Chapter 52 The Ambition of the Elephant

What is the embodiment of national strength? Perhaps there is nothing, which can fully reflect the national strength of a country more than war. Everything in poor countries is barren and insufficient, and all war resources in rich countries are sufficient and surplus, which can be squandered by front-line officers and soldiers at will.

However, for China, the same principle is not suitable for tricks. China is a poor country. At least in China's official remarks, it has never put itself in the position of a "rich country". A few years ago, a news report was widely circulated in China, which quoted a British economist's analysis and calculation:

"In 1912, China's average national income was 12 pounds, the United States was 75 pounds, and the United Kingdom was 62 pounds,..."

In people's view, the national income of the United States is more than six times that of China, and the national income of the United Kingdom is five times that of China. In contrast, China is obviously a poor country, which is an answer without any objection.

No one has ever doubted this statement, but this poor country has always given the best treatment to the army, especially in times of war. It seems to be a common practice that the emperor of soldiers will always treat his soldiers well, which people never doubt. Because of this, these soldiers can get the most abundant supplies on the battlefield. Although the country is very poor, they will never shrink back on munitions.

The hundreds of merchant ships parked in the Gulf of Dammam in the Persian Gulf are undoubtedly a manifestation. Although only more than 100,000 troops arrived in the Persian Gulf, hundreds of thousands of tons of materials were transported from China. In the two bay pools in the middle and west of the Dammam Bay, thousands of engineers are building day and night. In Yi Port, a thick steel pipe penetrates into the foundation of the seabed under the pressure of a large steam pile driver, while on the other side, hundreds of landing boats are constantly transferring materials to the coast.

On the coast, thousands of trucks are waiting to load supplies. In the desert in the distance, long-range cannons are being assembled under the help of technical officers and soldiers. On the coast, which stretches for more than ten kilometers, the sound of soldiers' command, the roar of cars, and the sound of landing boats grabbing the beach have plunged the coast, which has been silent for thousands of years, into boiling. Medium.

The mountains of materials on the coast are enough for anyone to admire, but for this, whether it is the army officers and soldiers who go ashore, or perhaps the naval officers and soldiers on the Gulf Civil Warships, they are not surprised. They have long been used to this kind of adequate material security. According to the habits of the Guards, they often fight. The district reserves more than twice as much material to ensure that other factors do not cause the troops to fail in combat due to insufficient material preparation.

This time, because it is an expeditionary operation, the Royal Guard Staff Headquarters has prepared five times the combat supplies for the army. The materials currently arriving in the Persian Gulf alone are enough to support the expeditionary Force in half a year of high-intensity operations. Of course, in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, there are still a steady stream of merchant ships transporting supplies. To the Persian Gulf.

With a roar, more than a dozen planes flew over the bay. When the plane flew by, the alert soldiers in the dozens of warning balloon baskets on the coast only felt that the balloons seemed to shake under the impact of the airflow aroused by the plane. These officers and soldiers in the sultry baskets looked at the planes that flew at high speed. There is some envy on his face.

Before the completion of the airport, the air alert of the whole bay, in addition to relying on warning balloons, was provided by 24 eight-year fighters on the aircraft carrier Pingbo. Although no one will doubt that China's aviation technology is far ahead of other countries, only Twenty-four planes obviously do not provide enough air cover.

Until yesterday, nearly 3,000 engineers spent five days building an airport near the coast. After the officers of the expeditionary force headquarters, who had been worried about being bombarded by the air, were finally relieved. However, in one night, nearly a hundred nine-year fighters that had been disassembled were assembled. Now Yes, these planes are not so much alert, they are not test flights.

A hundred meters away from the bay, the planes keep taking off and landing from this field airport. The airport seems to be very simple, with accommodation tents, medical tents, logistics tents... In short, the tents are connected to tents, and then there are several flat earthy runways scattered in between, plus a command tower erected by steel beams. This is all of the airport.

When the assembled planes roared and flew away from overhead, Ma Mingxiao took a cigarette in his cigarette and lay under the tent to look at the newly built airport. The airport was quite simple, just a flat hard ground. At this time, those planes that needed to be tested were still constantly starting, every time they took off and taxied. There will always be a yellow smoke dragon in the rear of the plane.

"The filter sandbox should be improved!"

Ma Mingxiao thought in his heart that as a pilot, he knew what to pay attention to, but this problem did not seem to be something he needed to worry about. Naturally, there were officers and ground personnel to consider these problems.

He knows his officer, Li Qinyun. He is a very excellent officer in the Army Air Force. He is one of the first pilots in the Empire and has extremely rich experience. When he studied mechanical engineering in Germany a few years ago, he traveled all over Europe alone, but the most amazing thing is his young taxi. The soldier knows the psychological state very well and knows how to stimulate the potential of the big guy.

Li Qinyun has great mechanical talent. When he commanded the ground service to assemble the plane there, in order to improve the living conditions of the desert airport, he did it himself, using dozens of empty oil barrels and wooden boxes to build a shower tower. Even before the plane was built, a simple enough for several The bath for ten people's shower has been repaired.

When the engineers built the airport and the ground service assembled the plane, he quietly repaired a small fishing boat abandoned on the shore with a wooden box containing the plane, and then took him to the sea to go fishing. That night, the big guy ate a meal of seafood, although it was not enough to fill his teeth, but despite this, Ma Mingxiao found that these two days It seems that as long as everyone is fine, they will take a fishing rod and take a boat to the sea fishing.

"I'm not afraid that the ship will be sunk by a warship!"

Ma Mingxiao, who never eats fish, muttered in his heart. Lying on the marching **, he endured the heat of the desert. Looking at the plane still in the wooden box over there, he was even more depressed. It took time to assemble the plane, but the order of assembling the aircraft was the number of the formation and the order of the aircraft number, and his plane was compiled. The number is exactly the last number of the Ninth Air Force, which means that he will be the last one in the team to get the plane.

Before the plane was assembled, he could only stay in the tent and watch others enjoy the freedom brought by the sky.

"560 horsepower star engine, wooden double wings, seagull upper wing, steel pipe, Dura aluminum fuselage, cloth rear fuselage, maximum speed 280 kilometers per hour..."

With his eyes closed, Ma Mingxiao can clearly explain the parameters of the nine-year aircraft that has just entered service. According to the test flight results, the nine-year aircraft is the best fighter in the world. It only takes 8 seconds to hover 360 degrees at an altitude of 1,000 meters. In Ma Mingxiao's view, the nine-year fighter is a perfect biplane, at least on the single wing. Before the aircraft was put into service.

Before the war, the Royal Guards Army Air Force had the largest fleet of aircraft in the world. Fighters, attack aircraft, bombers and even transport aircraft that seemed useless to the outside world could be seen in the Army Air Force, and nearly 2,000 aircraft exceeded the total number of other countries in the world. Double.

But among a large number of aircraft, the nine-year-type aircraft is the most advanced. The high-power 12-cylinder star engine brings high speed, the powerful firepower brought by the nose machine gun, and the viability brought by the bulletproof cockpit. Compared with ordinary fighters, the nine-year-type aircraft can carry 200 kilograms of bombs under the belly or wings. It can be said that there is no more perfect plane than a nine-year-old plane, but now, his nine-year-old plane is sleeping in a wooden box, just like Ma Mingxiao himself now.

"Damn it, I don't know why I pretend to be an elephant!"

Thinking that he didn't know how many days he would sleep, Ma Mingxiao complained unsatis. If it hadn't been for the need to assemble 12 elephant bombers/transporters, maybe his nine-year model had been assembled. Now he is enjoying flying in the sky and enjoying the cool breeze in the air, not the dry heat on land.

While complaining, Ma Mingxiao turned his eyes to the giants in the distance, which were several large biplanes. Compared with them, the nine-year-old fighter is like the difference between babies and adults. The "elephant" type, which was the nickname given by the pilots, but now the elephant type has replaced its official name "Eight type". Bombing/transportation, between the wings 30 meters wide, four 560 horsepower engines, in fact, the nine-year high-power 12-cylinder star engine was developed for it.

This kind of bomber was directly questioned by His Majesty. It took three years for China Aviation Technology to develop and develop it. During this period, six test planes were dropped, and more than a dozen pilots were killed and injured. It can be said that in the history of China Aviation Technology's research and development history, there has never been a kind of aircraft that has spent so much money and killed and injured so many pilots.

In the end, all this is worth it in the eyes of His Majesty and the senior management of the Army Air Force. It flew 2,400 kilometers with a 2.5-ton bomb and a combat radius of more than 1,000 kilometers. It has never been able to fly so far and carry so many bombs.

This is a weapon that can change the course of war!

Your Majesty once praised the "elephant" so much, but in Ma Mingxiao's view, this kind of aircraft is simply "a burden". In an exercise last year, he attacked the Type 6 bomber group. When the bomber is attacked by a fighter, its survivability is very doubtful.

"Up to 100 bullets can shoot down a bomber!"

At least in Ma Mingxiao's view, the bomber's mobility is poor and slow. In air combat, it is fatal! But a "little soldier" can't influence the decision of the senior management of the air force, let alone change His Majesty's determination to establish a "strategic air force".

"Can you think about Baghdad!"

Under the belly of an "Elephant" bomber that has been assembled, the captain wearing the unique soft-brimmed military cap of the aviation team muttered.

"Elephant, elephant, a stupid elephant!"

In the air force, this joke has long been spread, and since receiving the combat mission, Su Guanghua imagined that through a "strategic bombing" to change people's prejudice against bombers and strategic bombing, so as to correct the name of the bombers and bomber troops.

"Bombing Baghdad?"

Xu Huansheng, who checked the hanger in the cabin, was stunned, and then looked at his vice captain with some surprise.

"The task we received is to bomb the railway hub to prevent the Turks from gathering troops and bombing Baghdad. I guess even if we apply, we may not be approved!"

Political consequences, this is a new term that appeared after the emergence of strategic bombing. The so-called strategic bombing is to bomb the enemy's borders in depth, and bombing the enemy's borders in depth will bring certain political consequences, which is something that the military must consider.

Strategic bombing not only attacks the enemy's military targets, that is, the army, military bases, military facilities, etc., but also the production facilities and traffic organs in the enemy's rear. Naturally, there is no difference between the front line and the rear, and even including general residential areas, they also carry out a thorough attack. The purpose is to completely destroy the enemy. The ability of the country to carry out war makes the enemy's political axe and its citizens lose the will to continue the war.

Therefore, strategic bombing must be an indiscriminate bombing. Usually, non-combatants are bound to suffer extremely serious injuries, and everyone may be a victim of war.

"Strategic bombing is a strategy to drop a large number of bombs on big cities, causing damage and terror to citizens, in order to end the war."

Su Guanghua blinked his eyes and said a sentence. This sentence is the "strategic bombing principle" mentioned by His Majesty when he spoke to the pilots when inspecting the strategic bomber troops. The fundamental principle of bombing is to create destruction and terror, and you can do anything to win the war.

"Political consequences, political consequences..."

Shaking his head, Xu Huansheng still did not accept his suggestion.

"That's a politician's business, it has nothing to do with soldiers!"

Su Guanghua said a sentence directly. The most classic sentence is also the principle of the guards.

"If we bomb Baghdad, the whole world can see it. At that time, those children..."

While talking, Su Guanghua turned his eyes to those fighters, who were flying bombers. They always regarded those fighters as children. Compared with the size of bombers, the fighters were too light. The bombs they carried alone were equivalent to several fighters.

"I don't dare to underestimate us anymore, captain. We have to correct the name of the bomber troops, right?"

Seeing that the captain seemed to be a little hesitant, he quickly continued to incite.

"What's more, strategic bombing is still advocated by Your Majesty. Since we have been transferred here, we should realize Your Majesty's wishes! Use a beautiful strategic bombing to prove the value of expensive bombers to your majesty and the people!"

"But we have too few planes!"

Only twelve bombers, even if they are full of bombs, are only dozens of tons of bombs, and the damage they can cause is too limited.

"So, we have to bomb Baghdad, prove our value first, and then we will continue to transfer the bombers in China. At that time, we can even suggest that the bombers fly directly from Xinjiang, which is also a kind of training. In any case, this war is an experiment, and we can be here. The tactical exploration of strategic bombing and other training can also be carried out. In short, as long as you are willing, this Turk is our experiment!"

When it comes to the experiment, there is no fluctuation in Su Guanghua's mood. In his opinion, this kind of bombing is no different from his past training. This is the difference between the air and the land. When the infantry on the land attack, they will see the enemy with their own eyes and see how the enemy was killed, and in the air. The bomber dropped the bomb at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and then walked away. At most, they only saw a stream of black smoke rising from the ground. As for the casualties on the ground, they could not see it and did not care.

In his opinion, there is no more suitable opponent than Turkey. There are only more than 100 aircraft in Turkey. The old German-made and Chinese-made aircraft will not pose any threat to the bombers. Perfecting the theory and tactics of strategic bombing with such an opponent can minimize casualties.

"... Carry out the strategic air attack advocated by Your Majesty, for the purpose of destroying the opponent's will to resist, continue to bomb the opponent's political, economic and military goals, forcing the opponent to give up resistance under the heavy pressure of unbearable material losses of personnel, and give in to surrender."

In the headquarters of the Expeditionary Force, Xu Huansheng pointed to the map on the wall and reported to the staff officers of the expeditionary force headquarters.

"Bagbad is our first target. Baghdad is the largest city of the Turks in the Near East and is also the capital of Baghdad Province. According to the preliminary plan, in the next month, we will bomb Baghdad ten times, a total of 300 tons of bombs, and defend Baghdad through bombing. The army creates psychological pressure to create conditions for the army's attack, and in future operations..."

A few points on the map of the finger, Xu Huansheng has a feeling of pointing the country.

"With the army advancing deep into Turkey, the bombing target of the air force will continue to expand to a radius of 1,200 kilometers or even 1,500 kilometers. If all 320 "Elephant" bombers in China are transferred to the Near East, then a city can be destroyed by one bombing. No Any city can withstand hundreds or thousands of tons of bombs!"

While he was making his report, the staff of the Expeditionary Force Command kept thinking about the possible names of strategic bombing.

"Is it regardless of military and civilian targets, so have you considered political factors? Have you considered that this kind of bombing may cause protests from other countries!"

In the face of a question from a staff officer, Xu Huansheng immediately retorted.

"All the soldiers need to think about is victory! As for the protest in other countries, that's what diplomats consider! Sir!"

"Hmm..."

Duan Qirui, as the commander of the expeditionary force, meditated and was silent for a minute before he said slowly.

"Try it!"

(to be continued)