Making Things Difficult

Just as everyone believed the Prusso-Russian War had reached a stalemate, on November 2, 1879, a Prussian division suddenly bypassed Kamen and headed straight for Pinsk.

Since the outbreak of the Prusso-Russian War, Franz had been watching it closely, occasionally even dispatching airships for high-altitude reconnaissance.

Austria was the most advanced nation in airship technology. Its most advanced reconnaissance airships could operate at altitudes of up to 8,000 meters.

Anti-aircraft weapons were still underdeveloped in this era. As long as they stayed above 3,000 meters, neither anti-aircraft machine guns nor artillery posed much of a threat.

With no security threat to speak of, Austrian airships naturally ventured deep into other nations' airspace on a regular basis. At first, Franz had not been accustomed to such domineering conduct, but seeing that the neighbors had little reaction, he gradually got used to it.

At an altitude of several thousand meters, without binoculars, many people would mistake them for birds. The chance of being spotted was quite low.

Even if they were discovered, they could claim that the pilot had gotten lost. Such things happened often enough anyway—especially with airships from Europe's smaller nations, which would fly along and somehow drift beyond their own airspace.

The unusual movement of the Prussian army caught the pilots' attention. Once it was reported upward, it also caught the attention of the bored Franz, who immediately summoned the duty staff officers for a meeting.

"You have all read the intelligence. What do you think Moltke's objective is?"

Regardless of why Franz had taken an interest in the matter, everyone was still excited for the chance to display their abilities before the Emperor.

Deputy Chief of Staff General Morkes said, "Your Majesty, the Prussian army's true target should not be Pinsk. This may be intended to divide the