Australian Storm 1876 - Chapter 1046

Chapter 1046 “Haiyan” on the ship

Beilun Port

Surrounding the beautiful Sydney Bay, there are more than a dozen wharves, large and small, and several large docks located on the north side of Beilun Port. It belongs to Hongshan Heavy Industry, a large-scale backbone shipbuilding enterprise in the empire, and is famous for the construction of large warships and ocean-going cargo ships.

this day

A flat-deck ship with a strange shape and a huge body slowly left the Hongshan Heavy Industry Wharf under the tow of the barge. There are many planes parked on the deck of the ship. pretty.

After a while, thick smoke billowed from the huge chimney behind the side building, and the flat-deck boat drove full power to the deep sea.

Only a very small number of people can recognize that this is the “Dinghai” aircraft carrier newly equipped by the Navy.

The large-scale war in Europe has entered its third year. The continuous war has destroyed the fertile industrial and agricultural production order in Europe. Countless young and middle-aged men have taken to the battlefield. Only women, the elderly and children are left in the countryside, and the main labor force has been lost. , large tracts of land were abandoned.

There has been a large-scale famine in the Eastern European battlefield and the Balkans, affecting Eastern Europe and Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation, and the famine affected tens of millions of people. Everything is terrible.

At this time, the war in Europe tended to be intensified. The East-West Frontier battlefields were full of artillery fire. Every day, tens of thousands of soldiers were killed and wounded, and a massive supply of materials was needed.

In Australia, which is far away from the war, agriculture, animal husbandry, industry and all walks of life are producing at full capacity. The prosperous economic development has led to a large population demand. most.

The government has also relaxed immigration restrictions consciously or unintentionally, in order to meet the urgent demand for labor force in the current boom of economic development, and relevant newspapers and public opinion have expected the population growth of the empire;

By October at the latest, the population of the Empire will cross the 100 million mark.

Dinghai aircraft carrier

The aircraft carrier with a straight deck looks particularly tall. This is because there is a huge hangar occupying most of the ship’s hull on the second floor below the deck, and it is rated to carry 108 aircraft. It is an uncompromising heavy aircraft carrier.

Because it is a sea trial, the ship only carries 21 aircraft, which are used for exercises such as mooring, release, recovery, combat preparation, hangar operations, combat bombing, and fuel refueling. Doctrine and explore a whole new set of tactics.

Therefore, the Dinghai aircraft carrier carried a large number of staff officers and shipyard engineers. They will solve technical difficulties on the spot, find and correct design defects in time, and gradually improve the entire combat system.

The captain of the aircraft carrier “Dinghai”, Colonel Li Qianjin, stood behind the tall command porthole, from which he could see the entire broad deck unobstructed. The three ready fighter jets were arranged in a “pin” shape and were preparing for the deck takeoff test.

“Now I order; the first deck takeoff test officially begins.”

“As ordered.”

After the    order was issued, it was quickly communicated to the deck operator. The officer holding the bicolor flag signaled the release of the flag, and then squatted down involuntarily.

The silver fighter engine roared and rushed out, galloping forward for dozens of meters and then soaring into the sky, spreading its wings into the sky.

In the cheers, the second and third wingmen behind him also flew into the sky, and they flew in the sky with a vigorous body, looking exciting.

Carrier-based pilots are the elite of pilots, each of them is carefully selected and has accumulated rich experience after long-term training on the land deck.

They are flying the HQ-1 (Hai J-1) fighter specially developed for the naval aviation, nicknamed “Haiyan”, which is a fighter with a lightweight skeleton and alloy skin to fight against the high salt and high humidity at sea. Harsh environment, equipped with 8-cylinder radial piston engine, the maximum speed reaches 268 kilometers per hour.

The “Haiyan” fighter is equipped with three heavy machine guns with extremely ferocious firepower.

in today’s European battlefield

The Allied and Allied fighters were only equipped with one heavy machine gun due to the limitation of engine load, and their firepower was relatively weak.

Britain, France and other countries have more fighter jets, and German fighter pilots are more skilled. In the air battles in Europe, they are roughly on the same level.

In the early days, German fighter jets dominated the sky. After the “spindle” fighter jets of the Ocean Empire were exported to Britain, France and other countries, this disadvantage was gradually equalized, and the air power losses of both sides were relatively large.

Compared with the earlier “Spindle” fighter, the “Haiyan” fighter should belong to the 3rd generation. Its engine power is stronger, the load is larger, the firepower is stronger, and the single-machine combat capability has been improved several times.

hovered in the sky for twenty minutes, and the fighter jets were ready to land. This is the most dangerous of all subjects of an aircraft carrier, and it is a test of the coordination ability of the ship and the aircraft.

The aircraft carrier “Dinghai” maintained a high-speed and straight course under the command of Colonel Li Qianjin. After measuring the relevant wind speed and surge data, it reached the take-off and landing standards, and the tower issued an order to allow landing.

Two huge blue lights on the left and right of the stern of the aircraft carrier flashed, signaling the landing permission to the fighter jets flying behind the aircraft carrier.

If the yellow light is on to give a warning, it means that the sea conditions and wind direction are bad, and the pilot can make a forced landing when the fuel is insufficient, otherwise he should continue to circle.

If the red light is on, it is refusing to land.

At this time, dangerous bombing operations may be carried out on the deck, or the aircraft may be moved without clearing the runway. Even if the fighter jets fall into the sea, they cannot land on the deck of the aircraft carrier.

The pilot who was responsible for the first flight test was very experienced. He adjusted the descent route, and then drove the aircraft to land on the deck of the aircraft carrier steadily. Then, the smell of rubber and screams from the emergency brakes, accompanied by the deck staff’s voice. A cheer.

The three planes landed safely one after another. Excited staff rushed forward and presented flowers to the three pilots who flew for the first time. The deck of the aircraft carrier was filled with laughter and laughter in an instant.

Colonel Li Jinjin led the experts of the aircraft carrier test team and the factory staff to greet them and extended warm congratulations to the pilots; “It’s a beautiful flight, man, congratulations to you.”

“Thank you sir.”

“How are you feeling, do you have anything to say?”

“The attitude of the aircraft is not bad, and the handling is also very responsive. Although some details need to be changed, the aircraft is generally excellent. The only thing missing is the attitude of the ship. When we landed, we were facing the sun, and the reflected light from the sea and the ship was strong. The impact of the landing plane’s line of sight is more serious, and we can only see the general deck of the aircraft carrier in a blur. We can only land on the basis of two green lights, and we feel nervous for a while.”

“Uh… We will definitely improve on this in the future, so let’s rest first.”

Unexpectedly, the biggest problem was himself, and Colonel Li Qianjin made a big blush.

The test flight of an aircraft carrier is a big girl to the pilots, and the first time you get on a sedan chair, why not the ship commander?

He took into account the speed, surge, wind direction and other things that affect the safety of takeoff and landing. The only thing missing is the sun’s rays. It’s not the pilot who takes off and landed in the air himself. Who can think so carefully?

This is the important role of sea trials. Under various climatic conditions, the ship’s equipment, lighting, deck aircraft mooring scheme, and combat procedures must be tested one by one, so as to find and solve problems as much as possible without leaving hidden dangers. After the ship is in service.

The sea trial ship also undertakes the heavy task of compiling naval regulations, so the sea trial of the first heavy aircraft carrier is very long. Under the current tense atmosphere of the European war, it will take at least 7~8 months to complete.

In peacetime, sea trials for 2-3 years are not uncommon.

This heavy aircraft carrier is based on the mature hull and power system of the “Princess Victoria” class battleships, which greatly reduces the workload.

The “Dinghai” aircraft carrier brought a large group of ships to the sea for testing. It was necessary to verify the fleet command and other fleet coordination tactics. In the later stage, submarines were also required to help the carrier-based aircraft practice submarine search and submarine attack tactics.

There are hundreds of   -related test subjects, all from the perspective of actual combat, to fully exploit the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier.

For reasons of the upper echelons of the Empire, the Admiralty has given unprecedented importance to this new type of ship, second only to the main battle fleet.

In today’s world

The military of various countries does not pay much attention to the application field of aviation, especially the traditional naval powers such as Britain, France and Germany. The role of aircraft is limited to reconnaissance and confrontation of enemy aircraft, and they do not think that light bombers can pose much threat to ships equipped with heavy armor. .

Before the Jutland War

The British refitted cruiser “Campania” is equipped with a flight deck, capable of carrying 12 seaplanes to take off from the deck, and has the performance of a sea carrier.

But Admiral Jellicoe, commander of the British Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, forgot about this battleship when he led the fleet to attack.

It can be seen here

The new type of warship, the aircraft carrier, is completely ignored by the senior generals of the British Navy, and it has no impression at all, let alone its importance.

The reason why both Britain and Germany sent decoy fleets was because it was difficult to detect the movements of the opposing fleet in the vast sea, so they had to send decoy fleets to search for the stormy North Sea, trying to find the main enemy force and annihilate it.

Reconnaissance of the enemy is a big problem that plagues the navies of both Britain and Germany, and it is also an unsolvable problem.

If the British generals can attach importance to the “Campania”, and give full play to its reconnaissance capabilities in the vast seas, there is no need to send Admiral Betty’s fleet to the mouth of the Germans, and the loss can be completely avoided. .

Take a step back and say that even if the British and German navies were aware of the problem, they categorically refused to make changes.

The big ship and giant artilleryists despise small aircraft from the bottom of their hearts. Even in World War II decades later, there were very few aircraft carriers equipped by the so-called most powerful British Imperial Navy, and their performance was far worse than that of the U.S. Navy. Most of them are improved with coal carriers or merchant ships, rather than warships, which is evident.

This is true of the British, and the same is true of the Germans. The French and Italy are also not good. The fierce aircraft carrier air battle in history took place between the United States and Japan in the Pacific region of World War II. It is not unreasonable. Europeans insist on tradition It is hard for outsiders to imagine that the nine cows can’t be pulled back.

(end of this chapter)