Darkstone Code-Chapter 1020 - 1018: Turning Point in History

Buzz...

Five airplanes in the sky lined up in a straight line, swiftly passing through the southern sky, then stopping at the military base outside the Gafura Imperial Capital.

With the actual combat footage of Federation airplanes exposed, the Gafura people also accelerated their research work on airplanes.

Actually, these things are not difficult; the problem lies in conducting disorderly research without direction initially. Once a precise direction is established, with the support of national power, the airplane project quickly made considerable progress.

After over a hundred prototype crashes, they finally found a design they deemed most suitable, safe, and stable, and began attempting small-scale production.

Watching these airplanes steadily land, the mechanics quickly approached to check the condition of the airplane components, with various data rapidly converging into a chart.

With a scientist’s explanation, the Minister of the Army understood that the performance of these airplanes had reached their ideal level.

A round trip distance of 120 kilometers, carrying five 150-pound bombs or one 620-pound torpedo—the power and flexibility of the airplane increasingly awe people.

Despite the current aircraft carrying capacity being small, the number of airplanes can be vast; compared to costly battleships, the cost of an airplane is virtually negligible.

Moreover, the construction period is shorter; a car production line, once modified, can batch-produce airplanes.

Low cost, high output, quick production speed—even if its firepower can’t be considered particularly powerful—it has become the most crucial development direction for Gafura currently.

Because airplanes need to take off on land, the entire airplane project is now allocated for the Minister of the Army to manage.

The Minister of the Army, who hadn’t had any notable achievement, finally felt relieved, but his smile soon faded.

He heard that the Minister of the Navy was persuading the Prime Minister to independently establish an air force, transferring the airplane matters out of the army.

Thinking of this, the Minister of the Army couldn’t help but want to curse and pay his ’respects’ to the Minister of the Navy’s whole family, especially his wife.

He could imagine that once airplanes surpassed the navy in warfare status, more resources would lean his way. That bastard would rather not have it himself than let him gain benefits—utterly disgusting.

With the data in hand, the Minister of the Navy returned to the Ruler’s Hall, where Emperor Gafura and all the ministers awaited the results.

When everyone learned the results met their minimum requirements, they breathed a sigh of relief; this was good news—at least regarding airplanes, the Gafura had not fallen too far behind the Federation.

While Emperor Gafura pondered rewarding the Minister of the Army for his contributions to the Empire, the Minister of the Navy suddenly stood up.

"Your Majesty, Your Excellency..." The latter title referred to the Prime Minister; holding real power, the Prime Minister wielded authority that even the Emperor had to respect.

Sometimes, what the Emperor said might be less effective than what the Prime Minister said.

Placing ’Your Majesty’ first is merely a show of respect to the Imperial Family, preserving its dignity.

"... Although our first phase plan is completed, I don’t think it holds significant value for us."

His words silenced the Ruler’s Hall; even the somewhat displeased Minister of the Army kept quiet and calmly watched him.

The Minister of the Navy continued, "A maximum range of 120 kilometers back and forth, gentlemen—only 120 kilometers max; if we don’t consider retrieval, it can only fly over 200 kilometers."

"I must ask, how far are we from Amelia, from the nearest continent? Can our airplanes execute military strikes and return?"

His words left everyone speechless as from Gafura’s mainland to the nearest continent is over 500 kilometers—meaning these airplanes seem useful only within the island.

With everyone silent, the Minister of the Navy continued, "Unlike our fleet, which can keep sailing continuously around the world with supply."

"Airplanes cannot land anywhere; they require stringent take-off and landing conditions, and these are precisely what we cannot provide."

"If we don’t solve these issues, airplanes can only serve as a last line of defense."

The Minister of the Navy’s sudden stance shift surprised everyone, as he was recently advocating for an independent military branch, establishing the Empire’s Ministry of the Air Force.

Yet now, he turned around and claimed ’the air force is useless,’ leaving people puzzled about his intentions.

The Prime Minister pondered seriously; the Emperor appeared to be daydreaming.

After a while, the Prime Minister spoke, "You make a good point, but our technology is always advancing; perhaps in a few years, it will fly farther."

"Three hundred kilometers, five hundred, even a thousand kilometers—like the speed of vehicles."

"When the first car was invented, its speed per hour was less than twenty kilometers, but now racing cars can reach speeds of eighty kilometers per hour, and this change took hardly any time at all."

"Aircraft might be the same, and it won’t be long before they can fly directly to other continents."

"We still have plenty of time to await technological advancements, at least in the next few years, there won’t be any more wars."

The Prime Minister’s words were recognized by many, as the constant technological development has accelerated many things, which is an undeniable fact.

Yet the Minister of the Navy didn’t seem to be defeated by the Prime Minister’s words; instead, he wore a smile full of confidence.

"I have a very good solution!" His voice suddenly rose significantly, echoing through the Ruler’s Hall.

Emperor’s expression finally changed somewhat, showing curiosity as he looked down at the Minister of the Navy, seemingly trying to guess what he was going to say.

At this moment, the Minister of the Army tightly grasped the armrests of his chair, realizing that this son of a bitch must have a plot!

The Minister of the Navy moved his fingers, and his officers delivered some documents to the hands of each minister, including the Minister of the Army, the Prime Minister, and the Emperor.

"What is... this?" The Prime Minister picked up the document and asked the Minister of the Navy, "What is this on top, a piece of wood?"

"No, it’s a new type of warship, I call it a ’Sea Fortress,’ and it will truly change warfare!"

Then the Minister of the Navy introduced this warship with a fervent tone, and people learned its unique features.

It has no attack capabilities, unlike battleships that can deal terrible devastation, it doesn’t even have ship cannons.

Its sailing speed is not fast either, one could say it’s quite slow, not particularly faster than a submarine when submerged.

But it has one advantage, and that is it can provide a runway for planes to take off and land!

This design stemmed from one of his complaints because all aircraft-related projects were allocated to the Army, leading to a surge in the Army’s budget.

The Minister of the Navy complained that the useless Minister of the Army got the benefits, so he tried his best to have the Air Force independent, thus keeping the Navy above the Army in the hierarchy of disdain.

Then his officer suddenly asked a very stupid question—why not let planes take off from the ship, since the required runway is only that long, perhaps not even longer than the largest battleship.

If a runway were attached next to a battleship, wouldn’t it be possible to take off at sea?

The officer’s stupid words made the Minister of the Navy very angry, but before his anger could erupt into a volcanic apocalypse, it suddenly felt like something poked into his nostril and instantly pierced into his brain, leaving him completely clear.

He didn’t know how to express the word clear in this world, but it felt like air could blow into his brain when breathing, cooling him down completely.

Afterwards, he found the ship company’s engineer and shared his idea, the ship company’s engineer provided him with a design blueprint and assured its authenticity.

They would subsequently conduct a modeling experiment to test the stability of this design on the ocean.

No matter the possibility, this is a huge opportunity for the Minister of the Navy.

If he could shift aircraft from the Ministry of the Army to his Ministry of the Navy, then the Army would have no hope of surpassing the Navy in this lifetime, and the Navy would have long-range aircraft deployment capabilities, granting military strike capabilities inland beyond coastal targets.

This also signifies that the Empire’s reliance on the Army would further diminish!

They could completely form a team like the Federation Marine Corps and replace the role of the Army, eventually incorporating the Army into the Navy!

Thinking of the Minister of the Army becoming his subordinate, under his watchful eye, made him very happy.

Everyone attentively examined these blueprints, the heartbeat of the Minister of the Army began to accelerate, face flushed, he suddenly crumpled the blueprint into a ball, threw it on the ground, and forcefully slapped the armrest, "This is impossible!"

"The waves at sea are large, an unstable deck simply doesn’t allow for takeoff possibilities, this is murdering the lives of the Empire’s Air Force soldiers, murdering the future of the Air Force!"

At this moment, the Minister of the Army, in order to prevent the Air Force from being shifted into the Ministry of the Navy, even proactively shouted the word "Air Force," signifying his support for the Air Force to become independent.

The Prime Minister coughed, "This is the Ruler’s Hall, before His Majesty, you shouldn’t be this presumptuous, this plan..."

"His Majesty and I still need more evidence to prove its feasibility, regarding the future of the Air Force..."

The Prime Minister paused for a while, "You can discuss and select a backup candidate for Minister of the Air Force, perhaps we will need him very soon."