Chapter 959 R&D Dilemma
The proposal to send "League of Nations" to Greece was passed with a high vote amid angry opposition from British representatives.
The next day, representatives from many countries formed their own troops and sent them to Greece.
The country that sent the fewest troops was the Netherlands, which had only one combat group of 12 soldiers.
(Note: During World War I, the smallest tactical unit of European armies was the "combat group", which usually consisted of 12 to 16 people and was commanded by a non-commissioned officer, similar to the "squad" of the modern army)
Queen Wilhelmina tried to remain restrained and not to anger either side. After all, across from the Netherlands was Britain, whose powerful navy was something the Netherlands could not afford to offend.
Romania symbolically sent two combat teams of 20 people, airlifted in by transport plane.
This not only showed Romania's support for the "League of Nations", but also announced to the German and Austrian armies that Charles' transport aircraft could take Romanian soldiers wherever they wanted to go.
Belgium sent the largest number of troops, with one infantry company of 250 people from the 9th Reconnaissance Brigade. They could speak German and had studied the living habits of the Germans. Albert I believed that they might be able to play a greater role in the "National Alliance Army".
This is Belgium's way of declaring to everyone that it is France's strongest supporter.
Although Belgium's geographical location is similar to that of the Netherlands, with the most powerful Britain opposite it, it has enough confidence to show a tougher attitude because it is adjacent to France and maintains good relations with Charles.
Albert I even proudly said to Major General Eden:
"This is Belgium's most glorious moment. We can finally stop having to look at the British."
"Perhaps you will say that we still need to consider France's attitude."
"No, Major General! We are friends with Charles. He gives us respect, benefits and security, which the British have never given us!"
This is one of the reasons why other small countries were willing to join the "League of Nations" and surround France. They had a hard time in this world where the strong prey on the weak, and they might be swallowed up if they were not careful.
The Ciel gave them a chance, a chance to survive in this cruel world with dignity as a complete nation.
Compared to this, the price paid is insignificant.
In the end, 17 countries gathered a total of 637 soldiers, who met in Toulon.
The troops were originally planned to be sent to Greece by troop transport ships and land at the port of Piraeus, but considering the danger to Constantine I, they were eventually sent to their destination in batches by 20 transport planes making two round trips.
On the day the "League of Nations" landed, the French army announced its official withdrawal from Greece.
In fact, the French army only arrived at the port of Piraeus, allowed the troops to board the ship, took a photo and published it in the newspaper, and then turned around and disembarked and joined the "League of Nations".
Therefore, the "League of Nations" had a military base in the port of Piraeus, which was only 2 kilometers away from the port of Piraeus, with more than 50,000 troops, most of whom were French troops.
Their first task was to open up a large military airport: aircraft were the fastest means of transportation, and air supremacy was crucial.
Constantine I cooperated throughout the process, providing the "League of Nations" with supplies and manpower, and even sent troops to assist.
He himself moved into the military base with his wife and children in the name of "reception" and "assistance".
Charles did not take care of these matters, and left them to Gallieni.
This was somewhat beyond the scope of Gallieni as the Minister of the Army, as it would involve the use of the Air Force and even warships, but because of Gallieni's transcendent position, the operation encountered no obstacles.
Gallieni exclaimed: "This is what an army should look like, they look like a whole."
In fact, the French army had more advanced tactics and arms, and had formed a three-dimensional combat capability to crush the enemy in all directions, which made Gallieni feel relieved.
…
At the Paris aircraft factory, the sound of aircraft propellers could be heard constantly, and from time to time a few planes took off from the ground and flew into the sky.
Two black cars slowly drove in through the gate, turned a corner and stopped in front of the R&D department.
Dorn, who was talking to a researcher inside, saw Charles getting out of the car and hurried out to greet him.
The atmosphere in the entire institute was dull and depressing, completely devoid of its previous liveliness.
"How great is the loss?" asked Charles.
He rushed here after hearing about the dive bomber accident. This was the first time that the Aircraft Research Institute encountered a problem and was stuck.
"Two prototypes were lost," Dorn replied. "All four test pilots died."
"It happened during the dive," said Charles.
"Yes," Dawn replied.
He led Charles to his workbench, took out a dive trajectory diagram from the mess of drawings, and explained:
"We calculated that if we want to significantly improve bombing accuracy, we should keep the aircraft diving between 70 and 90 degrees."
"This is the only way to ensure that the bombing error is around 30 meters."
(Note: A bombing error of about 30 meters is a qualitative leap. The error of horizontal bombing is usually several hundred meters, and the higher the altitude, the greater the error)
Dorn took a picture of an airplane:
"But our aircraft are not strong enough."
"When the plane dives, the wings and fuselage are subjected to huge overloads and can easily disintegrate."
"Another crisis point is that the connection between the wing and the fuselage is prone to breakage when recovering after dropping the bomb."
The two prototypes that crashed were due to these two situations.
The first one disintegrated during a dive, and Dorn thought this problem was easy to solve by simply strengthening the prototype's structure appropriately.
However, during another test flight after the improvement, the wing broke at the root just after the bomb was dropped, and the plane was destroyed and the people on board died.
"The force on the wing changes too much when it's pulled out." Dorn frowned.
"It instantly changed from a dive to level flight and even pulled up."
"If you want to strengthen the structure to be able to withstand such a large overload, you have to add at least 50 kilograms of weight."
"But this will also increase the aircraft's overload and make it unstable."
Ciel nodded in understanding.
Simply put, it means "add more water to the noodles and more noodles to the water", but the problem still cannot be solved.
"We have another option," said a researcher. "We can use high-specific-strength materials, such as titanium alloy, in the wing joints."
(Note: Titanium alloy has a strength close to that of steel, but its density is only 60% of that of steel. It was successfully purified in 1910, but the cost is extremely high)
Dorn rejected this plan immediately: "We are producing bombers, Will. They need to be mass-produced. The cost will be frighteningly high after using titanium alloy."
While this is technically possible, it is not feasible for war equipment.
Everyone fell silent again. There was only one prototype left. If they couldn't come up with a suitable solution, this project would most likely be aborted.
(End of this chapter)
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