New Weapons (1)

The impact of the event—known within the empire as the Hungarian Crisis and to the public as the Hungarian Revolution—was far more profound than anyone had anticipated. Then again, even Russia's Bloody Sunday had sent shockwaves rippling across the entire globe. It would have been stranger if Central Europe had remained quiet while one of the key members of the dual monarchy was turned completely upside down by a revolution.

"It is truly a blessing that Germany stands on our side." "Indeed it is, Your Highness." Stahl and **Archduke Franz Ferdinand** shared a hollow laugh as they stared at a **Stahlism** propaganda poster brought over from the German Empire.

Looking at a poster like this, I couldn't help but feel that we had gone terribly, terribly wrong somewhere. Could the words 'Emperor' and 'Comrade' even coexist? What is this, Arcturus Mengsk? At first, I had been terrified that a communist revolution was breaking out in Germany. As it turned out, it was just military-first Juche ideology. Then again, **Austria-Hungary** was the weird one here. When people think of a socialist monarchy, the only thing that usually comes to mind is the Kim dynasty of North Korea.

"The international situation is taking a bizarre turn. We must prepare," I said. History had already been altered beyond recognition. Would a great war still break out exactly as it had in my original timeline? When you live in peace for too long, it is only natural to grow complacent. But I shook my head to clear my thoughts. If anything, because history had changed, we had to prepare for war even more thoroughly. Even if a future without war awaited me, who was to say we wouldn't face a future where war was fought on an even grander, more brutal scale?

The massive shifts in the timeline made predicting the future nearly impossible. Just look at Germany, acting like some European version of North Korea. Ugh. I hope those guys don't ride the Stahl wave all the way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to occupying **Paris**.More importantly... honestly, I feel like I've changed history enough by now. Isn't it about time they sent me back to Korea...? Out of habit, I yearned for my smartphone and a clean, 21st-century restroom, but then a strange sensation washed over me.

"Hmm? Stahl? What is the matter? Did you suddenly think of that noble lady I introduced to you?" "Ah, no, it's nothing." What was this feeling?

"By the way, how is Comrade **Lenin** doing?" "He is having a dreadful time in **France**. Then again, didn't he live far too comfortably in Vienna, essentially freeloading at your house?" Following the **Avant-garde Stahlism** incident in **France**, **Lenin** had departed for the country, declaring he would show them what 'true' **Stahlism** and Marxism looked like. **Sigmund Freud** had also gone with him to try and talk some sense into those idiotic French avant-garde Stahlists. As for **Hitler**, except for occasional visits to Vienna for mass gymnastics displays ordered by the Emperor, he spent almost all his time in **Hungary**. **Karl Wittgenstein** had been depressed lately and rarely showed his face.

My mind is in such a tangle. At first, I had run forward without stopping, solely focused on altering history. Even now, I was still running toward the goal set for me on the very first day I dropped into **Austria**. But now, a new goal had taken root. I wanted to make sure that the people I had formed bonds with wouldn't meet miserable ends in the turbulent currents of history. Call it a small, personal wish. Damn it, now that I think about it, every single member of the Stahl faction is in grave danger. Didn't **Hitler** and **Archduke Franz Ferdinand** die miserable deaths in the original timeline? And looking at the way **Hitler** drew aggro in this life, he probably wouldn't live to a ripe old age either. At any rate, to prevent war, preparing for war was an absolute necessity.

Originally, I had intended to avoid developing weapons of war, with the sole exception of poison gas. But frankly, I wasn't much different from the Austrian military high command, who were busy dreaming up things like **Hydrogen Suicide Bombers**. I had tried brainstorming various new weapons. Take tank main guns, for instance. If we mount two cannons—one large and one small—couldn't they be used for different purposes? The fact that I was even having such thoughts proved how ignorant I was of weaponry, let alone mechanical engineering as a whole.

However, my perspective shifted after witnessing **Hitler's** performance in battle during the Hungarian Revolution. That battle tractor of his is still an absolute nightmare. It towed a cannon that even Napoleon would have rejected, shielded by bulletproof steel plates made by layering cheap metal because they couldn't afford expensive armor plating. Watching that tractor crawl forward slower than a snail had certainly left a deep impression on me. **Hitler** had gone so far as to officially integrate those tractors into the **Revolutionary Guard**, giving them the grand title of the "Agricultural Knights of the Revolutionary Guard."

In short, the point was this: if you throw future technology at something and build it, it will find a use somehow. Even those multi-turreted tanks that history buffs love to mock and spit on—if you actually built them and threw them onto the battlefield, they would probably prove useful in one way or another. Could tanks be utilized on the Eastern Front? The Eastern Front of World War I was certainly different from the trench warfare of the West. But given the technological limits of 1910, wouldn't it be difficult to field heavily armored vehicles capable of rapid maneuvers?

Let's just keep **Hitler's** method of tank utilization in mind. That should do, right? Whether in the original timeline or this altered one, the purpose of a tank was clear. A tank was simple enough, wasn't it? Even if it couldn't stop artillery shells, acting as a mobile pillbox to block machine-gun fire would be more than enough. If it could also carry a main gun to breach defensive lines, that would be perfect. As for speed... we could compromise by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠building armored cars instead of tanks. Even a top speed of fifteen kilometers per hour would be incredibly useful. One would be an infantry tank, and the other a cavalry armored car. With the development direction established, I immediately presented my ideas to **Archduke Franz Ferdinand**.

"Ah, are you referring to **Cooperative Leader** **Hitler's** tractor legion?" "Yes. If we equip them with continuous tracks and mount a cannon on the front, they will be exceptionally useful for assaulting Russian fortresses." "Indeed. Germany is also partnering with automotive companies to develop something similar." Unfortunately, we were a step behind in tank and armored car development. But what could we do? In vehicle development, we were bound to lag behind Great Britain, the United States, and Germany. Even if we took the lead, they would catch up in no time. In **Austria**, the most prominent car manufacturers, aside from Gräf & Stift, was Austro-Daimler, a subsidiary of Daimler.

"Let us delegate this to Austro-Daimler and Gräf & Stift. We can assign the armored cars to Daimler and the tanks to Gräf." "Very well. Though Daimler is a German subsidiary, there is no better place when it comes to manufacturing automobiles." "Let us also secure the cooperation of **Chairman Karl Wittgenstein**. While they may not specialize in engines, no one beats **Wittgenstein** in steel production." I limited my involvement to providing basic concepts for the tanks and armored cars. I drew rough sketches based on my memories of what modern tanks looked like from my military service. This alone would be more than enough for the engineers to figure out the rest.

"Our nation's industrial capacity is admittedly a bit lacking compared to other advanced countries," I noted. "...That is undeniable." "Therefore, we likely won't be able to mass-produce tanks and armored cars on the same scale as Germany." The saving grace? While we lagged slightly in cutting-edge industries of the era like automobiles and engines, our foundational heavy industries—such as steel and chemicals, which were vital for state administration and warfare—were by no means inferior to those of other powers. In fact, thanks to my swift introduction of **Penicillin** and ammonia, a massive chemical boom had swept through **Austria**. Even the technology surrounding **Penicillin** was advancing rapidly, with mass mold cultivation techniques on the verge of being realized.

Most importantly, our primary potential adversaries—Russia, Italy, and Serbia—were practically industrial backwaters compared to **Austria**. "Since we cannot produce tanks and armored cars in vast quantities, let us manufacture and stockpile bicycles instead." "Bicycles?" "Yes. They are relatively cheap and far easier to produce than tanks, aren't they?" Perhaps practical experience truly was the best teacher. Having witnessed the fighting in **Hungary**, I was glad to have gained at least a modicum of military insight.

Even modern tanks in my previous life only topped out at around forty kilometers per hour. A regular infantryman marched at about five kilometers per hour. No matter how slow a bicycle was, it could easily manage ten kilometers per hour, making it twice as fast as marching infantry. Given the vast expanses of the Eastern Front, any form of transport was better than none. I quickly recognized the military potential of the bicycle. Infantry mounted on bicycles could maneuver rapidly to raid enemy supply lines. Transporting food and ammunition on a bicycle was also far superior to carrying it on one's back. On the Eastern Front, where supply lines were stretched thin and railway transport was difficult, bicycles would be invaluable. I recalled that even in World War II, Germany had relied heavily on horses, oxen, and donkeys for logistics. A well-made bicycle offered better mobility than draft animals and was far cheaper to maintain.

"Very well, I shall take note of this and submit a proposal. Even a child can see that war will break out in Europe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sooner or later," **Archduke Franz Ferdinand** agreed. "Furthermore, I believe we should turn our attention to airplanes." No matter how hard we tried, we would never catch up to Germany, Great Britain, **France**, or the United States in armored vehicles. That was a sector requiring long-term investment looking toward the 1940s; trying to force it now, with war only a few years away, would yield poor production numbers and terrible cost-efficiency. Armored vehicles were simply too expensive.

Therefore, we needed to focus on a technology that was still in its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠infancy: the airplane. Had the first flight occurred in 1903? Though I had been preoccupied with chemical developments like **Penicillin** and ammonia, I distinctly remembered the moment the Wright brothers made their historic flight in America. In other words, it was a novel technology that had existed for less than a decade. The very first airplane factory in **France** had been established only two years ago.

"Airplanes? Aren't those mere toys? It would be highly impractical to use them for combat at this stage," the Archduke remarked. "That is true. They cannot fly for long, they are slow, and they lack any armor." "Then why? Perhaps one day, when technology advances, they might drop bombs from them... but wouldn't airships, with their superior payload capacity, be far better?" Airships. I shook my head at the dreadful suggestion.

"Airships are slow, and no matter how much we modify them, there is no way to improve their armor. Airplanes are the future." "And their actual utility on the battlefield?" "The Eastern Front is vast and the terrain is rugged. Reconnaissance is bound to be a nightmare. If we equip airplanes with machine guns and high-performance cameras, they will be incredibly useful for scouting." Huge sums of money were already flowing in through the **Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative**. Although most of those funds were being used to service debts and reinvest in **Hungary**, building airplane factories in **Budapest** as part of **Hungary's** industrialization seemed like an excellent plan.

"But we cannot develop airplanes entirely on our own, can we? Is there a suitable company?" "Since it is a cutting-edge technology with immense military value, we cannot outsource this to foreign firms like we did with the armored cars." "Then what? Are you saying we must establish our own enterprise?" "Precisely. And I have just the right people in mind."

"Cough, cough...!" "Orville, are you alright?" "Don't worry about me, Wilbur. Just focus on developing the flyer." The Wright brothers, renowned as the pioneers of aviation, had achieved the monumental feat of conquering the skies. Yet, despite this triumph, they were plagued by slander, black propaganda, and endless lawsuits in their home country over the patent rights of their invention. To make matters worse, European nations were eagerly stealing their designs, leaving the brothers in poverty despite being the true inventors of the airplane. Wilbur Wright, in particular, had been utterly broken in body and mind by the relentless legal battles and character assassination.

"...Wilbur. What did we do so wrong? Was soaring into the sky such a terrible crime?" "Never say that again." "I'm just so sick of these lawsuits! Wilbur, what if we leave for Europe? Just..." "Orville!" "...I'm sorry." Sitting in their cramped workshop, the brothers sighed deeply as they sorted through their mail. And there, among the stack, they discovered a letter bearing the official seal of the **Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative**—an organization currently taking Europe by storm.