Chapter 632: War Drives Progress
Canada, vast and sparsely populated, was a former colony of the British Empire. But ever since the British Empire was invaded by Germany, the people here had begun to plan for their own future. However, under the intervention of their powerful American neighbors, Canada was still providing aid to Britain, supporting the British royal family’s efforts to restore their nation from a base in Iceland.
Although not entirely willing, Canada, after signing an agreement with the British royal family and the current prime minister that recognized Canada’s permanent independence, agreed to support Britain’s restoration with 10 divisions totaling 150,000 men. It also agreed to provide sites and factories to help Britain produce weapons and equipment—of course, all of this came at a price!
Now, before the eyes of representatives of the British royal family and high-ranking military generals, was a long airstrip. This was the test site of a secret Canadian military base, a place leased by the British royal family for super-weapon research. People at the end of their rope like to gamble the outcome on one or two advanced weapons. Hitler was like this in his day, and so was the British royal family now.
The shadow cast by the German Luftwaffe on the British people, especially the royal family, was very deep. After post-war summaries and professional analysis, the British learned their lesson. The lesson, learned at the cost of losing their homeland, was that modern warfare requires a powerful air force.
The reason the German Navy was so powerful was because it was the first to use advanced carrier-based aircraft on its carriers. These powerful fighters and attack planes, capable of carrying large torpedoes and bombs, had turned the argument that “carrier aircraft cannot sink large warships” into nonsense and had eliminated the British Home Fleet with utmost speed.
The reason the German Air Force could fly through the skies over Britain as if it were an uninhabited land was also because German aircraft were far more advanced than contemporary British fighters. These fighters had made the Royal Air Force pay a heavy price, from which it still had not recovered. The subsequent bombing completely destroyed Britain’s system of resistance and even affected the will of the civilian population to resist.
The air force, one could say, was the foundation upon which the German blitzkrieg could be carried out so efficiently. The air force was the vanguard that allowed German troops to sweep away all resistance. The air force was the force that could decide victory from a thousand miles away.
Driven by this lesson, the British threw their greatest passion into building their new, advanced air force. They actively cooperated with the United States, putting advanced Rolls-Royce engines into American P-40 fighters, creating a new type of P-40 with impressive stats.
But the British were not satisfied with this fighter. Although tests showed that its various stats exceeded those of Germany’s export model, the ME-109C, it was clearly no match for the Fw-190D that the German Luftwaffe itself used. After comparative testing, the British knew that having lost their advanced research laboratories in the homeland and a large number of research personnel, they had no way of surpassing the Germans in piston engines in the short term.
What was even more despairing was that the Germans had not stopped their explorations just because they were ahead of the world. During the war, they continuously improved their Fw-190D fighter and launched an even more advanced model, the Ta-152. The performance of this fighter had already reached the pinnacle of piston-engine aircraft. It was clearly unrealistic for the British to want to surpass the Germans in the field of piston-engine fighters.
And so, the British rummaged through their belongings and brought out their last resort: their research on the latest jet engines from before the fall of their homeland. They sold these findings to the United States in exchange for a laboratory and an aircraft engine production factory. They hoped to use another technology to make piston engines obsolete, to completely change the mode of air combat, and to allow the British to maintain their lead in the sky.
With American support, British engineers finally completed their masterpiece, their highest achievement: the Meteor fighter, which used jet engines. In their hearts, this was the super fighter that would end the era of the piston engine, a superweapon that could dominate the German piston-engine fighters.
Today, a host of dignitaries, including the deputy commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps, some technical officers from the U.S. Navy, and most of the British officers and royal family members in Canada, were waiting anxiously in the viewing stands. They were waiting for the appearance of a new type of fighter that could change the mode of air combat, waiting for a hope that could defeat the Germans.
“Why hasn’t it started yet? We’ve been waiting here for a long time!” a minor member of the British royal family sitting in the VIP section asked the officer in charge of the flight test, his brow furrowed. This was the latest weapon of war, an advanced weapon that could allow the British to sweep away their decline and seize back the initiative. There could be no mistakes.
“Sir! The fighter is undergoing its final checks. After all, this is a new type of weapon, and we also need to become more familiar with its technology to better master it,” the officer next to him replied. He was in charge of technology, so he was well aware of the terrifying performance of this new fighter. Compared to a speed that surpassed all other fighters, any amount of waiting was worthwhile.
In a nearby hangar, a group of ground crew, engineers, and technicians were carefully tuning this super fighter. It was possible that humanity had never reached such a high speed before. This plane was said to be able to fly at a top speed of 710 kilometers per hour, exceeding almost all piston-engine aircraft currently in service. The key was that the piston engine had no more room for improvement, while this jet engine had just been born and naturally had great potential for development.
“Can this thing really fly?” an old technician muttered, staring at the hopelessly complex internal structure of the plane. He pointed at the engine and said to a few workers around him, “This engine, how can it possibly be mass-produced?”
It was indeed an engine that was mostly handmade. Many of the parts had been ground out one by one by the old employees of Rolls-Royce who had fled to Canada and the United States. Even if this plane could defeat any enemy fighter, the number that could be equipped after mass production would certainly not be very large.
“Engine ground test beginning! Three, two, one! Start!” A chief engineer wearing glasses gave the order for the test run. The pilot sitting in the cockpit pressed the start button. The engines began to vibrate, the sound so loud that people in the distance had to cover their ears.
“The right engine is vibrating badly! Shut it down, quick!” a technician noticed something was wrong with the shaking engine and shouted loudly. The engine’s power output began to decrease gradually, and it finally came to a slow stop.
“The right engine is a bit unstable. This malfunction didn’t happen the last time we started it up…” a ground crewman said with some regret. “It looks like today’s test flight will have to be canceled. We’ve been tuning it for a full five days to prepare for today’s flight. For this to happen, it’s really frustrating.”
This new type of jet aircraft, due to insufficient engine thrust, used two of the same model of engine for power, arranged symmetrically in the middle of each wing. However, due to a lack of design experience, this aircraft did not adopt the swept-wing design commonly used in later years but used the straight wings of a traditional propeller plane.
“No! Gentlemen! I’m flying! Whatever happens today, we must get it off the ground! This is no longer just a test flight of an airplane; this is the only hope of our British Empire!” The test pilot was a Major, a fanatical supporter of the British royal family. He had been appointed as the test pilot for this secret weapon after gaining the appreciation of the British high command for proposing to fly a B-17 from Iceland on a one-way bombing run to Berlin.
“Sir, it is very dangerous to take off in this condition. Please consider your decision carefully,” a staff member advised.
“I’ve made up my mind! Give me my helmet and goggles. I must complete this flight mission!” he said firmly and began to put on his parachute. Soon he was ready and climbed back into the cockpit.
Amidst a round of applause, his plane was towed by a vehicle to the runway. Not far away, countless pairs of eyes were watching this aircraft, which carried the hopes of the Allied air forces. The British Major in the cockpit heard the command to take off in his headset and once again started his plane’s engines.
With a roar, the right engine did not vibrate this time, and the plane began its takeoff run relatively smoothly. As the plane’s speed on the runway increased, it finally, with a slight wobble, flew into the sky under a sea of terrified gazes.
“My God! This plane’s speed is definitely faster than the Germans’ planes!” a British pilot who had participated in the Battle of Britain exclaimed, pointing at the plane in the sky. Beside him, several American officers were so shocked by the plane’s speed that they were speechless.
“Heavens! It’s flying so fast! This test flight seems to be very successful, doesn’t it?” a member of the royal family who had come to observe asked the officer beside him.
“Yes! Very successful! God save the British Empire!” the officer nodded, staring at the plane as it circled back.
When the jet fighter completed its two-minute flight and landed safely on the runway, everyone was filled with confidence that they could defeat the German Air Force. As they left the viewing stands, they discussed how to use this plane to turn the tide of the war and win the final great victory.
“This is the weapon we want! It’s more powerful than any German aircraft! No more hesitation! Let’s mass-produce this plane immediately!” a British official suggested to the official in charge of aircraft production.
Published: 2025-09-13T02:43:07.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-30T17:15:53.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c632-war-138782999
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