The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1357 Airship Torpedo
Franz really didn't want this French weapon that was pieced together from various sources and had a bit of imaginative thinking in it. If he wanted to build a real anti-aircraft gun, he still had to improve the materials and the propellant.

As for the threat of airships, in fact, the airships of this era are not as strong as imagined, and there will be no situation where a Kirov can flatten a city.

At this time, the airship's bomb load and weapon destructive power were very limited, and what was even more fatal was the hit rate. Unless it carried out low-altitude bombing, it was difficult to hit the target directly.

Moreover, there are plenty of means to attack opponents on land, so the main role of army airships is reconnaissance, as well as to strike at enemy morale and strategic deterrence.

The biggest problem the navy has to overcome is the survival of the airship forces. Various extreme weather conditions and strong winds may cause the airship forces to never return.

So all the Navy's efforts are aimed at ensuring the safe return of the airship.

However, there was another faction in the navy who believed that the explosion of an airship was powerful enough to severely damage a battleship.

So these people began to study self-destructive airships. Given the size of the airships, even if they could not directly sink the target ship, they could still severely damage it.

Although it sounds a bit inhumane, it is definitely feasible in theory. As for the pilot issue, the Navy has increased the compensation for the death of air boat soldiers on the one hand, and increased the research efforts on parachutes on the other.

Although airships were shining on the battlefield at this time, Franz knew that airplanes were the future, so he established a glider club very early.

In fact, people have never given up the exploration of modern aircraft since Leonardo da Vinci. In 1809, Henry Carey's "An Essay on Aerial Flight" proposed the initial concept of aircraft air resistance and internal combustion engines.

It’s just that the concepts he proposed seemed too abstract at the time and did not attract widespread attention.

The aircraft he designed is also too abstract, as shown in the picture:

During this period, someone even used his aircraft for test flights, but the model was too heavy and could only be towed by wires.

During the same period, a French officer named Moore built a monoplane, but he crashed into a carriage during his first test flight and died instantly.

Someone in Austria has also made a similar attempt, which is the Degen aircraft mentioned earlier, but these people are obviously still far from the correct answer.

However, Franz has the correct answer in his hands, and he does not think that failure and detours are inevitable.

Although Franz did not know what the first airplane sent into space by the Wright brothers looked like, he was aware of the basic structure of later airplanes.

So Franz drew a sketch of the airplane according to his memory and understanding, but no one would question Franz or treat him as a madman.

An airplane designed by Franz himself was soon built, but it failed as expected.

It seemed that there was a big generation gap between the two, so Franz changed the airplane club into a glider club.

With Franz's correct guidance, the Austrian Empire's gliders developed rapidly. Moreover, since sit-down flight was chosen from the beginning instead of suspended flight, the requirements for pilots were greatly reduced.

As a result, more people were able to participate, including women and people with disabilities. A large number of flight tests and data prompted the rapid reform of gliders, filling in the details that Franz was not clear about. However, what Franz called the glider club was more like a club than a progressive organization or scientific research institution.

Most club members see it as a means of seeking excitement or showing off their wealth, and only a few people study the aircraft itself.

Faced with this situation, Franz had no choice but to raise the price of club membership and provide researchers with higher rewards and more benefits.

This indeed increased the enthusiasm of the researchers, not only improving the gliders, but also training a group of excellent "pilots".

There were naturally some Austrian military personnel in the club, who often watched glider performances. So they also had some ideas of their own, such as:
Use airships and gliders to deliver troops to the enemy's rear or to islands with few troops, or let glider pilots drop bombs directly.

It sounds a bit far-fetched, but it is not necessarily impossible. Franz doesn't want to interfere with these things, he still likes surprises.

The Austrian Imperial Army was researching chariots, but the speed and protection of steam chariots were really unacceptable.

These steam monsters are too big and slow to move, making them perfect targets for artillery. They look huge, but their defenses are terrible.

It doesn't care about defending against rifle bullets, nor is it afraid of bayonets and axes. But that's all. It doesn't need large-caliber artillery. A direct hit from a six-pounder cannon on a steam tank is likely to paralyze it.

A disabled tank is difficult to repair because the problem could be anywhere, and the only way to repair it is to shut down the boiler and conduct a comprehensive inspection.

In addition, the convertible design makes it extremely vulnerable to attacks from grenades and rockets, and after adding the cover, there are problems such as insufficient shooting angle and excessive heat.

Another point is that these steam tanks lacked breakthrough power and were often stuck and paralyzed by inexplicable objects, or got stuck in trenches.

Just when Franz was curious about why the tracked vehicle was stuck in the trench, he discovered the military's latest drawings and found that the tracks had been replaced with wheels at some point. No wonder it couldn't even get through a trench.

Franz's armored forces still have a long way to go, but many problems with internal combustion engines will be solved once they arise.

In terms of the navy, Friedrich was very obedient and put a lot of effort into submarines and torpedoes. Franz knew very well that Austria was unlikely to surpass Britain in shipbuilding, and would eventually have to overtake Britain by taking a detour.

Although the torpedo is no longer so prominent in modern naval battles, its appearance in the 19th century can be regarded as a dimensionality reduction attack.

Previously, a large battleship could often continue to fight even with hundreds of wounds, but it would never be able to withstand two torpedoes.

However, the problem of torpedo power could not be solved. At that time, the Austrian Empire had two types of torpedoes. One was a 20-meter-long pole designed in front of the submarine, which carried the torpedo and was triggered by impact.

The other is very similar to the Kaiten torpedo of Japan during World War II. The torpedo is fixed on a long pole, and then the long pole is fixed on a small boat, and it is also triggered by impact.
Such a weapon design really made Franz speechless, but he was kind-hearted and decided to combine this technology with existing submarine technology to form the Kaiten torpedo, and secretly sold it to the shogunate and some local daimyo who performed better.

After witnessing the powerful force of the Kaiten torpedo, they were deeply moved and placed orders with the Austrian Empire.