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Volume 2 Beijing Story Chapter 160 The Departure of the Advance Team and the Launch of the Air Force

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    Update time: 2012-08-14

    In mid-July 1917, the offensive launched by the Russian army on the Eastern Front under the speculation of the Provisional Government suffered a disastrous defeat in front of Germany and Austria. The Allied Powers' diplomatic pressure on China, the United States, and Japan, three countries that were almost sitting on the sidelines, suddenly increased. China's  The first advance detachment of the expeditionary force to participate in the war was finally formed. Wang Geng sent Army Major General Zhang Zizhong, the leader of his own guard regiment, to lead the first special operations battalion of the first division of the participating army as the commander of the advance detachment, on board the British Royal  The Navy's "Princess Mary" troop transport embarked from Tianjin Port and set off for the European battlefield!

    Before the expedition, a grand military parade was held in Nanyuan. President Feng Guozhang, Prime Minister Duan Qirui, along with the cabinet and all members of Congress in Beijing, as well as representatives of the 13 provincial governors and 22 provinces, attended the military parade and the first  Flag presentation and swearing-in ceremony for the advance detachment!  Ministers from Britain, the United States, Japan, France and Russia also came to congratulate!

    This is the first Chinese expeditionary force to go abroad since the Republic of China. The 500-person advance detachment has English and French translators at the platoon level, and almost all soldiers have learned common daily conversations in English and French. Of course,  , how much they can really learn depends on their own ability and understanding.

    The expeditionary force¡¯s advance detachment is equipped with the same M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle. Each squad is equipped with an M1917bra squad machine gun, and each row is equipped with an M1917A1 heavy machine gun!

    Wang Geng's partner for Zhang Zizhong was Zhang Zhizhong. The title of colonel and chief of staff of the advance detachment and the baptism of the upcoming European War made Er Zhang so excited and nervous that he could not sleep. Wang Geng and Xu Shuzheng personally sent the advance detachment to Tanggu, Tianjin.  When he saw the "Princess Mary", a luxury cruise ship converted into a troop carrier, on the port pier, he lowered his voice and asked: The first thing is to stay alive!  The second is still alive!  There is no third place!

    With the departure of the advance detachment of the expeditionary force, the long-awaited aircraft ordered from the United Kingdom finally arrived at Tianjin Port, accompanied by a complete set of equipment from an aircraft repair shop and a squadron of British pilots, able to stay away from Europe.  Battlefield came to the Far East to work as an instructor, but was treated as an unwilling vacation by these proud pilots!

    Of course, besides Wang Geng, who were waiting a little impatiently like the students of Nanyuan Aviation School, there were also aviation experts Wang Zhu and Bayusao who had returned from the United States, and the chief and deputy director and chief and deputy chief engineer of the aviation department of the participating military forces.

    Not to mention the Chinese people, the Chinese people, including the big guys in the political and military circles, have never seen the concept of hundreds of aircraft. When the Rockefeller oil exploration team was messing around with drilling for oil for an extended period, Wang Geng put it.  The Morgan oil exploration team was sent to Suiyuan for exploration. Of course, this was just a cover-up. Before he could deal with the Governor of Zhili and the third division, the North China Oilfield could only be hidden in his heart.  That place is between Machang and Baoding, a place called Renqiu!

    Time flies by to the end of July 1917. At this time, the pace of recruitment of new recruits to the war army has finally slowed down. In fact, except for the three art masters who have joined the war army for training and training and are fully armed, this month  At that time, Nanyuan added three more supplementary brigades, and the actual strength of the participating armies reached 125,000.  The next step of recruitment continues, but the number has been reduced to about 800 per day.

    The exploration area designated by Wang Geng for the American Morgan Petroleum Exploration Team is located in Chaoge Wendur Village, Wulate Hou Banner, Guisui. As for whether the exploration team can find that place, it is up to Wu Peifu, the co-organizer of the Guisui Reclamation and the commander of the Third Division.  Wang Geng, the war supervisor, is busy with what he has to worry about!

    The new hangar near Nanyuan Airport is under construction in full swing. The airport's runway expansion work is almost completed. The aircraft maintenance equipment factory building was expanded early in the morning. The installation and commissioning of the equipment is under the command of Wang Zhu and Bayama Zao.  Proceed in an orderly manner.

    Of course, the impatient British flight instructors have already flown more than one sortie with a squadron of assembled reconnaissance bombers. The reason for assembling the reconnaissance bombers first is simply because there is no hostile air force in the Chinese sky at this moment.  If the participating army's air force goes into battle, most of them will definitely attack ground troops!

    The British-made De Havilland dh.4 reconnaissance bomber was quickly modified by engineers sent by the British aircraft repair shop led by Wang Assistant Bayama Zao to eight two-seat training aircraft, that is, communication controls were installed at the positions of the gunner and observer in the rear cabin.  Equipment that enables both front and rear cabin pilots to control and fly the aircraft.

    By the end of July, the model army continued to participate in the war but built a small field airport in Tianjin Machang, a medium-sized airport that could take off and land three types of British aircraft in the capital of Suiyuan, and even further away in Baotou, Wu Peifu's  A small field airport was also built at the garrison of Han Fuqu, the 9th Brigade of the Third Division.

    dh4 reconnaissance bomber:

    The maximum flight speed is 230 kilometers per hour,

    The practical ceiling is 6700 meters,

    ? ???Maximum range of 770 kilometers,

    Maximum battery life is 3 hours and three quarters of an hour,

    It uses a Rolls-Royce Eagle single engine with an engine horsepower of 289 kilowatts.

    The empty aircraft weighs 1085 kg.

    Full load weight: 1578 kg

    The weapons are the nose forward: a .303in (7.7mm) Vicke machine gun, and a Lewis machine gun shooting backwards in the back seat.

    Bombs: Can carry aerial bombs with a total weight of 210 kilograms

    The dh4 aircraft is suitable for both reconnaissance and light bomber use. It is quite powerful when carrying four 50-kilogram aerial bombs for ground attacks.

    After the airport in Guisui, the capital of Suiyuan, was completed at the end of July, Wang Zhu, director of the aviation department of the participating army, personally piloted a dh4 reconnaissance bomber to complete the route from Beijing to Guisui. The air distance is 410 kilometers, which is exactly one  It is a distance that cannot be turned back without refueling. Fortunately, planes at this time do not have high requirements for airports. In fact, a wide and flat grassland is enough to complete landing and takeoff.

    Immediately after, the route from Guisui to Baotou and the route from Beijing to Machang were quickly opened. The Nanyuan Aviation School under the Aviation Department selected nearly 500 officers and soldiers with good education and outstanding physical fitness from the participating armies, plus 2,000 ground staff.  The personnel began intense training and training. Of course, except for the instructors from the aviation school and the British pilots, it would be at least a month before the Chinese students who joined the war army were allowed to fly solo!

    In addition to the war supervisor Wang Geng, this sneaky ace sea, land and air special forces soldier who flew from No. 5 to Jiao Jiao No. 7 in his previous life became the first student in the war army to fly into the sky on a DH4 aircraft piloted by Wang Assistant. At the same time, he was  The first student to fly a dh4 to complete the takeoff and landing. Wang Geng, the exhibition supervisor, even got himself a special plane dh4. The nose of the plane was painted red. The emblem of the participating army was lazy and he used the slender red hoop of the model army.  The design is just to enlarge a circle with a red background, then a white circle in the middle, and then the word "model model" in official script in black in the middle.

    In order to reflect the style of the five-color flag, the red circle has a golden border and the white circle has a blue border.

    Such a large-scale aviation fleet construction was actually started by Wang Geng in a short period of time. First of all, it is due to the solid foundation laid by Nanyuan Aviation School. Secondly, Wang Zhu and Bayama Zao are really the best talents of this era.  The final step in developing aviation talents is the step-by-step teaching of the British Royal Flying Instructors. Of course, the training of aircraft mechanics among ground staff still needs some time.

    The participating army has been built to such a large scale and advanced level in three and a half months. Of course, its combat effectiveness has yet to be tested by war, but at least it is armed like an exploding hedgehog. Everyone regards this team as an army building in the Far East and Asia.  A miracle in history, everyone drooled over this team, and everyone was deeply afraid of offending Wang Geng, the war supervisor who was not very good-tempered.

    In the impression of the government, the public, and the press, Wang Geng is more elusive than the aloof and arrogant Xu Shuzheng. There seems to be nothing in the world that he does not know, and he only focuses on the construction and arming of the participating armies.  The turbulent undercurrent in the political arena seems to be ignored.

    Wang Geng's Zhenxing Society Financial Salon is held every week at Lu Ding's home. Ever since Wang Geng married five concubines, he has refused to step into the eight alleys again. Although one of the unusual characteristics of the model army in the public is that it treats officers and soldiers  On the surface, there is no objection or support for visiting brothels during holidays, but in reality, strict health monitoring and management are implemented.

    Model officers and soldiers walking on Nanyuan Street singing the military song "Three Major Disciplines and Nine Points of Attention", walking into a brothel openly and openly in the blink of an eye has become a common sight for the people in Nanyuan Town.  Using your own money, visiting brothels is also an idea that is instilled in every soldier to stimulate consumption and help those in the entertainment industry.
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