War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Facing the Austrian reconnaissance balloons in the sky, the French army was helpless. Lamosilière actually thought of using artillery right away, and the problem of insufficient elevation angle was quickly solved.

The elevation angle of the artillery itself is not enough, which can be solved by using artificial slopes or raising the launch pad.

However, these cannot solve the biggest problem, which is not shooting high enough.

At this time, most of the French artillery's firing ranges were between 800 meters and 1,200 meters, but most of their firing heights were less than 300 meters. Even the M1841 Little Napoleon's firing height was less than 400 meters.

If solid rounds are used, the firing height of these guns will be further reduced. Moreover, the hot air balloon in the sky is a black spot for the gunners on the ground. Even if the range is sufficient, it still depends on luck.

The reconnaissance balloons of the Austrian Empire usually fly at a height of about 600 meters, which fundamentally eliminates the possibility of the French artillery shooting down the reconnaissance balloons.

As for why the flying altitude is only about 600 meters, it is not that the technology of the Austrian Empire is not good, but that no matter how high the altitude is, it is not conducive to investigation.

The visual distance of ordinary people usually does not exceed 500 meters, and the distance that even specially selected lookouts can distinguish the scenery usually does not exceed 800 meters.

Of course, Franz could not fight purely by relying on the natural talents of these people. Each hot air balloon was equipped with a fixed three-fold or six-fold military binoculars for detailed observation.

At this time, the Austrian Empire was far ahead of other countries in the field of optics. Why were the telescopes equipped with three-fold and six-fold telescopes, while the local governors during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty used nine-fold telescopes and even twelve-fold telescopes.

First of all, military telescopes and astronomical telescopes have different purposes. One is to quickly understand the battlefield situation, and the other is to explore the universe.

Excessively high magnification is also not conducive to observation, because magnification is inversely proportional to image stability. The greater the magnification, the worse the stability, the smaller and darker the observation field of view, and the resulting image jitter will also greatly increase.

The ten-magnification telescope used by Germany and France during World War II usually needed to be fixed with a bracket before use. The so-called ten-magnification telescope was also the so-called scissor telescope, which was actually a submarine periscope.

What's more, at this time, countries around the world are still using old-fashioned monocular telescopes. The advantages of this kind of telescope are simple structure and low cost, but the disadvantages are also obvious: small observation field, which is not conducive to observing dynamic targets and easily fatigues the user.

The binoculars designed by Franz do not have these problems at all. Coupled with the development of photography technology, scientists focusing on Austria are no stranger to it. After all, eating, drinking and having fun are the driving force of human beings.

In fact, what Franz wanted were 7x binoculars. After all, 7x binoculars are the most suitable for the human physiological structure.

However, due to the lack of advanced technology and some minor problems in the industry, the cost of a 7x lens is much higher than that of a 6x and 9x lens, so Franz can only use a 6x lens first. replace.

At this time, the height of the reconnaissance balloon above the ground is usually only about 600 meters, and the observation distance is usually within 1,000 meters, so the six-fold mirror is more than enough.

No commander could tolerate the one-way transparency of the battlefield to the enemy, so Lamosilier raised his own reconnaissance balloon.

As the first country in the world to use hot air balloons for military purposes, the French military has a very complete system. They will dig a support trench behind the army position and then release the reconnaissance balloon.

Albrecht did not have Franz's type of artillery specially used for anti-aircraft, but this did not trouble the famous general.

A true general can quickly discover the enemy's weaknesses and exploit them. The French have long cables hanging under their reconnaissance balloons. This is their fatal weakness.

At this time, most of the records and design plans for hot air balloon research were created by the French. In 1804, Frenchman Guy Lussac flew to an altitude of 6,900 meters. This record was not broken until 1862 by the British.

But no matter how high the French balloon rose, as long as the traction rope was broken, they would all be finished.

The French are not idiots. As mentioned earlier, in order to prevent this from happening, they even dug support trenches to prevent the cables from being blown apart by enemy artillery fire.

But they ignored one problem. It is not necessary to use explosives to break the cables. You can also use burning methods. Times have changed. Compared to a few decades ago, the arson weapons of 1848 had come a long way.

Due to the emergence of Franz, rockets were widely used on the battlefield, and the development and research of oil made the Austrian army unique in Europe in terms of arson.

A large number of heavy rockets mixed with petroleum derivatives fell near the French support trenches. The raging fire soon turned the French reconnaissance balloons into broken kites, and the French army became blind again.

However, humans have a strong learning ability in warfare. Lamosilière quickly figured out Albrecht's tactics and wanted to copy the successful experience.

However, after sacrificing several groups of outstanding scouts, the French army still failed to discover the safety rope of the coalition's hot air balloon. In desperation, Lamosilier had no choice but to give up.

He only hated that there were no real warriors in his army, and what he didn't know was that Austria's new hot-air balloons had no safety ropes at all.

For the Austrian Empire, which can build airships, building several hot air balloons that can control the direction is not a problem.

But Albrecht soon discovered a problem. The previous simulation training tactics were not easy to use in actual combat.

Due to the influence of wind, the hot air balloon is always in constant motion. If you want to keep the reconnaissance balloon away from the battlefield, you have to constantly adjust its direction, which greatly increases the difficulty of operation and observation.

As a result, the team of reconnaissance balloons was increased from two to three people. One additional operator was responsible for adjusting the direction, one of the remaining two was responsible for lookout, and the other was responsible for conveying information to the ground using semaphores.

However, the effect is not good. It not only increases the fuel consumption, but also makes the operability worse.

Finally, on the fifth day after the war started, the Austrian military adopted the French approach and used safety ropes to secure it.

However, at this time Lamosilier had given up his plan to destroy the Austrian reconnaissance balloon. In the following days, he only planned to defend Saarburg and wait for breakthroughs in other ways.

At this time, the Austrian reconnaissance balloon was still hanging over the French position like the Sword of Damocles. After confirming that the French artillery had been suppressed, the coalition infantry finally began to advance.

The advance of the main body was a very clear signal to attack, and Lamosilière sent troops to fill the front line.

However, he did not send too many troops. After all, the hot air balloons in the sky would send signals to the German Allied Forces positions at any time.

During this period of time, Lamosilier had fully appreciated the power of the Austrian artillery. He did not want to be lured out of the hole by the Austrians and then exploded.

Moreover, according to the French army's teaching materials and information, the Austrian army's tactics are usually very tame. They will order the miscellaneous troops in the army to continuously conduct tentative attacks, and then adjust their strategies based on the enemy's reaction and firepower until the enemy reveals flaws. until.

Although the person who wrote the textbook had never been on the battlefield, what he wrote convinced every French officer. Some veterans who had participated in the Napoleonic Wars even believed that he must have experienced those battles.