Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1145

1145. A Killer Gift (10)

The air corps’ albatrosses returned to base after spotting the French fleet.

“Attach the fire bombs!”

“Refuel!”

“Fill the Hwachas’ [Korean fire arrows] ammunition drums!”

“Hey! Hey! Be careful not to twist the ammunition belt! If it jams, I’ll come back and twist your spine!”

Amidst the chaos, the maintenance crew checked the albatrosses and began attaching the self-propelled fire bombs.

In the midst of this commotion, the commander of the air corps climbed onto the platform and raised his voice.

“We have been doubted until now! The day has finally come to prove our worth! We must prove our value, and the value of the efforts that the SangHwang [Retired King], TaeSangHwang [King’s Father], and TaeTaeSangHwang [King’s Grandfather] have put in to create these airships! Do you understand!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Make thorough preparations! And give them a good hit!”

“Yes, sir!”

The unit members, responding loudly to the commander’s exhortation, proceeded with the final checks of the albatrosses.

Meanwhile, a group of pilots surrounded the commander, raising their voices.

“Please allow us to sortie as well!”

“We only have two Hwachas each, but we can fight enough! Please allow us to sortie!”

“Let us escort the albatrosses!”

Those requesting to sortie were the pilots who flew the ‘Kestrel’.

* * *

The Kestrel was an airship equipped with an early model of an internal combustion engine properly made for use in airships. The early model internal combustion engine was too weak to be mounted on the albatross, which had to carry self-propelled fire bombs.

To solve this, an improvement project was carried out under the leadership of Leonardo da Vinci to combine two into one, and the resulting improved internal combustion engine was mounted on the albatross.

However, the early model internal combustion engine was not simply discarded.

It was not unusable, just insufficient for the albatross, so an airship was designed to utilize it.

That was the Kestrel.

As the name suggests, it was smaller than the albatross, but more agile. And, as information came in that airships were being developed in France and Habsburg, the Kestrel’s mission became to suppress enemy airships.

* * *

The air corps commander began to deliberate over the Kestrel pilots’ request.

“There’s no way the French fleet has airships, so is there really a need for you to step in?”

“Even if they don’t have airships, there are plenty of Hwachas on every front line, aren’t there? You know very well that the most dangerous time is when the albatrosses are forming an attack formation and approaching the enemy ships, don’t you?”

“That’s right! I think it’s better for us to step in and divert their attention elsewhere!”

The commander pondered the Kestrel pilots’ arguments and soon made a decision.

“Your words are reasonable! I grant permission to sortie!”

“Thank you!”

“Wow! It’s a sortie!”

The Kestrel pilots, thrilled to be allowed to sortie, rushed to their aircraft.

“We’re going out too! Get ready!”

“Yes, sir!”

The Kestrel maintenance crew, who had been helping with the albatrosses’ preparations, began to move excitedly at the pilots’ shouts. The air corps commander, watching the pilots and maintenance crew moving with sky-high morale, turned his head towards the Mediterranean Sea beyond the bay.

“The first real battle…”

At that moment, faint cannon fire was heard from beyond the bay.

“It has begun…”

Soon after, starting with the Kestrels, the unit’s airships began to take to the sky one by one.

* * *

The Kestrels and albatrosses that had taken to the sky arrived at the battlefield immediately.

The squadron leader of the albatross formation, circling above the battlefield to assess the situation, spoke into the intercom to his subordinate in the back.

“Inform the squadron! We’re targeting those big guys in the back!”

“Yes, sir!”

The subordinate in the rear, having received the squadron leader’s order, operated a small light-emitting communicator to transmit the signal. First, he transmitted the order to the squadron planes on the right and received confirmation signals, then sent signals to the squadron planes on the left and confirmed their responses.

“Everyone has confirmed!”

“Good! Then let’s begin!”

The albatrosses and Kestrels, which had been circling in the sky, soon unwound their circles and turned their bows towards the main force of the French fleet, preparing to enter the battlefield.

* * *

As the Imperial air corps began to approach, the watchmen at the top of the mast spotted them, rang the bell, and shouted into the intercom.

Ding ding ding!

“Sky ahead! Airplane (avion)! Airplane!”

Admiral Tourville, hearing the watchman’s shout that the intercom was about to burst, put his telescope to his eyes and scanned the sky.

Seeing the Imperial airships approaching from afar, Admiral Tourville gritted his teeth.

“You tricked me, you cowardly Imperial bastards! You tricked me again!”

The Empire was always noisy, making a fuss all over the neighborhood whenever something new came out.

The same was true of airships.

They had been talking about experiments and results of airships made in all sorts of bizarre ways. However, only the words ‘devoting themselves to research’ were coming out about airships using internal combustion engines.

Therefore, France judged that they were the ‘first to make a usable airship’ and widely publicized it. Thanks to this, from the King of France to the people, they had great pride in ‘airplanes’.

“We are ahead of the Empire!”

But right now. The Empire’s airplanes were flying in droves.

Admiral Tourville, gritting his teeth, soon ordered the staff officer.

“Transmit to all ships in the fleet! Beware of fire bombs falling from enemy airplanes! Tell them to watch their heads!”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

France, having completed a practical airplane, began to consider the military use of airplanes. The first thing that came out was reconnaissance, followed by the use of suppressing enemy aircraft – especially Habsburg’s – and airplanes.

And the last method that came out was bombing.

-Drop bombs on the enemy’s head from an airplane.

“Will this really be useful?”

It was impossible to load bombs that could properly strike with the output of the airplane developed by France.

The most realistic method was to hang 3-4 bombs weighing about 10 livres (about 5 kg) near the rear cockpit and drop them over the enemy camp.

To increase the bomb load further, the rear crew member had to get off.

“Since the pilot selection criteria included weight in the first place… Will we be able to see the effect with just this much?”

The French command’s question was answered in a subsequent experiment.

-Bombs falling from above have a stronger psychological effect than actual destructive power.

-In the case of dealing with ships, the power is surprisingly useful.

It is more powerful to attack ships by combining bombs and flammable materials.

Admiral Tourville knew this result, so he told them to watch their heads. But the Imperial bastards were as cowardly as ever.

* * *

Light-emitting signals were busily exchanged among the albatrosses heading for the French fleet, which they had taken as prey.

They were coordinating in advance who would target which ship.

-If the attacking enemy ship is large, at least two aircraft will participate in the attack.

This was the combat doctrine of the albatross unit, and that is why they were coordinating so diligently. Thanks to the finger-aching chatter, the albatrosses, having smoothly finished coordinating, began to descend towards their targets.

The pilots controlling the albatrosses descending at a gentle slope complained at that moment as well.

“It would be nice to go down a little faster… It’s not like we’re on a sightseeing tour…”

The albatross was made as sturdy as possible using all the technology the Empire had, but rapid descent beyond the proper angle and descent speed was prohibited.

If something went wrong, it could disintegrate in the air while descending. This was also a regulation made thanks to those who actually challenged a rapid descent and lost their lives.

Therefore, the albatrosses were now starting their descent from a considerable distance from the French fleet. The albatrosses, having descended to the proper altitude, began to head straight for the French battleships they had taken as prey.

The French warships, seeing the albatrosses approaching, began firing Hwachas all at once. While the French navies were paying full attention to the albatrosses, the Kestrels descended from above their heads.

Tatatatatang!

The Kestrels, which were capable of ascending and descending at a slightly steeper angle than the albatrosses, swept the decks of the French warships from the blind spots of the French navy.

Casualties occurred instantly on the decks of the warships that the Kestrels had swept through, and other sailors had to drop out of the battle to move them to safety.

“They’re coming again!”

Tatatatatang!

The deck of the French battleship attacked by the Kestrels was gradually becoming a mess.

* * *

While the French navy was distracted by the Kestrels, the albatrosses were entering the final stage.

The albatross rear seat had a periscope.

The rear crew member was to operate the self-propelled fire bomb through the periscope that penetrated the bottom of the albatross fuselage and went up to the rear cockpit. Now, the rear crew member, with his eyes on the eyepiece of the periscope that had come up between his legs, had his right hand on the self-propelled fire bomb’s starter.

“Fire bomb start!”

Urrrung〜.

When the button on the starter was pressed, the self-propelled fire bomb started, and the counter-rotating propellers in the fire bomb ring began to spin faster and faster, and white smoke began to spew out through the exhaust port in the center of the propellers.

The rear crew member, confirming that the fire bomb had started with the vibration transmitted through the fuselage, grabbed the lever on the lower right. Finally, after confirming through the periscope that he had reached the optimal distance, the rear crew member shouted into the intercom and pulled the lever.

“Released!”

The albatross swayed greatly as the heavy self-propelled fire bomb fell away, and the pilot in the front leaned out and looked at the surface of the water. The pilot, having confirmed the white line created by the self-propelled fire bomb’s smoke just below the surface of the water, immediately turned the nose.

“Disengaging!”

The French battleship, which was the target of the albatross, knew this as well.

-Something dropped from the cowardly Imperial bastards’ airplane is approaching us quickly.

-Very quickly.

The captain, hearing the report, became anxious and began to adjust the rudder himself.

But the Imperial bastards were cowardly to the end.

The Imperial albatrosses simultaneously released self-propelled fire bombs from the left and right, following the course of the French battleship they had targeted.

In other words, no matter which direction the French battleship, which had detected the approach of the fire bomb, turned its bow, it would be hit by at least one shot.

And this cowardly move worked perfectly.

쾅 콰쾅

The French warships that had been targeted by the albatrosses were hit by at least one shot, and fatal holes were created. The problem was that the ships that were hit were the core of the French fleet.

They were the French first-class battleships that had been waiting in the back to face the Imperial Navy’s Challenger-class battleships and assault turtle ships, and were backstabbed by the albatrosses. The power of the self-propelled fire bomb was more powerful than expected, and the attacked first-class battleships began to tilt rapidly.

“Close the compartments!”

“Stop the flooding!”

The French navies desperately moved to save the ship, which was gradually tilting.

At the same time, signal flags indicating ‘combat disabled’ were raised on the masts of the attacked first-class battleships. Admiral Tourville, having confirmed the signals, had a blank expression on his face.

“Four ships fell off at the same time? Without even having a single artillery battle?”

Admiral Tourville, with a blank expression, smiled bitterly as he checked the signal flags.

“If this happens, even cursing them as cowards becomes a cowardly excuse….”