Chapter 158 Congreve Rocket

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Albrecht shrugged. He did not deny Franz's ability. It was just that the imperial government, the royal family, and the church did not do anything to the Hungarians. What could Franz, a little devil, do?

"Why don't you tell me what good stuff you have? Seeing your proud look, you must have something good, right?"

Franz took out a large "Sky Monkey", and the two brothers opposite said in unison.

"Congreve Rocket?"

"Yes, this weapon has great potential, but it has not been discovered yet."

The origin of the Congreve Rocket should be the Shenhuo Feiya of the Ming Dynasty, which was later imitated by the Indians and made into the "Indian Giant Eagle".

After the Indians modified it, the rocket was more powerful and had a longer range, up to 2.5 kilometers.

Later, Britain was beaten bloody by this rocket in the war of invading India, so the British took the seized objects back to the country for research and modification.

The engineer responsible for transforming the rocket was Major William Congreve. After five years of research, he finally created a weapon that could adapt to the European battlefield.

The Congreve rocket weighs 14.5 kilograms, the arrow is 1.06 meters long, the diameter is 0.1 meters, and it is equipped with a 4.6-meter-long balance rod, with a range of up to 1,800 meters.

Later, it was used in the battle of 1807. The British army launched 25,000 Congreve rockets at the Danish capital Copenhagen within 10 hours, not only destroying the Danish navy, but also almost burning the city to ashes.

The Austrians recognized the potential of this weapon at that time, but the British, as an ally, were unwilling to share their secrets with the Austrian Empire.

So, the Austrian military, with its unique thinking, turned its attention to Denmark, the victim of this weapon, and tried to get the secret of this weapon from the victim.

Surprisingly, at this time, the Danes not only cracked the secret of the Congreve rocket, but also created a lighter and more powerful version.

In order to obtain the Congreve rocket, Foreign Minister Metternich even promised the Danes that he would give Denmark political support at the Vienna Peace Conference.

However, the Danes were unwilling to provide drawings and only sent their designers to give verbal guidance to Austrian engineers.

But for Austrian engineers, this was enough.

Vincent Augustin, an Austrian engineer responsible for manufacturing the Congreve rocket, achieved mass production of the Congreve rocket within two months.

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, this weapon gradually faded out of people's sight, and only Austria and Denmark were still enthusiastic about this weapon.

At this time, the rocket technology of the Austrian Empire was the best in the world, but the stock was limited and mainly equipped to the navy to fight pirates.

Within the military of the Austrian Empire, the evaluation of the Congreve rocket was polarized.

On one side was represented by Marshal Radetzky. These generals felt that the Congreve rocket was simply a weapon given by God to the Austrian Empire.

The Austrian Empire had a large number of cavalry, and the army was also known for its high mobility.

However, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian army became increasingly dependent on artillery due to the rapid rise in the status of artillery.

Especially during marches or offensive battles, infantry often needed to slow down to wait for the heavy guns to arrive on the battlefield, which led to the Austrian army losing its mobility advantage and lagging behind the French in artillery technology, which led to a comprehensive defeat.

(The Austrians summed it up themselves at the time. They did not think they could not beat the French, but only felt that there was a gap in tactics and weapons.)

Although Congreve rockets have four models of 6 pounds, 12 pounds, 16 pounds and 28 pounds, they are all within the acceptable range of the soldiers' bodies.

This weapon can be completely distributed to the company and used with infantry or cavalry for mobile operations.

At the same time, the rate of fire and range of Congreve rockets are far stronger than artillery of the same period.

The other side is represented by Prince Wendy Gretz and General Leech, who think that Congreve rockets are nonsense. The garbage left over by the Orientals hundreds of years ago can only be used to attack cities, and it is very inhumane.

At the same time, its accuracy was also criticized. The hit rate of this weapon was really touching, even better than that of a smoothbore rifle.

Someone once used 100 Congreve rockets to try to destroy a house 200 meters away, but all 100 Congreve rockets missed.

General Leech attributed his failure in Italy entirely to this weapon.

In fact, General Leech's rocket unit was with the artillery, ready to provide cover for the infantry in front. As a result, whether it was a technical problem or a problem of luck, more than 100 Congreve rockets directly hit the advancing Austrian Udine 3rd Infantry Regiment.

Not only did it cause hundreds of casualties, but it also caused the Udine 3rd Infantry Regiment to completely collapse, letting the Carbonari rebels escape.

The navy was not interested in this weapon, although the British once used it to almost destroy the entire Copenhagen.

However, the lethality of the Congreve rocket was extremely limited in naval battles, especially since the distance between the two sides in most naval battles was more than 300 meters.

At this distance, even when facing a target as large as a battleship, the hit rate of the Congreve rocket is very low. In addition, the climate at sea is much worse than on land. Whether it is rain or storm, the Congreve rocket will be invalidated. Sometimes the Congreve rocket will be blown by the wind and change direction, or even fly towards its own ships.

Moreover, the major powers in the world, Britain, France, Russia, and even Prussia have given up the research on the Congreve rocket. The only countries that are obsessed with research and manufacturing it are Denmark and Austria, which is enough to prove that it is not a mainstream weapon. The Austrian Empire should not waste money and manpower to continue to develop this equipment.

"What good thing? Gunpowder is a good thing. Orientals use it to make firecrackers, and you use it to make Congreve rockets." Friedrich said sarcastically.

"Franz, I advise you not to have too high expectations for this thing. Its firing rate and range are very good, but its hit rate is terrible. It often flies around, and even the launcher doesn't know who it will hit."

Albrecht had used this weapon himself before. As a result, the Congreve rocket may have too much charge and flew directly from the launcher to the top of the crowd. After the explosion, countless small iron balls flew out but no casualties were caused.

In fact, the Congreve rocket has three types of warheads, namely high-explosive bombs, shotgun shells, and incendiary bombs.

But the military usually uses incendiary bombs because the direction of this weapon is uncontrollable. If the explosion distance exceeds 5 meters, it is basically difficult to cause harm to people.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you solve the hit rate problem. Although it's not a real solution, at least it won't let this rocket fly back and hurt your own people."

Franz pointed to the tail fin on the rocket.

"What is this? It looks like the tail feathers on a bow and arrow." Friedrich said.

"You're not using it as a bow and arrow, are you?" Albrecht asked.

"What's the difference? With the tail fins, the rocket can remain relatively stable in the air, and won't deflect too much. Isn't it what the military needs to improve the hit rate?" Franz replied.