Chapter 939: Military Procurement
Chapter 920 – Military Purchase
“The Russians want to buy airplanes?”
Just waking up from his sleep, Franz received this news. Thinking about it, there was nothing strange about it; the Tsarist government had been buying and buying in recent years.
Perhaps it was a sweet taste in buying, or perhaps it was just bureaucrats simply wanting to get rich, but wherever the Austrian army was mass-equipped with weapons, the Russians were quick to follow suit.
Seeing that airplanes were making a big splash on the battlefield, it was only natural for the Tsarist government to follow suit. Especially with the Anglo-Russian war in Afghanistan still going on, the Russian army desperately needed a weapon that could suppress the British airship force.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“The Tsarist government has just decided to launch a Christmas offensive, planning to capture the Afghan region before Christmas in the Russian calendar.”
Foreign Minister Weissenberg explained with a smile. There was no doubt that the Russian Christmas Offensive had little push from Austria behind it.
The continental war has been going on until now, the British have not been much involved, not that the London government has suddenly changed its nature, but mainly because it has been dragged down by the war in Afghanistan and does not have that much energy.
From the current situation, unless the strength of France and Austria is completely unbalanced, the British will certainly prioritize the Afghan battlefield.
Having gotten this answer, Franz fell into deep thought. Whether or not to sell the airplane to the Russians was also a nagging question.
Theoretically, the Russians get the airplane, it is equivalent to get the air rights in the Afghan war, the chances of winning the war is higher.
This is what Austria wants to see, the occupation of the Afghan region does not mean the end of the Anglo-Russian war, but will instead be the beginning of a full-scale war between the two countries.
Relating to the strategic security of India, whether willing or not, the British government can only die to the end.
With the strength of the British Empire, this war still has to be fought. The more intense the fight between Britain and Russia in Central Asia, the smaller the force that can interfere in Europe.
Favorable nature also has disadvantages, Russia and Austria is an ally is not false, but this child alliance is also because of the interests of the establishment, if the core interests of the two countries in conflict, the alliance will collapse in minutes will collapse.
The airplane fell into the hands of the Russians, and then want to keep it secret will be difficult. As long as the French are willing to pay, it is not difficult to get samples from the Tsarist government.
“If the French, or the British get their hands on our airplane, how long would it take to decipher the technology in it?”
Franz asked with concern.
Therein lay the crux of the matter, Austria had lit up the airplane tech tree in order to maintain an advantage in the war.
England and France were both industrial powerhouses, and once they got their hands on the samples, it was only a matter of time before they reverse-engineered the manufacturing technology.
Prime Minister Karl: “According to the engineers’ estimation, if an intact airplane falls into the hands of Britain and France, it will only take 1 to 3 months for them to be able to deduce the airplane manufacturing technology.
But deducing the manufacturing technology is not the same as being able to imitate it. Because of the different industrial systems, we and Britain and France have their own standards.
If Britain and France want to copy the airplane directly, they must adjust the standard of the industrial mother plane. This requires a lot of time, without two or three years of work, can not do industrialized mass production.
Time waits for no one on the battlefield, and a direct copycat is unlikely. It is more likely that our aircraft will be used as a blueprint, and some of the designs will be adjusted for imitation.
The time it would take to do so would be impossible to estimate, and would largely depend on the highest industrial level of Britain and France. If their engine technology is over the top, they may be able to copy it in just a few months.”
Much like Franz’s judgment, the reverse engineering technique was not difficult, as long as there was a sample of the aircraft in hand, disassembling it and studying it could always be productive.
What was difficult was industrialized production, which involved multiple fields, and everyone had different industrial standard systems, making it difficult to achieve uniform standards.
Aircraft is a high-precision field, a screw size is not the same, may affect the industrialized production.
Specific reference can be made to the later generations of certain cottage enterprises, low-end industrial products are easy to imitate, to the high-tech field will be blind.
Samples in front of the eyes, the technology is also reverse deduced, is not produced. To know the technical barriers, but more difficult to break through the chasm than the patent barriers.
Into the late 19th century, the technology gap between European countries, has not only existed in the concept, but also reacted in the industrial field.
Britain, France and Austria each point to open the technology tree is not the same, we all have their own advantages in certain areas, aircraft manufacturing happens to be Britain and France’s bias field.
After weighing the pros and cons, Franz made a decision.
“Sell! But put restrictions on it, and make the Russians guarantee that the airplanes will not go out of the country. Send someone from the Foreign Ministry to keep an eye on it and delay the proliferation of airplane technology as long as possible.”
As long as there are exports, the proliferation of airplane manufacturing technology is inevitable. Even if Britain and France didn’t copy it, the Russians themselves would dismantle it for research.
None of the Austrian weaponry exported to Russia had ever escaped being studied. Not only to be studied, the Tsarist government has even made imitations.
Although the Russian and Austrian basic industrial system is the same, but the two sides of the industrial level has long been in a different class.
In the vast majority of cases, the Russians copied the weaponry, the production cost will be much more expensive than imports.
In this context, even the tsarist government has always wanted to get rid of the dependence on Austria in the military industry, and finally lost in the wallet.
This was true for ordinary weaponry, not to mention highly technical airplanes. Franz dares to assert that even if the technical drawings were given to the Russians, they would not be able to understand them without three to five years of work.
As long as the finished product does not fall into the hands of the French, even if the French and Russians secretly collude, at most they will send a few military experts to study, and any more than that will not be able to keep it secret.
Compared with concentrating experts in related fields to participate in the research together, only an individual to participate in the research, the efficiency is undoubtedly much lower.
In particular, knowledge outside of specialized fields could very easily be missed. Whether or not it could be worked out before the end of the war was an unknown.
Moreover, even if it could be worked out, airplane technology was divided into generations. The airplanes that were exported to the Russians, as long as they could deal with airships, they would be fine, they didn’t need to be too advanced at all.
……
In London, after the roar of the ships, a special guest walked off a luxurious passenger ship.
Arriving in Misty City once again, Karel Kadlec’s mood was heavy. Along with that, he wasn’t too impressed with the welcoming queue that lined both sides of the ship.
As France’s only ally, the British government was naturally the center of gravity for the French Foreign Ministry’s public relations. In order to show his high regard for the British, Karel Kadlec even took it upon himself to make a personal appearance.
Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, his intentions were basically nullified. The British were only routinely received and did not organize a grand welcome ceremony.
There was no way for Karel Kadlec not to think about it more. At such a special time, if the British intended to support France, they were bound to release a friendly gesture out.
The reality is very cruel, the British nonchalant attitude, to Karel Kadlec’s trip to London poured a pot of cold water.
Dragging his tired body, he attended the welcome banquet as usual. As expected, there were no surprises, not to mention the royal family members, even the top level of the British government did not attend, of course the diplomats in charge of the reception did not count.
……
At midnight, in the French embassy in London, Karel Kadlec asked seriously, “Just now at the banquet, I noticed that there was something wrong with George’s demeanor. What has happened in London recently?”
Observing words is a basic skill for diplomats, and Karel Cadletz, as the Foreign Minister, was naturally no stranger to it.
Only masking emotions was likewise a diplomat’s instinct. Having sensed George’s unusual behavior, it immediately drew Karel Kadlec’s attention.
Recently, there were no new international events, the biggest hotspot was the continental war, generally speaking, it was still in a stalemate.
In the case of the international situation has not changed greatly, can make the British foreign minister worried, only the domestic political struggle.
Although he would like to see the joke of British infighting, Karel Kadlec knows very well that now is not the time.
Once the British government was caught in a political struggle, his trip to London would be for nothing. Until the internal situation was stabilized, it would be difficult for the British to play a substantial role in the Continental War.
“What happened in London?” Minister Ambroise was slightly stunned, then responded, “No, Your Excellency. London has been very peaceful lately, nothing major has happened.
If there should be something, it should be India. There are whispers that the Russians launched their Christmas offensive not too long ago, and the British suffered a big loss on the battlefield.
The British government has blocked news of this, and there’s no way we can figure out exactly what happened for a while.”
Hearing the words “news blockade”, Karel Kadlec immediately realized the gravity of the problem.
He knew that under the British political system, it was not easy to block the news, and most of the time, the news from the journalists would be one step ahead.
There is no way around it, British politics is wheeling and dealing. Blocking the news is quick, and afterwards the opposition party will certainly take it out to say something. When the news comes out, public support for the cabinet will drop dramatically.
The British government will not do this unless it is absolutely necessary.
After a little thought, Karel Kadlec said seriously, “Mobilize our people to figure out the circumstances of the matter as soon as possible.
If we can’t, we’ll beat the bushes. Get a few street tabloids to put out the news of the fall of Afghanistan and test the British government’s reaction.”
If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will win a hundred battles.
If you want to pull the British on board, and you don’t even know what’s happening in Britain, how can you do it?
“Your Excellency, this is not good. In case the British find out ……”
Without waiting for Minister Ambroise to finish speaking, Karel Kadlec interrupted, “What are you afraid of, this was meant to be done for the British.
After spending so much time in London, what is John Bull’s style, aren’t you clear?”
The more he understood the British, the less he took the so-called “Anglo-French friendship” seriously.
The premise of alliance is interest, without interest, there is no alliance. Without interests, there can be no alliance. As long as the interests are in place, no amount of conflict can stop Britain and France from coming together.
As for the possibility of offending the British government, that is completely overthinking.
Karel Kadlec does not believe that the British have not planted ears and eyes in the French Embassy, and it is estimated that the British will know before the plan to beat the bushes is implemented.
If you really want to do something, at least do a good job of keeping it a secret. What kind of person gives an order in front of a large number of embassy staff?
The essence is that Karel Kadlec wants to use these small means to tell the British: the news of the British army’s defeat in the Afghan battlefield, France already knows; now not only does France need Britain, Britain also needs France.
After all, the Russo-Austrian alliance still looks very solid, if France really lost in the Continental War, British India is also in danger.
In this respect, Britain and France are also tied together, a loss for all.
As to whether the British would see it that way, that was a question no one could answer yet.
(End of chapter)