My Italy

Milan is the most prosperous city in Italy and a transportation hub in northern Italy. The bustling metropolis and convenient transportation make Milanese well-informed. But this year, well-informed Milanese were also shocked, because Alitalia was established in Milan.

Some people may ask, why is it so shocking to establish an airline?

Sorry, I didn't make it clear. What shocked the people of Milan was not the world's first airline to use the sky for cargo and passenger transportation, but the transportation tool they used, the rigid airship. When these giant 100-meter-long creatures slowly float thousands of meters above your head in the sky, the shock they bring is simply beyond words.

That's right, Alitalia's current vehicle for transportation missions is an airship, and currently the only one capable of commercial aviation is the rigid airship developed by Count Zeppelin. Compared with the aircraft that can only be played in the game of the brave at present, although the rigid airship appeared later, its commercial value is more valued in this era.

Take Alitalia's four existing airships as an example. Its smallest airship, the ZL5, is 112 meters long, 7.9 meters in diameter, has a dead weight of 48 tons and a usable lift of 21 tons. It is equipped with two 600-horsepower VL2 in-line engines, which were developed by the Milan Power Laboratory and can drive the airship to a speed of 55 kilometers per hour.

Although the speed of an airship is not as fast as that of an airplane, the two are completely different in terms of load capacity. It is for this reason that now that the airship has been launched, it can be put into commercial operation immediately. And Alitalia, as the first person to eat crabs, of course also made a lot of money.

Except for maintenance and repair time, the three rigid airships are basically used for transporting passengers and cargo outside. Now they are mainly used for transporting passengers. After all, everyone has a dream of flying. If you can spend one or two hundred pounds on an air trip, I think no one can refuse this temptation. And compared with dangerous airplanes, airships are much safer.

At present, Alitalia has developed domestic air routes to Milan, Rome, Naples and other places. Of course, in addition to domestic ones, it has also developed many foreign routes, such as Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, etc. Everywhere he goes, the local people are attracted to watch the airship. It seems that people are very enthusiastic about this big flying thing.

And given that the airline's business is so booming, the airline's top executives certainly can't sit still. If they don't take advantage of such a good opportunity to continue to expand the airline's number of airships, it would be a shame for the top executives to receive generous salaries.

"General Manager, people from the Bank of Savoy are here. They are in the reception room."

In General Manager Arman's office, the secretary knocked on the door and informed him of the news.

"Okay, I understand, let's get over it."

Arman, wearing a straight and pressed expensive suit, put his work in his hands, picked up a document and walked to the reception room.

"Hello, General Manager Arman."

"Hello, President Seidel."

Seidel, president of the Milan branch of the Bank of Savoy, brought the branch's credit manager to meet with him.

"President Seidel, this is our company's business performance in the past three months. You can take a look first."

Arman, the general manager of the airline, handed the document he carried with him to President Seidel, who casually handed it to the credit manager.

"Just take a look, you two. Although our company has only been established for less than a year, our company's financial situation can be seen from the income flow. If the airship was not too expensive, our company would not even think of asking your bank for a loan... "

President Seidel listened to Arman's story, and he actually knew a lot about Alitalia.

Although the company was established only a short time ago, and its capital was not very strong, it was only fifteen million lire. But if you look at its shareholders, you will know that the Italian government invested 45%, the royal family invested 25%, and others invested 30%.

It is precisely because of this that the landing sites established by Alitalia in the suburbs of several major cities in China are so smooth. In addition, the establishment of landing sites abroad has also been facilitated by other countries.

The information was checked quickly. After reading the information, the credit manager of Savoy Bank nodded to President Seidel to express his approval of the information.

However, although he approved the content of the information, there were some things that President Seidel had to ask in person. After all, the loan amount applied for by Alitalia this time is a bit large. If the head office had not sent a secret telegram that could help Alitalia, he would not have dared to accept the loan application from the company. Fifty million lire was something he had experienced. This is the largest loan I have ever taken out.

"Mr. Arman, your company applied for a loan of 50 million liras from our bank. This is not a small amount. For the safety of this loan, I hope to hear how your company uses this loan."

Faced with President Seidel's inquiry, Arman smiled slightly. "Actually, even if you don't ask, I will tell you. The reason why we, Alitalia, will lend such a large amount of money is because we are optimistic about the future of air transportation."

As he spoke, Arman took out a map of the world with lines drawn on it and continued. “At present, Alitalia has developed many air routes, such as the Central European air routes from Rome to Milan, Vienna to Berlin, and the Western European air routes from Rome to Turin, Paris, and London. However, in view of the current shortage of airships, our company We are preparing to borrow 23 million lire to purchase 7 medium and large airships to fix these aviation routes. Another 4 million lire will be used to open aviation stations in various cities for the docking and maintenance of airships."

After finishing speaking, Arman looked at the two longest lines on the map with a pious expression and said. "With the remaining 23 million lire, our company will use it to build two ultra-large airships for ultra-long-distance shipping missions. The North and South America routes across the Atlantic are the focus of our Alitalia airline in the next stage."

If you want to ask which sea route is currently the busiest, you don’t have to think too much. The sea routes between North America and Europe are the busiest. There are not too many people from Europe to live in North America, and people from North America come to Europe to study and do business. Not too much, and the demand across the Atlantic Ocean on both sides gave birth to the busiest sea route at present.

The fact that the Blue Ribbon Award for the fastest speed across the North Atlantic has been broken one after another is a reflection of the busyness of this route. It is very reasonable for Alitalia to want to get involved. After all, the speed of an airship is definitely faster than that of a ship, and the experience of the sky is comparable to that of the sea. Therefore, the two super-large airships that carry Alitalia’s dream of intercontinental routes must be built.

As for the South American route, it goes without saying. One more thing, at present, the maritime shipping from South America to Europe is mainly based on large sailboats.

Is there any mistake? While ships were not only burning coal but were also upgrading to fuel oil, South America was still using such primitive power as wind power.

That’s right, that’s the truth, because there is a very intuitive problem at present, that is, South America is too far away and there are lack of supply points along the way. It is difficult for coal-fired ships to cross the gap between Africa and South America at one time. distance. There is also a very economic reason, that is, South America is short of coal and lacks thermal coal to burn ships.

Some people may say, can't we go north first, to North America, and then to Europe?

This is okay, but the price of shipping is too high, definitely much higher than that of a sailboat. If you have that time, you might as well build a ship to carry a large amount of coal. This is probably more cost-effective than taking the North American route.

The intention of Alitalia to open routes to South America is also very obvious, that is, to allow the rich and powerful people in South America to travel to and from Europe more conveniently.

Although Alman did not say how to open up the American route, Governor Seidl is already aware of the prospect of opening up the route. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said.

"Mr. Arman, you have convinced me. It is hard for me to imagine the profits and prestige your company will bring if it opens routes to the Americas. And if I don't lend you a loan, I will definitely regret it."

When President Seidel agreed to lend, Arman also had a smile on his face. "President Seidel, believe me, this is the wisest decision you have ever made. Alitalia will not let anyone down."

"I believe too."

…

After seeing off the bank people, Arman immediately picked up the phone and ordered. "Send a telegram to Zeppelin now so we can start construction."

Arman's order was quickly transmitted to the Zeppelin Company in Germany via telegram. As the founder of the company and the inventor of the rigid airship, Count Zeppelin attached great importance to Alitalia's order. After all, the price of a rigid airship is too high. In addition to two or three orders from the government and the military, his company's other orders are all from Alitalia.

Not to mention that Italy has nine ships this time, and two of them are big ones over two hundred meters long. It is necessary to complete the order beautifully.

So after receiving the telegram, Count Zeppelin rarely spoke excitedly to the people present. "Everyone, we are going to have a big fight!"