Episode 6 Sky Corridor

The world map was spread out on the table, and a lot of people gathered around it. Xiang Xiaoqiang slid his fingers on the map, slowly crossing half of the world, from northern Xinjiang to France, and said in a deep voice:

"From here to here, the fastest one-way trip by boat takes half a month, right?"

Qiu Qiu nodded:

"Yes, the last time we went to Germany, wasn't it just half a month? The average speed of the ship was still 30 knots, and it won the Red Ribbon Award."

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and said:

"Well, okay. What if we take a plane?"

Several people were stunned.

Qiu Qiu looked at him and smiled:

"Xiaoqiang, are you kidding me?"

Not only Qiu Qiu, but also Xiuxiu, Shi Shigege and several people from Dongchang looked at him with strange expressions, as if they were looking at aliens.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also knows that there is no concept of "international routes" in this era. Even if there is, it refers to sea routes. The civil aviation industry at this time has just started, and there are only some important mail flights, or just for the rich.

Small planes, flying clubs, etc. The air passenger transport industry of later generations has not yet developed. Generally, those who fly are military and political officials like them. Even if they occasionally fly to foreign countries, they are from neighboring countries.

The Ming Dynasty flew to Siam and India, and it was not the norm.

As for what Xiang Xiaoqiang said about "flying from Ming Dynasty to France", it is a complete fantasy in this era. At this time, the range of a large aircraft is only one or two thousand kilometers, and how many times does it have to land halfway around the earth? There is no mature way

International flight system, it is easier said than done.

But this is exactly what Xiang Xiaoqiang is trying to achieve. He pointed at the map and said:

"We have a good relationship with France, right?"

Deputy Director Zhang of Dongchang looked at everyone, nodded and said:

"That's true, that's true, but...it depends on what's going on."

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked:

"It's not a big problem to borrow a transport plane from them, right?"

Deputy Director Zhang hesitated for a moment, nodded and said:

"It should be no problem. - If it's a military transport plane, it might be a little more troublesome."

Xiang Xiaoqiang said:

"It doesn't need military use, it's just an ordinary civilian mail plane, one with a longer range will do."

"That should be no problem."

"Okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang continued, "our relationship with Britain is better than with France, right?"

"Well, you can also say that."

"Then it shouldn't be a big problem if we say hello to them and let our civilian aircraft land in their overseas colonies or areas of influence for refueling and food, right?"

Deputy Director Zhang looked at everyone. At this time, everyone had guessed what Xiang Xiaoqiang had planned. Deputy Director Zhang frowned, feeling that this matter was not that easy. He hesitated and said:

"This... is not impossible in theory. After all, this is not a big deal... but... Your Majesty, you mean that we borrow a transport plane from France and carry the blueprint across half of Eurasia.

, flew all the way back, right?”

"Yes."

"Where do you plan to land the plane for refueling along the way?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked:

"What model is that French mail transport plane? How far is its range?"

Deputy Director Zhang said skillfully:

"It's an American DC-3 just like us. It has a range of more than two thousand kilometers, no problem."

"Okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang lowered his head and pointed at the map and said, "First take off from Paris, cross the Mediterranean, and land in Tunisia. Tunisia is French territory, right? Then from Tunisia to Tunisia

Fly east, across the North African continent, and land in Cairo. Egypt is British territory, right? After refueling in Egypt, fly east again, across the entire Arabian Peninsula, and land in the United Arab Emirates... No, it shouldn't be there by this time.

The United Arab Emirates...ahem, what is this place called?"

He pointed to the place that would later be called the "United Arab Emirates", raised his head and smiled.

Deputy Director Zhang looked at the map and said:

"There are seven emirates in this area, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fajra, Umm Al Quwain, and Ajman, all of which are British protectorates."

"Well, which country has an airport?"

Deputy Director Zhang thought for a moment and said:

"Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two largest and second largest emirates, should have airports. Abu Dhabi definitely has them."

"Very good, then land in Abu Dhabi. After eating, drinking, and refueling here, fly eastward, across the Arabian Sea, and land in Mumbai on the west coast of India. Of course, India is British territory, and Mumbai is so

A big place must have an airport.”

"Well, there should be. Even if not, there must be somewhere nearby."

Xiang Xiaoqiang was very satisfied and said with a smile:

"Then it took off from Mumbai, crossed the entire Indian subcontinent, and landed in Calcutta on the east coast of India. Then, after eating, drinking, and refueling, it took off from Calcutta, crossed the Bay of Bengal, and landed somewhere on the Indochina Peninsula. You see

Ha, there are so many places to choose from here. Myanmar to the west is the British territory, Indochina to the east is the French territory, and Siam in the middle is our territory. We also have a military base, which is more convenient."

Qiu Qiu's eyes were sharp and he pointed directly with his hand and said:

"Then it's better to land directly in Kunming. The longitudes are almost the same. Why go south?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:

"Yes, Qiu Qiu is right. You can fly directly to Kunming. Then fly from Kunming to Lanzhou, and then from Lanzhou to Dihua... Ah, isn't this just flying all the way back? Isn't there anything unrealistic about it?

Yes? It's very realistic! ...Xiu Xiu, Qiu Qiu, you two do the math to see if there is any section of the journey that exceeds 2,000 kilometers, and then calculate how long the total voyage is and how many hours it will take."

…

Xiang Xiaoqiang waved his fingers and made gestures like this. Although everyone found it incredible, it did sound reasonable. At least they couldn't think of anything that couldn't be done for the moment. Indeed, it is not difficult to borrow a plane. Let planes from friendly countries fly in

It is reasonable to land in overseas colonies and refuel, and it is not difficult... After all, it is really realistic to fly directly from Europe to Daming by plane. The key is that all the way is the territory of friendly countries.

There is no need to fly over Soviet-controlled areas, so it is very safe.

Qiu Qiu and Xiu Xiu took compasses, set squares and abacus, and lay on the map for a while to calculate, and quickly reported the results. None of the voyages exceeded 1,800 kilometers, and they were all within safe range. The whole journey was about 13,000 kilometers, according to DC-3

With a cruising speed of 260 kilometers per hour, it theoretically requires 50 hours of flight.

"50 hours," Xiang Xiaoqiang's eyes shone with excitement, "that's a little more than two days. Counting the time for landing to refuel and eat, plus the entire day flight and two nights of sleep in the middle, it's only four days at most.

.”

Qiu Qiu also became excited:

“It takes 26 days less than taking the boat!”

Deputy Director Zhang smiled bitterly:

"Your Majesty, this does not include the time of the voyage. It also does not include the time we spent communicating and coordinating with Britain and France through diplomatic channels, as well as the time it took for Britain and France to make arrangements and coordinate with overseas military bases and airports."

Shi Shigege seemed to be quite supportive of this idea. She smiled and said:

"Deputy Director Zhang, as far as I know, the problem of wandering can be solved by radio navigation. That is to let each airport along the way send out fixed radio signals so that our aircraft can constantly correct their course. Of course, all of this

It all requires communication and coordination. However, isn’t this the time when the East Factory and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs need to work more efficiently? Haha, as long as the whole process can be controlled within a week.”

Deputy Director Zhang stared at the map, considered for a while, nodded and said:

"I'll do my best..."

Then, he hurriedly resigned and went to call the factory supervisor in Nanjing and request coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fourteen Gege approached Xiang Xiaoqiang and whispered:

"If you really want to do this, you'd better talk to His Majesty and ask His Majesty and the Foreign Secretary to put some pressure on you and don't let them drag their feet."

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and said:

"You're right, I'll go tell her right now."

…

Sure enough, when Zhu Yourong heard this, he was very supportive of this idea. He immediately sent an "imperial edict" to the Foreign Minister, urging him to arrange ambassadors to Britain and France, and the military attache to handle this matter as soon as possible.

Now that the problem of borrowing the blueprint from France has been solved, the next problem is planning the operation itself.

There are three most critical issues to address here:

First, how many troops should be sent to the commando team?

Second, how to enter the target area?

Third, how to evacuate the target area?
To be continued...