Chapter 771

After the war, the city of Ava had changed beyond recognition. Austria's bombing was targeted. Other than the military facilities, most of the landmarks were bombed.

Whichever target was obvious would be bombed. On the contrary, the inconspicuous civilian area suffered relatively little damage. Most of the buildings were only affected, but not destroyed.

The fires caused by the bombing were quickly put out, but the sound of crying could still be heard throughout the city. The order in the city had collapsed, and the gangsters who took advantage of the burning house were indulging themselves.

Many of the Osman soldiers who were supposed to maintain order also joined in the looting. The ugliness of human nature was completely revealed. Tonight, Ava was crying.

If someone counted, they would find that the number of people who died in the bombing was not as many as those who died in the chaos.

In the face of the chaotic situation, Akyol and his disciple did not dare to go out. Not long ago, there were a few gangsters who wanted to take advantage of the burning house, but they were chased away by Akyol and his disciple with a hunting rifle.

The hunting rifle was a collection of the blacksmith shop owner. It was said that it was passed down from his ancestors. Perhaps because time was tight, or perhaps because he was too nervous, the hunting rifle was left behind.

Emperor Simanlaja's son asked, "Master, will they come back again?"

He knew his own business. These hunting rifles were passed down from who knows when. They could be taken out to scare people, but if they were used to kill people, the chances of them killing themselves were not much lower than the chances of killing the enemy.

Akyol replied with uncertainty, "Probably not. This is a blacksmith shop, and it has been expropriated by the officials. Other than a pile of iron and swords, there is not much profit to be made.

We still have guns in our hands. As long as these people are not fools, they will soon understand. "

At another point in time, iron and swords were wealth. But he couldn't do it now. The officials would confiscate it. The cold weapons that were forged were prepared to be distributed to the civilians after the city was breached.

The great Sultan had already given a death order: "If the city exists, the people exist. If the city dies, the people die." If they did not fight to the death, how could it be called a "holy war"?

Whether the people would fight to the death with the enemy was not within the consideration of the officials. If the Ava area was lost, the garrison officers would also be unlucky.

Everyone could not even take care of themselves. Who would care if the people would fight to the death? If they could mobilize as many as they could, they would lure the enemy into the city and launch an attack. Even if they could not win, they had to intimidate the enemy.

…

At the headquarters of the Awa garrison, Major General Ozgul was worried about the threat above his head. If this problem was not solved, the enemy would drop a bomb from the sky, and the people below would be in chaos.

Perhaps some armies could face the enemy's bombing without batting an eyelid. But that did not include the Osman army. During the bombing, there were many ignorant people who shouted "Divine Punishment" and knelt on the ground to beg for God's forgiveness.

"The enemy's airships are too powerful. Do we have any countermeasures?"

Then, Ozzgur looked at Sartus with anticipation. Airships were were were first. the airships were the Airships. the Airships. The.

It was rarely seen in the Ottoman Empire, but in developed countries in Europe, there were already people using it in their daily lives. They were rarely seen in the Osman, but in the developed countries in Europe, there were already people using them.

Ozgul also knew that it was unrealistic to count on a bunch of bumpkins who didn't even know what an airship was. Therefore, he pinned his hope on Sartus.

In this era, the Ottoman Empire did not send many students abroad, and a large portion of them were influenced by Western ideas. When they returned, they joined the revolution. There were not many honest people like Sartus.

In this era, the Osman Empire did not send many students abroad. Most of them were influenced by the West and joined the revolution. There were not many honest people like Saltus.

Those with a little military knowledge knew that the Ava area was close to the Bosporus Strait. It could become the front line at any time.

This time, the enemies were Russia and Austria. The Osman Empire had a very low chance of winning. Even the Government of Sudan only wanted to end the war with dignity.

It was a war that was destined to fail. The officers on the front line had to face danger and worry about being used as scapegoats after the war.

Otherwise, a military important place like Ava would not be under the command of a major general like Ozzur. At least there were two divisions under him. A lieutenant general should be in charge.

Most of the people here were either unsuccessful in the Osman Army or they did not have strong connections. That was why they were placed on the front line.

Fiddling with his bandaged arm, Saltus said slowly, "General, it is the first time in military history that an airship is bombing. None of the countries have any effective countermeasures.

But when I was studying in France, some students thought about an airship bombing. It is very difficult to shoot down an airship.

The bullets are not powerful enough. Unless they hit a vital part, even if the airship is hit, it will not be a fatal threat. The best choice is the cannon. Unfortunately, the angle of the cannon is not high enough to attack the air.

With the current situation, we can't carry out an effective counterattack. The only thing we can do is to harass the enemy with rifles and force them into the air to reduce their accuracy. "

Major General Ozzur was a bit disappointed that the problem was not solved. The range of rifles was limited. Most of them only had an effective range of a few hundred meters. This meant that as long as the enemy bombed at an altitude of a thousand meters, they would not be able to do anything.

Major General Ozzur continued to ask, "Does anyone else have a different idea?"

A middle-aged officer stood up, "General, we can't attack the enemy's airship, but we can at least avoid the bombing, right?

If the enemy bombed at an altitude of a thousand meters, then we can make some bunkers. For example, we can disguise ourselves as weeds and bushes to interfere with their vision. Maybe we can reduce the casualties. "

Putting grass or bushes on top of one's head was a low-tech bunker. It had already appeared in the military, but it was not used for air defense. Instead, it was used for ambushes in the field.

Lieutenant Colonel Sartus objected, "That won't do. It might be effective in the jungle, but in the Port of Sava, aren't we just creating targets for the enemy if something messy appears?"

The middle-aged officer's face sank. He retorted, "Whether it is effective or not, we will only know after we try. We can expose some fake targets to attract the enemy's airships. These small changes are not that easy to be noticed. "

Major General Ozzur rubbed his forehead. He was happy to see the conflicts between his subordinates. Only when they fought could his authority be perfectly guaranteed. However, that was not during wartime.

Now that the enemy could attack at any time, the internal conflicts were very scary. One mistake could lead to the destruction of the army.

…

Since they had decided to land in the Ava area, they would not give the enemy any time to prepare. On the third day after the bombing, the allied forces were ready to land.

On the 18th of April 1874, under the cover of the Austrian airships and warships, the fifty thousand Russian Army launched a landing operation in the Ava area.

The roar of the cannons sounded, and the airships also arrived. Smoke filled the air again in the Ava area. The cries of blood and fire seemed to be venting the sorrow of the earth.

In the sky above the airship, Colonel Jules picked up the telescope and looked down at the ground. It was his favorite telescope. The roar of gunfire and explosions was the most beautiful piece of music to him.

The Austrian airship bombardment brigade had been established for more than ten years. They had never been short of resources, but they did not have any outstanding achievements. Every airship soldier had a heavy burden on their shoulders. They needed to prove themselves.

As the only army directly under the command of the General Staff Headquarters, they were not part of the army and navy. Every year in the war for military expenses, they were often mentioned.

As time went by, the call to abolish the airship troop became louder and louder in the Austrian army. If it was not for the support of the emperor, this troop would have disappeared in the Austrian army.

The lack of achievements and the failure to prove their worth were the biggest shortcomings of the airship troop. The army was the world of the strong, and achievements were more effective than anything else.

The second Near East War broke out, and the airship troop finally had a place to play. After the bombing of the Ava area, the Austrian army was shocked.

For the first time, everyone realized the threat above their heads. The talk of abolishing the airship troop disappeared overnight. Especially the navy, who had witnessed the bombing scene, immediately reported to the country and requested to be equipped with anti-aircraft weapons.

It didn't matter whether they had it or not. Weapon development was also carried out according to demand. The navy realized the threat from the sky and wanted to be equipped with anti-aircraft weapons. The arsenal would naturally develop them.

As the commander of this airship bombardment brigade, Jules always had a dream to turn the airship troop into an air force, standing side by side with the army and navy.

This was very difficult. If there were no outstanding achievements, it was almost impossible to achieve this. The army and navy would strongly oppose it. No one wanted to have a competitor for military expenses.

It didn't matter if air support was needed in the future war. It was just that the time was short, and everyone hadn't realized it yet. It wouldn't take long for someone to propose it.

The sense of crisis made Jules pay special attention to this battle. If he wanted to get the support of the senior government, using achievements was more convincing than any reason.

Intense gunfire sounded. Even at a height of hundreds of meters, Colonel Jules could hear it. Through the binoculars, he also saw a little guy flashing a few meters away.

In an instant, Colonel Jules reacted and hurriedly ordered, "Order the fleet to take off, fly to a height of 1200 meters, and carry out a high-altitude bombing."

At this time, two airships had been shot. Fortunately, the power of these rifles was limited. As long as they didn't hit the vital parts, the damage was not fatal.

The airship bombardment brigade took off, and the Osman army below was relieved. In just a short period of time, there had already been many accidents.

There was no way, not all rifles could shoot directly into the sky. The designers didn't consider the threat in the sky at all during the design process.

The altitude of 1200 meters was beyond the effective range of most breech-loading rifles. At this distance, not only the hit rate was greatly reduced, but the lethality of the bullets was also reduced, or it couldn't hit at all.

As a price, the hit rate of the bombing would also be greatly reduced. Most of the time, one could only gamble on luck. To ensure the hit rate, it was best to bomb at low altitude.

Obviously, the enemy was prepared. Colonel Jules didn't dare to go down and take the risk.

If they were unlucky and got hit in a critical point, the entire airship would be destroyed. There were only dozens of such luxury ships in the entire Austrian army. He couldn't afford to lose them.

Even if it was high altitude harassment, most of the coastal fortifications had been destroyed in the last bombing. This wasn't something that could be repaired in a short period of two or three days.

Now, with the bombardment of the airships and the attacks of the warships, how could the Ottoman army, who was passively taking a beating, have a good time?

It was unknown whether the casualties were heavy or not. Anyway, the Russians had begun to land on the beach. On the airship, Colonel Jules could see through the binoculars that after the Russian Army landed, they were attacked by the Osman soldiers in the bunker.

Gatling guns emerged from the corner and galloped on the battlefield. For a time, the Russian Army suffered heavy casualties. However, this wasn't a problem for the Hairy Bear. He quickly set up the artillery to counterattack.

From the moment the Russians successfully landed, there was no suspense in this landing battle. It was nothing more than a matter of casualties.

Seeing that the overall situation was settled, Colonel Jules showed a happy smile, "Order the troops to bomb freely. Stay away from the port area and don't accidentally injure friendly forces."

For the entire landing battle, the coalition forces had the advantage. It could be said that the overall situation was settled. However, for the Russian Army soldiers who were fighting hard on the ground, the trouble had just begun.

The Osman people weren't so vulnerable. Many hidden fortifications were exposed at this time, causing heavy casualties to the Russian Army.

The horn of "attack" had been blown, and countless Russian Army soldiers …