Chapter 564: The End of an Era

  Chapter 552 – The End of an Era

The landing battle lasted until evening, and the darkness of the night put a comma on the battle. By this time, the Russians had landed successfully and set up camp.

The news of the victory had been delivered to the allied command in Constantinople with the return of the airship force. The celebratory banquet had already begun, and Arest, as commander-in-chief, did not participate in the festivities.

According to the reports coming from the airship unit, the Russian army also paid a small price during the landing, and there was even a troop carrier that was hit by the enemy’s shells and nearly sank in the harbor.

With firepower fully suppressed and bombs falling from the sky, the defenders still fought back effectively, proving that those defending the city were not losers.

If the defenders were smart enough, they would have fallen back and laid down their defenses. Anyway, the naval guns had a limited range, and if they retreated that much further, the shells wouldn’t be able to get through.

In a short battle in the field, the usefulness of airship bombardment was lost. Once the two sides are mixed together, no one dares to throw bombs down again, and no one can afford the responsibility of accidentally injuring friendly troops.

Knowing that, Arest did not propose to spoil the fun, anyway, the deaths are Russians, the Russian generals are not afraid of casualties, why should he worry about it?

Silently analyzed the situation, reported to the Vienna government. Arest arranged for the navy and airship units to continue to attack the Ottoman coastal cities, and the battle for the Ava region was left to the command of the Russians themselves.

At midnight, the Ankara Palace was lit up, the news of the landing of the allied forces in Ava had spread, and the Sultan’s government couldn’t sleep.

Frankly, strategically this was in the Ottoman Empire’s favor. According to the Vienna government’s plan, a scorched-earth program within a 30-kilometer area along the coast, deporting the population inland, and a wave of refugees could collapse the government of the Sultan.

However, this does not comfort the Sudanese government, Russia and Austria are both large countries, as long as the two governments are willing to increase the investment of troops, a few more fronts will not be a problem.

Abdul Aziz I: “The enemy has landed in the Ava region, and it seems that our judgment was correct that the Russians could not tolerate the closure of the Black Sea Straits for long.

Now all we have to do is to drag the enemy in Ava until the Russians can’t hold out and withdraw from the war, so the Black Sea Straits must not be lost.

Until then, we have to deal with the threat of enemy airships, what are the military’s plans?”

Minister of War Elmoid: “Your Majesty, according to the analysis of the information coming from the front, neither rifles nor artillery can pose a threat to the airships, so the only thing that can deal with the airships is the dirigibles.

The Ministry of War suggests purchasing a batch of airships from abroad as soon as possible and using them to deal with the enemy’s airship force. Until then, we can only use rifles to interfere with the enemy.”

Elmord was well aware of the industrial strength of the Ottoman Empire, and very wisely chose to import them instead of producing them himself.

It wasn’t that the Ottoman Empire couldn’t produce them, the problem was that the quality of the airships produced wasn’t guaranteed. What should be done if it didn’t perform well and couldn’t fly?

This kind of similar oops, but in the Ottoman Empire has happened from time to time. The Ottomans were even worse than the Russians when it came to copying breech-loading rifles, for example. On top of being stupid, big, thick, and tall, they also added “advantages” such as jamming and blowing up from time to time.

The military has long recognized that “it is better to build than to buy”, and Elmhurst has no confidence in the domestic manufacturing industry.

People do not know much about airships, in many people’s opinion, this kind of weapon that can fly in the sky, it is a high-tech products, not the Ottoman Empire can be made, so it is better to buy it!

In a way, this decision was completely correct. With the level of corruption of the Ottoman bureaucrats, they were responsible for the production of airships, and if they could not fly, so be it. The biggest fear was that they would fall down right after they flew up, and that would kill people.

……

London, the British government is also discussing the issue of airships, regardless of the size of the role, what others have, Great Britain must also have, this is a matter of principle.

Secretary of the Navy Robert sneered: “Outside are crazy rumors about the power of airships, and even some media catch the wind, irresponsible to say that belongs to the era of the sky is coming.

This is complete nonsense. Not to mention the fact that the performance of airships is not stable enough, even if they fly to the sky, is there nothing we can do about it?

Would it be hard to design an artillery piece specifically for attacking the sky? By that time, the airship that was built at great expense will be a living target in the sky, and it won’t be able to find cover even if it wants to hide.”

Are you kidding, how many years has it been since the beginning of the era of sea power, the Royal Navy has not yet enjoyed enough glory, how can we let the era of “air power” come?

The term “living target” may be an exaggeration, but it is true that airships are not invincible. And the cost of airships is very high, far more than the army equipment, are close to catching up with the navy warships.

Secretary of State for War Fox concurred: “That’s right, the power of airships is indeed not as great as the outside world says, but still has a certain value in the military.

Especially in land battles, this overhead threat has too great an impact on military morale, and the War Ministry proposes to create an additional army airship unit to defend Britain’s airspace.”

Robert, the Minister of the Navy, immediately retorted, “Just leave the defense of Britain to our Navy. As long as the Royal Navy is around, it is impossible for the enemy to come over.

The airship unit can only be most effective when it is placed under the Navy and used to deter enemies overseas.”

……

The argument between the two men seemed to sound a bit twisted. In the front, they were downplaying the role of the airships, and in the back, they wanted to put the airship unit in the bag, obviously full of contradictions.

However, Prime Minister Gerston didn’t bother to count on it, it was nothing more than a political struggle that needed to be fought. The army and navy first joined forces to bring down the status of the airship unit, but then they wanted to take it under their own command to increase their say in the fight over military spending.

Gerston waved his hand, “Both of you, the time for the annual budget has not yet arrived, don’t be in such a hurry to quarrel. If you are interested in the airship unit, go back and get your own!”

This was permitted, the Army and Navy’s military expenses were at their own disposal, only if they could pass the congressional audit. It was legal to mess with the land airship fleet and the sea airship fleet.

The implication is that everyone can hear it, there is no problem to engage in airship units, want the government to increase military spending that is not, at least not now.

Gerston Prime Minister is not a military white, he is very clear that the airship force is not a day to be able to establish, at least the airship research and development and manufacturing still need time.

Austria’s airship force has existed for more than ten years, only the existence of a relatively low, no bright performance, was ignored by everyone.

Even if the Vienna government no longer pay attention to it, after so many years of development, airship manufacturing has also come out a long way. If Britannia wanted to catch up, it would take a few more years.

Prime Minister Gerston did not think that the leap from civilian airships to military airships could be accomplished in a few days. Besides, Britannia’s civilian airships were few and far between.

If there were no airships, what could be used to form an airship force? Increasing the allocation of special military expenditure at this time is like beating a dog with a meat bag. The army and navy have all done this kind of thing to cheat military spending.

Especially the navy, is one of the best, in conjunction with the French and Austrian navies to provoke an arms race, together with the matter of cheating military expenditure, but spread throughout the European continent.

Since the windowpaper was broken, so many years, Britain, France and Austria have never broken out of the arms race. Who wants to advocate the “two-strength standard” again, everyone’s first reaction is “cheating military expenditure again”.

Facts have once again proved that as long as John Bull does not mess things up, international conflicts will be much less. When the British Parliament refuses to increase the military expenditure for the navy, the arms race will naturally not go on.

France and Austria are just not willing to accept the “two strong standard”, does not mean that the two countries are ready to catch up with the Royal Navy, the gap between the financial strength of all of us is still obvious.

France+Austria＞Britain＞Austria＞France, this financial equation, we are still very clear.

There’s no war in Britannia anytime soon, so why be in such a hurry? After a few months, the arsenal should also design a good military airship, and then it is not too late to discuss the formation of airship units.

If you can’t make it, you can still buy it directly from Austria or exchange the technology. These days there is no such thing as a technology blockade, as long as you throw money at it, you can buy any technology.

Gerston Prime Minister is not at all anxious, now he is a headache is the Irish problem. Britain is a colonial power, if Ireland is given the status of regional autonomy, overseas colonies follow the example of how to do?

On this issue, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party have been arguing for many years, and has continued to the present, there is still no result.

This is the positioning problem, the beginning of the London government defined Ireland as a colony, not the mainland, which led to this series of problems.

The bourgeoisie is overwhelmingly responsible for this, having failed to integrate the Irish for so many years, most notably because the capitalists wanted cheap labor and refused to treat the island of Ireland as a homeland.

Including the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852, the man-made factors outweighed the natural disasters. After the famine broke out, the London government not only did not mobilize food relief.

Instead, it allowed capitalists and landowners to speculate on the price of local agricultural products, and the local population of Ireland plummeted by one-fourth in just seven years, and the seeds of division were planted.

Since then, the Irish people have been making noise every now and then about independence and self-government. National integration, do not dream, both sides simply can not piss in a gourd.

Gholston Prime Minister is a pursuit, want to completely solve the Irish problem, for Britain to pull out this hidden trouble.

In his opinion, this issue is much more important than the Near East War. When the British Empire was strong, the Irish question could be suppressed. Once Britain fell, this hidden danger threatened Britain’s security.

The British Isles were self-contained, and that was based on mutual agreement and unification, and if someone was a bandwagon party, Britain’s mainland was not so safe.

……

Paris, the French government couldn’t care less about airships anymore, even the Near East War they didn’t have the time to pay attention to.

Versailles, Napoleon III has come to the end of his life, the top level of the government are all gathered, just waiting for the emperor to swallow his breath, no it should be listening to the emperor’s teachings.

Death is near, Napoleon III naturally want to arrange the aftermath. Crown Prince Eugène was already 18 years old, about the same age as Franz succeeded to the throne, Napoleon III thought that his son could handle the affairs of government, the regency would not be necessary.

After arranging the afterlife and dismissing the others, Crown Prince Eugene was left in the chamber. Napoleon III grasped his son’s hand, and father and son looked at each other.

“Eugène, the empire is in your hands. France is not as peaceful as it appears on the surface, the internal undercurrents never stop.

Remember to be vigilant at all times, Paris has never been stable since the Revolution, the folk are too active with new ideas. It’s like a powder keg, the slightest spark could explode.

What France needs now is to lay a firm foundation, and try to avoid war with European countries before completely digesting the Italian region. Even if we do have to fight, we can’t start the war on our own initiative.

European countries are very wary of us, and the annexation of the Italian region is the final bottom line for each country, and one step forward is the abyss of hell.

And…be careful…Ying…O ……”

Before he could finish his sentence, Napoleon III breathed his last. Leaving at this time was probably a good thing for him as well. Compared to the gloomy end of the original time and space, Napoleon III was now an unprecedented success.

Economically, France’s industry and commerce developed rapidly during Napoleon III’s time, and was the second of the Great Powers to complete industrialization. He also let Paris successfully get rid of the word “stink” series, from now on, Europe is left with “stinky London”.

Politically, Napoleon III broke the shackles imposed on France after the war against France and accomplished the great renaissance of France. The annexation of Italy fulfilled the people’s dream of becoming a great power.

Diplomatically, the establishment of the Anglo-French-Austrian Triple Alliance established the status of France as a great power in the world and got rid of the situation of isolation.

Military, not to mention, no outstanding achievements. Fortunately, there are no achievements in this area, or now the French Empire is still not in, are an unknown quantity.

Already sobbing Eugene Crown Prince, forced to endure the grief inside, gently put down the hand of Napoleon III. Summoned all the people into the house to discuss the aftermath.

The emperor died, this is a major event, not only to deal with the aftermath, but also to consider the political implications.

(End of chapter)