Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1050

1050. The Age of War – The Age of Copycats (9)

Hyeon, having found the blueprints, sent word to Hyang and Wan.

“You were looking for us? Is something the matter?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much, but I was looking at the airships and an interesting idea came to mind. I’ve tentatively named it the ‘Self-Propelled Flying Fortress Carrier.’ It’s basically…”

“Wait, let me try to figure it out.”

“Why go through all that trouble?”

“Wouldn’t this be fun in its own way?”

Wan, stopping Hyeon, stroked his chin and began to ponder.

“Airships, self-propelled flying fortresses, and a carrier… Hmm, airships, self-propelled flying fortresses, a carrier…”

Wan, repeating the key words and pondering, looked at Hyeon with a bright expression.

“Could it be that you want to make a large self-propelled flying fortress and operate airships from it? That’s a truly amazing idea!”

“Oh? That wasn’t it, but that sounds even better! Making the fortress’s hull like a compartment…”

Seeing the father and son suddenly drawing diagrams on a blank sheet of paper and talking, Hyang put a hand on his forehead.

‘Why is an aerial aircraft carrier coming out of this!’

“Wait, wait…”

Hyang, stopping the increasingly absurd conversation, pointed out the problem.

“Let’s say we load airships onto a self-propelled flying fortress and operate them. How many airships will you load?”

“Ideally, about three to five would be appropriate, wouldn’t it?”

“Then we’ll have to load cargo like ammunition and fuel, as well as people, so it needs to be large and sturdy, right?”

“Wouldn’t… wouldn’t it?”

“Then how big would the gasbag have to be? And how big and heavy would the engine have to be to supply the heat to fill that gasbag and move the fortress?”

“Ah…”

At Hyang’s point, Wan and Hyeon realized what the problem was.

“I learned and taught to distinguish between creative ideas, fantasies, and delusions, but I made a mistake.”

“Me too.”

Wan and Hyeon, acknowledging their mistakes, bowed their heads to Hyang.

“Thank you for the great lesson.”

“You flatter me. Let’s put this aside and look at the blueprints the Emperor has.”

“Yes.”

Hyeon, answering briefly, took out the blueprints, unfolded them, and began to explain.

“I was thinking about this as self-propelled flying fortresses became widely used. I thought it would be especially useful for the navy.”

Hyang and Wan nodded at Hyeon’s explanation. Using a flying fortress to scout was much more advantageous than looking around from a lookout post at the top of a mast. However, it was not easy to load flying fortresses or self-propelled flying fortresses onto warships. It was not easy to create space to store flying fortresses or self-propelled flying fortresses, and it was also a problem to safely take off and land.

It was because of the wind and waves. Therefore, the main mission of the navy’s self-propelled flying fortresses was to take off from naval ports and scout the nearby sea. With this alone, the Imperial Navy was able to secure overwhelming reconnaissance capabilities compared to other countries’ navies.

“Still, it would be nice to be able to use flying fortresses in the open sea…”

The Imperial Navy could not hide its disappointment. However, neither flying fortresses nor self-propelled flying fortresses could ensure safety when operating in the open sea. Therefore, neither flying fortresses nor self-propelled flying fortresses could leave the port. Hyeon continued his explanation.

“But as steam engines came into use, masts became unnecessary. So, if we reduce the number of cannons a bit and adjust the placement of the gun emplacements, I thought we could operate self-propelled flying fortresses or airships even on the open sea.”

“Hoo~. Is the basis the Armored Assault Ship?”

“Yes, it is.”

“It seems like a good idea.”

Wan showed a positive reaction to Hyeon’s blueprints, but Hyang’s expression was not so good.

‘This time it’s an aerial battleship…’

“Hoo~.”

Hyang, letting out a sigh, pointed out the problem.

“It’s not bad, but there seems to be a problem. Since self-propelled flying fortresses can take off and land in place, it may be possible to operate them if you create space like that. However, if the warship is sailing, it will be difficult to utilize that characteristic of the self-propelled flying fortress. Do you think it will be easy to land while matching the speed of a warship that is constantly moving forward?”

“Ah…”

Wan nodded at Hyang’s point, and Hyeon suggested an alternative.

“Can’t we just stop for a moment when taking off and landing?”

“We have to think about efficiency. And…”

Hyang, taking a sip of water, continued.

“How are you going to operate the airships? Airships need to run to gain lift.”

“Hmm… That’s true.”

Hyeon, nodding readily at Hyang’s point, looked at the blueprints for a while before picking up a stylus.

“Then, if we install runways to the left and right of the bridge like this…”

Looking at Hyeon’s proposed improvement, it was to construct V-shaped runways with the bridge at the center.

“This way, we can use the cannons properly and operate the airships, right?”

Hyang, looking at Hyeon’s improvement plan, unfolded a blank sheet of paper and drew a picture.

“I think it’s best to lay a flat panel that extends from the front to the back of the ship.”

“Then we can’t install cannons, can we?”

“I think it’s best to install only the minimum number of cannons for self-defense.”

“But isn’t a warship without cannons dangerous?”

“Let’s think of the airships as the cannons of this ship. Airships can fly much farther than ordinary cannons, so this ship doesn’t need to be in the middle of the battlefield, does it?”

“Ah! That’s right!”

Hyeon, changing his perspective at Hyang’s words, nodded with a bright expression. Hyeon, understanding Hyang’s words, took out another blank sheet of paper and moved the stylus.

“I don’t know how far the improved airships will have to run to take off yet… but I think it would be better to base it on the Black Mirror-class transport ship rather than the Armored Assault Ship. If we lay a flat deck in a straight line from the bow to the stern, and move the chimneys to the side…”

The concept drawn by Hyeon was similar to an early aircraft carrier.

“Hmm… How about modifying this part like this?”

Hyang, looking at Hyeon’s concept, added a bridge to the right side of the hull.

“If we add a bridge like this, we can see the airships taking off and landing well, and it will be easier to steer the warship, right?”

“That’s exactly right!”

Wan, watching the grandfather and grandson working together seamlessly, joined the conversation.

“But, the weapons of the airships we are trying to make now are all hwachas [Korean rocket arrows], right? Hwachas are powerful, but they are useless against warships. So, we can only use them for reconnaissance, but if we create and operate a dedicated warship, there will definitely be criticism. It’s like saying too much is as bad as too little, or focusing too much on development.”

“If a proper product comes out, I think it’s only a matter of time before airships that can carry explosive bombs will come out.”

Wan, thinking about something at Hyang’s answer, looked at Hyang.

“How about attaching self-propelled explosive bombs instead of explosive bombs?”

“Self-propelled explosive bombs? Do you know how heavy those things are?”

“If we reduce the size appropriately while maximizing the power, and improve the performance of the airships, wouldn’t it be possible?”

“There’s the problem of the power plant, and as far as I know, they’ve already pushed it to its limit.”

Wan replied in a firm voice to Hyang’s point.

“We have to push the researchers and artisans. Of course, we have to compensate them adequately.”

Hyeon added his thoughts following Wan’s words.

“Neither the airships, nor the airship carrier, nor the self-propelled explosive bombs are things that will produce results right away. If we solve them one by one step by step, we will be able to obtain the desired results.”

Hyang also nodded at Hyeon’s words.

“That’s a good point, let’s all three of us work together.”

“Alright!”

“I will do my best!”

The officer who was recording this on one side added this.

“…So, the three generations joined forces. It is a truly beautiful sight to see the three generations working together for the sake of the country’s safety.”

The officer says.

‘Since extraordinary people have joined forces, I am very worried about what earth-shattering devices will come out.’

* * *

Unaware of what kind of conspiracy was taking place in Gyeongbok Palace [the main royal palace of Korea], the artisans and researchers were devoting all their efforts to creating new airships. As such competition unfolded, the newly created airships looked similar yet different.

Basically, like the airships Wan made in Area 52, they had engines and propellers in the front and back, and used thin but well-made plywood as the outer skin of the fuselage. They were strengthening the durability of the airship fuselage by utilizing the surprisingly strong characteristics of plywood. Apart from these commonalities, the airships had quite different appearances.

The most noticeable difference was the number of wings. They were divided once by ‘biplane or triplane,’ and again by the method of connecting the wings and wings, and the wings and fuselage. The most noticeable was the airship that Da Vinci was making. Da Vinci was the first to think of attaching a triplane to the new airship.

“The farther away from the cockpit, the more force is required to control it. So, let’s raise it one more level!”

That was the idea behind attaching the triplane. And starting with Da Vinci, artisans who had similar ideas began to attach triplanes. In addition, they were divided over whether to use simple straight wings or swept-back wings that receded slightly, resulting in airships that looked similar yet different. After working through the night, those who produced results carefully entered the test flight.

“We can’t repeat the same thing as last time, where we just got pointed out by the Retired Emperor and ended up with nothing!”

As they solved the problems discovered in repeated test flights one by one, the perfection of the airships was further enhanced. However, there was also a problem that deepened the concerns of the airship manufacturers as the perfection increased.

It was the problem of the power plant.

“The new external combustion engine is good, but it’s not enough!”

“We need to improve it further or create a new engine!”

In order to further improve the performance of the airships they made, or that their colleagues made, the researchers and artisans began to focus on the power plant problem. Hyang, Wan, and Hyeon, who received reports on this, smiled knowingly.

“They’re doing very well. They’re doing well.”

* * *

Just as artisans and researchers in the Empire were focusing on airships, many artisans and scholars in foreign countries were also staking their lives on airship development.

“Even if we lost the first to the Empire, we cannot concede the best to the Empire!”

With such ambitions, artisans and scholars were developing airships based on their knowledge and experience, and the information conveyed by those who returned from the Empire. Thanks to the large number of people engaged in airship development, Europe, Ming [a Chinese dynasty], and Japan were able to obtain plausible results fairly quickly.

“Just a little more!”

“If we do a little more!”

The artisans and scholars, confident in the results they had obtained, worked even harder, but soon encountered a huge obstacle.

It was the problem of the power plant. For those who did not know the existence of the new external combustion engine, this power plant problem was too difficult. To solve this problem, the governments of each country stepped forward, and many spies began to cross the borders of other countries. However, the final destination was the Empire, and fierce battles with secret agents took place in the dark.