Empire Conquest
Chapter 235 - 231 Land Air Force Officer Rebels

Chapter 235: Chapter 231 Land Air Force Officer Rebels

During lunch, Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng shared the observations they had made during their time in the Domestic Fleet’s reorganization.

The conversation started by discussing "bombing," which began with Li Yunxiang siding with the Navy.

After the last great war ended, someone using the pseudonym "Du Hei" published a series of articles related to aerial combat which eventually were compiled into a book titled "Air Supremacy." It later turned out there was no such person as Du Hei, and the articles were not written by one individual but by a group of senior officers from the Land Air Force, represented by Li Yunxiang, who had distinguished themselves during the war.

Their act was aimed at establishing the Air Force as an independent branch, emulating the Western Powers of that time.

Whether it was publishing articles in newspapers or compiling them into a book, all efforts were part of a campaign to establish an independent Air Force.

To prove the necessity or, rather, the value of an independent Air Force, from the beginning, Li Yunxiang and others vigorously promoted the idea of a "Big Air Force."

Putting it bluntly, an Air Force would focus on bombers and might win a war single-handedly using only bombers.

The "Big Air Force" was the precursor to the "Strategic Air Force," or its theory evolved from the "Big Air Force."

However, in that era, no one believed that an Air Force could win a war alone.

What could a bomber carrying a few hundred kilograms of bombs achieve?

The Army’s heavy artillery could fire shells weighing hundreds of kilograms each, launching hundreds of tons of shells in one day. How many sorties could a bomber fly in a day?

Moreover, the Army would certainly not allow the Air Force to become independent and equal to itself.

Having the Navy as a formidable rival was bad enough, adding an Air Force would only compound the Army’s troubles.

After facing rejection from the Army, these Air Force-leaning officers tried to get a piece of the action from the Navy Air Force.

Naturally, the results were not good.

Offending the Army and provoking the Navy, it would be odd if they weren’t suppressed.

Li Yunxiang was a lucky one, as he was a war hero during the great war, married to a woman related to the Holy Emperor, and knew Bai Zhizhan. After unable to continue in the Army, he received an appointment from the Navy and managed to find re-employment in the Navy Air Force.

Most other senior Land Air Force officers who caused trouble with him did not end up with good outcomes.

In fact, Land Air Force officers like Li Hengjia and Du Kang, who transitioned to the Sea Air, owed their fortune to Li Yunxiang; or it can be said that Li Yunxiang set a precedent so that when other officers switched to the Navy, the Land Air Force had no grounds to stop them or forcibly retain them.

The loss of talent was only one aspect.

The event known as the "Land Air Force Officers’ Rebellion" had more severe or rather profound impacts on the Land Air Force, making the upper echelons more cautious in building the Air Force and adopting some radical, even biased responses.

Most notably was the emphasis on developing the Tactical Air Force, grossly neglecting the Strategic Air Force.

While the Army provided reasonable explanations and even had the media whitewash their actions, trying to prove that prioritizing the Tactical Air Force had nothing to do with the "Land Air Force Officers’ Rebellion" event. For example, civilian "speed race" provided fertile ground for the development of tactical aircraft, resulting in rapid performance improvements and increased visibility of small aircraft. Similarly, the military reforms the Army rolled out after the great war, creating a mechanized force centered around Armored Troops, required strong aerial support, and the Tactical Air Force itself was part of mechanized warfare.

Yet, these explanations couldn’t mask the core issue.

The Army didn’t want to lose the Air Force, even if it meant emasculating it or turning the Air Force into a handicapped walker.

This situation continued until over three years ago, specifically in the year 96 of the New Calendar.

As the arms race restarted, the international situation became increasingly perilous, and the high-ranking officials of the Army realized that solely relying on Tactical Air Force was definitely inadequate.

Over a decade of development had solved many previously insurmountable technical issues, such as significantly improved engines which were now commercially available. The manufacturing processes for airplanes and the design methods for large aircraft had made considerable progress, no longer facing insurmountable difficulties.

Furthermore, the immense military value of bombers had already been demonstrated.

In the post-war local conflicts, bombers had shone brightly on the battlefield, with their combat capabilities and battlefield value being affirmed by the military.

Fundamentally, this was also related to industrial production capacity.

Most notably, in the year 95 of the New Calendar, the Empire had constructed the world’s first industrial base mainly for electrolytic aluminum in the resource-rich and relatively safe Southwest region. This laid the foundation for the large-scale industrial application of electrolytic aluminum. According to the production capacity planned at that time, by the year 100 of the New Calendar, the production capacity of electrolytic aluminum was anticipated to reach 300,000 tons, aiming to reach 500,000 tons by the year 101 of the New Calendar.

In that era, the primary use of electrolytic aluminum was for manufacturing airplanes, especially heavy bombers!

With these foundational conditions, the development of heavy bombers naturally followed.

However, everything had to start from scratch.

In the following years, the Army invested in the development of several types of twin-engine medium bombers, but procurement numbers were always kept in the hundreds.

The main reason lay within the Army itself; there was significant internal resistance within the Land Air Force, and many generals and officers who supported Tactical Air Force opposed the development of heavy bombers. They believed that producing heavy bombers would inevitably impact Tactical Air Force and lead to resource constraints.

Before the war broke out, the budget of Land Air Force was not sufficient to support the simultaneous development of both Tactical and Strategic Air Forces.

Because of this, He Pengfei’s Chengfeng Company had not received any orders until the war broke out.

Once the war broke out, the issue of insufficient funds no longer existed.

With no funding issues, why not procure some heavy bombers?

Moreover, if Navy Air Force were the true embodiment of Tactical Air Force, then Land Air Force needed to forge its path to have some distinctive characteristics.

This was also thanks to people like Li Yunxiang.

Driven by former Land Air Force officers like Li Yunxiang, the Navy’s activities had gained significant traction over the years and were on the verge of leading the developmental trends.

Importantly, the Grand Secretary had directly given instructions on the equipment research and development for both the Navy and Army.

In terms of Air Forces, Tactical Air Force was to be led by the Navy, and Strategic Air Force was to be led by the Army, each proposing specific requirements based on their own circumstances.

Simply put, as long as the performance targets were met, the Army would also have to procure combat aircraft from the Navy.

This allowed the Army to focus its efforts on developing heavy bombers.

Although this joint development approach was not widely adopted due to differing tactical needs, with the Navy and Army quickly going their separate ways, this division of labor and cooperation was essential during the initial stages of the war when mobilization was not yet complete and could save a significant amount of precious resources.

Moreover, it also saved on design time.

At any time, those capable of designing both fighters and bombers were national treasures.

However, leveraging its robust industrial strength and the foundation laid before the war, the Empire’s Army Air Force developed heavy bombers at an astonishing speed.

As for tactical applications, that was even less of a problem.