"Report to the commander, there are people from the city's garrison outside, saying they are the special envoys of Crown Prince Joseph!"
"Let him come in, and let's listen to each other's conditions!"
Lu Xuecheng was still happy to see the defenders surrender. After all, it would save his troops less effort and fewer deaths.
"Hello, I am Colonel Karl, the special envoy of Crown Prince Joseph, and I am here to send you a personal letter from Crown Prince Joseph!"
"good!"
Of course Lu Xuecheng couldn't understand German, but there was a translator around him, so all he had to do was listen.
"Commander! This..."
After the translator read the contents of the letter, he seemed a little embarrassed.
"Just read it accordingly. Is it possible that Joseph still has the nerve to scold me?"
Lu Xuecheng wanted to see what kind of medicine the crown prince was selling in his gourd. Could it bring his empire back to life?
"Hello, I am Joseph, Crown Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. On behalf of the empire and all its ministers, I would like to express my strong indignation against the barbaric aggression of your troops! Your country is known as a civilized country, a country of friendship, and a country of kindness, but What your country is doing now makes me unable to see civilization, love and kindness at all. Instead, it directly reflects barbarism, cruelty, despicability and shamelessness. It is a denial of itself and an insult to the civilized world! I hope your country Immediately stop aggressive actions, withdraw all troops from the Holy Roman Empire, and compensate our country for five billion silver coins at a time. Only in this way can we quickly repair bilateral relations and allow Europe and your country to gain peace and tranquility at the same time! If you can't make a decision, you can Report this request to your boss Zhang Huangyan. At the same time, please conduct a fair war within the scope of your rights. I hope your army will immediately stop bombing all cities in our country, especially the persecution of Ping Min, and release all captured Ping Min and soldiers. . In the Prague area, if we can have a chivalrous contest, neither side will send out the air force, and only use the army to fight! I think this is in line with the civilized war method claimed by your country, and it is a fair and reasonable embodiment. I believe you will not do it either. Will you deny it? I hope you can consider it carefully and look forward to good news!"
After reading the translation, I don’t know what to say.
This crown prince may not have known much about outside affairs since he was a child, and he is comparable to Emperor Hui of Jin in the Eastern world!
"Humph! The request of the crown prince of your country is really...how to put it? That word is...yes...whimsical!"
Compensate you with five billion silver coins at a time?
You are so embarrassed to speak!
I also want you to compensate five billion silver coins at a time!
With such a huge appetite, why don’t you go grab it?
Let a fool become the crown prince. Does this old emperor have no other sons?
Then this empire looks really bad. When the old emperor dies and these two idiot crown princes ascend the throne, without the Ming Dynasty attacking, the empire will be in ruins!
Also, he asked me to stop the bombing and to use the army to fight just once. Lu Xuecheng almost laughed out loud after hearing this strange request.
The side that is being passively beaten should give up its advantages to the side that is in control of the battle, then lower itself and play a low-intensity sex game with the other side.
Not to mention whether you should agree or not, even if they don't use air force or only use ground troops, do they really think they can defeat the Ming Dynasty King's Division, whose main force has been mechanized?
Having said that, if I really agreed to the other party's request, and the matter spread to the ears of my superiors, wouldn't I be scolded like a bitch?
Based on this inference, next time the enemy demands that aircraft, artillery, and tanks not be used, should I agree to it?
Therefore, the content of this letter was just like fart, and Lu Xuecheng did not need to pay attention to it at all.
"Colonel, please go back and tell your crown prince that I will report his compensation and troop withdrawal requirements to the commander-in-chief of our army Zhang Huangyan. As for other demands, they are not within the scope of my rights, including bombing the troops in your country. The goal is also a matter for the Ming Air Force. I am only the commander of the army and have no right to make decisions for the air force. Come and see the guests off!"
The King's Division of the Ming Dynasty relied on fleet bombing to reduce casualties. How could it possibly give up the air superiority it had gained?
The geographical situation of Prague is also conducive to defense, because the Vltava and Beronka rivers flow through the city, and the Sazava River is nearby.
If we don't make good use of the dry season in May and June to attack the city, it will be really difficult for the coalition forces to handle during the flood season in July and August.
Floods are a natural barrier for the defenders. Once the area of the flood discharge area expands, it will be extremely difficult for the troops to even camp on the same spot, let alone the troops' continued westward march.
Starting on May 16, the Ming Air Force carried out carpet bombing of Prague.
It was particularly important to get a good start, so a majestic and spectacular bombing of thousands of planes was adopted.
The "Hercules" bomber formation dropped bombs worth more than 600,000 silver coins at a time, and almost wiped out one-fifth of Prague in one fell swoop.
Since the European War ended before, European countries have signed peace treaties with each other, so they are also following the example of the Ming Empire in economic construction.
Basically, bastion-shaped cities will no longer be built, and cities with this shape will not be expanded based on amplifying their city defense capabilities.
If a city wants to expand its area, it must develop outside the bastion, that is, build commercial service facilities and residential buildings outside the city walls.
The city wall-style planning layout was completely abandoned, because this has the lowest infrastructure cost. After the development of armored forces, there is no need to vigorously build city walls.
As the second largest city in the empire after Vienna, Prague's development speed is no slower than that of large cities in other countries.
In view of the local industrial foundation and strong business atmosphere, the subordinates sent by Leopold who returned from studying in the Ming Empire copied the other party's methods.
Except for the very important banks in the old city, almost all the newly built factories and enterprises are in the development zones outside the city, because the price of land outside the city is much cheaper than in the city.
After the land acquisition, Nong Min can buy buildings in the city when he has money, which can also stimulate the development of the real estate industry, which can be regarded as a virtuous cycle.
After thirty years of development, Brak's urban area has almost five times its original size, and its population has reached nearly one million.
Although it was the capital of Bohemia, Leopold was willing to manage and operate Prague as the most important city, hoping to make the city the shining twin star of the empire like Vienna.
At night, cities like Prague and Vienna, which are experiencing rapid industrialization and development, have indeed achieved their small goal of being brightly lit, driven by electricity.
But now, both cities are also very eye-catching during the day.
Because one was bombed by the Ming Air Force, and the other was slowly rubbed by the Ottoman Air Force...
The strength of the Ming Dynasty Air Force is not only ranked first in the world, but also far ahead of the second-place French Air Force.
On the first day alone, more than 1,100 "Hercules" bombers and nearly 800 "Black-footed Albatross" fighter jets were dispatched for escort.
Since they were bombing a large city located in the hinterland of the Holy Roman Empire, they had to be careful to prevent a sneak attack by the opponent's fighter jets.
If dozens or even hundreds of bombers are lost at one time, it must be a major liability accident.
With a large enough escort fleet, this is simply impossible to happen.
Even if the Holy Roman Empire Air Force has been accumulating strength and can concentrate thousands of single-engine fighter jets into battle, it will not be able to fight against so many "Black-footed Albatross".
In fact, Crown Prince Joseph did this. In order to defend Prague, he had to take a desperate risk and put more than 500 "Albatross" fighter jets on the line.
As a result, the largest air battle in human history broke out - the Prague air battle!
However, due to communication problems and fear of being bombed by the other side, the Holy Roman Empire Air Force's fighter planes are deployed at bases dozens or even hundreds of kilometers west of Prague.
When they arrived at the battlefield, it seemed a little late, because the Ming army's bomber group had already completed dropping bombs.
But it was not too late, or even just right. At this time, the "Hercules" fleet was turning and preparing to return.
No matter how bad the pilots of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force are, they will realize that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So no matter how many fighter jets the other side had protecting the bombers, they all pounced on them.
If you use the cheap fighter jet you fly to destroy even an expensive bomber, you will make money.
"Attention all groups, enemy planes are attacking. Each group will leave one squadron to protect the bombers, and the other two squadrons will go to stop them!"
Each "Blackfoot Albatross" group has three squadrons, each squadron is equipped with twenty-four fighters.
The number of brigades participating in this escort reached thirteen, but due to long-term missions, all brigades were understaffed.
The twin-engine "Blackfoot Albatross" is faster, more powerful and has a greater range than the single-engine "Albatross".
The Ming army pilots did not have to worry about ammunition and time in the air. Below were the ground troops besieging the city.
Once the plane is hit and unable to return to base, you can parachute immediately, as long as you don't land in the city...
There is a gray fuselage on one side and a yellow fuselage on the other side.
Looking at it from a distance, it is all a large area of darkness.
No need to say hello, just rush straight up.
Since they had figured out the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower during the bombing of Warsaw and other cities, the bombers of the Ming Air Force did not need to fly too high, and basically adopted a very effective low-altitude bombing mode.
That is to say, the entire fleet is maintained at an altitude of about four to five thousand meters. If the visibility is too poor due to cloud cover, the fleet will lower the altitude appropriately.
Previously, the fleet had only shot down less than ten bombers by ground artillery fire. This was a completely bearable loss, and the pilots basically fell into their own control area.
Due to the gap in aircraft performance, the ceiling of the "Hercules" bomber is much higher than that of the "Albatross" fighter, but at this time it is already too late to increase the ceiling.
All "Black-footed Albatross" fighter jets participating in the escort can only operate at the same altitude. Even if all fighter jets are sacrificed, it is necessary to ensure that most of the bombers can return home safely.
During training, the Ming Air Force fighter unit used the far and near double-layer interception mode.
The long-range method is to take the initiative to attack after discovering the enemy aircraft, while the short-range method is to wait for the opponent to get closer before taking action.
If these two layers of firepower network cannot stop the opponent's assault, then the bomber can only rely on its own airborne firepower to save its life.
Fortunately, the body of the "Black-footed Albatross" is much stronger than the crispy "Albatross", and it can take a few rounds of its own bullets without any problem.
When the "Black-footed Albatross" was not equipped before, the "Albatross" fighter jets were often directly sieved by the firepower of their own bombers during ground exercises and were judged to be shot down directly.
The fighter fleets of both sides met about five kilometers away. The "Blackfoot Albatross" relied on its powerful firepower and strong body to shoot down nearly 300 enemy aircraft in one fell swoop, while losing less than 30 of its own.
The firepower of the twenty-millimeter cannon is far beyond what a crispy fighter aircraft like the "Albatross" can withstand. Basically, after two or three rounds, the fuselage may be hit directly in the air and disintegrate.
Even a ten-millimeter machine gun can penetrate the fuselage and kill the opponent's pilots easily, saving them the step of parachuting...
Previously, Emperor Haojing had no interest in strengthening the fuselage of the "Albatross" fighter jet, which puzzled the air force.
Now, everyone finally understands that for a fighter jet that can be exported in large quantities, the crispier the skin, the better!
The fleet of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force was almost destroyed by the opponent after more than half of the fighter planes came into contact.
This frightened the pilots. They had no idea that the enemy's fighter planes were so ferocious.
Fortunately, they were divided into three teams and rushed from three directions, otherwise they might not be able to get past the opponent's fire net.
The remaining approximately two hundred fighter planes did not flee. Instead, after breaking through an interception, they continued to fly towards the seemingly stupid bomber formation.
The remaining thirteen squadrons of "Black-footed Albatross" could no longer turn a blind eye and voluntarily gave up accompanying the bombers, striving to block the opponent's attack two or three kilometers away.
Neither side would give up their mission, so they engaged in a second confrontation.
The "Albatross" of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force relied on its flexibility to dodge and move in the air to avoid incoming shells and bullets.
The pilots of the Ming Dynasty Air Force took advantage of the "Black-footed Albatross"'s fast speed and fierce firepower to rush through the fighting army.
Even if it's a head-to-head confrontation, with fighter planes colliding, the enemy planes must be killed.
The number of fighters on both sides is evenly matched, but the Ming Air Force is superior in terms of fighter performance and pilot quality and experience.
Less than fifty "Albatross" fighters were able to break through the defense line and finally rushed in front of the bomber formation.
The "Hercules" bomber can carry up to two tons of aerial bombs when performing bombing missions within 500 kilometers.
Why do they usually take off with only one ton of bombs?
The reason is simple, you must carry enough self-defense weapons and machine gunners!
There is a twenty-millimeter cannon on the upper part of the fuselage, and there are twin ten-millimeter machine guns on the sides, front and rear, and belly.
When the pilots of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force tried to kill the "Hercules" bombers, they suddenly discovered that the self-defense firepower of these big stupid birds was not inferior to their fighter jets.
Forty-six "Albatross" tried their best, but only shot down eleven "Hercules" bombers.
In the air battle over Prague, including the previous bombing of the city, the Ming Air Force lost a total of twenty bombers and fifty-five fighter jets.
According to the statistics of aircraft wreckage by Lu Xuecheng's Third Army, the air force and ground anti-aircraft firepower shot down at least about 500 enemy aircraft!
