Chapter 69: Secret War (1)
When Contini and his party were preparing to see the performance of Mackey's seaplanes, intelligence about the attack on Algeria's Union Petroleum was delivered.
"How much of a loss?"
"It's not too big. Someone destroyed an oil extraction machine and two simple houses. Four people died and 11 were injured..." Enzohui reported, "Our people fought back, at least they killed More than three militants were killed and 17 others were captured.”
Contini nodded: "The Algerian tribal armed forces and us have never been in conflict with each other. We even went to check things out. There must be a reason for this!"
"Still investigating, I believe there will be results soon."
The results came out that evening: the captured tribal armed forces confessed that they had received money, and that someone had provided them with money and old arms to carry out destruction. They said that as long as they stopped United Oil from extracting oil, there would be preferential terms in the future. But who this person is and what kind of force he represents cannot be explained clearly by the minions present.
Contini pondered for a moment and then said: "Say hello to the navy, the situation in North Africa is unstable. I will requisition the Dante first and take me to North Africa."
"You still want to go?"
"Go and take a look. The oil production from Algeria's oil fields is crucial. This is not only related to the subsequent industrial construction, but also the capital operation on Wall Street. Do you think those consortiums and the royal family who have invested in it will not be nervous?" Kong Tiny shook his head, "Maybe they will express concern soon. Fortunately, United Group itself is not a listed company, otherwise the price would have dropped by at least 5% tomorrow if this news came out!"
The Dante has made an agreement with the Navy in advance. The United Group will purchase it for US$40,000 and agree to deliver it in December. The Navy will then consider using the money and other military expenditures to build the second Caracciolo class. However, now the president has Yes, it's not a big problem to deliver it two months in advance. Just inspect the goods first. Anyway, the United Group will definitely pay for the two months' salary and daily maintenance costs.
The next day, Antonio also received the news and conveyed his concerns: "Several shareholders came to inquire about the losses. They only half-believed them when they heard my assurance that the losses were not big and would not delay normal oil production..."
"Do we need to communicate with the French government and the Algerian Governor-General to ask them to strengthen their repressive forces, otherwise there will never be peace." Leo said, "Although the army has four divisions in Libya, we cannot..."
"I know, so I'm going to Tripoli again to find out what the real situation is. But no matter what, you must stabilize the mentality of the capital market and investors and tell them that we can deal with this problem and that it is no big deal. of."
On January 24th, board the Dante in Contini
[Please refresh this anti-theft section later]
As for the retired old rifles, Contini would not use them to equip oil guards. He would send them to the Far East for sale at low prices in the name of Army scrap steel. Marshal Zhang's power was greatly weakened after Guo Songling's rebellion, and his need for arms was very urgent. At the same time, the revolution was in full swing, and a large number of army scrap steel returned to China with Li Xi and others. Marshal Wu from Hunan and Marshal Sun from Jiangxi were eager to get their hands on these arms, and even Marshal Chang from Huangpu bought thousands of them.
No special reason, it’s just cheap! Moreover, the Italians are very loyal. In addition to the ocean, they can also get grain, agricultural products, bristle, tung oil, tungsten ore, antimony ore, tin ore, and copper ore for top money. They are responsible for package transportation. Some workers can go to Libya to exchange for money. As a result, the reputation of Italian scrap steel has spread like wildfire in China, and it has the potential to sweep across China. A few years later, Italian scrap steel became a proper noun in the dictionary and was required to be tested in history classes.
And these merchant ships are not empty-handed. When they return to Italy, they usually carry people and materials to Libya to unload the goods first, and then return to Italy to load scrap steel. This cycle starts over and over again. If you manage it well, it can cycle once every three months. As soon as the transport ship begins to leave the port, the next batch of goods is prepared and ready for delivery as soon as it arrives, to everyone's satisfaction. Can this business make money? Of course you can’t make money! If you can make money, there will definitely be a lot of people rushing to get in. But Contini’s starting point is not to make money, he is to reduce losses, otherwise who will sell these 20,000 yuan of scrap steel? However, the fact that the president is a good friend of the Chinese people is confirmed, so kind!
Copper, tin, and tungsten ores were turned into arms and sent to the Italian Army. All grain and agricultural products were digested locally in North Africa. It is said that Chinese rice can still be sold at a good price among laborers. United Group's apparent losses were replaced by deep-seated gains in strength. This is what Contini thinks is the most cost-effective, and what management professors will be most emotional about in the future.
This new torpedo bomber is similar to the T3M torpedo bomber of the American Martin Company. It adopts a single-engine structure, but uses a liquid-cooled engine; and is different from another torpedo bomber T2D (produced by the American Douglas Company). It uses two air-cooled engines.
On the issue of single-engine or double-engine, Contini's attitude is very clear. Carrier-based torpedo aircraft must use single-engine and double-engine. Although it is more reliable and safer, it takes up too much space.
Fortunately, at this time, United Power also launched a 12-cylinder V-type liquid-cooled engine based on the products of Rolls-Royce and Fiat. The standard output reaches 435 horsepower, which is 35 horses larger than the engine used in the T3m.
In terms of body design, this verification machine is much more luxurious than the T3M. It has a complete aluminum alloy body. This is not ordinary Duralumin, let alone the aluminum alloy used by United Real Estate, but the latest chrome-nickel product produced by United Laboratories. Manganese-based superhard aluminum alloy is slightly stronger than steel, but its unit weight is only one-third of that of steel. This suddenly makes the aircraft much lighter. Not only is the surface tension and strength of the aircraft body enhanced, but it is also Deck takeoff and landing performance is better.
Of course, this alloy is not the same as the Igarashi aluminum alloy used in Japan's Zero War in later generations. That alloy contains magnesium, zinc and other ingredients. However, the joint laboratory is also stepping up research because the president said that not only aluminum alloys should be used for To manufacture airframes and, if necessary, aluminum alloys to manufacture airplanes, cars, and tank engines, it is unimaginable without breakthroughs in materials science.
Take this prototype code-named T1 as an example. It has an empty weight of 2.37 tons, has three seats, and can carry a 6-kilogram simulated torpedo. It exceeds the T3m's ability to carry 454 kilograms. Its practical ceiling exceeds 3 meters, and its maximum horizontal flight speed exceeds 2 km/h, except for a slightly shorter range of about 12 kilometers, all other indicators are superior.
Veterans such as Göring have even conducted experiments. On the premise of mounting a 6kg simulated torpedo, two 25kg auxiliary fuel tanks can be mounted on the wings, but the rolling distance must be increased by 9-12 meters accordingly.
Seeing the plane flying steadily from the deck, Contini and others gave warm applause and explained at the same time: "The next step is to use this simulated bomb for training. You must do it step by step. Don't be anxious. First, you can feel the performance of the aircraft." Be thorough and familiar with it, and strive to improve it better.”
"But there is no such aerial torpedo yet!" Goering scratched his scalp, "You can't practice fake training every day, right? That would feel too bad!"
"I will rush out a batch of them, but don't expect any performance, just usability." Contini shrugged, "Torpedoes commonly used in the navy now are more than 1 ton or even 1.5 tons, and they can't even use 6 kilogram torpedoes. I haven’t thought about it. It’s not possible to rely on the master of the Navy. It’s up to the United Shipyard to do it by itself. Of course, this is also a good thing. After we can build it, won’t this order be firmly in our hands?”
Everyone laughed...
Seeing the plane flying steadily from the deck, Contini and others gave warm applause and explained at the same time: "The next step is to use this simulated bomb for training. You must do it step by step. Don't be anxious. First, you can feel the performance of the aircraft." Be thorough and familiar with it, and strive to improve it better.”
"But there is no such aerial torpedo yet!" Goering scratched his scalp, "You can't practice fake training every day, right? That would feel too bad!"
"I will rush out a batch of them, but don't expect any performance, just usability." Contini shrugged, "Torpedoes commonly used in the navy now are more than 1 ton or even 1.5 tons, and they can't even use 6 kilogram torpedoes. I haven’t thought about it. It’s not possible to rely on the master of the Navy. It’s up to the United Shipyard to do it by itself. Of course, this is also a good thing. After we can build it, won’t this order be firmly in our hands?”
Everyone laughed... Seeing the plane flying steadily from the deck, Contini and others gave warm applause and explained at the same time: "The next step is to use this simulated bomb for training. You must do it step by step. Don't be anxious,