#1224 Flying Snake in the Air (Plus 1)

Hopkins returned to the White House and was immediately received by Roosevelt.

"The Germans fought really well on land. Now, the whole of Belarus has been occupied by the Germans, and the troops of the Western Special Military Region have disappeared." Hopkins did not speak, Roosevelt had already begun to ramble. : "Petersburg has been bombed to rubble, and in the south, the main force of the Germans is advancing towards Kyiv. In this case, does Moscow have a pessimistic attitude?"

At the beginning, the Germans aggressively wanted to go to war with the Americans in the Atlantic Ocean. The United States was very anxious, and the Pacific Ocean was already devastated. If there was another confrontation with Germany in the Atlantic Ocean, the US naval power would definitely not be enough. , the United States is facing the enemy, and life will be very difficult.

Unexpectedly, the Germans were bluffing in the Atlantic, and then suddenly ran over to fight the Soviet Union, which really made the White House relieved, at least for the time being, there is no need to worry about the Germans attacking the United States from the sea.

The United States has won a precious respite. Now, it is necessary to concentrate its strength and defeat the island countries first.

Now, what Roosevelt most wants to know is Stalin's attitude, Moscow's attitude, are they full of confidence in victory?

"Although the Soviets played badly, Stalin didn't have any pessimism." Hopkins said: "You should know that people like Stalin will rise to the challenge no matter what the situation is."

Even ordinary Soviets would be pessimistic, and Stalin would not. He was a man of perseverance and was never discouraged by failure. This judgment is completely correct.

The biggest gain of Hopkins's trip to the Soviet Union was to grasp the attitude of Moscow. In his eyes, he saw the Soviet Union that was not afraid of the enemy. Although the initial progress was not good, the Soviet Union must be able to resist Live the German offensive.

Hopkins' trip is significant. The ideological confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States has alienated them from each other. Now, the alliance between the Soviet Union and the United States is about to form.

Roosevelt nodded: "This is the best, we need to let the Soviet Union help us consume Germany's power, but the Soviet Union must not be in trouble. If the Germans occupy the Soviet Union, it will be the worst news for us."

If Germany rules the Soviet Union, the United States really has no hope. Germany will integrate Europe, Asia and Africa, and the United States may eventually fall. From this perspective, saving the Soviet Union is equivalent to saving the United States.

"Stalin has no objection to the various opinions I put forward. We will convene a meeting of the three governments as soon as possible to discuss strategic interests and national interests." Hopkins said: "Stalin is now seeking our support. What we gave in, it was an opportunity for us."

"Yes, I am also looking forward to this Moscow meeting. Our Lend-Lease Act can include the Soviet Union, so that we can provide the Soviet Union with a lot of weapons." Roosevelt said: "The Soviets are bleeding and dying, and we still haven't provided some weapons. questionable."

"Yes, for the Soviet Union now, the air defense pressure is the greatest, so we have promised them to export some fighter jets to the Soviets first. Now, it depends on what fighter jets we give the Soviets." Hopkins said.

U.S. support cannot stop at word of mouth. In addition to those light weapons, guns, ammunition, food, etc., fighter jets must also be provided immediately.

If the Germans chose Moscow as the target of the bombing and killed Stalin and others directly, then the Soviet Union would not have to resist.

Strange to say, since the Germans can smash Petersburg, why not smash Moscow directly? This is the fastest way to end the war.

With the advent of the war, the war machine of the United States is also in operation. The United States can produce a large amount of weapons and equipment, but what fighters should be handed over to the Soviets?

Of course it can't be the latest fighter jets in the United States. These fighter jets are not well equipped by the United States themselves, so how could they be handed over to the Soviets?

As soon as his eyes rolled, Roosevelt remembered: "Don't we have a group of fighter jets ready to support the UK? Give this batch of fighter jets to the Soviets first."

At first, the United Kingdom was in a precarious situation, and the United States gave help and passed the Lend-Lease Act, intending to hand over its own equipment to the British.

Among them is an "advanced" fighter, the P-39 Flying Snake.

In this era, propeller aircraft are the mainstream, and the engine of the aircraft is arranged at the front, because the propeller needs to be installed in front.

This has led to a result. With the continuous development of aircraft engines, the volume has continued to expand. As a result, the nose of the aircraft is getting longer and longer. In this era of aircraft, the cockpit is in the middle, and the space in front of it is several meters long, which is to deploy the engine. of.

The pilot sits in the middle, the line of sight is not good, and the risk of take-off and landing is increased. So, can it be improved?

The Bell Company was the first to try, and the P-39 fighter they produced was designed just before World War II.

Its biggest feature is that the engine is rear-mounted in the middle of the fuselage, and the nose propeller is driven by a connecting shaft behind the driver's seat.

In this way, the front end of the aircraft is freed, and the cab can be moved forward significantly. At the same time, the front of the aircraft can also be optimally designed, and the smooth and fine head line shape is also easy to install a large number of weapons.

And such a nose allows the pilot to have a good field of vision, plus there is space in the front, so the front three-point landing gear can be used, which is quite easy to take off and land.

Only the United States dares to do this. Other countries can't do it. The biggest problem is the drive shaft. The speed of thousands of revolutions or even tens of thousands of revolutions, and the drive shaft of several meters long cannot vibrate. , must have a strong industrial heritage of the country to be able to manufacture.

After it was manufactured, the applause continued, and it was equipped with the U.S. Army Air Force, intending to be the main force, but soon, American pilots found that the aircraft was absolutely tasteless.

Pilots complained about the small space in the aircraft cabin, inconvenient access to the cockpit door when opening sideways, jerky pitch control, insufficient high-altitude power, poor climbing performance, troublesome maintenance, and difficulty in escaping in emergency situations.

The most terrifying thing is that it was discredited in the confrontation with the Japanese "Zero" fighter in the Pacific theater, which made the US Army Air Forces lose all confidence in it.

As a result, this aircraft was downgraded to a trainer aircraft, but the pilot students did not like it. The handling performance of this aircraft was not very good, and it often caused pilots to have accidents.

As a result, the trainer aircraft was also unpopular, so there was only one way to go. At this time, the British were in demand.