The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 446: Chapter 357: Fourth Generation Military Aircraft

As time came to October 1913, the Second Balkan War, which had erupted in the middle of the year, was essentially drawing to a close.

Before the outbreak of the war, both Bulgaria and the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance had full confidence in their outcome.

However, with the outbreak of the war, the significant gap in strength between the two sides made all countries in the world realize one truth: nations supported by the Powers and those without such support are truly at opposite extremes.

Bulgaria's humiliating defeat in the war proved that the reliability of the Powers' promises isn't always that high.

If one doesn't possess strong power, the Powers can turn against them at any time, tearing up their previous promises and agreements.

The Second Balkan War began on May 19th, and in less than five months, on October 17th, both parties signed a peace accord, hastily ending the war.

As the defeated country in the war, Bulgaria suffered heavy losses.

According to the Bucharest Treaty signed by both parties, Bulgaria lost a large amount of territory it had occupied during the First Balkan War, and had to pay a large sum of money to the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance as compensation.

Because the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance involved countries like Romania, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and even Turkey participated in this war.

This also led to the division of Bulgarian territory by as many as five countries, causing Bulgaria's territory to shrink significantly after the treaty.

Serbia gained Wadamacedon, Greece gained Aegean Macedonia, Montenegro gained a portion of the outer territories, and Romania gained Dobroga Island.

A part of the Sevres region was also divided by Greece, and the treaty between Bulgaria and Turkey resulted in the near-total loss of Bulgarian territories occupied during the previous Balkan War, along with extensive casualties in its military and a financial crisis.

In this war, the biggest loser, apart from Bulgaria, was actually another country - the previously promised aid of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Breaking their promise made the reputation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire unfriendly among European nations and caused some damage to the prestige of their allied countries.

Of course, this is not the main issue. More importantly, after the Second Balkan War, Serbia's strength significantly increased, becoming the most powerful country in the Balkan region.

Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were already in a hostile state, which further obstructed the Austro-Hungarian Empire's expansion in the Balkan Peninsula.

Moreover, the Balkan War fueled the nationalist liberation movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing the people in the region to demand liberation from the Austro-Hungarian rule and merge with Serbia.

The already severe national crisis within the Austro-Hungarian Empire was exacerbated, adding even more burden to the old empire.

In the long run, Serbia's strength intensified Russia's intervention in the Balkans, and the conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia inevitably interfered with both the Allies and the military blocs.

The Balkan War intensified the conflict between the two major military blocs, indirectly accelerating the arrival of the World War.

If they had remained neutral, Arthur would have had enough leisure to watch the development of the European situation.

However, since they have joined the Allies now, they have no choice but to make better preparations to ensure that the Allies will be the final victors in this world.

After signing the truck purchase order with the Benz Car Factory, Arthur went directly to the Aerospace Laboratory to visit the latest fourth-generation aircraft developed by the Aerospace Laboratory.

The biggest drawback of military aircraft in this era is as follows: due to the relatively simple initial military technology, the aircraft's update and replacement speed is fast.

From the birth of the airplane to the present, it has only been less than ten years, and as of now, they have already developed the fourth-generation military aircraft.

On average, every two and a half years, an update iteration is needed, making large-scale military aircraft equipment seem somewhat unrealistic at present.

After all, based on the current update and iteration speed of the aircraft, the heavily funded aircraft will become outdated products in just a few years.

Even the construction of airplanes takes a long time, from six months to several years; it is possible that the airplane orders haven't been completed yet, and there are already new airplanes waiting for inspection.

The development progress of the fourth-generation military aircraft varies, but it still follows passenger aircraft and is reported to Arthur for inspection.

Hearing the news of the development of the fourth-generation military aircraft by the Aerospace Laboratory, Arthur immediately rushed to the Aerospace Laboratory to inspect the most advanced military aircraft in the world.

Generally speaking, the fourth-generation military aircraft have undergone a considerable change compared to the third generation, and the aircraft's performance and data have been significantly enhanced.

Of course, this all depends on Disel's improvements to the aircraft's dedicated engine. The fourth-generation military aircraft all use Disel's improved new aircraft engine, which has increased the speed of the fourth-generation military aircraft by more than 30%.

First is the Eagle-4 Reconnaissance Aircraft, currently the fastest airplane in Australasia.

Its structure is not very different from the third-generation reconnaissance aircraft, but its size has slightly increased.

Without auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range of the Eagle-4 Reconnaissance Aircraft can reach 750 kilometers; with two auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range of the Eagle-4 Reconnaissance Aircraft can reach as much as 1250 kilometers.