Chapter 87 Congreve Rocket

The midday wind brought the fragrance of azaleas. Charles walked alone on the path in the back garden of the fortress headquarters, looking a little depressed.

The sudden appearance of the third gate "Big Bertha" broke everyone's fantasy. Victory was like a beautiful soap bubble, which suddenly burst and disappeared without a trace after being gently poked.

In addition, Charles also knew why the German army launched such a fierce attack.

This was what General Guise told Charles in the morning meeting.

General Guise ignored Albert I's obstruction and stared at Charles and said: "The Germans' target is you. As long as you surrender, you can save all our lives!"

Charles knew the intention of General Guise's words. He hoped that Charles would take the initiative to surrender to the Germans to save Antwerp.

Charles sneered at this and asked General Guise: "Next time, if the Germans ask you to hand over the king, what will you do?"

General Guise was speechless. After all, the Germans did not keep their promises from time to time. If they kept their promises, they should not attack Belgium, which was in a neutral position.

The problem still needs to be solved. The gunfire of "Big Bertha" is still getting louder and louder. Although Fort Wavre is protected by smoke, it is only a matter of time before it is really blown up.

Is there any other way to deal with it?

Charles thought of the plane. The plane is a three-dimensional combat equipment. It can approach and attack the target from the air, so there is no problem of "insufficient range".

However, the plane at this time has no weapons.

If there are any weapons, they are bricks, fishing nets, tail hooks, and even flying needles...

Move the explosives to the plane?

European grenades have not yet been formed. They are still using spherical explosives. There will be many problems if this kind of explosives is moved to the plane and thrown:

If the height is too high, the explosives will explode in the air and cannot cause any damage to the target.

If the height is too low, the explosives will easily break and lose their power when they hit the ground directly. Even if they happen to hit the soft ground and do not break, the enemy will have time to pick it up and throw it away or even remove the fuse directly.

This does not consider whether it can hit the target!

A normal aerial bomb must have at least a few features:

The shell is hard and not easy to break.

The tail wing can ensure a stable flight posture, otherwise it will be blown randomly in the air and roll without any accuracy.

Finally, there must be a reliable fuse.

These are not things that can be made in a short time, and Antwerp does not have such conditions, so Charles can only think of another way.

Just when Charles was worried about this, a group of soldiers hurriedly passed by the door carrying a bundle of long poles.

Charles was curious for a moment and asked casually: "What weapons are these?"

The soldiers knew Charles, and out of respect for Charles, they stopped, and one of the captains stepped forward and answered: "This is the Congreve Rocket, Lieutenant!"

Although his rank was higher than Charles, whether it was Charles's reputation or the Royal Crown Medal hanging on Charles' chest, it was enough to make the captain respect Charles.

"Rocket?" Charles curiously walked closer to observe.

After looking at it for a while, he understood what it was. It originated in China and was improved by a British artilleryman named Congreve during the Napoleonic era, so it was called "Congreve Rocket".

It developed into the famous "Katyusha" in World War II, but it was almost completely eliminated in this era.

"The king ordered us to make final preparations, lieutenant!" The captain explained: "We need to arm everyone. Although rockets are no longer suitable, it is better than nothing!"

Charles said "hmm" and thought that if it were not for "arming everyone", he would probably not have taken this thing out of the warehouse.

"How many rockets do we have?" Charles asked.

"I'm not sure, lieutenant!" The captain hesitated and reported a number: "About two hundred, some of which may be damp, and I'm not sure if they can be used!"

"Keep them all!" Charles did not hesitate any more: "Not a single one can be sent out!"

"Okay, lieutenant!" The captain nodded.

But his face was still full of doubts. What's the use of such primitive weapons? Are they going to use them to blow up the "Big Belsa"?

Charles walked a few steps and turned back to add an order: "They are under your responsibility. You must protect these rockets and never allow any accidents!"

"Okay, lieutenant!" The captain replied.

Charles hurried back to the war office, where two generals and Albert I were discussing something on the map.

Seeing Charles coming back, they said:

"We are discussing a possibility, Charles. Considering that the Germans only have one 'Big Belsa' left, we think we should take the initiative to attack, or send troops to attack at night!"

"As long as the plan is proper, we may succeed. As long as we blow up this 'Big Belsa', we will be safe, at least for a period of time!"

"This requires your participation..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Charles:

"It won't work. The Germans must be prepared! Any troops sent out will never return!"

This is their only remaining one, and the Germans will certainly be doubly careful.

Without waiting for others to refute, Charles cast his eyes on Albert I:

"Your Majesty, I need to go to the airport. Can you provide me with a carriage? In addition, there is a team of soldiers downstairs protecting a batch of rockets. I hope to send more people to help them send the rockets to the airport!"

"Of course!" Albert I agreed very straightforwardly: "The carriage is parked downstairs!"

Charles turned around and left. When he reached the door, he remembered something and turned back to ask Guise: "General, how many planes do we have?"

General Guise was confused, and he didn't know the answer.

"I'll make a phone call!" General Guise said that planes have no impact on the war, so why bother about them?

"No need!" Charles said: "Do you mind temporarily handing over the command of the airport to me?"

"Of course!" General Guise nodded very readily.

The troops have no need for reconnaissance now, and even if there is, balloons can solve it. Aircraft are dispensable for the defense of Antwerp.

Charles didn't say anything more, and hurriedly turned downstairs. He had to launch an attack before dark, otherwise the Wavre Fortress might not be saved.

Several people in the Operations Office looked at each other, they didn't know what Charles wanted to do.

"He might want to rush out of Antwerp and return to Paris!" General Winter guessed.

General Guise was stunned, then agreed: "He must have sent all the planes to confuse the German pilots and cover his own planes to rush out in the chaos. Can this be considered as running away..."

"No!" Albert I interrupted General Guise expressionlessly, and his tone was firm: "Charles would not do this, he is different from you, General!"

General Guise had some embarrassment and a hint of anger on his face. He just considered the national interest more, which did not mean that he was a coward!

In the early models of World War I, it was not appropriate to fight with rifles and machine guns in the back seat.

That was two planes flying at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour in a three-dimensional space. The relative positions between them changed very quickly, and it was not easy for rifles to aim at enemy planes.

As for machine guns, because of the problems of the models at that time, the wings were often overhead, and the window for machine guns to shoot in the back seat was not large, so it was easy to hit their own wings or tail.

In fact, we can think about it this way: it was a war, and there were so many European soldiers fighting with their opponents under the threat of their lives, which must have been more urgent than ours. There were also many smart people and even scientists among them. Why did they not carry guns in the early days but bricks, fishing nets, and even steel needles to fight in the air?

It was precisely because they had carried them before and found them useless. A brick might be more useful than a rifle. Even if a rifle hits, it can't cause any damage. As long as it doesn't hit the pilot or the engine, it will just make a small hole in the wooden wing.

Bricks are different. Two planes are heading towards each other. A flying brick flies over. The speed is so fast and the momentum is so large that once it hits, it may break the entire wing.

Similarly, a pencil-sized flying needle is also more useful than a rifle, and a fishing net may entangle the propeller...

As for aerial bombs, even the aerial bombs formed during World War II are extremely difficult to hit the target. Dive bombers need to dive at high speed to the target and use the inertia of pointing to the target to increase the probability of hitting.

In the situation of World War I, it would be almost impossible for a random explosive to hit the target, which is also not in line with the actual situation. If it is written in this way, it would be almost like a drama.