The surveillance of Phoebe Rask and Sean Nehemiah is carried out by Umbrella, and Rock has no time to pay attention to these minions.
The British blockade of the Strait of Malacca did not stop the Dutch. Sumatra was an island and the Strait of Malacca was impassable. The Far East Fleet simply circled Sumatra Island, trying to bypass the Strait of Malacca and blockade the Port of Medan.
On June 25, the Far East Fleet arrived at the waters off the Port of Medan and launched artillery fire from the Medan Port fort.
The latest flagship of the Far East Fleet is more than fifteen years old, and its artillery is from the last century. It is unable to compete with the new artillery just installed on the Medan Fort. The artillery battle lasted for three hours. An offshore gunboat of the Far East Fleet was
Sunk, an armored cruiser was damaged.
In the afternoon of the same day, torpedo bombers were dispatched from Medan Port to attack the Far East Fleet, severely damaging the stranded Far East Fleet "Nichols" and sinking it.
Although torpedo bombers were not the protagonist of the battle, the Lion City, just across the sea, still noticed the role of torpedo bombers, so Viscount Glaston came to Nyasaland again.
"The sinking of the Nichols was not caused by the bombers. The bombs dropped by the bombers did not hit the Nichols at all. It was the gunpowder piled on the deck of the Nichols that was ignited by the fighter jets when they fired machine guns.
That's why the Nichols sank." Rock didn't lie. The bomber's hit rate is really impressive now.
In an era without bombsights, planes could only rely on experience, or mainly relying on blindness, to drop bombs.
The last time the Medan Air Force carried out an air raid on Xianda, it was because Xianda occupies a relatively large area and is still not biased. It is difficult to launch an attack on a warship on the sea, even if one has been stranded.
, warships more than ten meters wide and more than one hundred meters long cannot do it. The "Albatross" does not yet have this capability.
Including torpedoes, the hit rate of torpedoes at this time is actually very impressive. They can't hit accurately, they can't run far, they lose power inexplicably, and sometimes they don't explode even if they hit the target. Many weapons performed very well in the test field.
But in actual combat, problems abound.
This is why Rock would rather take the risk of leaking secrets in advance and send the "Albatross" to East India. Although there are aircraft from Southern Africa in actual combat in North Africa, there is only a simplified version of the "Strong Wind" and no "Albatross".
The military observers sent by Southern Africa to Italy and the Ottoman Empire respectively received information that was screened by Italy and the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the reference value is not much. It is still necessary to have enough first-hand information to conduct continuous research on the "Albatross"
Improvement.
"At least now this method can pose a threat to warships. You also hope that the albatross can become the nemesis of the dreadnought. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of War in Southern Africa have joined forces to make better improvements to the albatross." Viscount Glaston
Viscount Glaston is also willing to try as long as he can target the German fleet.
"Don't put too much hope in the Albatross. Although the Nichols is an armored cruiser, it is essentially made of wood. In order to save money, the Dutch refused to build new ships, so they used the previous battleships as armored cruisers with iron cladding.
This is not news, only dreadnoughts can sink dreadnoughts." Rock is telling the truth, at least now the whole world believes that only dreadnoughts can sink dreadnoughts.
This is also the reason why the European powers are trying to build dreadnoughts despite all their efforts. As a super battleship that was born out of nowhere, the dreadnought has swept all previous battleships into the pile of old paper. With thicker armor, stronger firepower, and greater survivability, who can
Everyone knows that Dreadnoughts are expensive to build, but this only shortcoming cannot stop the European powers from pursuing Dreadnoughts.
Just like the "Star Wars Plan" proposed by the United States in another time and space, although Lao Maozi knew that the "Star Wars Plan" was unreliable, he still had to accept it because there was no choice at all.
"Locke, weigh the cost between the Dreadnought and the Albatross. Even if we exchange a hundred Albatross for one German Dreadnought, we will still be the winner." Viscount Glaston insisted that in fact, the battleship was not completely hit.
Shen Cai loses his role. A warship that engages in high-speed roundabout operations in the ocean may lose its value if it loses power, or loses part of its power.
The role of torpedoes at this time is extremely important. The biggest role of destroyers in the decisive battle is to launch torpedoes near the battleships at high speed and attack the enemy's capital ships.
There is no need to compare with dreadnoughts. Even compared with destroyers, torpedo bombers are undoubtedly a more economical choice.
"Lord, you have not considered the value of a pilot. A qualified pilot is worth far more than a torpedo bomber." Rock still habitually emphasizes humanities. There has been a saying in the aviation industry in the 21st century that a qualified pilot is worth more than a torpedo bomber.
, the cost of cultivation is equivalent to the same weight of gold.
But that was the 21st century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the value of pilots was not so important, and pilots were even just consumables.
At least in the eyes of Viscount Glaston.
So Viscount Glaston looked down upon human life: "Locke, the value of individuals in war is extremely small, even for those of us. If we are the victors, then we will shine brightly. If we are unfortunately defeated, Locke, I don't know.
What will happen to you, but I will definitely die gloriously before defeat!"
You really care about human life, you don’t even care about your own life.
In other words, Viscount Glaston and Rock care about different things.
"Lord, I do not doubt your loyalty and determination to the British Empire. I believe you also know that when necessary, I will not hesitate to sacrifice everything, even my life, but before that, I will definitely
I will try my best to defeat my enemy. The Albatross has prospects, but it is not good enough. I am not selfish. I don’t want the Germans to know more information. Lord, if you can guarantee it, I will send the Albatross back to the homeland. The Germans will not
If you get any information, you can take the albatross away." Rock can also sensationalize, but sensationalism alone cannot solve the problem.
The current situation between Germany and the UK is that we are part of each other, and even the King of England and the Emperor of Germany are relatives. The relationship between the two countries is actually very complicated.
There must be German spies in London now, and there must be British agents in Berlin. Even Viscount Glaston cannot guarantee the extent to which Germany has penetrated the British government. So this issue is very realistic. At least now the British Navy is
It has an absolute advantage when facing the German Navy. Even without the Albatross, the British Navy can defeat the German Navy.
Then the question arises, if the Germans also know the role of torpedo bombers, then does the British government pay more attention to torpedo bombers, or does the Germans pay more attention to torpedo bombers?
This question does not require an answer, and there is no answer, but everyone has a balance in their hearts.
Therefore, Viscount Glaston is extremely entangled for the first time.
Roark said nothing, waiting for Viscount Glaston to make a decision.
"Locke, if the War Department sends people to southern Africa, will you be willing to open up all the information?" Viscount Glaston did the next best thing and no longer insisted on Locke handing over the technology.
"Are you doubting me?" Rock's face was gloomy.
"No, no, no, Locke, I have never doubted you, but when it comes to the fate of a country, no matter how cautious you are, you can never be too cautious." Viscount Glaston emphasized. Just kidding, Viscount Glaston is a viscount, and Locke is also a viscount.
In terms of contribution to the British Empire, no one is much better than anyone else.
Moreover, Roque is also the first generation military aristocrat, and the title of Viscount Glaston is hereditary, so in terms of contribution, Roque simply surpasses Viscount Glaston.
"Yes, if the Ministry of War sends people to southern Africa, I am willing to open up all the information - but one thing is that Nyasaland Aviation Group has invested heavily in Albatross and cannot let them get nothing, so the Ministry of War wants to open up all the information to Nyasaland Aviation Group
Make compensation." Luo Ke mentioned the conditions. Not mentioning the conditions at this time would be a shame for Luo Ke's nickname of "Desperate for Money".
It was after he started selling oil to the British mainland in Port Elizabeth that Rock gained the nickname "Desperate for Money".
"How much do you want?" Viscount Glaston said bluntly. Although Nyasaland Aviation Group has many nominal shareholders, Viscount Glaston knows very well that those shareholders of Nyasaland Aviation Group are actually Rock.
Smoke bombs thrown out.
Regarding this equity, it is difficult to explain clearly in one sentence or two. There are six nominal shareholders of Nyasaland Aviation Group, namely Rand Bank, Nyasaland Agricultural Company, Umbrella Company, and Adan Company.
Nyasaland State Government, and the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa.
The Nyasaland State Government and the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa are both shareholders who only receive dividends and have no decision-making power.
The shares of Rand Bank and Nyasaland Agricultural Company are almost the same, both about 25%. The equity situation of these two companies is more complicated. There are as many as eleven nominal shareholders. Umbrella Company and Agricultural Company
The equity status of Dan Company is unknown because one of the two companies is registered in Johannesburg and the other is in the Addane Islands. Even the federal government of Southern Africa does not know the equity status of these two companies.
But one thing is for sure, so many of the above-mentioned companies, as well as the Nyasaland State Government and the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa, are inextricably linked to Roque. Although it is not appropriate to ask directly, Viscount Glaston
Still very direct.
"So far, Nyasaland Aviation Group has invested a total of five million pounds in Albatross." Roque is confident that this number is not fabricated and is well documented.
"Five million! Locke, how much is Nyasaland Aviation Group worth now?" Viscount Glaston was speechless. More than a decade ago, the largest private bank in the UK, "Barings Bank", had only 2.9 million pounds in principal. What?