze River" when Qin Zhiyuan first went to the UK to receive the first batch of destroyers. Of course, being able to serve as the commander of the Lan Fang Navy also shows that Antonio, as one of Qin Zhiyuan's earliest followers, has joined the Lan Fang nationality.

During the afternoon exercise, Antonio went to Sulu for inspection and did not participate in this exercise.

After seeing Qin Zhiyuan, Antonio expressed his apologies: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I have something important to do in the afternoon and can't accompany you on the "Taishan".

"Haha, it doesn't matter, I will go to the Sulu shipyard tomorrow to tell you how the situation is there?" Since the exercise was successful, Qin Zhiyuan was in a good mood and didn't care about it, and he didn't mean to pursue it at all.

As the commander of the navy, Antonio is of course concerned about the research and development of naval weapons. In fact, Antonio has been paying attention to the progress of the torpedo aircraft since the day the project was launched. As early as the previous experiments, Antonio had participated many times. This time, Antonio was really busy, so he did not participate in the exercise.

When he was still a small agent, Qin Zhiyuan often saw national leaders inspecting when he had nothing to do. At that time, he thought that those leaders had nothing to do after eating. Now think about it, what can you do if you don’t inspect?

At the level of Qin Zhiyuan and Antonio, specific affairs have nothing to do with them. For many things, such as the research and development of torpedo aircraft, Qin Zhiyuan and Antonio only need to care about the progress, and they should not interfere in the specific research and development, because that will cause researchers to be at a loss, which is a real layman commanding experts.

"Not bad. Dock No. 1 and Dock No. 2 are almost completed. These two are relatively small and can only build warships or merchant ships within 5,000 tons. If there is a need now, we can start laying the keel immediately. Our Navy Department plans to hire technicians from the United States to guide us, build a few destroyers in our shipyard first, and then we will independently design and develop. Dock No. 7 and Dock No. 8 are 10,000-ton docks. It's still early, and Dock No. 9 has not started yet." Antonio reported in detail.

Americans are really good at shipbuilding. During the World War, the United States created a world record of 14 days from laying the keel to launching a destroyer of more than 1,000 tons. Therefore, when Antonio sought technical guidance, he first thought of Americans.

In fact, the French shipbuilding technology is also good. Although it can't catch up with the British who win by technology and the Americans who win by scale, it also has its own unique features.

At present, the Lanfang Navy and the French Navy are working together to develop the "Legion" class battleships, and are also improving the existing Q series submarines. According to the principle of "don't put all your eggs in one basket", Lanfang needs a second partner. This has nothing to do with the relationship between Lanfang and France, but only with Lanfang's national interests.

"Continue to look for a suitable shipyard location. We must at least ensure that there are seven or eight shipyards to ensure our national security. It is difficult to build enough warships when needed with only the existing two shipyards." Qin Zhiyuan thought of the Americans and felt a little numb.

It is said that the Americans have a strong ability to build troops. How strong is it?

The Americans are still building destroyers. Since the United States entered the war last year, the Americans have built a total of 195 naval ships, including destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and submarines, almost one every two days.

This ability to build troops is unmatched in the world.

In Qin Zhiyuan's vision, if Lanfang wants to rise, then the United States must pass that level. If one day Lan Fang and the Americans were to confront each other, Qin Zhiyuan would feel uneasy when thinking about the Americans' desperate ability to mobilize troops.

It is really not easy for a nation, or a country, to rise.