After seeing the DC-3, which was almost no different from the DC-3, Vorontsov already knew that Russia would never be able to confront Datang. Unlike the British, who were still ambitious, Vorontsov knew what Russia had to do. Maybe Russia is a huge area, there is a larger population than the British, and even the Slavs are full of fighting spirit, but the Russians are not very stupid.

In fact, most of the Britons who have been to Datang have come to the same conclusion, it is better to never go to war with Datang, but those politicians in Whitehall are still dreaming of their own spring and autumn season.

The plane in the sky is one of Datang's current mainstream passenger aircraft, the DC-3 from McDonnell Douglas. McDonnell Douglas is also a large, state-controlled aerospace manufacturing company and a major competitor to Boeing. Boeing has always been a frontrunner in civil and military aviation, with its 147 being Datang's first civil airliner, followed by the Boeing 247 with cabin pressurization, and finally the Boeing 307. With a range of 2800 kilometers and a crew of more than thirty people, the 307 was immediately favored by the military and procured. At this time, McDonnell Douglas, which has not launched products since its establishment, is almost compared to the DC-3 in the other plane, and a very satisfactory new model has come out of the copycat, and it is called DC-3.

Of course, the names of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas are copied from the other side, and the aircraft model and appearance are also highly similar to their counterparts on the other side, so no one needs to blame who is a copycat, the key is to see who is a better copycat.

McDonnell Donnell Douglas's DC-3 is slightly larger than the original DC-3, with a capacity of 32 passengers and a maximum range of 2,600 kilometers, which are not advantageous compared to the Boeing 307, or even slightly inferior, but McDonnell Douglas is almost omnipresent in cost control, and the DC-3 is nearly 20% cheaper than the Boeing 307. At the same time, McDonnell Douglas's excellent marketing strategy enabled DC-3 to successfully squeeze out the Boeing 307 and get three-quarters of the orders in Datang's civil aviation market. So much so that when the military reconsidered the purchase of military transport aircraft, McDonnell Douglas once again offered a jump price and won the order for 47 military transport aircraft in one fell swoop.

If Boeing hadn't owned the PBY seaplane and the J-1 dive bomber, it would have been overwhelmed by McDonnell Douglas. Datang's domestic aviation manufacturing market is also divided by Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Xiangzhan, of which Xiangzhan is relatively weak, mainly manufacturing small ********, reconnaissance aircraft and training aircraft. Coupled with Xihe Company, which produces helicopters, it basically constitutes the ecology of Datang's aviation manufacturing industry.

Datang's civil aviation business also mainly flies domestic routes, of course, Datang's domestic can also be a long distance, such as from Jiazhou to Shanghai in the United China Special Economic Zone. The DC-3 was already able to complete such a transoceanic route, but it needed to make several stops in between, from Jiazhou to British Columbia, refueled and then flew to Alaska, from Aarsky to the west side of the Aleutian Islands, then to the Kuril Islands, then to Kyushu, and finally to Shanghai Pudong Airport. There is no doubt that such a trip would be a terrible one, taking days to get from North America to the Far East, but it would be much faster than a sailing trip that would take months.

On routes such as San Francisco-Hawaii, civil aviation companies have resorted to retrofitting aircraft, reducing passengers and increasing tank capacity, or simply using seaplanes.

Routes on the mainland, such as flying from the West Coast to the East Coast, have become faster, and Datang has built airports in major cities, and the take-off and landing requirements for propeller aircraft are lower than those of jet aircraft.

When Vorontsov saw the flying behemoth, he naturally thought of its military use, and it was clear that such a thing was enough to induce a subversive fear for European armies who had never seen a man-made flying object. And dropping a cannonball from the air or something can also inflict massive damage on enemies on the ground. Not to mention some fortress fortifications, or special terrain that ground forces can't reach, flying through the sky to attack seems to look particularly tempting.

Thinking of this, Vorontsov became even more chilled. The national strength of the Tang Dynasty is already dozens of times that of Tsarist Russia, and it has mastered such a terrible thing. It is said that the Tang people are good at fighting, Vorontsov does not believe that the Tang people just use this flying machine as a means of transportation to carry passengers and pull goods, and the Tang army must also have a military model.

His guess is not wrong at all, although the Tang Army has not yet established a real air force, the army air force and the naval air force have already been established, and the army air force already has quite strong strength. With logistical support, campaign and tactical fire support, and battlefield reconnaissance as its goals, the Datang Army Air Force has established an aviation fleet consisting mainly of reconnaissance planes, attack planes, and transport planes. There are four assault aviation regiments in the whole army, equipped with hundreds of J-1 attack aircraft (dive bombers), which are almost devastating to the enemy once they appear on the battlefield.

Entering the hotel, even though the interior of the hotel is magnificent, Vorontsov has no interest in going to enjoy it anymore. He told his deputy, Milovic: "Our coming to Los Angeles this time will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Russia, and the fate of Russia in the future even lies on our shoulders." ”

Milovich, who was fiddling with a kettle on the table, was startled when he heard Vorontsov say this, and said: "As for how serious it is? ”

Vorontsov nodded solemnly and said: "That's right, this country is too powerful, and there are miracles everywhere." It was really a stupid thing for us to compete with Datang before. When we return home, I will do everything possible to persuade Her Majesty to maintain the closest relationship with the Tang Dynasty, and I hope that Milovich will also use the power of your family and circle to do such lobbying, because Russia really cannot afford to oppose such an enemy. ”

Milovic nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I will definitely do my best to complete this." ”

Vorontsov said: "At the same time, there is so much technology we can get from Datang, everything seems so good, we are here for the railway, but we have seen more." ”

Milovic agreed: "yes, for example, the plane, that's what it was called." I can't think of anything more powerful than being able to fly in the sky. ”

Vorontsov also bowed his head and said: "Maybe in the short term, Datang will not sell us planes, but as long as we are patient, sooner or later there will be such a day." The Tang people are all businessmen and pay attention to profits, so they will sell. What we need to ensure is that Russia will get this earlier than other countries, because it will give us a huge advantage. ”