Chapter 327 Low-profile version of the Star Wars plan (third update, please subscribe)

Battleship in the sky!

This is quite a boast!

This is just exaggeration. Can it make the British, French and other European powers invest huge amounts of money in the research and production of airships?

Spaceships are expensive!

A ton of rubber costs six thousand five hundred pounds. Rubber-coated airbags are rubber reinforced with silk fibers. What are these?

But it’s all money!

"Aerial Battleship!"

Zuo Zongtang opened his eyes wide in astonishment. He had visited battleships when he was in Europe. Those huge ironclad ships were something that Nanhua had never seen before.

The airship was actually on the same level as the battleship! This was definitely beyond his expectations.

"This, this...is it so powerful?"

Facing Zuo Zongtang's doubt, Zhu Xianhai smiled.

"Ji Gao, let me tell you, the power of the airship has not yet been fully demonstrated. Do they think that the airship can only drop aerial darts? They are simply a bunch of idiots. I will tell them later that the airship can not only drop darts, but also bombs. Dropping bombs is its main job, and it can even drop giant bombs!"

If you want to scare people, you must use a big one. Almost subconsciously, Zhu Xianhai thought of those "big guys" weighing several tons. If they were used on the battlefield, how spectacular would the scene be?

Not only spectacular, but also shocking!

More importantly, after the British and French were stunned by the power of airships, they would definitely invest a lot of money in airships.

Maybe in the end, if a family doesn't have hundreds of airships, they will be embarrassed to go out and say hello to their neighbors. In the past, the standard for evaluating a great power was how many battleships they had. Maybe in the near future, the standard for evaluating a country's strength will be how many airships they have!

But then what?

Airships will definitely be eliminated in the end!

Because it is too easy to destroy!

Although the current machine guns and rifles have no effect on it, at most they can only make a few holes in the airbag and will not cause any damage to the airship. After all, those lead bullets have no effect on the airship.

But what if we research a new type of bullet?

For example, tracer bullets have a very high temperature when they glow, and will cause combustion when shot into flammable materials. To a certain extent, they can be used instead of incendiary bombs. As early as during World War I, they were proven to be an effective type of bullet against German Zeppelin airships.

For people of this era, they have no idea about tracer bullets, but Zhu Xianhai is different. The technology of tracer bullets is extremely simple. Tracer bullets combined with pointed rifle bullets with smokeless gunpowder are born to shoot down airships.

With tracer bullets, machine guns can not only shoot more accurately after correcting the trajectory, but once that kind of bullet hits the airship, it will definitely cause a fire that will destroy the airship and kill everyone on board!

During World War I, countless Zeppelins turned into burning torches under tracer bullets. It was a spectacular scene!

In the face of tracer bullets, what are the huge airship fleets that the great powers have spent billions of wealth to build?

They are just huge torches!

Thinking of this, Zhu Xianhai couldn't help feeling a little proud in his heart. What will be the final outcome of this airship arms race?

It's just setting off huge fireworks in the sky!

"Drop a giant bomb?"

Zuo Zongtang was surprised.

"right,"

Zhu Xianhai, whose thoughts were interrupted, nodded and said.

"Our airship has a cut-off weight of 2.8 tons, and we can drop a 2.5-ton bomb!"

"2.5 tons... almost 5,000 kilograms... if that's the case, then the spacecraft is truly an 'air battleship'!"

Instantly, Zuo Zongtang was dumbfounded. If that thing fell from the sky, it would be really scary! Not only would it be scary, but even those warships would be vulnerable in front of it. If a bomb fell on them, the ship might be destroyed and people might die!

Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang immediately said seriously.

"My lord, in this case, we should keep it a secret and never let the foreigners get our spaceship!"

If we don’t let them get it, how can we let them engage in an arms race of “air battleships”!

Zhu Xianhai directly rejected it.

"Although our airship is the best at the moment, we don't actually have a monopoly on its technology. We've only taken the lead in certain technologies, from the triangular-shaped airship structure to the internal wiring. These technologies appear to be our own creations, but those experts will surely be able to crack the secrets by studying the photos of our airship."

What is the biggest secret of the Nanhua airship?

Its large size is entirely due to the use of internal wiring and triangular cross-section, which not only increases the overall strength of the airship, but also helps to better disperse the weight of the airship by laying cables inside the airbag, paving the way for its large size. In terms of technical details, Nanhua's airship also uses silk-reinforced rubber, which is similar to the raincoat cloth of later generations. It not only increases safety but also allows the airbag to withstand greater pressure, which is why it has a huge carrying capacity.

Although these technical details are difficult to decipher for the time being, it is only a matter of time to solve them. The worst that can happen is that the technology is slightly inferior. Even the most difficult gasoline internal combustion engine will not be difficult to solve as long as enough time and financial resources are invested, right?

However, Zhu Xianhai did not intend to make it so difficult for them.

"So, instead of waiting until they crack our secret, we should be generous and sell it to them. We can export the airship to various countries while we can make some money."

"But my lord, if this happens, our advantage will be gone!"

Zuo Zongtang said urgently.

"Even if we do everything we can to keep it secret, the advantage we gain is only temporary, one year or two years? After one or two years, maybe their airships won't be as advanced as ours, but they will definitely break our monopoly. We sell airships to them, and it will take them one or two years to master our technology and then mass-produce it. In the short term, we can even restrict their exports through technology transfer contracts, such as prohibiting exports to South American countries, to ensure our advantage in South America."

In another world, this is America's forte. As long as your machines contain American parts and American technology, the United States can directly restrict your exports. Nanhua can completely use this tactic.

What's more, the most important thing is that Zhu Xianhai really wants to use airships to distort the technology trees of Britain, France and other countries, just like Da Mao in another world. What will be the consequences of having a distorted technology tree?

The country is collapsing!

By changing their aviation technology tree, we can at least buy Nanhua twenty years to develop aircraft!

Airplanes may be small... but they are the future!

As for the airship...it's just a big, useless piece of junk!

Of course, it can still play a certain role in the appropriate timeline. If used well, Zhu Xianhai can guarantee that the whole world will enter into a fierce "air battleship" arms race!

What happens in the end?

It's just a target of the South China Air Force!

If that’s the case, then why is it necessary to keep these airships secret?

Not only is there no need to keep it secret, but exports should be expanded and an arms race should be provoked.

This is not an arms race at all, it's clearly the 19th century version of the "Star Wars" program.

No, it should be called the "Star Wars Plan"!

If this plan succeeds, then my aviation technology books, those of France, Europe and even the world will be misleading.

Zhu Xianhai could not predict where this technology tree would go in the next few decades, but what was foreseeable was that this plan would definitely lead those countries, like Russia, down a wrong path, just like the "Star Wars Plan".

It doesn't matter what fruits they will reap along that route. What matters is that it is definitely a road of no return for aviation technology!

"My lord, this..."

Facing Zuo Zongtang's confusion, Zhu Xianhai smiled.

"Of course, we do this not for air superiority, but for peace! You know, Nanhua is a peace-loving country!"

(End of this chapter)