Chapter 354: Airship Aftermath (Third update, please subscribe)
November 23, 1869.
After this day, the rules of the game of war were changed. Before that, war seemed to be kept at a distance from civilians.
But now the war has come directly to everyone, and from now on there is no longer any distinction between the front line and the rear in the war.
In the following days, Buenos Aires was bombed twice more, but unlike the previous ones, these two bombings came without any warning.
Although the bombing was limited to railway stations, ports and other areas, the blow to people's morale can be imagined.
Thousands of people left the city, unable to continue living here under the threat of death.
Under such constant bombardment, even the strongest people would collapse. Countless people would be awakened by the slightest movement in their sleep and scream in fear.
The continuous bombings made the airship a nightmare for everyone. What was even more despairing was that they were powerless to do anything about it and could only stand on the ground and wait to die.
Waiting to die is the most despairing thing.
In fact, even the bombing on November 23 did not cause as much damage as imagined. Even the fire only destroyed about one-third of the city, and most areas escaped the disaster. However, fear still permeated people's hearts.
Among the various rumors, the power of the airship was infinitely exaggerated. Overnight, the airship became synonymous with death, and rumors about airship bombings and the complete destruction of Buenos Aires in the bombing spread all the way to Europe.
In Europe, cartoonists used cartoons to depict the bombings by airships. In their paintings, Buenos Aires was razed to the ground. Many newspapers even deliberately fabricated news in order to attract readers' attention. In order to achieve a better sensational effect, reporters used their imagination a little and added a little more material.
However, they had a little more imagination, and as a result, the bombing of Buenos Aires was described as a scene of the destruction of the ancient city of Pompeii in a volcanic eruption.
The explosion of a 2,500 kg aerial bomb is even more shocking than a volcanic eruption. When it explodes, it is not just a simple earth-shaking event, but a strong earthquake. Everything will be destroyed. Just one bomb like that is enough to destroy a city. This is simply unprecedented...exaggerated!
In short, in their description, Nanhua's airship has become the most powerful war machine in the world, and even a symbol of Satan in the world. It is simply the most perfect war machine in the history of human warfare. It is a weapon that can destroy everything and a concentrated embodiment of all human wisdom and human science and technology.
As a result, these reporters finally succeeded in making everyone believe their lies!
Let everyone believe that the airship is powerful, a weapon that humans cannot resist. It is invincible with any ordinary weapon and is powerful enough to destroy any city.
In their imaginations, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, one city after another, were destroyed in airship bombings.
In such a war, there are no more front lines and civilians. All that is left is destruction. In order to win the war, the soldiers will fly airships to any city and then drop bombs recklessly.
And they would not be as civilized as the South Chinese. They would never secretly drop leaflets to warn people in the city, they would use bombs to directly bomb the city, causing the people in the city to die.
"The fear of death will help soldiers win the war! In the future, because of the emergence of airships, wars will be fought with a barbarity that humans have never seen before."
"Humanity will eventually be destroyed by human hands, and airships will destroy human civilization."
"Airships are the cruelest invention in human history. For the future of human civilization, the civilized world must ban the use of airships in war."
Faced with such a "prophecy", many well-known scholars have called for countries to refuse to use airships for the sake of world safety, and for soldiers from all countries to refuse to use airships to bomb civilians and cities based on gentlemanly manners. In their words, using airships to bomb cities is inhumane.
Even if bombing is carried out, "a warning should be given first, like the kind-hearted South Chinese, to give civilians time to evacuate the city."
The exaggeration of journalists and the serious treatment of scholars, especially those scholars who described the destruction of the city in a worrying way at salon gatherings, led to serious consequences after being exaggerated by gossipers.
At one time, from Britain to France, from Prussia to Austria, from Austria to Russia, ordinary people were more awed by airships than by any other weapons. How could they not be awed? In the past, those weapons were far away from them.
The power of warships is great, but they can only threaten cities on the coast. But what about airships? Any city could fall into their clutches. Maybe when they are eating steak and drinking red wine, a bomb falls on their heads.
Airships became a hot topic for everyone. The military talked about the changes that airships brought to war, but what about ordinary people? Of course, the destruction brought by airships. After people exaggerated, airships even became the devil in myths and legends. It flew in the sky, spreading death wherever it passed!
Even in word of mouth, airships are more terrifying than the most powerful battleships. Even the most powerful battleships cannot match them, and it is impossible for humans to fight against them.
The power of airship!
In this way, it was constantly exaggerated in various rumors. The harmfulness of this rumor was serious and no one knew it. But one thing is certain, anyone who cares about national security will ask loudly - where is our airship?
From Moscow to Paris, from Vienna to London, politicians and military personnel were shouting loudly - we also need to build our own airship force.
At the end of 1869, airships became the most fashionable topic in the whole of Europe. Of course, for the country, this topic was not just fashionable, it even concerned the life and death of the country.
As the Emperor of France, Napoleon III, like many others, was attracted by this new thing called airship.
In fact, when the Emperor received the telegram from Lesseps Bonaparte last month, he did not think that airships were important, but now it is different.
After all, the whole world is talking about airships now. Everyone is talking about them, their huge power, and how they can destroy cities.
Paris, Vienna, etc., could all be razed to the ground by airship bombing. As for the army, it was nothing in the face of airship bombing.
How could Napoleon 30 not care about such a powerful guy?
"This is Nanhua's airship, right?"
Standing in front of the airship model, the Third Emperor looked at the spindle-shaped airship and the cabin hanging below and asked with some confusion.
"General, are you sure it can carry several tons of bombs?"
Looking up, Napoleon III asked,
"Yes, Your Majesty. The British have witnessed how it destroyed cities. According to our calculations, if we have 100 airships, we can drop hundreds of tons of bombs at a time. Even a fleet cannot fire so many shells!"
Edmond Leboeuf, the Minister of War who had just taken office for a few months, reacted to the airship even faster than the Minister of the Navy. It was not because he was quick to react to new technology, but because... he and Lesseps were friends, and Lesseps's letters had clearly told him what role airships would play in land warfare.
He was skeptical at first, but soon he stopped doubting it. Besides, so many people had witnessed how Buenos Aires was destroyed by the bombing.
There was even a British naval fleet among the witnesses, and they were also stunned by the tremendous power displayed by the airship.
At this time, as the Minister of Army, how could he turn a blind eye to such a powerful weapon?
"For large-scale military gatherings, the bombs and nails it dropped were extremely deadly. Recep's letter mentioned that it had killed tens of thousands of Argentine soldiers with special dart-shaped nails..."
In fact, when Edmond Leboeuf first learned about this from a letter from Lesseps, he felt it was extremely absurd.
airship?
nail?
It was absurd, but now? No one would doubt it! After all, the whole world had witnessed the destruction of Buenos Aires.
"Oh my God! God bless those poor fellows!"
Staring at the model of the airship, Napoleon III murmured.
"If he could drop hundreds of tons of bombs, then he would definitely be able to raze a city to the ground. No wonder those scientists are so afraid of him."
Emperor Napoleon III stared at the model of the airship. No matter how he looked at it, he could not imagine that this guy could be so powerful.
He had seen airships before, but he had never imagined that something so small could carry several tons of bombs. Of course, Nanhua's airship was definitely not a small one.
It was a huge monster that was dozens of meters long.
"If it is really that powerful, then we must get it. Perhaps, as those scientists say, whoever controls the sky in the future will also control the world."
Then Napoleon III asked again with some doubt.
"But are you sure we can't build such an airship?"
I have set up a book club: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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