After Preston hung up the phone, he looked at the others in the conference room. "Do I need to call anyone else?"
In the phone call earlier, the Construction Minister hoped that he could find out what the others were thinking.
In fact, it was not strange for the construction minister to have such "full" trust in Preston.
First of all, what he asked for was not top-secret information. Soon, the people in the Privy Council would know.
If the people in the Privy Council knew, it meant that everyone in Guevra knew. It was not something that needed to be kept secret. Even the Construction Minister himself did not believe that it was true.
Just as the Minister of Army said in the Ruler's Hall, the stormy sea did not have the conditions for a plane to take off, let alone the heavy weight of a ship to suppress the waves.
Battleships were heavy enough, but they could not suppress the waves.
When the waves were strong, they would be affected as well.
If a battleship was affected, it would not be a big problem. But if an airstrip was affected, a little bump would be enough to crash a plane onto the deck!
This was not a joke. Even a stable land runway could crash, let alone a ship deck that was constantly moving up and down. Therefore, no one thought that it was true.
Moreover, if Preston had really been arrested by the Federation, would they have called him? His voice had a hint of laziness to it.
The Construction Minister could even imagine that the son of a b * tch must be sunbathing while talking to him on the phone.
Guevra was an isolated island with many geographical advantages, but it also had many disadvantages. For example, the air was too humid.
If he could find out what the others were thinking, it would not be a big deal if he revealed some unimportant information.
The people who got the news so easily found it a little unbelievable. They thought that it would be difficult, so much so that Preston might be suspected.
They really did not expect it to be so smooth. It was so smooth that they began to wonder if the news was true. Could it be a smoke bomb released by the Guevara People?
The people in the room discussed for a while. Since the Construction Minister did not think that Preston was exposed, he should do what he should do.
After that, every time he called, the other party expressed that they did not welcome his sudden calls. However, when it came to the matter of the Air Minister, they did not seem to want to talk more.
Everyone had their own thoughts and held an attitude of "maybe I can do it too". Even if they knew that there was no hope for them, they would not express their opinions too early.
Attitude was very valuable. If you wanted to get their attitude, you had to spend money or exchange benefits.
Preston quickly ended the exchange of information. He handled everyone's relationship skillfully, and even promised to send them some small gifts when they returned. It was also a way to maintain their friendship.
After doing all this, he happily returned to his room. After glancing at the First Prince, he lay down on the recliner and began to bask in the sun.
The older prince did not know what had happened. He looked at Preston calmly and suddenly asked a question, "Are you willing?"
Preston did not expect the eldest prince to take the initiative to talk to him. He was stunned for a moment before he reacted. "If you're not satisfied, do you have any way to get rid of what we're going through now?"
"After you leave, the person who impersonated you will want to kill you. The Federation will want to kill you. Anyone who knows you will want to send you back."
"Whether you're willing or not, what's the point?"
The eldest prince clenched his fists and then released them. "I know what you're saying, but I'm not willing. Things shouldn't be like this."
Preston had been talking for a long time and satisfied his desire to talk. Now, he did not want to talk so much.
After squeezing a syllable out of his nose, he put on his sunglasses again and listened to the radio while basking in the sun.
On the other side, the news about the Sea Fortress and the Air Minister had been passed up layer by layer.
When the Ministry of National Defense and Strategic Command received the news, the representatives of the warship manufacturers and engineers, led by Shep Ships, were all invited to the Ministry of National Defense for a meeting.
Before four o 'clock in the afternoon, the people from the Federation's largest shipyard were all there.
"We intercepted some top-secret information from Gaffra. In this information, we discovered a new warship project called the Sea Fortress."
"They plan to build a runway that can sail on the sea. Is this possible?"
The lieutenant general who presided over the meeting asked in a very solemn and serious tone, "From a technical point of view."
The people from the shipyard company were a little surprised at first. Then, the engineers began to quickly make some assumptions and calculations. In just a few minutes, they came to the same answer.
This question should be asked of the aircraft manufacturer, not them.
Then, at half past four, Lynch came to the office with his chief engineer.
The lieutenant general repeated what he had already said. In the end, he asked, "Is it possible for the aircraft to take off and land in this situation?"
Before Lynch could answer, the chief engineer shook his head. "It's very difficult."
Everyone's eyes were focused on him. During this period of supplying the Ministry of National Defense, the chief engineer was no longer as nervous as he was the first time.
Senior officials of the Ministry of National Defense and military generals often looked for him to discuss some parameters and the feasibility of some ideas. He had become like a successful person.
He shook his head and said, "The takeoff of the aircraft requires stable thrust and upward lift. When the speed is not fast enough, we need to use the runway to complete the entire acceleration process."
"If the runway is uneven or bumpy, with our current technology, the aircraft will have an obvious downward impact if the acceleration is not enough."
"We only have two results. First, there will be a deviation or even an accident. Second, we can't take off even if we rush off the runway because we will always be in a cycle of effective acceleration and ineffective acceleration."
"As for landing …" He pondered for a moment. "The risk of crashing will be several times higher than on land."
Lynch rubbed the joint of his index finger with his right thumb. This was a small gesture he would do when he was satisfied.
If the aircraft carrier was born now, who would pay for his "island chain" plan?
This was a huge project with a budget of more than one billion. His income would be equally shocking. For this money, even if the aircraft carrier could be born now, it would have to be pushed into the water and wait for the island chain to be funded to the third or fourth phase before the aircraft carrier could be born.
Of course, if the aircraft carrier could not be born early because of technical problems, then he did not need to add some additional irresistible force.
The question came back to the original point. The lieutenant general looked at the people of the shipping company. "Can you make the hull not fluctuate violently?"
"If the hull can be made as stable as normal, then does that mean the aircraft can take off and land on the deck?"
The lieutenant general looked at the chief engineer next to Lynch. The latter nodded.
So the pressure returned to the shipping company.
Everyone discussed for more than half an hour but did not get any valuable results. As long as the ship sailed on the sea, it was impossible not to shake.
The battleship was big enough, but it would also rise and fall with the waves. There was no way to avoid this.
In the end, Lynch concluded that everyone should go back and develop their own technology. They would talk about this problem later.
On the way back, the chief engineer suddenly said, "Actually, we can do it."
Lynch looked at him. "What can we do?"
"Take off and land on a slightly bumpy runway. We just need to change the structure of the landing gear slightly."
Then the chief engineer talked to Lynch about the change. "Our carriage already has a perfect shock-absorbing function. Although the effect is not so obvious, it is really useful."
He used the pen and paper he carried with him and briefly explained the method. As long as the weight of the spring was greater than the weight of the aircraft and the pilot when they were stationary, then there would be no major problems if the aircraft encountered bumps during flight.
The contraction and tightening of the spring could solve these problems. Of course, the actual situation would require special experiments, but the chief engineer did not think these were problems.
Lynch looked at the draft and asked an unrelated question. "Why didn't you mention this at the meeting?"
The chief engineer thought for a moment. "Because we can't solve the problem of the takeoff distance."
"Currently, the longest battleship in the Federation is no more than 300 meters. This means that our aircraft has to complete acceleration and take off on a runway of about 200 meters. We can't do it."
Lynch immediately understood what the chief engineer meant. The problem of the bumpy runway was easy to solve, but the problem of the insufficient takeoff distance was difficult to solve.
The former could be done at any time, anywhere, but the latter was not so easy.
If the latter problem could not be solved, then the first problem would be very difficult to solve!
He was very smart and knew how to deal with "customers." This was also the reason why Lynch chose him.
In fact, this problem was not a big problem in Lynch's view. It was not a problem that could be solved as long as he kept throwing money at it.
He vaguely remembered that there was something called a catapult start …
The results of the meeting of the experts invited by the Department of Defense were not so positive. Then the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Safety Committee activated some of the Gefra spies and asked them to get the design drawings of the "Sea Fortress" and the carrier-based aircraft as soon as possible.
For these two things, they were willing to pay any price!
At the same time, the major shipbuilding companies also received new research and development projects from the Department of Defense. They needed a runway on the sea.
Lynch's flight research institute received a research project on "how to make the aircraft take off and land on a bumpy runway on the sea." There was no specific upper limit of funding!