Mediterranean hegemon

"I'm still confident in completing the tasks you assigned me. My writing skills should be okay, right?"

"The article is pretty good." Douhet nodded first, and then taught him a serious lesson, "But I have to be more practical. I have heard about your deeds, and I am jumping up and down, lest the world is not in chaos. Although the Italians and the current Society is generally impetuous, but you are going to do big things in the future. You must learn to be restrained and calm. Of course, you should not be like me who is so inflexible and tactful that you still accomplish nothing when you get old. I think it is good to learn from your father's style. A dignified minister personally stayed at the train station for several days to solve the problem of train delays. This style is very admirable. "

"Father asked me to learn more from you."

"No need to put a high hat on me..." Du Hei changed the subject, "Didn't you just say you had questions to ask me? You can say it now."

"It's like this. After your book "Air Control" was published, I thought it was an epoch-making masterpiece comparable to "On Sea Power". I not only reviewed it in the Youth Daily, but also selected some chapters for publication... ...However, I feel that some contents may not be fully explained... Of course, this publisher is currently facing financial difficulties, so we are temporarily unable to pay the manuscript fees for the selected publications..."

"Repeat what you just said."

"I said that due to the financial difficulties of the newspaper, the selection section of "Air Control" will not pay royalties for the time being..."

"I asked the previous question."

"Oh, I said your work is comparable to Mr. Mahan's "On Sea Power" and is epoch-making..."

"Who asked you this?" Du Hei shouted angrily, "What content did you just say that was not fully explained? Can you tell me what content you read? If you can tell the truth, I will accept it with an open mind. If you can't tell the truth, I will only try to flatter you. , see how I teach you a lesson for your father!"

Antonio next to him smiled secretly: Your Excellency, the Minister, was distracted by the young master's few words again. This is really, really...

"Do I understand it this way... What you call the independent air force basically refers to combat aircraft, especially bombers that can carry out bombing missions. Precisely because their composition is different from other services and their commands are very different, it is necessary to form an independent air force instead of Depends on the army and navy."

"Yes, I said that!"

"There are three small problems here: first, I think it is good that aircraft belong to the Air Force, but the Air Force does not only have aircraft; second, it is true that bombers are important, but it is one-sided to only emphasize bombers and ignore fighter jets; third, of course, the independent Air Force It needs to be separated from the army and navy, but it does not mean that the army and navy do not need aircraft..."

Du Hei was stunned for a moment, then slowly said: "These three are not small problems, they are big problems. Please explain in detail. I happen to be free today."

"The first big question is, have you ever heard of electromagnetic detection devices?"

"Electromagnetic detection device?" Duhei was stunned for a moment, "What is it? A radio?"

"It's almost an application of radio, but it's different from the current understanding of radio. Radio waves can return." Contini explained, "Physicists tell us that radio waves encounter objects in the air, especially metal objects. It will be reflected. This principle is used for broadcasting using the ionosphere. Although it is not yet popular, it has been confirmed by experiments that it is feasible. We have also popularized it in the "Youth Daily".

Douhet nodded: "The popular science section of your newspaper is very good. I think it is more interesting and valuable than the literature section and the political section. It is a pioneering work among Italian newspapers. I also ordered a copy to take a look."

"Thank you for your praise and support. I will bring this recognition back to the society." Contini complimented and continued, "Since metal objects can reflect radio waves, if a device with enough power is made, let it actively shoot into the air. Send out radio waves. If there happens to be an airplane flying over, the radio waves will be reflected due to encountering obstacles. Then we can know the general direction, position, speed, altitude of the airplane... If several devices work continuously and are connected to each other, I can Knowing the trajectory and movement direction of the aircraft group, if there are enough such devices - for example, all arranged on the national border, then I can know the dynamics of the enemy aircraft well..."

This is the principle of radar that only the time-travelers can understand, and now it is explained to Douhet through Contini's mouth.

Duhei's expression was very complicated. He fell into meditation for a while, then frowned for analysis, and finally said: "Your idea is very interesting and challenging!"

"I wrote this idea in a letter and sent it to Mr. Marconi. He replied to me a letter. He believed that it can be done in theory. He would have to conduct an experiment to confirm the specific situation. Once there is a If the discovery is of great significance, he will also write a paper about it. However, the academic hypothesis is very clear - if the radio waves reflected by stationary objects can be received, confirmed and displayed, then the position will be displayed. Theoretically, radio wave reflections from moving objects can also be confirmed, because the fastest objects at present are insignificant relative to the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves and can be treated as stationary. "

When the other party mentioned Marconi, Duhey's face became solemn: he not only knew but also recognized Marconi's name. The latter not only won the Nobel Prize in 1909, but also served for the Italian army during the war. Although Duhey was Army Marconi played for the Navy, but the name was not unfamiliar to him.

In his opinion, if Marconi really said so, then this device is probably possible, and once this device is invented, the use of air force strategy and tactics will be greatly restricted, and the so-called suddenness and concentration will become characteristics that are contrary to scientific development.

"So what do you mean?"

"If this device exists, it will become a powerful weapon for air force combat defense, just like the appearance of tanks changed infantry tactics, this radio device will definitely change air force tactics, and the overwhelming advantage of offense over defense will be seriously weakened, so I think this device together with the command and communication system will become the core component of the air force; in addition, although anti-aircraft guns are artillery, I think they should also be the basic consideration of air force power."

"Anti-aircraft guns?" Douhei frowned, "You mean the balloon gun? But this thing is still useful for attacking balloons, and it is used to deal with Aircraft, if I may be frank, have produced almost no constructive results. "

"This is only because the development of artillery is not yet perfect. Uncle Douhet, do you believe that in the future there will be anti-aircraft artillery with automatic loading and a firing rate of hundreds of rounds per minute, and the caliber can be expanded from 20mm to more than 100mm. If I combine dozens, hundreds or even thousands of anti-aircraft guns to protect cities or strategic points, can your bombing mission be easily completed? "

Douhet was stunned, but he had to admit that what Contini said made sense. If thousands of anti-aircraft guns really attacked together, the scene would be too spectacular.

"In addition to anti-aircraft guns, there is a third weapon. Do you remember the science fiction article published in Youth Daily last Wednesday?"

"Which one?"

"The article about rockets by American scholar, Mr. Robert Goddard."

In 1919, Robert Goddard, the father of American rockets, published a paper entitled "Methods of Reaching Extreme Altitudes", which discussed the basic mathematical principles of rocket movement and proposed a plan to send rockets to the moon: "Build a rocket weighing 598.2 kg, which can send 0.9 kg of magnesium to the moon. When the rocket hits the moon, the magnesium will be ignited, and the bright flash of burning can last for a few seconds, which can be seen with a telescope on Earth." This paper, which was later recognized as a classic of space science, became a big joke at the time. Some newspapers mocked maliciously, saying: "The modern Jules Verne invented the moon rocket."

But Contini knew that his idea was right, not only right, but the achievements of aerospace in the future world far exceeded Goddard's vision. Unfortunately, this pioneer was not valued in the United States and was even repeatedly excluded. Contini planned to dig this gentleman to Italy when he had money. If you want to build a rocket, you can! I'll pay for it! You can build any rocket you want. The German von Braun, who was recognized as an authority on rockets by later generations, is still a 10-year-old primary school student. When he sees Goddard in the future, he can only respectfully call him senior.

"Rockets? I remember..." Douhet asked doubtfully, "What is the relationship between rockets and bombers?"

"Don't underestimate rockets. I think rockets can become a brand-new military weapon in the future. If they carry bombs, they can fly faster and farther than bombers without worrying about the safety of personnel; if they carry anti-aircraft weapons, they can pose a fatal threat to aircraft... Do you think that future weapons with such functions should be in the hands of the Air Force or be kept out of the air?"

"This..." Douhet hesitated: He didn't know what a rocket was specifically. When he first saw this article, he just thought it was a scientific fantasy. But if it really has such important military value as Contini described, it is indeed more suitable for the Air Force than other branches of the military - after all, rockets also fly in the air!