Chapter 1357 Airship Torpedo

Franz really didn't want the French weapons that were pieced together and a bit imaginative. 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, airships of this era were far less powerful than imagined, and there would not be a situation where a Kirov would flatten a city.

At this time, the airships had very limited ammunition load and weapon destructive power, and the more fatal thing was the hit rate. Unless low-altitude bombing was carried out, it would be difficult to hit the target directly.

Moreover, there were many means to attack the opponent on land, so the main role of the army airship was reconnaissance, as well as to strike the enemy's morale and strategic deterrence.

The biggest problem that the navy had to overcome was the survival of the airship troops. Various extreme weather and strong winds could make the airship troops never return.

So all the efforts of the navy were to ensure the safe return of the airships.

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

So these people began to study self-destructing airships. With the size of the airship, even if it cannot directly sink the target ship, it can still severely damage it.

Although it sounds a bit anti-human, it is absolutely feasible in theory. As for the problem of pilots, the Navy has increased the pension for the death of airship soldiers on the one hand, and increased the research on parachutes on the other hand.

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, since Leonardo da Vinci, people have never given up the exploration of modern aircraft. In 1809, Henry Kelly's "On Aerial Flight" had already proposed the initial concept of aircraft air resistance and internal combustion engines.

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

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

During the period, someone even used his aircraft for test flight, but because the model was too heavy, it could only be towed by wires in the end.

In the same period, a French officer named Moore built a monoplane aircraft, but he crashed into a carriage during the first test flight and died on the spot.

Some people in Austria have also made similar attempts, namely the Digen Flying Machine mentioned above, but these people are obviously 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 plane sent into the sky by the Wright brothers looked like, he knew the basic structure of later aircraft.

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

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

It seems that the generation gap between the two is a bit large, so Franz changed the aircraft club into a glider club.

With Franz's correct guidance, the gliders of the Austrian Empire developed rapidly, and because they chose to fly in a seated position instead of hanging flight at the beginning, this greatly reduced the requirements for pilots.

So more people can participate in it, even women and disabled people. A large number of flight tests and data prompted the rapid reform of gliders, filling in the details that Franz did not know.

However, Franz's so-called glider club is more like a club than a progressive organization or scientific research institution.

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

Faced with this situation, Franz can only raise the club membership price and provide researchers with higher rewards and more benefits.

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

There are naturally some Austrian military people in the club, who often watch glider performances. So they also have some ideas of their own, such as:

Use airships and gliders to send troops to the enemy's rear or to islands with empty troops, or let glider pilots drop bombs directly.

It sounds a bit unrealistic, but it is not necessarily impossible to operate. Franz didn't want to interfere with these, he still liked surprises.

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

These steam monsters are too large and slow to move, and are definitely the best targets for artillery. It looks like a big lump, but its defense is worrying.

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. Just a six-pound cannon shell directly hits the steam tank and it is very likely to paralyze it.

Paralyzed tanks are difficult to repair because the problem may be anywhere, and the boiler can only be extinguished for a comprehensive inspection.

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In addition, the open-top design makes it extremely vulnerable to attacks by grenades and rockets, and after adding a cover, there are problems with insufficient shooting angles and excessive heat.

Another point is that these steam tanks have insufficient breakthrough power and are often stuck and paralyzed by inexplicable things, or stuck in trenches.

Just when Franz was curious about why the tracked vehicle was stuck in the trench, he found the latest drawings of the military. The tracks were replaced with wheels at some point, no wonder they couldn't even get through a ditch.

Franz's armored forces still have a long way to go, but when the internal combustion engine has many problems, they will be solved.

In terms of the navy, Friedrich was very obedient and spent a lot of effort on submarines and torpedoes. Franz knew very well that Austria's chances of defeating Britain by shipbuilding were not great, and it would eventually have to rely on overtaking on the curve.

Although torpedoes are no longer so shining in modern naval battles, their appearance in the 19th century can be said to be a dimensionality reduction strike.

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

However, the power problem of torpedoes could not be solved. At this time, the Austrian Empire's torpedoes were divided into two types. One was to design a 20-meter-long pole in front of the submarine, carrying torpedoes on it, and triggering it 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 kindly decided to piece this technology together with the existing submarine technology to form the Kaiten torpedo, and secretly sold it to the shogunate and some local daimyo who performed relatively well.

After seeing the powerful power of the Kaiten torpedo, they were very moved and placed orders with the Austrian Empire.