What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 428 Technical Offset

Experts have long questioned and speculated about how the Lost Empire cultivated its fleet elites and flying acees.

Aside from the mystical theory of brain-computer interface implantation in clones, from a practical standpoint, ship crew members are relatively easy to train. They can be secretly sent out to serve as sailors for a year or two, and submarines can be trained in the remote South Pacific or South Atlantic.

But pilots are different. Professional fighter jets and civilian aircraft are two different disciplines. In particular, to train a highly skilled pilot like Hans, it is impossible to do so without a lot of flying experience.

Even if disguised as a civilian flying club, the problems of jet training cannot be solved.

Only underdeveloped and sparsely populated places like Antarctica and Africa can provide sufficient facilities or for maritime training.

The Empire has never given up searching for these traces in Antarctica, after all, many tasks do not necessarily require the guise of the military.

After exchanging intelligence with Bean, Johnson learned that the IAA had temporarily blocked the news, and only Britain knew about it. He quickly made a decision:
-
Immediately dispatch experts to examine the wreckage and determine the cause of the crash;
-
Search for possible secret air force bases near the crash site;
-
Adjusting deployments in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, subtly separating some warships from the front line, ready to assemble at any time.

……

Antarctic
Tang Wen, dressed in a special polar cold-weather suit, was chasing penguins in a Volkswagen 82 truck in the snow, while a BV141 reconnaissance plane flew overhead at low altitude, kicking up a cloud of snow.

(BV141 is shown in the image below:)

Before the massive air raid, Tang Wen's goal had always been to gradually lead the empire toward Antarctica.

This could not have been achieved solely through the elusive submarines and fleets. From that time onward, Tang Wen would occasionally leave traces on the Antarctic continent, creating ample evidence.

The shipyard would occasionally manufacture some random German equipment, such as enclosed, fleece-lined barrel wagons, outdated leather jackets and daggers, which looked like equipment abandoned by the expeditionary force that landed earlier.

Or, you could send a HE111 bomber loaded with radios, canned goods, and other supplies crashing into a mountain, creating a mess of debris.

Of course, after doing all this, they also had to arrange for the avatar crew, who were only wearing thin uniforms in sub-zero temperatures, to bury the "evidence".

Although doing this will still leave a lot of bugs, but—who cares?

There are even some equipment from other factions such as the I, Y, and F series, but in much smaller quantities, giving people plenty of room for imagination.

Aside from creating level-clearing items, it would be illogical for a lost empire's territory to not have many patrolling reconnaissance aircraft.

Tang Wen modified some random aircraft, such as BV141, Ta183, Do335 and the like.

However, many of them are not the original versions, but rather have undergone various imaginative modifications:
For example, adding jet engines, modifying the wing shape, or even making it unmanned.

Equipped with a "vacuum tube unmanned brain," it will appear anywhere at irregular intervals for patrols, and there is a certain probability of encountering it as long as it ventures deep into the Antarctic continent.

Moreover, these aircraft could also act as lookouts, preventing the expedition team from being discovered by chance.

The outcome of the Guyana air raid was so unexpected that all these carefully prepared arrangements were rendered useless.

However, he did figure out some strange uses for it:
War Thunder (live-action version).

A sleek Do 335 fighter jet flew low overhead, and Tang Wen had an idea in his cockpit. He immediately went all out and pulled up the nose of the aircraft.

A Spitfire swooped down from high above, coming head-on towards the Do335 he was piloting, and both of them simultaneously unleashed chains of fire.

The first encounter yielded no results. Rookie Tang, controlling the Iron Wings of the Lost Empire, engaged in a bloody dogfight with the last aesthetic of the British Empire.

(Do 335 Arrow fighter jet)
Half an hour later, Tang Wen fired a burst of 30mm shells that hit the flamethrower's engine, which was prone to spewing fire. The engine spun and crashed into the snow, bursting into a bright orange flame.

As the Do335 glided and landed on the snow, Tang Wen climbed out of the cockpit and saw Jean Bart clapping vigorously.
"That's fantastic, Commander! You've shot down five planes in total, making you an ace pilot." "Haha, no big deal. That doesn't count against AI. Next time, I can try flying the Super Swift to Kamikaze."

Tang Wen made a small joke, but his face quickly froze from the cold, and he could only cover his face tightly and communicate through internal communication.

The two disappeared shortly afterward, and soon a huge blizzard swept through, forcing the penguins in the distance to huddle together in fear. When the storm stopped, it had buried half of the penguins.

The parts of the crashed plane were blown away to who knows where, or perhaps buried deep in the ice and snow.

……

The first round of negotiations for the ship purchase agreement has concluded.

Zhao Hande proposed two solutions:
-
A bare-bones ship is for sale at $17 billion, no bargaining, immediate payment and immediate departure.
Installing weapons will cost $15 billion, but the timeframe... will be at least six months.

The first proposal is unacceptable; at the very least, we can't spend so much money on something purely based on sentimentality.

The Empire did not accept the second option. Not only was six months too long, but the Empire would also have to dismantle the weapons after they were installed.
The second round of negotiations was scheduled to take place only 48 hours apart, with Rams constantly urging Tomohiro Uchimura to respond.

At this time, Tomohiro Uchimura also received confirmation from the domestic authorities:
The Japanese cabinet's plan is to spend $6 million from the government and $6 million from public donations, for a total of $12 billion to purchase the ships, with a maximum allowable additional $2 million, bringing the total to $14 billion.

The renovation costs will be covered separately by the Self-Defense Forces and are not part of the plan.

“Uchimura-kun, this is all the cabinet can afford. We cannot contribute a single penny more.”

"Hai, I will do my best."

……

"Insects! These insects are simply delusional!"

After hanging up the phone with a bow and scrape, Tomohiro Uchimura launched into a tirade of curses before looking at Eita Horikawa with a troubled expression.

"Those people on the mainland are too naive, Eita, do you have any ideas?"

The latter simply shook his head:

"The cabinet's situation is probably not very good right now; the Ministry of Finance has already issued several warnings."

Japan is still in a period of prosperity. The first real collapse will not appear until the economic crisis in Southeast Asia spreads. However, many people have already sensed something is wrong, and many economic indicators are already very dangerous.

If it weren't for the name "Yamatou" (meaning "to seduce the dock") and the pressure from the empire, the cabinet probably wouldn't have been willing to purchase such an extremely expensive warship at this time.

But for Tomohiro Uchimura, there was no extra budget, but he absolutely had to buy a boat.

No matter which aspect is messed up, there will be no good outcome. After thinking for a while, he couldn't help but think of the MPB112C that he helped Shenyang Aircraft Corporation introduce last year.

The machine tool was later installed intermittently with the help of Japanese engineers and has already started running. It is said that its first task was to block out Japanese experts, which is very likely a submarine propeller.

The University of Tokyo is changing rapidly. Money is not the most scarce resource; what it desperately craves is advanced technology.

They would probably be very happy if they could destroy some sensitive materials or advanced equipment to offset the difference in payment.

Machine tools, materials, electronics... a whole host of things came to mind in an instant.

(End of this chapter)