The war truly broke out, yet the first reaction it brought was not shock, but rather a deep sense of relief. There was no helping it. Newspapers had been hyping the topic of a hegemonic war for months. It was as if, on the eve of a storm, the air itself had been filled with suffocating pressure. Over the past several months, the people of Europe had lived in a state of tension, their nerves stretched to the limit. Now that the war had finally erupted, those tightly wound nerves were at last able to relax. As the public eased up, the governments of various countries became extremely tense. This was especially true for France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, three countries that were effectively gambling on fate and dared not relax for a single moment. When the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat suffers. History offered no shortage of such examples. In this era, politics was decidedly unforgiving to small states. Although France was not a small country, when the number one and number two powers clashed, incidents where the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth were crushed by accident were not limited to the business world. They were equally common in international competition. France, already battered and wounded, had not yet emerged from the shadow of war and simply could not withstand further turmoil. Unfortunately, most of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force’s forward airfields were concentrated in northern France, with the forward command headquarters located in Calais. It was only a few dozen kilometers from the later famous Dunkirk, and the straight line distance to the British Isles at the closest point was less than seventy kilometers. That Carlos had been able to sit securely on the throne of France, without being driven out, showed that he was no ordinary figure. He may not have possessed extraordinary brilliance or exceptional domestic governance skills, but he certainly did not lack basic strategic vision. In recent years, the Holy Roman Empire had continuously built military airfields along the French coast, clearly with the British in mind. Carlos had long been fully aware of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force’s plan to bomb the British Isles, or more specifically, its strategy to bomb London. If it were merely a matter of lending facilities or providing logistical support, that would be one thing. The problem was that once the Holy Roman Empire Air Force launched its strategic bombing campaign, British retaliation would be inevitable. Carlos did not know whether the Royal Air Force could drop bombs on the Holy Roman Empire’s homeland, but dropping bombs on French territory would pose no difficulty at all. Given the bombing accuracy of aircraft in this era, even without any deliberate intent to provoke, merely attempting to destroy coastal airfields would inflict severe losses on France. “Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west side of the river.” At present, the French government has lost its voice in the international arena. Only two paths remained open to them: either accept reality willingly, or have reality forced upon them at gunpoint. At the Palace of Versailles, the somewhat aged Carlos asked, “How did the talks go? Has the Holy Roman government agreed to reinforce our air defenses?” Being king was no easy task, especially being king of France. It was as though the position were cursed. Since the era of the Great Revolution, every French regime has been remarkably short-lived. In less than a century, the Bonaparte dynasty, the Orléans dynasty, and the Bourbon dynasty had all taken turns on the stage. Having finally succeeded in restoring the monarchy, Carlos naturally had no intention of being driven from the throne again. From the moment he ascended, he had devoted himself to consolidating his rule. In addition to sorting out domestic affairs and cleaning up the internal mess, he had also achieved notable breakthroughs in diplomacy. Although France had not yet broken free from the constraints of the Vienna Conference, relations with the European powers had eased considerably, especially with the Holy Roman government. Foreign Minister Pietro replied, “No, we were refused again, although a small concession was made. The Holy Roman government stated that the coalition would guarantee our security. They believe the British would not penetrate deep inland. As long as defenses are deployed along the coast, there is no need to strengthen air defenses in interior cities.” There was no doubt that this was clearly not an air defense issue. “Grievances have their owners, and debts have their creditors.” The protagonist of this hegemonic war was the Holy Roman Empire. France was merely along for the ride and was not worth being deliberately targeted. Using the protection of civilians as a pretext to demand increased air defense strength was, beyond genuine concern, more a test of the Vienna System. Completely breaking free of those shackles was unrealistic. Any hint of such ambition would only invite disaster upon an already fragile France. Yet the matter still had to be pursued. If France wished to embark on a path of healthy development, it first had to return to the ranks of normal sovereign states. Unfortunately, the Holy Roman government was unwilling to loosen its grip, and as for the anti-French coalition states that benefited from the status quo, there was even less reason to expect concessions from them. After some thought, Carlos sighed and said, “Forget it. This is clearly not the time to discuss such matters. We will have to wait until the hatred fades and look for another opportunity. How are the talks going with the British? Is there any possibility…” Seeing the Foreign Minister’s downcast expression, Carlos already knew that the outcome was unfavorable, and the rest of his sentence naturally went unfinished. On reflection, this was only to be expected. Given the centuries long “traditional friendship” between Britain and France, stabbing one another in the back was the normal course of affairs. Relying on the French government’s influence alone to persuade British aircraft not to attack French territory was, by any measure, unrealistic. … December 29, 1904. Weather: clear, wind force two to three. Heavy fog over London. Staring at the meteorological report just delivered, Air Force General Marvin Antonio Chávez wore a grim expression. It was true that the weather was favorable, but only in the Calais region. London was still shrouded in its infernal fog. In an area where visibility was less than fifty meters, accurately striking a target was virtually impossible. Beyond the low hit rate, the greater problem lay in the safety of the aircraft themselves. Not only was there a high risk of losing one’s bearings, but midair collisions were also a real possibility. Time did not wait for anyone. The war had already broken out. No matter how great the difficulties were, the fighting still had to proceed. General Marvin said, “The core military ports of the British Isles are London, Liverpool, and Aberdeen. The main forces of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet are largely stationed at these three ports. Our bombing targets this time are also these three locations. However, recent weather conditions in London have been extremely poor, with very low visibility, making it unsuitable for air operations. Given the realities, the decision at home is to strike Liverpool and Aberdeen first. As for London, a symbolic bombing will suffice. There is no need to take the risk of penetrating deep into the city. The relevant materials were distributed to each of you three days ago. We will now begin formulating a detailed operational plan, striving to…” A head on assault was out of the question. With London’s smog providing natural cover, bombing the city was easy, but achieving effective damage was extremely difficult. When accuracy could not be guaranteed, the only alternative was to rely on sheer numbers. Unfortunately, numbers were precisely what could not be brought to bear at the moment. In terms of personnel and aircraft, the Holy Roman Empire Air Force was not lacking. The real issue was safety. High altitude bombing was manageable, as it was relatively less affected by smog. Once aircraft descended to low altitude, however, disaster loomed, with destruction of both plane and crew always a possibility. Losing propositions were not worth pursuing. Under these circumstances, temporarily changing the bombing targets and redirecting the spearhead toward other British port cities was entirely reasonable. The first to suffer would naturally be military ports. If there was an opportunity to strike the Royal Navy at the same time, there was simply no reason to refuse it.
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