Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 917 - 180: Military Procurement

"Russia wants to buy airplanes?"

Having just woken up from sleep, Franz received this news. There was nothing surprising about it; in recent years, the Tsarist government had always been purchasing aggressively.

Perhaps they had tasted the sweetness of previous purchases, or maybe it was simply the bureaucrats wanting to make money, but shortly after the Austrian army was equipped with large-scale weaponry, the Russians would follow suit.

With airplanes shining brightly on the battlefield, the Tsarist government naturally wanted to keep up, especially since the English-Russian war in Afghanistan was still ongoing, and the Russian Army urgently needed a weapon to suppress the British airship troops.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"The Tsarist government has just decided to launch a Christmas offensive, planning to capture the Afghan region before the Russian Christmas."

Foreign Minister Weisenberg explained with a smile. Without a doubt, behind the Russian Christmas offensive, Austria had a hand.

The war in Europe was ongoing and the British had hardly been involved, not because the London Government had suddenly changed its ways but because they were tied down by the war in Afghanistan and didn’t have the energy to spare.

From the current situation, unless there was a complete imbalance of power between France and Austria, the British would definitely prioritize the battlefield in Afghanistan first.

With this answer, Franz fell into deep thought. Whether or not to sell the airplanes to the Russians was also a troubling question.

In theory, if the Russians got their hands on the airplanes, it would mean they had obtained air superiority in the war in Afghanistan and increased their chances of winning the war.

This was what Austria wanted to see—capturing the Afghan region didn’t mean the end of the Anglo-Russian war; it would probably be the beginning of a comprehensive war between the two countries.

Tied to the strategic security of India, the British Government, whether they liked it or not, had no choice but to fight to the end.

With the strength of the Great Britain Empire, there was still a long way to go in the war. The more intense the fight between Britain and Russia in Central Asia, the less they would be able to intervene in Europe.

Of course, there were pros and cons. It’s true that Russia and Austria were allies, but this alliance was also established based on interests. If there were conflicts of core interests between the two countries, the alliance could collapse at any moment.

If the airplanes fell into Russian hands, keeping the technology secret would become difficult. As long as the French were willing to pay the price, obtaining a sample from the Tsarist Government wouldn’t be hard.

"If the French, or the British got hold of our airplanes, how long would they need to decipher the technology within?"

Franz asked with concern.

This was the crux of the matter: Austria had developed airplane technology to maintain an advantage in the war.

Both England and France were industrial powerhouses. Once they had a sample, reverse engineering the manufacturing technology was just a matter of time.

Prime Minister Carl: "According to the engineers’ estimates, if an intact airplane fell into the hands of England and France, it would only take 1 to 3 months for them to deduce the manufacturing technology.

However, deducing the manufacturing technology doesn’t mean they can replicate it right away. Due to different industrial systems, we and England and France all have our standards.

If England and France wanted to directly replicate it, they would have to adjust the standards of their mother machines. This would take a lot of time. Without two or three years of effort, industrial mass production is unachievable.

Time waits for no one on the battlefield. The likelihood of directly copying is not great. It’s more likely that they would use our airplane as a blueprint and adjust some of the designs for replicating.

In that case, the required time would be incalculable, mainly depending on the highest level of industrial technology in England and France. If their engine technology was up to par, it could only take a few months to replicate."

This coincided with Franz’s judgment; reverse engineering was not difficult, as long as there was a sample airplane at hand to dismantle and study, there would always be gains.

The hard part was industrialized production, which involved several fields and different industry standard systems, making unification difficult.

Especially as airplanes are a high-precision field, even a screw being a different size could affect industrialized production.

One could refer to some of the knockoff enterprises in later times; it was easy to copy mid to low-end industrial products, but they were clueless in the high-tech fields.

With the sample in front of them and the technology deduced, they could still not produce it. One should note that technological barriers are even harder to break through than patent barriers.

Entering the late 19th century, the technological gap between European countries was not only in concepts but also manifested in the industrial field.

England, France, and Austria each had different tech trees, and everyone had their advantages in certain fields; airplane manufacturing happened to be a weak area for England and France.

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

"Sell it! However, there must be restrictions, ensuring the Russians guarantee that the airplanes won’t be leaked. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will monitor closely and delay the diffusion of airplane technology as much as possible."

As long as there was an export, it was inevitable that airplane manufacturing technology would spread. Even if England and France didn’t replicate it, the Russians would dismantle and study it by themselves.

Austrian weapons and equipment exported to Russia never escaped being studied. Not only were they studied, but the Tsarist Government even attempted to replicate them.

Though the basic industrial systems of Russia and Austria were similar, the industrial standards of both had long since diverged.

Most of the time, the cost of weaponry and equipment replicated by the Russians was much higher than imported ones.

Under such circumstances, even though the Tsarist Government wanted to rid itself of dependence on Austrian military industry, they were ultimately defeated by the cost.

With ordinary weaponry and equipment being so, the high-tech airplanes were even more so. Franz dared to say that even if the technical blueprints were handed over to the Russians, it would take them three to five years to fully understand them.

As long as the finished product didn’t fall into French hands, even if France and Russia colluded in secret, at most they would send a few military experts to study it; more would compromise secrecy.

Compared to involving experts from relevant fields to study together, having only a few individuals participate in the research would undoubtedly be much less efficient.

Knowledge outside of one’s professional field is very easy to overlook. Whether it can be figured out before the end of the war is a complete unknown.

Moreover, even if it is figured out, airplane technology is generational. The planes exported to the Russians only need to be capable of dealing with airships, so they don’t need to be too advanced.

...

In London, following the roar of steamships, a special guest disembarked from a luxurious passenger liner.

Arriving in the foggy city again, Karel Kadelitz felt heavy-hearted. Even the welcoming lines flanking both sides did little to warm his interest.

As France’s only ally, the British Government naturally was the focus of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ public relations. In a demonstration of the high regard for the British, Karel Kadelitz had personally taken action.

Unfortunately, from the current state of affairs, his plans had basically been annulled. The British offered only a routine reception, without arranging any grand welcoming ceremony.

Karel Kadelitz couldn’t help but overthink. In such a special period, if the British intended to support France, they would necessarily have to make a friendly gesture.

Reality was harsh; the British’s lukewarm attitude poured cold water on Karel Kadelitz’s trip to London.

Weighed down by exhaustion, he attended the welcome banquet as usual. Sure enough, there were no surprises—there were no members of the royal family present, let alone top-level British Government officials, the diplomats in charge of reception notwithstanding.

...

At midnight, within the French Embassy in London, Karel Kadelitz asked solemnly, "At the banquet just now, I noticed that George’s expression was somewhat off. What has happened in London recently?"

Observing and interpreting expressions is a basic skill for a diplomat, and as the Foreign Minister, Karel Kadelitz was no stranger to it.

However, concealing one’s emotions is equally a diplomat’s instinct. After detecting something amiss with George, Karel Kadelitz immediately paid close attention.

There were no new major international incidents recently; the hottest topic was the war in Europe, which generally remained at a stalemate.

With international relations relatively unchanged, only internal political strife could cause such worry for the British Foreign Secretary.

Though Karel Kadelitz would have loved to witness the internal disputes of the British, he was acutely aware that now was not the time.

If the British Government were to get caught up in political struggles, his trip to London would have been in vain. The British would be unlikely to play a substantive role in the European war without first stabilizing their internal situation.

"What has happened in London?" Ambassador Ambroise hesitated slightly before responding, "No, Your Excellency. London has been very stable lately, with nothing major occurring.

If anything, it should be about India. Rumor has it that the Russians launched a Christmas offensive not long ago, and the British were dealt a heavy blow on the battlefield.

The British Government has suppressed this news, and we don’t have the means to understand exactly what happened just yet."

Upon hearing the words "suppressed the news," Karel Kadelitz immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

Given the political system of the United Kingdom, suppressing news is not so simple; most of the time, journalists get wind of information faster.

There’s no helping it; British politics takes turns in dominance. Suppressing the news might be convenient, but the Opposition party would surely bring it up later. Once the news leaked, public support for the Cabinet would drop significantly.

The British Government wouldn’t resort to this unless absolutely necessary.

After some thought, Karel Kadelitz said gravely, "Mobilize our people to clarify the situation as soon as possible.

If that doesn’t work, then stir the waters. Plant some stories in a few street tabloids about the loss of Afghanistan to probe the reaction of the British Government." Find your adventure at novelbuddy

Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be in peril.

To get the British on board, if we don’t even know what happened in Britain, how are we to proceed?

"Your Excellency, isn’t that inappropriate? If the British were to find out..."

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Karel Kadelitz cut off Ambassador Ambroise before he could finish, "What’s there to fear? This is meant for the British to see.

Having been in London this long, don’t you understand what John Bull is like?"

The more Karel Kadelitz understood the British, the less he thought of the so-called "English-French friendship."

The premise of an alliance is mutual benefit; without it, there is no alliance. As long as the interests align, not even the greatest conflicts can prevent England and France from coming together.

As for offending the British Government, that was overthinking it.

Karel Kadelitz did not believe that the British hadn’t placed spies inside the French Embassy; they probably knew about the stir-the-waters plan even before it was set in motion.

If there were truly an intention to cause trouble, at the very least, secrecy would have been maintained. Who would issue such orders in front of numerous embassy staffers?

Essentially, Karel Kadelitz wanted to use these tricks to tell the British: The French already knew about the British Army’s defeat in Afghanistan, and now it was not only France that needed Britain, but Britain also needed France.

After all, the Russian-Austrian Alliance seemed quite stable, and if France were to lose in the European war, British-India would also be in danger.

In this sense, Britain and France were bound together, suffering or prospering as one.

Whether the British would see it that way remained an unanswered question for the moment.