Faced with the Austrians' reconnaissance balloons in the sky, the French Army was helpless. Lamoricière had actually thought of using artillery right away, and the problem of insufficient elevation was quickly solved.
If a gun could not elevate high enough on its own, the problem could be solved with an artificial slope or a raised firing platform.
However, neither solution addressed the biggest problem: the guns could not fire high enough.
At the time, most French guns had a range of 800 to 1,200 meters, but their maximum firing height was generally less than 300 meters. Even the M1841 Napoleon could not fire higher than 400 meters.
Using solid shot would reduce their firing height even further. Moreover, a hot-air balloon high above the ground looked like nothing more than a black speck to the gunners below. Even if it was within range, hitting it would come down to luck.
The Austrian Empire's reconnaissance balloons usually flew at an altitude of around 600 meters, which made it fundamentally impossible for the French to shoot them down with artillery.
As for why they flew at only around 600 meters, it was not because the Austrian Empire lacked the technology to go higher. They simply could not reconnoiter effectively from a greater altitude.
Ordinary people could usually see no farther than 500 meters. Even specially selected observers could rarely distinguish details beyond 800 meters.
Of course, Franz was not about to rely solely on these men's natural abilities to wage war. Every hot-air balloon was equipped with a fixed military binocular telescope, either three-power or six-power, for close observation.
The Austrian Empire was far ahead of other countries in optics at the time. So why were its telescopes only three-power or six-power, when local governors in the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli