"The Russians want to buy planes?"

No sooner had he woken up from his sleep than Franz received the news. It's not surprising to think that in recent years, the tsarist government has been buying and buying.

Maybe they tasted the sweetness in the purchase, or maybe it was just that the bureaucrats simply wanted to get rich, but the Russians would soon follow suit all the weapons that the Austrians were equipped with on a large scale.

Seeing that the planes were shining greatly on the battlefield, the tsarist government naturally had to follow suit. In particular, the Anglo-Russian war in Afghanistan continues, and the Russian army urgently needs a weapon that can suppress the British airship forces.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"The tsarist government has just decided to launch a Christmas offensive and plans to seize the Afghan region before Christmas in the Russian calendar."

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg explained with a smile. There is no doubt that the Russians' Christmas offensive is indispensable behind Austria's push.

Until now, the British have not participated much in the European War, not because the London government has suddenly changed its mind, but mainly because it has been dragged down by the war in Afghanistan and does not have so much energy.

Judging from the current situation, unless there is a complete imbalance of power between France and Austria, the British will definitely give priority to the Afghan battlefield.

Having received this answer, Franz fell into deep thought. Whether or not to sell the plane to the Russians is also a tangled question.

Theoretically speaking, if the Russians get the plane, they will have air supremacy in the war in Afghanistan, and the chances of winning the war are higher.

This is what Austria wants to see, and the occupation of Afghanistan does not mean the end of the Anglo-Russian war, but rather the beginning of a full-scale war between the two countries.

When it comes to India's strategic security, whether it wants it or not, the British government can only fight to the end.

With the strength of the British Empire, this war still has to be fought. The more intense the war between Britain and Russia in Central Asia, the less power they can intervene in Europe.

There are naturally advantages and disadvantages, Russia and Austria are allies, but this alliance is also established because of interests, if the core interests of the two countries conflict, the alliance will collapse every minute.

The plane fell into the hands of the Russians, and it was difficult to keep it secret. As long as the French were willing to make a bid, it would not be difficult to get a sample from the tsarist government.

"If the French, or the British, get their hands on our planes, how long will it take to decipher the technology?"

Franz asked with concern.

The crux of the matter is here, Austria lit up the aircraft tech tree in order to maintain an advantage in the war.

Britain and France are both industrial powers, and once they get the samples, it is only a matter of time before the manufacturing technology is reversed.

Prime Minister Karl: "According to the engineers' estimates, if an intact aircraft falls into the hands of Britain and France, it will only take one to three months for them to be able to deduce the technology to build the aircraft."

However, the production technology does not mean that it can be imitated. Because the industrial system is different, we have our own standards with the British and French.

If Britain and France want to directly imitate, they must adjust the standards of industrial machine tools. This requires a lot of time, and without two or three years of effort, it will not be possible to achieve industrial mass production.

Time waits for no one on the battlefield, and it is unlikely that it will be directly copycated. It is more likely that we will use our aircraft as a model, adjust part of the design and imitate it.

In this way, the time required is incalculable, mainly depending on the highest industrial level of Britain and France. If their engine technology is up to the mark, it may only take a few months to be able to replicate it. ”

Similar to Franz's judgment, the reverse deduction technique is not difficult, as long as there is an aircraft sample in hand, it can always be disassembled for study.

The difficulty is industrial production, which involves many fields, and everyone's industrial standard system is different, so it is difficult to achieve unified standards.

However, aircraft is a high-precision field, and the size of a screw is not the same, which may affect industrial production.

Specifically, you can refer to some copycat enterprises in later generations, and the low-end industrial products are easily imitated, and they are blind in the high-tech field.

The sample is in front of you, and the technology is also deduced backwards, but it can't be produced. You must know that technical barriers are more difficult to break through than patent barriers.

At the end of the 19th century, the technological gap between European countries was not only in terms of ideas, but also in the field of industry.

Britain, France and Austria have different science and technology trees, everyone has their own advantages in some fields, and aircraft manufacturing happens to be a partial field of Britain and France.

After weighing the pros and cons, Franz made a decision.

"Sell it! However, it is necessary to limit it so that the Russians can guarantee that there will be no outflow of planes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent people to keep an eye on it, delaying the spread of aircraft technology as much as possible. ”

As long as there are exports, the diffusion of aircraft manufacturing technology is inevitable. Even if Britain and France do not imitate it, the Russians themselves will disassemble and study it.

None of the weapons and equipment exported by Austria to Russia escaped the fate of being studied. Not only was it studied, but the tsarist government even made imitations.

Although Russia and Austria have the same basic industrial system, the industrial level of the two sides has long been out of the same grade.

In the vast majority of the time, the Russians will produce weapons and equipment that are much more expensive than imports.

Against this backdrop, even the tsarist government, which had always tried to get rid of its dependence on Austria in the military industry, ended up losing in its wallet.

This is true for ordinary weapons and equipment, not to mention high-tech aircraft. Franz dared to assert that even if he gave the Russians technical drawings, they would not be able to understand them without three or five years of effort.

As long as the finished product does not fall into the hands of the French, even if France and Russia secretly collude, at most a few military experts will be sent to study it, and no matter how much it is, it will not be able to be kept secret.

Compared with concentrating experts in related fields to participate in research, it is undoubtedly much less efficient for only a few people to participate in research.

In particular, knowledge outside of the professional field is very easy to be missed. Whether it can be done before the end of the war is unknown is unknown.

Moreover, even if it is made, the aircraft technology is also generational. The planes exported to the Russians, as long as they can deal with airships, do not need to be too advanced at all.

……

In London, after the roar of the steamer, a special guest walked off a luxurious passenger liner.

Arriving in the fog capital again, Karel Kadlec's heart was heavy. Even with the welcome queue on both sides of the column, they didn't catch a cold very much.

As France's only ally, the British government is naturally the center of gravity for the French Foreign Office's public relations. In order to show the high regard for the British, Karel Kadlec took matters into his own hands.

Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, his plan is basically nullified. The British were only regular receptions, and did not make a grand welcome.

Carel Kadlec couldn't help but think about it. In such a special period, if the British were interested in supporting France, they would inevitably release a friendly gesture.

The reality was very cruel, and the lukewarm attitude of the British poured cold water on Karel Kadletz's trip to London.

Dragging his tired body, he attended the welcome banquet as usual. Sure enough, there were no accidents, not to mention the royal family, not even the top of the British government attended, of course, the diplomats in charge of the reception were not counted.

……

At midnight, in the French embassy in London, Karel Kadletz asked solemnly: "At the banquet just now, I noticed that George's expression was a little wrong. What's been happening in London lately? ”

Observing words and emotions is an essential skill for diplomats, and Karel Kadlec, as Foreign Secretary, is no stranger to it.

It's just a matter of covering up emotions, which is also the instinct of diplomats. Sensing George's strange appearance, he immediately attracted Karel Kadlec's attention.

Recently, there have been no new major events in the world, and the biggest hot spot is the European War, which is still in a stalemate on the whole.

In the absence of major changes in the international situation, the only thing that can worry the British Foreign Secretary is the domestic political struggle.

As much as he would love to see the jokes of the British infighting, Karel Kadlec knows very well that now is not the time.

Once the British government was embroiled in a political struggle, his trip to London was in vain. Until the internal situation is stabilized, it will be difficult for the British to play a substantial role in the war on the European continent.

"What happened in London?" Minister Ambroise was slightly stunned, and then reacted: "No, Your Excellency. London has been quiet lately, with nothing major happening.

If anything, it should be India. There is gossip that the Russians have launched the Christmas offensive not long ago, and the British have suffered big losses on the battlefield.

The British government has blocked information on this, and we won't be able to figure out what happened for a while. ”

Hearing the words "blockade news", Karel Kadlec immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

You must know that under the British political system, it is not so simple to block the news, and most of the time the news of the reporter will be one step faster.

There is no way, British politics is to take turns sitting in the bank. The news of the blockade is refreshing, and the opposition parties will definitely come up with it afterwards. After the news is exposed, the public's support for the cabinet will drop significantly.

As a last resort, the British government would not do that.

After a little thought, Karel Kadlec said solemnly: "The people who mobilized us should figure out the ins and outs of the matter as soon as possible.

If it really doesn't work, I'll startle the snake. Find a few street tabloids and put out the news of the fall of Afghanistan to test the reaction of the British government. ”

Know yourself and know your opponent, and win all battles.

If you want to pull the British on board, you don't even know what happened in Britain, how can you do it?

"Your Excellency, this is not good. In case the British find out......"

Before Minister Ambroise could finish speaking, Karel Kadlec interrupted: "What are you afraid of, this was originally made for the British.

After staying in London for so long, don't you know what John Bull's style is? ”

The more he got to know the British, the less Karel Kadlec took the so-called "Anglo-French friendship" seriously.

The premise of an alliance is interests, and without interests, there is no alliance. As long as the interests are in place, no matter how big the contradiction is, it will not be able to stop Britain and France from moving closer.

As for whether it will offend the British government, it is completely too much to think about.

Karel Kadletz did not believe that the British had not planted their eyes and ears in the French embassy, and it was estimated that the British knew about the plan before it was implemented.

If you really want to do something, you must at least do a good job of secrecy. How could anyone give an order in front of so many embassy staff?

In essence, Karel Kadlec wanted to tell the British through these small means: the news of the defeat of the British army on the battlefield in Afghanistan, France already knew; Now it's not just France that needs Britain, Britain needs France as well.

After all, the Russian-Austrian alliance still looks solid, and if France really loses the European War, British India will be in danger.

In this respect, Britain and France are also tied together, and both are at a loss.

As for whether the British will see it that way, no one has yet been able to answer this question.