George V succeeded to the throne in 1910. As soon as he took the throne, he was faced with overseas colonies demanding autonomy and even independence, and the British Empire was about to fall apart.
At that time, Britain was on the verge of civil war due to conflicts with Ireland.
George V worked hard to appease the Irish, improve the status of overseas colonies, and maintain the unity of the Commonwealth. He then led Britain to win the First World War and was deeply loved by the British.
During the World War, George V took the lead in cutting back on food and clothing, donating the money he saved to the British government, and even gave up drinking in order to save money.
During the Great Depression, George V took the initiative to leave Buckingham Palace, have close contact with the British, and encouraged the British to work hard and overcome difficulties.
For 25 years, George V accomplished everything he could.
Last year, Britain had just held the silver wedding celebration of George V and the Queen. George V himself did not pay much attention to it. Unexpectedly, the British burst out with great enthusiasm, which surprised even George V.
After learning of the death of George V, Winston must immediately return to London to attend George V's funeral.
Roque, as the Prime Minister of Southern Africa and the former Marquess of Nyasaland of the British Empire, will also go to London to express his condolences to George V.
Time is running out, and Rock and Winston take a plane to England, which makes Winston very worried.
Winston has a deep fear of airplanes and takes a boat every time he travels between England and southern Africa.
A month ago, the giant German passenger airship "Hindenburg" burned down in New Jersey, USA, killing five people. Since then, airships have withdrawn from the stage of commercial flight.
Rock's landline is called "African Emperor". This name is a bit middle-of-the-road, but it perfectly fits the status of southern Africa in Africa.
The "African Emperor" has a length of 35.7 meters, a wingspan of 43.2 meters, a height of 8.9 meters, and a crew of 16. It has a bedroom specially designed for Rock to rest.
Moving the bedroom onto the plane shocked Winston.
What’s even more shocking is this.
Taking into account the tight time limit, the "African Emperor" will fly directly to the British mainland via Luanda and Santa Maria Island in Cape Verde.
Pretoria is not far from Luanda, more than 2,000 kilometers, and it is still within Winston's understanding.
The distance between Luanda and Santa Maria Island is about 5,000 kilometers, and Winston doubts whether the "African Emperor" has this ability.
"Are we going to take the same plane?" Winston was still uneasy until he got on the plane.
"There is only one 'African Emperor'" Rock doesn't want this, but the "African Emperor" is expensive to build. If Winston is willing, Winston can fly on a military transport plane with Rock's guards.
When Roark went to England, he had more than 600 entourage, plus various equipment, and had to fly on 12 large military transport aircraft. Plus the escorting Air Force fighter planes, the total number of various aircraft exceeded 20.
This is the number of aircraft taking off at the same time. Considering that the range of fighter jets is far inferior to that of transport aircraft, they must change flights midway. Counting all in, if Rock goes to London, the Southern African Air Force will dispatch more than 100 aircraft.
The interior decoration of the "African Emperor" must be perfect. Rock is going to follow the disciples this time, and Phyllis also wants to go with him, so there are a lot of people in the "African Emperor".
This actually gave Winston a sense of security.
After getting on the plane, Winston sat in the seat closest to the window. Through the porthole, Winston could clearly see the "Cheetah" flying with him in the sky.
The "Cheetah" is the latest fighter jet of the Southern African Air Force, and its overall performance is higher than the "Goshawk" of the Naval Air Force.
When he first saw the "Cheetah", Winston had not yet realized how advanced the "Cheetah's" performance was.
However, when the "African Emperor" landed at Luanda Airport and stopped briefly, Winston suddenly realized that the escort fighter jets of the Southern African Air Force that took off from Pretoria actually accompanied the flight all the way to Luanda. This was a bit strange.
Horrible.
Luanda is 2,500 kilometers from Pretoria.
This means that the range of the "cheetah" in southern Africa is at least 2,500 kilometers.
That's right, the "Cheetah" has a length of 9.98 meters, a wingspan of 11.3 meters, a range of 2,500 kilometers, a maximum flight speed of 700 kilometers per hour, and a practical ceiling of 12,000 meters. The weapon system is two 20mm cannons with 800 rounds of ammunition.
A 12.7mm heavy machine gun with 2,000 rounds of ammunition.
When he learned the "Cheetah" data, Winston's eyes were dull. He had no idea that the technology of the Southern African Air Force had reached this level.
The performance of the "Cheetah" is seriously overflowing for the British Air Force.
The British requirement for fighter jets is to protect the British mainland. There is no need for such a long range. Six to seven hundred kilometers is enough. Wouldn't it be nice to use the extra weight to carry more bullets?
Of course, a long range also has advantages, which means that the air control time is long enough and the combat radius is larger. This is also meaningful, because Britain will also counterattack the German mainland in the future.
Simply listing the data of "Cheetah" is not enough to prove the power of "Cheetah".
The German BF109 has a length of 9.07, a wingspan of 9.92, a height of 2.5, a range of 700, a maximum speed of 490, and the weapon system only has three 7.92 mm machine guns.
The British hurricane tested last year had a maximum flight speed of only 450 kilometers and a range of 700 kilometers. This has not yet been equipped with a weapon system. If a weapon system is installed, the data will be reduced.
As for spitting fire
Britain just started research on the Spitfire this year, which was only promoted after Winston became Air Secretary.
"The Cheetah can only reach its current range with the addition of an auxiliary fuel tank." Rock was slightly embarrassed. This was an accident. Under normal circumstances, Winston would have no chance to understand the "Cheetah" at all.
This was also the sudden incident. The Southern African Air Force ignored Winston's existence and directly dispatched the most advanced fighter jets to escort the "African Emperor". Otherwise, Winston would have thought that the "Spitfire" was the most advanced fighter jet in the world.
.
The overall performance of the "Spitfire" is not even as good as the "Goshawk" in service with the Southern African Naval Air Force.
"Locke, are we still friends?" Winston's expression was serious. Not to mention that the British Empire was the suzerainty of southern Africa, Locke didn't accept that.
"Of course, is there any doubt?" Rock was in a dilemma. There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. This was what Winston said.
"We have known each other for more than 30 years." Winston looked sad, and Rock knew he was pretending.
Not entirely, at least part of it is an act.
More, there should be concerns about Britain’s technological backwardness in the aviation field.
"The United Kingdom has paid a huge price for southern Africa. If the Second Boer War had not broken out, the United Kingdom would not have weakened, there would have been no independence for southern Africa, and there would have been no southern Africa today. We fought side by side in the world war. I have always
"I think we are best friends, and Southern Africa and the United Kingdom are the countries with the best relations." Winston became more dramatic, and his eye circles began to turn red.
"Stop, stop, stop, what on earth are you trying to say?" Rock exposed it directly. He is already several decades old, why should he act? Who doesn't know who he is?
"Locke, I am now the Minister of Air Force of the United Kingdom, and I need your help." Winston was definitely addicted and actually held Locke's hand.
Rock had forgotten the last time he shook hands with Winston. It seemed that ever since the outbreak of the World War, Rock and Winston had hugged each other every time they met.
"There are no eternal enemies and no permanent friends, only eternal interests." Rock sneered, shook off Winston's hand, took out his handkerchief and wiped it with his hands.
Winston's eyes suddenly widened with anger. This action was close to an insult.
Of course, considering the relationship between Rock and Winston, this action is normal and will not affect the friendship between Rock and Winston.
"Haha, Locke, the United Kingdom is researching a new fighter jet. The performance of the 'Cheetah' perfectly meets all the requirements of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom can place an order." Winston glared and then immediately smiled, probably feeling disgusted himself:
"Large Orders!"
"I'm sorry, the 'Cheetah' is not for sale. If you need it, I can give you the 'Crown Eagle', and you can produce it yourself." There are some things that need not be said by Roque, but he hurts his feelings.
Production can be done, but money still has to be given.
Authorize it.
"Isn't the relationship between us worse than Spain?" Winston was really angry this time.
"Winston, I'm not just your friend Locke, I'm also the Prime Minister of Southern Africa. I have to be responsible for Southern Africa. Countless engineers and workers have put in a lot of effort to create the 'Cheetah'. I can't do it because of my personal relationship with you."
Because of our relationship, I will give you the Cheetah's technology, but I can't do it." Rock said sadly. He also hoped that the friendship with Winston would last forever, but each was his own master.
Winston was silent for a long time, and did not speak until the "African Emperor" took off again.
After leaving Luanda, the next stop for "African Emperor" is Cape Verde.
This time the Air Force learned the lesson, and the "Cheetah" flew with it over Principe and then returned. The "Goshawk" of the Naval Air Force took over the escort mission.
Winston looked at Rock coldly.
Rock was puzzled.
The various data of "Goshawk" are not as good as those of "Cheetah". "Cheetah" can accept them, why can't "Goshawk" accept them?
Winston didn't care about the Goshawk at all.
But why does Southern Africa also have an air force base in Principe?
It's hard for Rock to explain.
Southern Africa sees the Indian Ocean as a core interest.
However, there are not many military bases within the Atlantic Ocean.
The home ports of the Atlantic Fleet are still Walvis Bay and Halifax.
However, on the coast of Africa, the coast of America, and the islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Atlantic Fleet already has more than ten military bases, and there are ports that can supply supplies everywhere.
Winston suddenly felt that the British Empire's position in the Atlantic was about to be lost.
Don’t forget that it’s not just the United Kingdom that regards the Atlantic as its core interest. The United States also regards the Atlantic as its core interest. The strength of the Atlantic Fleet is more than twice that of the Pacific Fleet.
