"What are you talking about in the super sky fortress?"

"If I can arrange it, I hope to put it into production in advance and first meet the needs of the Southwest East Ocean. I also need to purchase airdrop mines."

After Niz finished speaking, Lofos only pondered for a moment, then called the secretary and asked the secretary to inform Marshall and Arnold.

Although no clear answer was given, it was obvious that Lofos had an idea.

We found Army Chief of Staff Marshall and Aircraft Commander Arnold, who were nominally asking for their opinions, but actually informing them.

As long as Lofos makes a decision, no one can change it.

Niz knew that his proposal was the only way to get enough time to restore the Newland army and help the Newland Federation overcome the difficulties.

To put it more directly, this is the only way to avoid defeat.

Without this method, the Newland Federation will be defeated within 2 years at the earliest and within 3 years at the latest.

Soon, the two generals rushed over.

As Niz expected, Lofos told Niz's proposal in a calm, narrative tone that the XB-29, nicknamed "Super Sky Fortress", was mass-produced in advance, and first deployed to Austria and sent to the direction of the Fire Sea and the Throat Channel to carry out a mine-branch mission.

Until they finished speaking, they did not ask for their opinions.

Then, Lofos brought the topic to the details.

First of all, whether the XB-29 can be mass-produced in advance.

This is a question that is difficult to answer, or cannot be explained clearly in a few words.

Just in front of Lofoss, Arnold made several calls before giving an ambiguous reply.

Even if it can be mass-produced in advance, it will definitely not be able to meet the preset performance indicators, and the reliability is very poor, so the combat use effect will not be very good.

Of course, Arnold didn't say anything.

Although the XB-29 project was launched before the outbreak of the war, it was restricted by various factors. It was not until after the outbreak of the war, to be precise, that the development and design work were on the right track, and there were still many problems encountered in the initial stage.

The most serious problem is actually the engine.

To be said, the first thing that all combat aircraft must determine during the design stage is the power system, and the power system is the number one problem.

The development progress of the new engine cannot keep up with the design progress of the fighter, and ultimately dragged down the entire project, which is not a big fuss.

Because the supporting engines cannot keep up, many combat aircraft can only use old-style engines with poor performance when they are in service.

Of course, the same is true for the Liangxia Empire.

For the XB-29, engine reverse is an easy problem, or it can be temporarily put on hold.

Even if the engine with slightly lower power is used, the XB-29 can fly into the sky, which is nothing more than a smaller bomb load and a shorter range.

The number one problem encountered in the design stage is actually the fuselage part.

The XB-29 is the first all-metal structure heavy bomber designed by Newland Federation to adopt a supercharged cockpit with a practical ceiling of more than 10,000 meters and uses aluminum alloy to make a load-bearing frame.

The issues involved in this are far beyond the estimates at the time of project establishment.

Of course, there are many problems caused by this.

To put it bluntly, it is production cost.

Although the power generation and electrolytic aluminum production of the Newland Federation are second only to the Liangxia Empire, and the gap is not large, the price of electrolytic aluminum has always remained high, and the difficulty of production and processing is also very high, which indirectly leads to the increasing price of combat aircraft made of aluminum alloys.

Because it was too expensive, the Kingdom of Bran began to use wood to make combat aircraft.

These problems have led to the development progress of XB-29 far lag behind the plan.

According to Arnold, the mass production time of XB-29 was originally scheduled for 104 years of the New Calendar. Even if it was a fast speed, it could only be advanced to 103 years of the New Calendar.

Obviously, it's too late!

Even if the technical indicators are lowered, the mass production time cannot be much earlier.

Fortunately, Arnold also proposed an alternative.

Renovation of a batch of B-17 bombers, including replacing them with new high-power engines, increasing the capacity of the internal fuel tank, shortening the length of the bomb bay to load more fuel, and even canceling self-defense machine guns, expanding the combat radius as much as possible, so as to perform mine laying missions.

According to Arnold, only 2 1,000-pound airdrop mines were hung, and the combat radius of the B-17 could reach 2,500 kilometers.

Obviously, the key is the combat radius of 2,500 kilometers.

Although the 1-ton ammunition load has seriously reduced the efficiency of the B-17's mine laying mission, it is better than not, and it is good to deploy 2 mines at a time.

More importantly, the B-17 has a large number and a huge output, so it can be used at will.

So far, the production volume of B-17 has exceeded 5,000, and after the expansion of production capacity, the monthly output has exceeded 200. If no accidents occur, by the beginning of next year, with the new production line going into production, it will increase by 100%, and the monthly delivery volume is expected to exceed 400.

Of course, the production cost of B-17 is also low enough.

In short, sending 1,000 or even 2,000 B-17s to Austria for mine laying missions is not a problem for China Airlines!

Arnold also mentioned that personnel issues are easier to solve.

In order to attack the Tyman Empire, before officially joining the war, the Newland Federation sent pilots to join the Royal Bran Air Force in a volunteer manner. After joining the war, Newland Airways sent expeditionary forces to participate in the bombing operation against the Tyman Empire, and the main force was B-17.

Because of its huge scale, the training of the B-17 unit is relatively less difficult.

According to Arnold, China Airlines now has about 6,000 units, while only 5,000 B-17s available.

Obviously, it is to use quantity to make up for performance shortcomings.

Of course, logistical support needs to be considered.

However, this has nothing to do with the Army Aviation. The Navy will solve it on its own and will open a maritime route from southeastern to northwest of Austria as soon as possible.

As for airdrop mines, the Navy is also responsible for it.

Compared to bombers, mines are not a problem.

Don't forget that during the last war, in order to block the Watchmen Strait, the Alliance Group produced hundreds of thousands of mines, but 80% of them were used up.

Now, these mines that have been stored in the warehouse for more than 20 years have finally come into use.

Finally, the bombing tactics were implemented.

Arnold made a suggestion that the mine-burning operation should be arranged at night as much as possible, and to dispatch reconnaissance aircraft in advance to determine the approximate mine-burning waters.

The key is that after removing the self-defense weapon, the B-17 is easily shot down by fighter jets.

During the day, I flew to the Shiquan Strait to perform mine laying missions, and I am afraid there will be no return.

In addition, Arnold promised to send experienced commanders to Austria to help the navy plan and command mine planning operations.

Although he knew that Arnold did not want the Navy to take action in the southwest east-west to have a negative impact on the development and production of strategic bombers that the most valued by the mainland aviation industry, Niz did not play tricks with Arnold after getting what he wanted.

What he wanted was not a bomber, but a mine blockade of the Lion Spring Strait.

Of course, bombers carrying out mine-braking missions must be deployed at airports in northwest Austria and become thorns in Liang Xia's side and flesh thorns.

After getting this result, Niz did not leave immediately.

It's very simple, you have to discuss some things with Lofos, or to deal with other troubles.
Chapter completed!