The diplomatic protest Jacob proposed was, in truth, nothing more than an angry remark. France could not afford the humiliation of appealing to the international community for help.
Failing to win on the battlefield and pinning its hopes on international intervention was the behavior of the weak, unbefitting France's status as a great power.
Of course, the main reason was that protests were useless. The four referees of the European Continent had split into pairs and started brawling among themselves—surely they could not expect a bunch of minor countries acting as cheerleaders to step in?
War inevitably brought casualties. France's civilian losses were heavy, but civilian losses on the Anti-French Alliance's side were no less severe.
Especially in the already occupied regions of Belgium and the Rhineland. Though there were no precise figures, civilian casualties could be confirmed to have exceeded five digits.
This was the height of the colonial empires, and likewise the height of racial discrimination. Not every people possessed human rights.
It was fine as long as the lid remained shut. If it were truly pried open, the final outcome would be "losing a thousand of one's own to kill three hundred of the enemy."
If mishandled, and the nations of Europe came to believe that France was finished, rushing one after another to cling to Austria's thigh, then they would be in serious trouble.
The current Anti-French Alliance was already difficult enough to deal with. If the Austrians sweet-talked a few more allies into joining them, there would be no point in fighting the battles ahead.
In fact, the greatest threat the Austrian Air Force posed to the French army was not its direct battlefield casualties.
Whether airship bombardment or aircraft strafing, the results they could achieve depended on luck.
When luck was good, a single