Chapter 1008: Wind Rifle
Hearing the Frenchman mention the most brilliant feat of his life, Leo's head snapped up in excitement. "Fighting the Prussian army alongside His Highness the Crown Prince is a memory I shall cherish for the rest of my days."
"I swear, as long as I draw breath, no one shall ever hand Liegnitz back to the Prussians!"
Talleyrand's expression, however, was one of pure disappointment. "You mustn't fixate solely on Liegnitz."
"Then... what do you mean?"
Talleyrand leaned in closer. "Breslau, Glogau, and indeed, all of Silesia."
Leo's pupils constricted instantly, and his head slumped back down. "No, no, that would trigger a massive war."
Talleyrand patiently laid out his analysis. "Currently, the Prussians have fewer than twenty thousand mobile troops remaining, and almost all of them must be used to defend Glogau. Meanwhile, the fortress at Breslau is cut off from supplies and could fall at any moment."
"Archduke Charles, on the other hand, has won victory after victory. Morale is at an all-time high. I'd wager the soldiers of the Royal Moravian Legion are even dreaming of marching straight to Berlin."
"Therefore, so long as we project enough strength, that young King of Prussia who just took the throne will surely choose to submit."
Leo still appeared listless. "You're right that we have the military advantage, but the Prussians will certainly turn to Britain for help..."
Talleyrand gave a dismissive laugh. "The bulk of the British army is pinned down on the Iberian Peninsula. They have absolutely no time to worry about the situation in Silesia."
"Besides, even if the Prussians could find outside help, Austria has allies of its own."
Leo's eyes snapped up to meet his.
Talleyrand nodded with a smile. "Indeed. France will fully support your reclamation of Silesia. This has always been His Highness the Crown Prince's position."
A look of hesitation—and temptation—crossed Leo's face.
Prussia was currently extremely weak. If France and Austria joined forces, William III would certainly lose the courage to continue the fight.
Even if they couldn't secure everything south of Glogau, obtaining the Silesian lands west of the Oder River was a very real possibility—and that was more than twice the size of the Province of Liegnitz.
Talleyrand glanced at him and continued, "Once Potsdam accepts the armistice terms, as the primary architect of this strategy, I imagine a promotion to Prince would be inevitable."
Leo's heart skipped a beat, yet he remained cautious. "I see... and might I ask what specific support His Highness intends to provide?"
Talleyrand smiled like a sly old fox. "Low-interest loans, for one. Also, weapons—at least twenty thousand flintlock muskets. And finally, a public recognition that all of Silesia belongs to Austria."
Leo began to smile as well.
French aid would allow Austria to field another sizable legion, not to mention the crucial diplomatic backing. It was enough to crush the Prussians.
He spoke up immediately, his voice booming. "You're absolutely right. Now is the perfect time to retake Silesia!"
"I shall advise His Majesty the King that we must not accept any armistice until Silesia is fully recovered!"
He looked back at Talleyrand. "And what does the Empire owe His Highness in return for such generous assistance?"
This was common political sense; there was no such thing as a free lunch between nations.
Talleyrand replied instantly, "His Highness the Crown Prince wishes for His Imperial Majesty to recognize Spain's legitimate right to rule the entire Iberian Peninsula."
Leo nodded silently. This was a move to isolate Britain as much as possible in the Mediterranean, aligning perfectly with France's core strategy.
"I will certainly make that recommendation to His Majesty."
Talleyrand raised a hand. "Oh, and one more minor request."
"Please, go on."
"His Highness the Crown Prince is quite fond of the Wind Rifle. He would be very pleased if we could acquire the manufacturing technology for it."
The "Wind Rifle" he referred to was the Girandoni air rifle—a novel weapon designed by the Italian-Austrian master gunsmith Bartolomeo Girandoni. It resembled a flintlock but used a compressed air reservoir in the stock to propel its rounds.
After more than a decade of secret development and refinement, Austria had begun forming a "Wind Rifle Corps" in recent years, equipping them with five hundred air rifles.
Although its power was slightly less than that of a flintlock, the weapon's advantages were striking.
First was the rate of fire. With a twenty-round magazine, it could discharge every shot in less than half a minute.
Second, it was unaffected by the weather; it could be fired even in the midst of a torrential downpour.
Finally, it produced no smoke or muzzle flash when fired, and the sound was minimal, making it ideal for ambushes and covert operations.
Consequently, the Austrian Imperial Military Council viewed this as a vital next-generation weapon.
Of course, Joseph's interest in the device wasn't because he admired its advanced technology or wanted to equip the French army with it.
On the contrary, he knew perfectly well that while the gun seemed formidable, it was actually a piece of expensive junk.
The manufacturing precision of this era simply couldn't meet the requirements for air rifles; the delicate valves and air reservoirs were prone to breaking.
According to historical records, nearly half of all Wind Rifles would leak air during combat.
Furthermore, after thirty shots, the reservoir had to be refilled using a hand pump requiring fifteen hundred strokes—a process that took about twenty minutes.
Even if the opposing army consisted entirely of sloths, that was more than enough time for them to wipe out the Wind Rifle Corps.
Of course, the clever Mr. Girandoni had devised a solution: prepare a large number of pre-filled air reservoirs for soldiers to swap out immediately after firing.
A swap took less than two minutes, after which the soldier would return to being a "superman" capable of firing twenty rounds in thirty seconds.
However, the gap between theory and practice was a wide one.
The heavy reservoirs—weighing about 2.3 kilograms—were something soldiers loathed carrying. This necessitated the use of specialized transport wagons.
In actual combat, the process of soldiers retrieving fresh reservoirs caused chaos in the ranks. Enemies often seized these opportunities to charge, leading to a rout of the Wind Rifle Corps more than seventy percent of the time.
Historically, after pouring massive amounts of research funding into the project, Austria would eventually abandon this high-tech weapon entirely a few years later.
Joseph's goal now was to instill confidence in the leadership of the Imperial Military Council. If even the technologically advanced French were so interested in the Wind Rifle, it had to be the weapon of the future.
Especially now that Britain had successfully replicated percussion cap muskets, countries like Prussia and Austria were bound to invest in developing new firearms.
Throwing them a different technological curveball now would do the most to disrupt their weapon modernization process.
As expected, Leo appeared hesitant. "Your information is quite thorough to even know of the Wind Rifle," he muttered. "However, I can only promise to inquire. The old fogies on the Military Council prize that technology dearly."
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