Empire Conquest

Chapter 556 - 552: Providing a Safety Net

Li Yunxiang had spent three months in Colombo and hadn’t even returned to attend combat meetings, all because of these bombers that were soon to join the combat sequence.

Now, the "Divine Eagle" bombers that had been delivered to the Land Air Force totaled 60.

Apart from the 20 in Sri Lanka, another 20 were undergoing plateau-environment testing on the Wuji Plateau, while the remaining 20 were in the Empire’s Extreme North region, preparing to carry out performance testing under severe cold conditions in October. In Sri Lanka, they were conducting high-temperature and high-humidity environment performance testing.

Speaking of which, the impact of high-temperature environments on bomber capabilities was almost the same as that of the plateau.

The higher the temperature, the lower the air pressure, and the lower the engine’s output power at sea level would be, causing a significant reduction in the bomber’s takeoff weight.

Moreover, the high-humidity environment also affected the main equipment, as well as the lifespan of the bombers.

Even without considering the lifespan of the airframe, there was also the reliability of the engines, radio equipment, and other devices to think about.

Of course, test flights were necessary to determine the bombers’ maximum flight range under various conditions, as well as their malfunction-free operating time under extreme conditions.

All these would affect the bombers’ combat effectiveness.

Three months was enough time to complete most of the testing.

According to Li Yunxiang, the "Divine Eagle" was still not in a perfect state.

In the hot and humid tropical regions, the engine’s output power during the takeoff stage decreased by at least 15%, which meant the actual maximum takeoff weight was only 56 tons, 8 tons less than the design weight of 64 tons. The takeoff roll stretched to 2100 meters, exceeding the runway length of nearly all field airports.

The key point was that hard runways were needed.

If a 6-ton payload was guaranteed, the maximum mission radius achievable was only 2500 kilometers with a half-run tailwind.

To reach a mission radius of 3000 kilometers, the payload had to be reduced to 3 tons, meaning another 3 tons of aviation gasoline had to be carried instead.

According to testing, if defensive weapons weren’t deployed and the number of weapons operators reduced, it was possible to achieve a 4-ton payload at a mission radius of 3000 kilometers.

Speaking of which, the biggest problem was actually the operational altitude.

Even with a 3-ton payload and only 40% of the fuel remaining, meaning just enough for the return flight, the "Divine Eagle’s" usable operational altitude would only be 7000 meters.

At that altitude, it could be said to be neither high enough to be out of reach, nor low enough to avoid attention.

During the design phase, the Land Air Force had considered a 10,000-meter operational altitude as an ideal defensive measure and had invested heavily in developing high-altitude bombing aiming equipment.

According to pre-war views, since the effective firing altitude of most high-altitude guns was less than 10,000 meters, bombers flying above 10,000 meters could avoid ground-based anti-aircraft firepower.

Moreover, even if there were a few large-caliber high-altitude guns capable of reaching above 10,000 meters, they were not very accurate.

Additionally, many fighters designed and produced before the outbreak of the great war had practical operational altitudes under 10,000 meters.

In other words, even fighters couldn’t fly that high.

If you could fly higher than the fighters, then what was there to be afraid of?

Flying high enough not only reduced operational losses but also allowed bombers to drop bombs unimpeded, thus improving the efficiency of the bombing.

At least before the outbreak of the great war, no one thought that the accuracy of high-altitude bombing was a big issue.

The altitude of 7000 meters was quite awkward; it was not only within the interception range of fighters but also within the effective firing altitude of all large-caliber high-altitude guns.

In fact, this was also the inevitable result of using simplified engines.

Fortunately, the issue of insufficient ceiling was still within tolerable limits.

The key point was, through the test of war, or rather, actual combat testing, many theories that had been summarized before the war were proven wrong.

High-altitude bombing was one of them.

As early as during the strategic bombing of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, the Empire’s Land Air Force realized that, given the correct bombing tactics, the loss rate between low-altitude entry and high-altitude entry was not significantly different. However, the hit rate of low-altitude bombing was clearly higher, meaning that the bombing mission could be accomplished with fewer bombers and a lower volume of bombs, thereby keeping the overall operational loss rate within a lower range.

Another point was that heavy bombers could rely on their fierce defensive firepower to counter the enemy’s fighters.

Of course, this was provided that there was no significant generational gap.

For example, during the battle for Sai Island, the Empire’s Land Air Force heavy bombers suffered greatly in the face of F4F and P-41s, incurring very heavy losses.

If one had to highlight a key factor, it would be the scale of the Plane Group.

As long as there were enough bombers, the operational loss rate could be effectively reduced, and the combat efficiency of each sortie could be increased by dropping bombs in dense formations.

Of course, Li Yunxiang bringing Bai Zhizhan over was simply to let Bai Zhizhan know that the type of bomber he had encouraged He Pengfei to invest in years ago was about to enter service and would soon carry out its first combat mission. If there were no surprises, it would be loaded with leaflets to carry out psychological warfare in the Fanluo region.

This low-intensity action could also be seen as a real-world test before entering service.

Because the supply lines were cut off, the Bulan forces deployed in the Fanluo region had already become an empty shell. Not to mention advanced fighters, there were not even many High-altitude Guns.

Of course, the occupying forces in the colonies didn’t need that many advanced weapons.

Even now, at many colonial strongholds in the Fanluo region, a single Vickers or Maxim heavy machine gun was enough to keep the local rulers obedient and subdued. If that was not enough, deploying several small-caliber mountain guns and sending a few biplane Reconnaissance Aircraft to fly a few circles in the sky would be adequate to maintain peace in the area.

Previously, Reconnaissance Aircraft sent to the Fanluo region were seldom intercepted by fighters.

Given the current situation, the Bulan Kingdom might already be prepared to give up the Fanluo region.

If they could not hold Jibu Fortress and the Xifan Canal, nor regain control of the Mua Sea, then the Fanluo region held no value to the Bulan Kingdom.

What use was it to keep it, if they could not obtain the resources produced by this colony?

Maintaining a sufficiently strong garrison in the Fanluo region was not cheap.

In Li Yunxiang’s words, it was actually about testing in actual combat, reflecting the discovered issues back to the manufacturers, and then making adjustments in the next batch.

However, Li Yunxiang also made it clear to Bai Zhizhan.

By the fourth quarter, which was the following month, the first batch consisted of 500 planes, of which 140 would be delivered, and the remaining 300 would be delivered in November and December.

Clearly, this was what Bai Zhizhan was most interested in.

Though they hadn’t discussed bombing Aus yet, according to Li Yunxiang, by the end of the year, even if the higher-ups proposed bombing Aus, they could deploy enough bombers to carry out the mission without affecting other strategic directions, ensuring there would be no major changes to the overall strategy.

When it comes to bombing, just targeting a few airfields in the northwest of Aus, a few hundred "Divine Eagles" would be enough.

The key point also lay in the fact that if they didn’t bomb the northwest of Aus, then all these "Divine Eagles" could use Male Island to bomb Socotra Island, or take off from an airfield near Gwadar to bomb Jibu Fortress, greatly reducing the Navy’s combat pressure.

Obviously, this was one of the issues mentioned at the joint committee meeting.

Of course, having a few hundred bombers at hand, how exactly to use them was a matter of discussion.

Li Yunxiang introducing this type of super bomber to Bai Zhizhan and mentioning mass production was actually to reassure Bai Zhizhan that he had the situation under control until the end.