Chapter 915 Chicago Fire (2)

"Oh, so many tall buildings!" Today, the sky over Chicago is clear and blue. The bombardier on the German bomber at an altitude of 10,000 meters can't help but sigh as he looked down at the city below through the sight. Although the German bombers are generally equipped with radar sights, optical sights have not been completely eliminated.

As mentioned earlier, Chicago was burned down by a sudden fire 70 years ago. After the tragedy, money, food, clothing and other items flowed into Chicago from all over the world. With the help of all parties, Chicagoans began to rebuild their homes at a very fast speed in their reflection on the fire. And how to prevent the fire from happening again has become the primary consideration. After several debates, it was finally decided to use reinforced concrete to replace the original wooden structure houses, thereby reducing the probability of fire. The design idea based on steel laid the foundation for the emergence of skyscrapers.

In 1885, the world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building, was built in Chicago. It is 42 meters high and has ten floors. Human architecture has officially entered the era of skyscrapers. And this building also marks the rise of the "Chicago School of Architecture".

At the beginning, many scholars fiercely criticized this type of building for lacking historical traditions and cultural heritage, and it was not worthy of being in the upper class. But it is undeniable that these high-rise buildings also meet the needs of rapid economic development for buildings. With the development of the economy, the tide of modern architecture is unstoppable. The architecture of the Chicago School has also driven the rapid development of the construction industry.

In terms of layout, the skyscrapers built by various countries in later generations are almost all replicas of the Chicago School, and Chicago is known as the "hometown of skyscrapers."

"That should be the Futures Exchange Building."

This skyscraper was completed in 1930. Its height (about 184 meters) made it the tallest building in Chicago for more than 30 years, until the Lake Center Building was built in 1968 (about 196 meters). And it is not just an ordinary high-rise building, this building is considered a masterpiece of art deco design. The building itself is rich in art decoration, sculptures and large stone carvings, especially the three-story goddess statue in the atrium is quite famous. For a long time, this building has been a popular tourist attraction in downtown Chicago, and many movies set in Chicago will also use this building in the play.

"Prepare to drop bombs!"

The bomb bay door of the bomber slowly opened, revealing the bombs neatly arranged inside. Vice President Truman did not completely guess correctly. This time, the German bombers carried not only napalm bombs, but also more terrible thermite bombs.

The crosshairs in the sight firmly locked onto the futures exchange building below. As the bombardier pressed the bomb release switch, dense bombs instantly filled the entire sky and whistled down to the ground 10,000 meters below.

Of course, the bombs dropped at this height had no accuracy at all. If they really hit the target, it would be just luck that could win the lottery.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the sound of explosions one after another, small mushroom clouds rose from the ground.

Only 50 ME-264Ds and 10 B-3E-264Ds dropped bombs in the city and flew over the suburban industrial area. Although all the workers in the industrial area had been evacuated, those mechanical equipment could not be moved for a while.

As the bombs fell in dense numbers, the explosions sounded, and the factory buildings were destroyed in the explosions. A group of 200 ME-264D bombers dropped more than a thousand tons of napalm and thermite bombs, and the large industrial area was almost completely destroyed.

The Chicago industrial area is mainly Douglas Aircraft Company (producing military transport aircraft) and Pratt & Whitney Company (producing aircraft engines). Many Western companies like to use the family surnames of their founders. The founder of Douglas Aircraft Company is Donald Douglas. Although he is not a pilot, Douglas is a heavyweight aviation star. His perfect combination of wisdom, personality and management skills has allowed him to dominate the forefront of the aviation field for almost forty years.

As for Pratt & Whitney, it is quite interesting. There are two "Pratt & Whitney Companies (Pratt & Whitney for short)" in the United States. One is "Pratt & Whitney" founded by Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney in 1860. They are the earliest advocates and practitioners of the interchangeable standard system of mechanical equipment parts. It contributed valuable technical foundation, measurement methods and standard system to the industrialized mass production many years later.

The other "Pratt & Whitney" was founded by Frederick Rentschler in 1925. Rentschler had a very high seniority and status in the American aviation industry and was known as "the man who made the US military fly."

In 1925, due to the design concept being different from that of his old employer, Rentschler resigned from his original company and found Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Company, expounding the idea of ​​manufacturing air-cooled aircraft engines. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Company immediately decided to authorize Rentschler to use the "Pratt & Whitney" trademark to carry out engine research and development work, and also gave Rentschler a large amount of initial funds.

On December 24, 1925, Pratt & Whitney's first air-cooled engine, the R1340 Wasp, was launched. This is an engine that was called "changing the American aviation industry." In 1929, the U.S. Navy arranged two aircraft carriers, the Saratoga and the Lexington, to carry 200 carrier-based aircraft equipped with Wasps and Hornets for large-scale exercises. In three months, there were 2,100 flights and 6,000 hours of flight time. Pratt & Whitney's engines did not have any failures, so much so that the military chaplain on the Saratoga wrote a special thank-you letter: Thank you for these "reliable engines."

During World War II in the original time and space, Pratt & Whitney and its authorized cooperative factories produced a total of 363,619 engines with a total power of 0.38 billion horsepower (50% of the power required by the U.S. military), providing power for more than 70 aircraft, becoming the largest piston engine manufacturer in the United States.

"Oh my God!" Rentschler almost fainted when he heard the news that the Chicago industrial area was bombed. Although there are branches in other cities, the industrial area of ​​Chicago is the largest production base of "Pratt & Whitney". The losses caused by this bombing are simply immeasurable! The factory can be rebuilt and the destroyed parts can be re-produced, but that takes time. And even if it is rebuilt, who can guarantee that the Germans will not come again? ! If the Germans continue to bomb the industrial areas of other cities, his "Pratt & Whitney" company will be completely destroyed!

"These useless guys!" Rentschler panted and cursed fiercely. As for who he was cursing, I'm afraid only he knows.

At this time, his son Rentschler Jr. hurried in. "Father, I just got the news. Congress decided to cut the production budget of the Army Aviation aircraft by 40%, and Commander Arnold only left the P-51 fighter and B-17 bomber production!"