Airships were still something novel at this time, and for weak nations in particular, they were practically an unsolvable menace.
But the ceiling for this weapon's future development was too low. If this window of opportunity was not properly exploited, then once every nation upgraded its air-defense weapons, airships would be useless.
Once airplanes appeared, airships' importance would decline sharply, and their military status in particular would plummet in a straight line. They would only be used for special purposes.
In reality, there was no clause prohibiting the use of weapons with a generational technological advantage. Since they worked well, naturally they would keep being used.
If the Ottomans could really use bamboo poles and flying stones to bring down Austria's airship forces, then Franz would concede defeat.
Franz knew perfectly well what problems the Russians were facing. After all, those many batches of military observers had not been sent for nothing.
Against the Ottoman practice of building positions atop mountain peaks, the safest method was actually to divide and encircle them, then wipe them out one by one or persuade them to surrender.
But Franz needed time now. Though he had bribed some British parliamentarians to oppose the withdrawal, their numbers were limited after all.
Moreover, Franz did not think the British would truly follow the rules so faithfully. If they discovered that things were going wrong, they might very well devise some bill to bypass Parliament.
In fact, the British had been conserving their strength all along up to this point, and some people with status and connections had already begun leaving the Ottoman Empire in advance.
The Ottoman upper ranks knew this perfectly well too, but circumstances were beyond their control. They could only watch helplessly as war swallowed the entire nation.
After all, the Ottoman Empire