The value of air shows was not only appreciation, but also a show of force by the tsarist government to the outside world. It doesn't matter how these planes came about, there is one.

In a sense, being able to buy an airplane is also a manifestation of strength. You know, more countries can't buy it if they want to.

Perhaps intentionally or unintentionally, during the air show, Alexander III also invited European ministers, including French ministers, to participate.

According to European practice, an ally is not necessarily an ally, and an ally's enemy is not necessarily an enemy.

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

So when the European war was raging, France and Russia still maintained normal diplomatic relations.

After confirming that the Russians were equipped with planes, the French minister immediately took it to heart. Ever since the bombing of Paris, the French government has been frustrated with aircraft manufacturing technology.

As it turns out, it's not so simple to figure it out on your own. There are no technical experts in the field of aircraft, and the French government can only find a few civilian enthusiasts and a group of mechanical engineers to form a grass platform research and development team.

The key is that the aircraft built in the laboratory is still in the primitive stage, and there is no return.

If you want to simply achieve free travel and landing, you still need a lot of time to experiment and explore, anyway, the French army on the front line can't wait.

As far as the Albon Minister knows, in order to develop the technology of aircraft manufacturing as soon as possible, the government did not hesitate to bow to the British and seek cooperation.

And then there was no then. Although Britain is more industrially strong, in the field of aircraft manufacturing, like France, everyone is a layman, and there is no aircraft manufacturer in the whole country.

Now is undoubtedly an opportunity, not to get the technology of aircraft building from Austria, the same from the Russians.

Of course, the Russians do not have the technology to produce aircraft, but they have ready-made aircraft!

Independent research and development requires a lot of time, and there are samples to refer to and imitate, which can undoubtedly save a lot of time.

Don't look at the coaxing of European countries, in fact, most of Europe's industrial powers originally started from copycats, including France.

Plagiarism, imitation, Minister Albon did not have any pressure. The only problem is how to get the planes from the Russians.

……

"Your Excellency, this business is too tricky, and it is beyond my means."

After saying that, the middle-aged man pushed the check back. From the look in his eyes, it was certain that the middle-aged man was full of reluctance, and he did not want to give up the check.

But there is no way, the French are not easy to mess with, and if you don't do anything after receiving money, you will leave yourself with endless trouble.

"Your Excellency, you are too modest. Whoever doesn't know your name, there's nothing you can't do in St. Petersburg.

Just a little thing, you only need to ......"

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

With that, Minister Albon pushed the check back, and by the way, took out a blank check and put it on it.

The meaning is very obvious, as long as the target can be reached, the price is arbitrary.

Seeing this scene in front of him, Duke Olmedo's position was shaken again. Although cooperating with the French may offend the Austrians, it can't stand the high price of the French!

Although there were many people who asked him for errands, it was the first time he had received a random check.

After hesitating for a moment, Duke Olmedo shook his head again: "Your Excellency, it's not that I don't help.

The problem now is that the Austrians are keeping an eye on it, and it is the Austrians who are responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft, and it is impossible for us to send the aircraft out of Russia under their noses.

You know the Austrian influence in Russia, and as soon as they find out about the problem, the government will inevitably give them an explanation. ”

Money is good, but life is more important.

Usually stealing a piece of weapons and equipment from the barracks, Olmedo has a way, whether it is scrapped or decommissioned, it can be operated.

But not now, the Austrians are watching too closely. In case the Austrians were to get the hang of it, the tsarist government would certainly give Austria an explanation for the sake of relations between the two countries.

In this context, no matter how awesome the relationship network is, it can't withstand it. Olmedo didn't live long enough to die.

Again refused, Minister Albon's face sank. With many years of life experience, he could see that the Russian duke in front of him was not trying to raise the price, but really didn't dare.

After pondering for a moment, Minister Albon asked unwillingly: "Your Excellency the Duke, the people in charge of maintenance are all Austrians, this situation will definitely not continue, right?" ”

Duke Olmedo nodded: "Of course, we have arranged for technicians to go in and study." It won't be long before the logistics will be done by our own people.

If you can wait, after two or three years, you should be able to do so. ”

After waiting for two or three years, the daylily is cold. For such a long time, France has developed it on its own, and it is time to produce results, and there is no need to spend a lot of money at all.

Albon did not give up and asked, "Doesn't your country want to imitate it?" We can send engineers to help and decipher the technology, and our two countries can share it and ......"

Before Albon could finish speaking, Ormedo interrupted, "Why copy? What's in it for us? ”

It sounds nonsensical, but that's the truth. At the beginning, after importing Olympic equipment, the tsarist government was still keen to introduce technology and imitate.

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

This is not the case with ordinary armament, not to mention aircraft. With the industrial power of the Russian Empire, even if they could decipher the technology, they would not be able to do industrial production.

……

For the sake of the ruble's face, in the end Olmedo agreed to arrange for several French engineers to enter the logistics maintenance staff.

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

Logistics maintenance and aircraft manufacturing are completely two different concepts, and there is no other way to deduce aircraft manufacturing technology without in-depth study of the internal structure of the aircraft, except to invest a lot of time and money in experiments.

The money invested is okay, there will always be crowding, and the key is time. There is a complete difference between rolling out aircraft manufacturing technology in one or two months and spending one or two years developing aircraft manufacturing technology.

……

Snowflakes are falling, and the banks of the Rhine are covered in silver. With the silence of the gunfire, there is no smoke of gunpowder in the past, and it looks particularly pleasant under the soft sunlight.

It was another Christmas, and Marshal Patrice McMahon couldn't be happy watching the soldiers celebrate with laughter.

At the beginning of the Rhine Offensive and Defense War, there were only 300,000 Austrian troops on the opposite side, and the rest were defeated by the remnants of the German and German troops.

It was only a long time before the total strength of the Austrian army exceeded 800,000, and with the troops of the two countries, the disadvantage of the anti-French alliance was no longer obvious.

If the current situation continues, perhaps by next month, the ratio of forces between the two sides will be reversed. At that time, the offensive and defensive momentum of the two sides will be transposed.

There is no way, fight for manpower, financial resources, materials, and industry, France is not an opponent of the anti-French alliance.

The only advantage is that the French army is the most prestigious, supported by past records, and has a psychological advantage when facing the enemy.

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 constant victory and undefeated, and the so-called superiority in combat effectiveness has now become a fantasy.

Frankly, Patrice McMahon did not want a truce on Christmas Day, as it would buy the enemy a day and make it more difficult to break through the Rhine line.

"Marshal, the Christmas feast will begin in half an hour."

The guard on the side reminded.

This is a tradition in the French army, and no matter what time of year, banquets are indispensable, let alone Christmas.

Originally, Patrice McMahon was going back to Paris to attend the banquet at the Palace of Versailles, but he stayed at the front because of the heavy snow last night and the road was closed.

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

"Got it, I'll be on time!"

With that, Marshal Patrice McMahon closed his eyes and recuperated. Hosting a banquet is also physically demanding, and it is also a burden for the aging Patrice McMahon.

……

The French army was celebrating, and the coalition forces were about the same. In addition to retaining the necessary personnel on duty, most of the officers and soldiers are celebrating this special Christmas.

Unlike the French army, Archduke Albrecht, as commander of the coalition forces, was absent, and the protagonist of the banquet became King Leopold II of Belgium.

In the headquarters, Albrecht impartially looked at the latest battlefield map, and in the near future were several high-ranking Austrian officers who were absent from the banquet.

Although you can't attack on Christmas, it doesn't mean you can't do anything at Christmas.

"Just arrived at the armored unit, have you settled it?"

There is no doubt that the major event that caused the collective absence of the Austrian high-ranking from the banquet was the armored troops that had just arrived.

The movement of the armored forces was not small, and it was simply impossible to avoid the eyes and ears of the French army in normal times. Christmas can be regarded as the only chance.

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

For example: increasing the number of cars at the front, and occasionally deliberately making noise to numb the ears of the French.

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

A middle-aged officer replied loudly: "Marshal, rest assured, the armored units have been dispersed and placed in several camps prepared in advance, and I have personally gone to check them.

The location of the camp is relatively remote, and the troops patrolling the surrounding area have been replaced by our men a week ago.

There is also a car transport unit nearby as a cover, as long as there is no close contact, ordinary people will not find out. ”

Fortunately, the airship troops of the French were killed, otherwise it would not be easy to hide an armored force.

Although the armored forces were almost invincible in these years, if they were exposed in advance, and the French were on guard, it would be difficult to do their best.

It's hard to say how hard it is to deal with armored forces, and it's easy to say it's easy to say. Just digging a few more holes in the path of the advance of the armored forces will be able to slow down the armored forces.

The armored forces, which have lost their speed, are in fact an army with strong combat effectiveness, and it is difficult for them to play a strategic role.

Receiving an affirmative reply, Archduke Albrecht nodded and added: "Secrecy must be done well, and these camps must be declared as arsenals, and no unrelated personnel are allowed to approach."

For the sake of safety, the arrival of the armored troops will not be notified to the two countries for the time being.

Our strategic goal this time was to keep most of the main forces of the French army and to inflict maximum damage on the living forces of France.

It's not easy to do that. So we had to take advantage of the superiority of the armored forces to take the French by surprise.

If the French had reacted and retracted the main forces back home, the war would have been difficult to fight. ”

It is true that it is much easier to fight the French on the banks of the Rhine than to fight them on French soil.

If nothing else, it will be much easier to capture the defeated soldiers after winning the war. The German people would not cover the French soldiers for escape, they were greeted by the encirclement of the people's war.

An officer who was slightly older asked suspiciously: "Marshal, is the armored unit really that powerful?"

With only more than 200 tanks and more than 700 armored vehicles, I am afraid it is a bit ...... to try to inflict heavy damage on the main force of the French army."

There was no way, the armored forces were kept under the strictest secrecy, and even among the top echelons of the Austrian army, "they only heard their names, but they did not see their forms."

Except for a few officers who watched the exercises of the armored forces, no one knew how powerful the torrent of steel was.

Archduke Albrecht knew that this was not just a question for one person, but most of those present were skeptical that the armoured forces would be able to inflict heavy damage on the French.

After all, the total strength of the French army on the opposite side is about to exceed two million. It's really not enough to see just such a little armored force, scattered into the vast sea of people.

"Friedrich, you are the commander of the armored forces, now you can explain to you how the armored forces fight!"

Nepotism was indispensable everywhere, and the Austrian army was no exception. The Habsburgs are the biggest family members.

Including the rise of Archduke Albrecht, which also took advantage of this relationship, otherwise he would not have been so easy, becoming the first in the Austrian army after the death of Marshal Radecht.

To his nephew, the heir to political resources, Archduke Albrecht never hid his intentions.

Of course, the most important thing is that Friedrich is worthy of it. There were also many members of the Habsburgs, and if they were not capable, Albrecht would not have been able to support them.

Essentially, the purpose of supporting Friedrich was to strengthen the royal family's control over the military.

This political and military pattern has lasted for hundreds of years and is one of the important means to protect imperial power.

Specifically, we can refer to the period of Ferdinand I, when the emperor was unable to govern for decades, and the imperial power of the Vienna Palace did not decline.

It is also the reason why Franz was able to quickly control the situation after taking power. From the beginning to the end, the army was not out of the control of the royal family.

……