Chapter 941: A Special Christmas Day

  Chapter 922 A Special Christmas

The value of the air show was not just appreciated, but it was also a show of force by the Tsarist government to the outside world. It didn’t matter how the airplanes came to be, there was just something.

In a sense, being able to buy the airplanes was likewise a sign of strength. You know, more countries are unable to buy them even if they want to.

Perhaps intentionally, perhaps unintentionally, during the air show, Alexander III also invited the ministers of various European countries to participate, which also included the French minister.

According to European practice, an ally of an ally is not necessarily an ally, and an enemy of an ally is likewise not necessarily an enemy.

The Franco-Austrian War and the Anglo-Russian War, both of which were separate copies of the war, did not interfere with each other.

So while the continental war was raging, normal diplomatic relations were still maintained between France and Russia.

Immediately after ascertaining that the Russians were equipped with airplanes, the French minister took to his heels. Since the bombing of Paris, the French government was worried about airplane manufacturing technology.

Figuring it out on their own proved not to be so simple. No technical experts in the field of aircraft, the French government can only find a few folk enthusiasts, and a group of mechanical engineers to form a set of grassroots R & D team.

The results do not mention it, can not industrial production is just, the key is the laboratory to build out of the aircraft, but also stay in the primitive stage, there is no return to the kind of.

Want to simply realize the freedom to go back and forth, landing, but also need a lot of time to experiment, figuring out, anyway, the front line of the French army can not wait.

As far as Minister Albon knows, in order to come up with airplane manufacturing technology as soon as possible, the government went out of its way to bow down to the British and seek cooperation.

And then there was no more. Although Britain’s industrial strength is a little stronger, but in the field of aircraft manufacturing and France, everyone is a layman, the country can not find an aircraft manufacturer.

Now is undoubtedly an opportunity, from the hands of Austria can not take the aircraft manufacturing technology, from the hands of the Russians to obtain the same.

Of course, the hands of the Russians is no aircraft production technology, but they have ready-made aircraft ah!

Self-development requires a lot of time, there are samples to refer to, imitate, can undoubtedly save a lot of time.

Don’t look at the European countries bullish, in fact, most of the industrial powers in Europe initially rely on copycat start, including France is no exception.

Copying and imitating, Minister Albon did not have any pressure. The only difficulty was how to obtain the airplane from the Russians.

……

“Your Excellency the Minister, this business is too tricky and is beyond my capabilities.”

After saying that, the middle-aged man pushed the check back. From his eyes, it could be determined that the middle-aged man was filled with a strong sense of reluctance, and he did not want to give up the check.

But there was no way around it, the French weren’t to be messed with, receiving money and not doing anything would leave endless trouble for him.

“Your Excellency the Duke, too modest. Who doesn’t know your great name, there is nothing you can’t do in St. Petersburg.

A small matter in the district, Your Excellency only needs to ……”

Bragging, endless bragging. In order to be able to achieve his goal, Minister Albon also gave up the bottom line.

After saying that, Minister Albon pushed the check back, taking out a blank check and placing it on top of it in the meantime.

The meaning of that was very obvious, as long as the goal could be achieved, the price could be opened at will.

Seeing this scene in front of him, Duke Olmedo’s position wavered once again. Despite the fact that cooperating with the French might offend the Austrians, the French could not help but offer a high price!

Despite the fact that there are a lot of people looking for him, this is the first time that he has received a check that he can just fill out.

After hesitating for a few moments, Duke Olmedo shook his head once again: ”Your Excellency, it’s not that I won’t help.

The problem now is that the Austrians are watching closely, the ones responsible for the maintenance of the airplane are all Austrians, it is impossible for us to send the airplane out of Russia under their noses.

You know Austria’s influence in Russia, once we let them find out the problem, the government is bound to give them an explanation.”

Money was good, but lives were more important.

Normally stealing a piece of weaponry from the barracks, Olmedo had the means to manipulate it, whether it was scrapped, or decommissioned.

But not now, the Austrians are watching too closely. In case the Austrians caught the handle, for the sake of relations between the two countries, the tsarist government will certainly give Austria an explanation.

In this context, even the most powerful network of relations can not be topped. Olmedo did not live long enough and did not want to die.

Once again rejected, Minister Albon’s face sank. With years of life experience, he could see that the Russian Duke in front of him wasn’t trying to raise the price, but really didn’t dare.

After a few moments of contemplative effort, Duke Albon reluctantly asked, “Your Excellency the Duke, the ones in charge of maintenance are all Austrians, surely this situation won’t last, right?”

Duke Olmedo nodded, “Of course, we have already arranged for technicians to go in and learn. It won’t be long before the logistical maintenance will be done by our own people.

If His Excellency the Minister can wait, after two or three years, Your Excellency should be able to get what you want.”

Waiting for two or three years, the yellow flowers were cold. After such a long period of time, France’s own research and development should have come to fruition, and there was no need to spend a large price at all.

Albon asked, “Doesn’t your country want to imitate it? We can send engineers to help, deciphered technology, our two countries can share, and ……”

Without waiting for Albon to finish his sentence, Olmedo interrupted, “Why would you want to copy it? What’s in it for us?”

It sounded nonsensical, yet it was the truth. In the beginning, after importing Ordnance equipment, the Tsarist government was still keen on introducing technology and imitating it.

However, in the face of high production costs, the tsarist government had to accept the concept of “better to build than to buy”.

Ordinary weapons and equipment, not to mention the aircraft. With the industrial strength of the Russian Empire, even if they can decipher the technology, they can not do industrialized production.

……

For the sake of the ruble, Olmedo eventually agreed to arrange for a few French engineers, to go into the logistical maintenance staff.

How much can be learned by stealing, it depends on the luck of the French, anyway, Duke Olmedo is not optimistic about the French.

Logistics and maintenance and aircraft manufacturing are two completely different concepts, in the case of in-depth study of the internal structure of the aircraft, to deduce the aircraft manufacturing technology, in addition to investing a lot of time and money to do experiments, there is no other way.

The money invested is fine, squeeze will always have, the key to the problem is time. A couple of months to reverse the launch of aircraft manufacturing technology, and spend a year or two to get out of the aircraft manufacturing technology is very different.

……

Snowflakes drifted and fell, and the banks of the Rhine were draped in silver. With the silence of the gunfire, there is no more smoke and mirrors in the past, in the soft light of the sun, it seems particularly pleasant.

It was another Christmas, and as he watched the soldiers celebrate with laughter, Field Marshal Patrice McMahon could not be happy.

At the beginning of the outbreak of the Rhine offensive and defense, the Austrian army on the other side was still only 300,000, and the rest were the remnants of the troops withdrawn from the two countries of Belgium and Germany.

Just how long has passed, the total strength of the Austrian army broke through eight hundred thousand, plus the troops of the two countries of Bidde, the anti-French alliance’s strength disadvantage is no longer obvious.

According to the current situation continues, perhaps to the next month, both sides of the force ratio to be reversed. By that time, the offense and defense of both sides will be reversed.

There is no way, fight manpower, fight financial resources, fight supplies, fight industry, France is not the antifa alliance’s opponent.

The only advantage is that the French army is the most prestigious, with the support of past performance, in the face of the enemy has the advantage of heart.

Unfortunately, all this was broken by the Austrians in the Battle of the Rhine not long ago.

The French army did not continue the myth of undefeated, the so-called combat strength advantage, now also become a dream.

Frankly, Patrice MacMahon did not want a truce on Christmas Day, because it would have bought the enemy a day and further increased the difficulty of breaking through the Rhine defenses.

“Marshal, the Christmas banquet is starting in half an hour.”

A guard on the side reminded.

This was a tradition of the French army, no matter what time of year, banquet events were rare, and Christmas was even more so.

Originally, Patrice McMahon was going back to Paris to attend the banquet held at Versailles, only to stay at the front because of the heavy snow that closed the roads last night and delayed his trip.

Since he stayed here, as the boss of the front line, Patrice McMahon naturally had the obligation to host the Christmas banquet, and by the way, to boost the morale of the army.

“Got it, I’ll be on time!”

After saying that, Marshal Patrice McMahon closed his eyes and rested his mind. Hosting a banquet also required physical exertion, which was a burden for the aging Patrice McMahon.

……

The French were celebrating, and the Allied forces were much the same. Most of the officers and men were celebrating this special Christmas, except for those who kept the necessary duty personnel.

Unlike the French army the Grand Duke Albrecht, who was the commander of the allied forces, was absent, and the main character of the feast became King Leopold II of Belgium.

In the command center, Archduke Albrecht was surveying the latest map of the battlefield, and near him were several high-ranking Austrian officers who were absent from the banquet.

Soldiers on the battlefield are quick, although it is not possible to launch an attack on Christmas Day, but it does not mean that nothing can be done on Christmas Day.

“The armored units have just arrived, have they been placed?”

Undoubtedly, the big event that made the top brass of the Austrian army miss the banquet en masse was the armored units that had just arrived.

The movement of the armored force action can not be small, normal times to avoid the ears and eyes of the French army, it is simply impossible. Christmas could be considered the only chance.

In order to hide their tracks, the Austrian army also carried out a series of camouflage.

For example: an increase in the number of cars on the front line, and occasionally a deliberate noise to paralyze the ears of the French.

In order to reduce the risk of exposure, the armored units were not driven directly over, but were transported directly to the front line by turning to water midway.

A middle-aged military officer replied in a loud voice, ”Marshal please rest assured, the armored troops have been dispersed and placed in several camps prepared in advance, I personally went to check.

The camps are in relatively remote locations, and the troops patrolling the perimeter have been replaced with ours a week ago.

There are also motorized transport units nearby for cover, so as long as they don’t come into close contact, the general public won’t notice.”

It was fortunate that the French airship unit was taken out, otherwise it really wouldn’t have been easy to hide an armored unit.

Even though armored units are almost invincible in these days, it would really be hard to do all the work when they are exposed in advance and the French are on the defensive.

Against the armored troops is difficult to say, but also simple. As long as in the armored troops advance on the road to dig a few more pits, will be able to slow down the speed of the armored troops.

The armored force that lost its speed was in fact a powerful army, and it was difficult to play a strategic role.

Receiving an affirmative answer, Archduke Albrecht nodded and added: ”Secrecy must be well maintained, announce to the public that these camps are armories and prohibit any unrelated personnel from approaching.

For security reasons, the arrival of the armored forces should not be notified to the two countries of Bidde for the time being.

Our strategic objective this time is to leave behind most of the main force of the French army and maximize the killing and wounding of the living forces of France.

It won’t be easy to do that. That’s why we have to take advantage of the armored forces and catch the French off guard.

If we let the French react and contract their main forces back home, this war will be difficult to fight.”

It was true, it was far easier to fight the French on the Rhine than it was to fight them on French soil.

Other than that, it was going to be much easier to catch the routed soldiers after winning the war. The German populace would not cover the French soldiers running away to be greeted by the encircling net of the People’s War.

A slightly older officer said, “Marshal, are the armored troops really that powerful?

With just these two hundred tanks and seven hundred armored vehicles, I’m afraid there is some …… wanting to hit the main force of the French army hard.”

There is no way, the armored force was subject to the strictest secrecy, even in the Austrian army top management, is “only heard of its name, do not see its shape”.

In addition to a few officers who have watched the armored force exercises, no one knows how powerful the steel torrent.

Archduke Albrecht knew that this was not just a question of one person, but that most of the people present were skeptical about the ability of the armored units to hit the French army.

After all, the total strength of the French army on the other side, has almost exceeded two million. With such a small number of armored troops, scattered in a sea of people, it is really not enough to see.

“Frederich, you are the commander of the armored troops, now let you explain to everyone how armored troops fight!”

Nepotism was rare everywhere, and the Austrian army was no exception. The Habsburg family, is the biggest nepotism of all.

Including the rise of Archduke Albrecht, he also utilized this relationship, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so easy, becoming the first person in the Austrian military right after the death of Marshal Radetzky.

To his own nephew, and political resources heir, Archduke Albrecht never hid his intention to promote.

Of course, the most important thing is that Frederich can be made. Habsburg family has many members, if not capable, Albrecht could not support.

Essentially, the purpose of supporting Frederich was to strengthen the royal family’s control over the army.

This political-military pattern, which had continued for hundreds of years, was one of the most important means of securing royal power.

Specific reference can be made to the period of Ferdinand I. The emperor was unable to govern for decades, and the imperial power of the Habsburg dynasty did not even decline.

The same is the reason why Franz was able to quickly take control of the situation after he came to power. Because until now, the army has never been out of the control of the royal family.

……

(End of chapter)