Chapter 158 Congreve Rocket
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Albrecht shrugged, not denying Franz's abilities. It's just that the imperial government, the royal family, and the church didn't do anything to those Hungarians. What can Franz, a little devil, do?
"Why don't you tell me what good stuff your kid has? Judging from your proud look, you must have something good, right?"
Franz took out a large "Sky Monkey" and the two brothers on the other side said in unison.
"Congreve rocket?"
"Yes, the potential of this weapon is huge, but it has not been discovered yet."
The origin of the Congreve rocket should be the flying crow of the Ming Dynasty, which was later imitated by the Indians and made into the "Indian Giant Eagle".
After being modified by the Indians, the rocket is more powerful and has a longer range, up to 2.5 kilometers.
Later, during the invasion of India, the British were badly beaten by this kind of rocket, so the British took the captured objects back to the country for research and modification.
The engineer responsible for modifying 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, has an arrow length of 1.06 meters, a diameter of 0.1 meters, and is equipped with a 4.6-meter-long balance rod, with a range of up to 1,800 meters.
Later, they showed their prowess in the battle of 1807. The British army launched 25,000 Congreve rockets into Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, within 10 hours. It not only ruined the Danish navy, but also almost burned the city to death.
The Austrians recognized the potential of this weapon back then, but the British, as their allies, were unwilling to share their secrets with the Austrian Empire.
Ever since, the Austrian military, with its clever thinking, turned its attention to Denmark, the victim of this weapon, and tried to get the secret of this weapon from the victim.
What is surprising is that at this time the Danes not only cracked the secret of the Congreve rocket, but even 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 provide verbal guidance to the Austrian engineers.
But for the Austrian engineers, that was enough.
Vincent Augustin, the Austrian engineer responsible for building the Congreve rocket, achieved mass production of the Congreve rocket within two months.
After the Napoleonic Wars, this weapon gradually faded out of people's sight. Only Austria and Denmark were still enthusiastic about this weapon.
At this time, the Austrian Empire ranked first in the world in rocket technology, but its stock was limited and was mainly equipped for the navy to fight against pirates.
Within the Austrian Imperial Military, evaluations of the Congreve rocket are polarized.
One side is represented by Marshal Radetzky. These generals feel that the Congreve rocket is simply a weapon given to the Austrian Empire by God.
The Austrian Empire has a large number of cavalry, and its army is also known for its high mobility.
However, during the Napoleonic Wars, due to the sharp rise in the status of artillery, the Austrian army became increasingly dependent on it.
Especially during marches or offensive battles, infantry often need to slow down to wait for the heavy heavy weapons to arrive on the battlefield. This causes the Austrian army to lose its mobility advantage, and at the same time lags behind the French in artillery technology. army, which led to a complete rout.
(The Austrians themselves concluded at the time that they did not feel that they could not defeat the French, they only felt that there was a gap in tactics and weapons.)
Although the Congreve rocket is available in four models: 6 pounds, 12 pounds, 16 pounds and 28 pounds, they are all within the range acceptable to the soldiers' bodies.
This kind of weapon can be distributed to the company to carry out mobile combat with the infantry or cavalry.
At the same time, the Congreve rocket's rate of fire and range are much stronger than the artillery of the same period.
The other side was represented by Prince Wendy Gratz and General Reach, who felt that the Congreve Rocket was just nonsense. The leftover garbage that Easterners played hundreds of years ago can only be used to attack cities, and is very inhumane.
At the same time, it is also criticized for its accuracy. The hit rate of this weapon is really impressive, even better than that of a musket.
Someone once used a hundred Congreve rockets to try to destroy a house two hundred meters away. As a result, all one hundred Congreve rockets missed.
General Li Qi even attributed his failure in Italy entirely to this weapon.
In fact, General Reach's rocket force was together with the artillery, preparing to provide cover for the infantry in front. I don't know whether it was a technical problem or a matter of luck. More than a hundred Congreve rockets directly hit the advancing Austrian troops. 3rd Infantry Regiment of Udine.
Not only did it cause hundreds of casualties, it also caused the complete collapse of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of Udine and let go of the Carbonari rebels.
The navy was also not interested in this weapon, although the British once used it to almost destroy the entire Copenhagen.
However, the lethality of Congreve rockets in naval battles is extremely limited, especially since the distance between the two sides in most naval battles exceeds 300 meters.
At this distance, even when facing a target as big as a battleship, the hit rate of Congreve rockets is very low. In addition, the climate at sea is far worse than on land. Whether it is rain or storm, Congreve rockets will cause Congreve rockets are ineffective, and sometimes the Congreve rockets are blown by the wind and change direction, or even fly towards one's own ships.
Moreover, all the major powers in the world, including Britain, France, Russia, and even Prussia, have given up 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 Money and manpower should not be wasted continuing 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 rate of fire and range are very good, but its hit rate is terrible. It often flies around. Who will it hit? Even the person who launched it doesn’t know.”
Albrecht had personally used this weapon. As a result, the Congreve rocket, probably due to too much charge, detached from the launcher and flew towards everyone's heads. After the explosion, countless small iron beads flew out but there was no causing casualties.
In fact, Congreve rockets have three types of warheads, namely high-explosive bombs, shotguns, and incendiary bombs.
However, the military usually uses incendiary bombs because the direction of such weapons 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 you won't let this kind of rocket fly back and hurt your own people."
Franz pointed to the tail fin on the rocket.
"What is this? It seems to be the tail feathers on a bow and arrow." Friedrich said.
"You don't mistake it for a bow and arrow, do you?" Albrecht asked.
"Is there any difference? With the addition of the tail fin, the rocket can remain relatively stable in the air and avoid excessive deflections. Isn't improving the hit rate exactly what the military needs now?" Franz answer.