Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 906 - 169: When Airships Meet Airplanes

On November 1, 1890, Archduke Albert and Leopold II held a historic meeting in Cologne, engaging in an in-depth exchange on the Anti-French issue.

Well, that’s the official rhetoric. The reality was that after the Luxembourg Line collapsed, the situation in Belgium deteriorated, and Leopold II could no longer maintain order, compelling him to go into exile.

Dreaming of holding Brussels was just that, a dream. With Belgium’s capabilities, it simply did not have the strength to withstand the ferocious French onslaught.

Yet the situation had not reached a point of utter hopelessness, although the Luxembourg Line broke down and the German Federation suffered heavy losses, with Belgium on the brink of falling, it still could not change the fact that the war against France had only just begun.

Essentially, this war was concocted by France and Austria in their struggle for European hegemony, with Prussia and Germany being implicated for possessing valuable traits.

Belgium’s strategic location and the resources of the German Federal Rhineland region were the root causes of their entanglement.

Although Prussia and Germany suffered heavy losses, Austria, the leading brother, still retained its power. On the southern front, the Austrian army maintained its advantage; on the African Battlefield, Austrians were overwhelming the French.

However, the Austrian army had not achieved any substantial breakthroughs on the southern front, and the African Battlefield was overlooked by many, which made it seem as though the French held the upper hand when everyone turned their attention to the Central European Battlefield.

It wasn’t time for a last-minute struggle, and Leopold II wasn’t a reckless man. After receiving assurances from Archduke Albert, he decisively chose a strategic relocation.

The war continued, and the fate of Leopold II, or rather of Belgium, was now tied to Austria.

Winning this war meant that Belgium could reclaim its losses from the French, and might even advance a small step forward; losing, Leopold II would become a formal member of the throngs in exile.

Looking into the history books, one will find that in European history, royal families in exile have numbered over a hundred, yet very few have managed to restore their thrones, with most disappearing into the annals of history.

What happened behind the scenes, others may not understand, but Leopold II was certainly well-informed.

What exactly they experienced, might no longer be clear. In any case, except for a few royal families that naturally had no heirs, most were forcefully cut off.

Of course, behind these tragic figures, there was often a splendid display of folly. The content is so foolish that not even the average novel or drama would dare depict it as such.

In the political system of Europe, as long as a king does not court death, he will not die.

Napoleon is an example, having indulged high-spiritedly, he was merely exiled, and the Bonaparte Dynasty wasn’t annihilated.

From the perspective of Leopold II, doggedly defending Brussels would be courting death. On the battlefield, bullets do not discriminate by rank or nobility, especially those that carry no responsibility.

This is not the most crucial point, kings do not need to be on the battlefield, and the chance of being accidentally injured is extremely low.

The key is that the French had the motivation to kill him. If France wanted to annex Belgium, he, as king, would be in the way.

Regicide is very serious in Europe; if not settled on the battlefield, the French would have no way to take action afterwards.

The Kingdom of Sardinia is a ready example, whose royal family, forced to be released due to international pressure, is now causing them trouble again.

Politics is bloody, and Leopold II did not dare gamble on French integrity. Besides, it’s not just the French who might want his end.

Aside from domestic opponents, the British and Austrians might also be capable of foul play.

Even though Leopold II was related to the British Royal Family and was kin to the Austrian royal family, reality had already shown that in the face of national interests, any familial ties are unreliable.

...

After calming Leopold II, Archduke Albert breathed a sigh of relief. In his opinion, managing the mindset of a king was far more troublesome than waging war.

No matter the strength of Belgium, they were a member of the Anti-French Alliance, and if Leopold II surrendered to the French out of desperation, Austria’s political losses would be enormous.

According to Emperor Franz’s words, the essence of war is to increase your allies and reduce your enemies.

To achieve this goal, even Montenegro and Greece, which could only play a marginal role, were forcibly dragged onto the war wagon by the Vienna Government.

Of course, they could not be relied upon on the battlefield. Still, politically they were needed. The more countries involved, the more it would show the unpopularity of the French-initiated war of aggression.

As long as there were many participating countries, when the international community defines this war in the future, Austria must be seen as righteous, and without any flaws.

...

"Woo woo woo..."

The air raid siren suddenly went off, and Archduke Albert furrowed his brow, ordering the Guard, "Go outside and see, what has happened?"

Archduke Albert was well aware of the notoriety of the French airships but experiencing it firsthand was a different matter.

Despite Austria being the first to employ airships in warfare, it was actually the French who pioneered airship development. As early as 1784, the French had manufactured the world’s first airship.

Many people would find it hard to believe, but the world’s first airship, besides having inadequacies in its power system and being rather dangerous, was actually quite decent.

Measuring 15.6 metres long with a maximum diameter of 9.6 metres, after being filled with hydrogen gas, it could achieve over a thousand kilograms of ascending force, sustaining flight for seven hours.

After Austria used airships in warfare, European nations realized the importance of airships and began incorporating them into their troops.

However, as a piece of high-tech equipment that was also very expensive, only a few powerful nations genuinely had the capability to equip them on a large scale.

With the onset of the Anti-French War, the French airship troops quickly proved their might, effortlessly defeating the airships of Prussia and Germany, and swiftly gaining air superiority over the battlefield.

At that time, the range of anti-aircraft weapons was limited, and accuracy relied on luck, so as long as the airship didn’t lower its altitude, it was still very safe.

Of course, high-altitude bombing was safe indeed, but the hit rate was also profoundly touching, and combat achievements all depended on God’s blessing.

A moment later, the Guard came back to report, "Marshal, the enemy’s airship is coming, and it seems they’re gathering intelligence."

"Hmph!"

After a cold snort, Archduke Albrecht said expressionlessly, "Understood!

Send the order down, command the Engineer Corps to rush the work and complete the airfield construction in the shortest possible time."

...

Colonel Ryan was shocked and said, "What, you want us to build landing areas for airships? Major, are you mistaken? We’re not engineers."

The young officer explained helplessly, "I’m sorry, Colonel Ryan. Our number of engineers is insufficient, and we can’t recruit enough Civilian Husbands in short order; you’re the only ones without current duties."

The Austrian vanguard was naturally the main force, and the engineers were just a minority. Most of these were fast-tracked junior engineers, mainly to solve immediate issues with airfields and traffic logistics.

The labor force issue had been arranged already, with Civilian Husbands provided by the German Federation. Unfortunately, the Luxembourg Line had suddenly collapsed, losing not only a large number of troops but also many Civilian Husbands.

These Civilian Husbands were mostly drawn from the local working-age males; and to continue recruiting Civilian Husbands, there had to be a sufficient number of such men available locally. Your journey continues at novelbuddy

In the end, the glorious and grand task of airfield construction fell upon the newly reorganized Bremen Corps.

Without any surprises, the Bremen Corps was just one battalion in size, and Colonel Ryan, the highest-ranking officer with combat experience, inevitably became the battalion commander.

The order had been issued, regardless of whether he liked it or not, Colonel Ryan had to accept the reality of becoming an engineer.

Not only the Bremen Corps, but all subsequent reorganized units were gradually transformed into engineers, some building roads, others digging trenches.

Combat missions?

Archduke Albrecht declared that he wasn’t mad; he was acutely aware of how pathetic the combat capability of this hastily assembled force was.

Not only was there a total lack of military spirit and morale, but the soldiers were also severely lacking in training. Even more troubling was that many officers were temporary conscripts from the Nobility.

It’s true that there was a tradition of military service among the Nobility in the German region, but that didn’t mean all the Nobility were qualified as officers.

Not all Sub-States had military academies, nor did all Nobility attend them. Many were educated in family military tradition, their combat experience and concepts stuck in the previous century.

Deploying such a force to the battlefield would only add to the enemy’s tally; one could hardly expect anything else.

Sabotaging allies could happen, but sabotaging one’s own people was out of the question. These men were willing to be reorganized, which meant they recognized Austria.

These people were to become the future link for Austrian rule over Northern Germany. To strengthen ties with the local authorities, Archduke Albrecht couldn’t let these Nobility suffer massive casualties.

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...

At this moment, Colonel Ryan, none the wiser, was leading his troops, toiling away at the airfield construction.

Looking at the hardened expanse of land, Colonel Ryan said with regret, "Captain Henry, there was no need to harden it all; this is really too extravagant."

Concrete was expensive at the time, and hardening dozens of hectares of land in one go would not be considered a small expense.

Captain Henry shook his head, "We’re doing this to save time; in truth, this airfield construction doesn’t meet standards.

Nevertheless, this is only temporary. We’ll manage for now with what we have; there will be reconstruction later."

This was the reality; an airfield wasn’t simply completed with a single dam. For a temporary stop, makeshift accommodations would suffice.

"Airfield, what’s that? Weren’t we supposed to prepare grounds for airships?" asked Colonel Ryan, puzzled.

It wasn’t that he was ignorant; not many people knew about airplanes at the time, and even fewer knew about airfields.

Realizing his indiscretion, Captain Henry replied coldly, "Colonel, you should have memorized the unit’s secrecy regulations, don’t ask about things you shouldn’t."

Whether "airfield" fell under the category of secrecy was also something Captain Henry wasn’t sure about. After all, no gag order had been issued, nor had any information been provided to Colonel Ryan.

Without clarity on the situation, Captain Henry naturally wouldn’t offer an explanation. As for the difference in military rank between them, that wasn’t an issue.

Haven’t you seen that during the construction of the airfield, it’s the Captain giving orders to the Colonel? In other places, such a thing would be absolutely impossible, but in the technical field, it’s quite common.

Professional matters are left to professionals, a prominent feature of the Austrian army. So, the highest authority in the construction of the airfield was the experienced Captain Henry.

After a fruitless exchange, Colonel Ryan turned his head away and urged his soldiers back to work, no longer dealing with the rigid engineer.

...