After the war, the city of Ava was already unrecognizable. The Austrian bombing was targeted, and most of the bombings, except for military installations, were landmarks.

Whatever target is conspicuous, bomb it. On the contrary, the damage in the inconspicuous civilian areas was relatively small, and most of the buildings were only affected, not devastated.

The fires caused by the bombing were quickly extinguished, and the sound of crying still resounded throughout the city. Order has collapsed in the city, and the thugs who have taken advantage of the fire are indulging in indulgence.

The Ottoman soldiers, who were supposed to maintain order, many of them also joined the team to loot while the fire was burning, and the ugliness of human nature was completely revealed, and Ava was crying tonight.

If someone counts it, they will find that the number of people who died in the bombing was not much worse than in the chaos.

Faced with the chaotic situation, Akyol's master and apprentice did not dare to go out. Not long ago, several thugs tried to take advantage of the fire and were expelled by Akyol's apprentices with shotguns.

The shotgun is a blacksmith shop owner's collection, which is said to have been handed down from the ancestors, perhaps because the time was too tight, or maybe it was too tight, and the shotgun was left behind.

The son of Huangsmanraga asked, "Master, will they come back?" ”

My family knows about my family, and these shotguns as collector's items don't know what age they have been handed down, and it's okay to take them out to be scary, but if you really rely on it to kill people, the probability of killing yourself is not much lower than the chance of killing enemies.

Akyol replied uncertainly: "Probably not, we are a blacksmith shop, and the officials and masters have been requisitioned, except for a pile of iron materials and swords, there is not much oil and water to fish."

We still have guns in our hands, and these people, as long as they are not stupid, will soon figure it out. ”

At another point in time, iron and swords are wealth. But not now, the officials will confiscate it directly. The cold weapons created are ready to be distributed to civilians to fight to the death after the city is broken.

The great Sultan had given the order of death: "The city is in the people, and the city is dead". If you don't fight to the end, how can it be called a "holy war"?

Whether the people will fight the enemy to the end is not in the scope of the officials' consideration, and if the Ava region loses the defenders, the officers will also be unlucky.

Everyone is too busy to take care of themselves, who cares if the people will fight to the death? It can mobilize one by one, lure the enemy into the city, and then launch an attack, and if you can't win the enemy, you must also deter the enemy.

……

At the headquarters of the Ava garrison, Major General Ozgül was worried about the threat overhead. If this problem is not solved, the enemy throws bombs down from the sky, and the bottom is chaotic.

There may be armies that can face the enemy's bombardment without changing their colors, but this does not include the Ottoman army. During the bombing period, there were many ignorant people who shouted "divine punishment" and knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness.

"The enemy's airship is too powerful, what should you do?"

With that, Özgül set his expectant gaze on Saltus. The airship was first invented by the French, and it has been 90 years since then, and the technology has been updated several times.

It is still rare to see in the Ottomans, but in the developed countries of Europe, some people have already used it in their lives. There are even airship transport companies, of course, such advanced enterprises, life is usually not very easy.

Counting on a bun of dirt buns who didn't even know what an airship was, Ozgur also knew that it was unrealistic, and just pinned his hopes on Saltus, a high-achieving student.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire sent out not many students, and a large number of them were influenced by Western ideas and joined the revolution when they returned, and there were not many honest people like Saltus.

"Honest" was the label Ozgül had given to Saltus, but if he learned a little bit of whiskering, he wouldn't have been sent to Ava.

Anyone with a little military knowledge knows that the Ava region is close to the Bosphorus and could become a front line at any time.

This time the enemies were Russia and Austria, and the odds of victory for the Ottoman Empire were very low, including the Sultan government, which was only seeking an honorable end to the war.

In a war that was almost doomed, officers on the front lines had to face dangers and fear being scapegoated after the war.

Otherwise, a military center like Ava would not be under the command of a major general of Ozgül, but there were also two divisions of troops under his command, so it should be commanded by a lieutenant general.

Those present were basically put on the front line because the Ottoman army was unwilling to do so, or because the backstage relationship was not strong enough.

Fiddling with his gauze-wrapped arm, Saltus said slowly: "General, this is the first time in military history that the airship has actually bombed it, and all countries have no effective countermeasures.

However, when I was studying in France, some classmates had the idea of airship bombing. It was very difficult to take down the airship.

The bullet is not powerful enough, unless it hits the vital part, otherwise even if it hits the airship, it will be difficult to pose a deadly threat. The best option is artillery, which, alas, does not have enough elevation angles for an air attack.

In the current situation, we are not able to carry out an effective counterattack against the enemy. The only thing that can be done is to harass the attack with rifles and force the enemy into the air, thus reducing their hit rate. ”

The problem was not solved, and Major General Ozgül was somewhat disappointed. Rifles have a limited range, and the vast majority of rifles have an effective lethality of only a few hundred meters, which means that as long as the enemy bombs at an altitude of thousands of meters, they are powerless.

Major Ozgül would continue to ask, "Do the others think differently?" ”

A middle-aged officer stood up: "Your Excellency, General, we can't attack the enemy's airship, but it's always okay to dodge the bombing, right?"

If the enemy is bombing at an altitude of 1,000 meters, then making some cover, for example, disguised as weeds and shrubs, to interfere with their vision, may reduce casualties. ”

A bunker of grass or a nest of bushes on the head, such low-tech bunkers have appeared militarily, except not for air defense, but for ambushes in the field.

Lieutenant Colonel Saltus objected: "No, it may work in the jungle area, but in the port of Savoie, there is some mess, isn't it a target for the enemy!" ”

The middle-aged officer's face sank, and he sneered: "Whether it works or not, you have to try it to know." We can artificially expose some false targets to attract enemy airships to bomb, and these small changes are not so easy to notice. ”

Major General Ozgül rubbed his forehead, he was happy to see the contradictions of his subordinates, only when his subordinates fought, his authority could be perfectly guaranteed, but that was a non-war period.

Now that the enemy may come at any time, the internal contradictions will be terrible, and a bad one will bring about a catastrophe.

……

Since the decision was made to land from the Ava region, it naturally did not leave time for the enemy to prepare. On the third day after the bombing, the coalition forces were ready for landing.

On April 18, 1874, under the cover of Austrian airships and warships, 50,000 Russian troops launched a landing operation in the Ava area.

Roaring cannons rang out, and airships roared in. The smoke of gunpowder once again filled Ava, and the cry of blood and fire seemed to vent the sorrow of the earth.

Colonel Jules picked up a telescope over the airship and looked down at the earth, which was his favorite. The roaring sound of artillery fire and explosions seemed to him to be the most beautiful music.

The Austrian Airship Bombardment Brigade has been established for more than ten years, and there has never been a shortage of materials, but none of them have a record that can be done, and every airship soldier has a heavy pressure on their shoulders, and they urgently need to prove themselves.

As the only unit directly under the General Staff, they are outside the army and navy, and they are inevitably brought out to talk about things in the battle for military spending every year.

As time went on, calls for the abolition of the airship unit grew louder and louder in the Austrian army, which would have disappeared from the Austrian army had it not been for the support of His Majesty the Kaiser.

The lack of combat record and the failure to prove their worth are the biggest shortcomings of the airship troops. The army is a world of the strong, and talking with the results of the battle is more effective than anything else.

With the outbreak of the Second Near Eastern War, the airship unit finally came into play. After the bombing of Ava, the Austrian military was shocked.

For the first time, everyone realized the threat overhead, and the talk of canceling the airship force disappeared overnight. In particular, the navy, which witnessed the bombing site with its own eyes, immediately reported to the country and demanded that it be equipped with anti-aircraft weapons.

It doesn't matter if there is one, weapon research and development is also carried out according to needs. The Navy is aware of the threat from the sky and wants to equip it with anti-aircraft weapons, and the arsenal will naturally develop them.

As the commander of this airship bombing group, Jules has always had a dream to turn the airship unit into an air force, standing side by side with the army and navy.

It's very difficult, and it's almost impossible to achieve it without a good record. Both the army and navy will be vehemently opposed, and neither wants to have an additional competitor for military spending.

Future wars will need air support, and it doesn't matter if they engage in army and navy aviation, but now it's just a short time, and everyone hasn't reacted yet, or someone will bring it up soon.

The sense of crisis made Jules particularly attentive to this battle. If you want to gain the support of the top level of the government, you can talk about your achievements more than any reason.

Dense gunfire rang out, which Colonel Jules could hear even at an altitude of several hundred meters. Through the binoculars, he could see a small dot that flashed a few meters away.

Instantly Colonel Jules reacted and hurriedly ordered: "Order the fleet to rise into the air, fly at an altitude of 1,200 meters, and carry out high-altitude bombing." ”

At this time, two airships had already been shot, but fortunately, the power of these rifles was limited, and as long as they did not hit the vital parts, this little damage would not be fatal.

The airship bombardment group rose into the air, and the Ottoman troops below also breathed a sigh of relief. In just a short period of anti-air shooting, there have already been a number of accidents.

There is no way, not all rifles can be shot directly into the sky. In the design process, the designers did not consider the threat from heaven at all.

The figure of 1,002 meters has exceeded the effective range of most breech-loading rifles. This distance not only greatly reduces the hit rate, but also reduces the lethality of the bullet, or it is impossible to hit at all.

At the cost of bombing, the hit rate of the bombing will also be significantly reduced. In many cases, you can only gamble on character, and it is best to bomb at low altitude if you want to ensure the hit rate.

Obviously, the enemy was prepared, and 10,000 guns fired at the air, and Colonel Jules did not dare to go down and take risks.

In case of bad luck and being hit by a vital airship will be reimbursed. This luxury, the entire Austrian army only has a few dozen, and he can't afford to lose it.

Even high-altitude harassment is enough, most of the shore fortifications have been destroyed in the last bombardment, and it is not possible to repair them in just two or three days.

Now that it is another airship bombing and another naval artillery attack, how can the passively beaten Ottoman army have a good life?

It is not known whether the casualties were heavy or not, anyway, the Russians have already begun to land on the beach. On the airship, Colonel Jules could see through the binoculars that the Russian soldiers had landed and were attacked by Ottoman soldiers in the bunker.

The Gatlin that came out of the corner galloped on the battlefield, and for a time the Russian army suffered heavy casualties. However, this was not difficult for the bear, and the artillery was quickly set up to counterattack.

From the moment when the Russians successfully landed, there was no suspense in this landing battle, it was nothing more than a question of the size of the casualties.

Seeing that the overall situation was decided, Colonel Jules showed a happy smile: "Order the troops to bomb freely, stay away from the port area, and do not accidentally injure friendly troops." ”

As far as the entire landing campaign is concerned, the coalition forces have now gained the upper hand, and it can be said that the overall situation has been decided. But for the Russian soldiers who are fighting hard below, the trouble has just begun.

The Ottomans were not so vulnerable, and many hidden fortress fortifications were only exposed at this time, bringing heavy casualties to the Russian army.

The horn of the "offensive" has been sounded, and countless Russian soldiers have ......