The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1149 - 864: Changes in the Sudeten German Army

It was evident that the meticulously planned nighttime air raid by the Germans caught the Austrian people completely off guard.

If this had happened at the start of the war, it would have been a different story. Back then, the Austrian military was always prepared for German attacks, with personnel manning the airport's defense weapons at all times, ready to use anti-aircraft weapons to counterattack immediately upon being attacked.

But now, more than half a month had passed since the war began, and the Austrians had gradually relaxed their vigilance against the German Army.

After all, as previously mentioned, before this air raid took place, the German Air Force had not penetrated deep into Austrian territory, which logically meant they could not possibly have obtained intelligence on the locations of the Austrian airports.

This also meant that the Germans must have acquired the intelligence from another source to launch an air raid that the Austrian people were completely unprepared for.

No matter what the Austrians thought, this attack was a devastating loss for them and effectively rendered nearly all of the military airports they had deployed in the Czech region useless.

The afternoon of April 28th, at the Cabinet Government of the Austrian Empire.

The Austrian Prime Minister sat heavily in his seat, his gaze fixed intensely on his Air Force Minister, his questioning eyes overflowing with inquiry.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, all seven of our military airports deployed in the Czech region have been attacked, and nearly all of them have suffered heavy losses.

According to preliminary statistics, about 40 airplanes have been directly destroyed, and close to 200 airplanes face varying degrees of damage and will need repairs before they can be put back into use.

What's worse, our airport runways and their annex facilities have suffered comprehensive bombing. Over a hundred air force soldiers have been sacrificed in this bombing, and a large number of airport personnel have also suffered casualties of varying degrees.

To put it bluntly, the Air Force deployed in the Czech region has completely lost its combat capability. If we do not want to hand over control of the Czech skies to the Germans on a silver platter, we must have the Air Forces of Austria and Slovakia do their utmost to protect the Czech skies," the Air Force Minister said with a grave expression.

"Damn it!" The Austrian Prime Minister cursed, his face ashen as he slumped into his chair, his voice weak with resignation, "The Air Force in the Czech region has lost all combat capability? Is this the return on the heavy investment we've made in our Air Force?

Minister Ryan, please tell me, why were our airports and Air Force units completely unprepared in the face of the enemy's air raid?

If I'm not mistaken, our investment in military radar was one of the main expenses for the Air Force. Don't tell me the revenue we've poured into the Air Force hasn't produced any results."

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, the enemy already knew the exact locations of all our military airports in the Czech region without any deep reconnaissance.

I believe the responsibility for this incident cannot entirely be placed on the Air Force; the Intelligence Department also shares some of the blame," Minister Ryan hurriedly explained.

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Because of the massive losses suffered by the Air Force in the Czech region, it's very likely that the frontline Austrian military could fall into an even more severe disadvantage due to the lack of support from the Air Force.

The series of chain reactions this could set off might lead to a complete wartime defeat in the Czech region. Once the Czech region is lost, a defeat for the Austrian Empire against the German military assault is only a matter of time.

This also implies that the heavy price paid for the severe losses sustained by the Air Force in the Czech region might lead to the downfall of the entire war.

The person responsible for the heavy losses of the Air Force, who will ultimately carry the blame, is destined to become the main culprit in the failure of the entire war.

Carrying such a heavy burden was something Minister Ryan knew he couldn't shoulder alone. No matter his former status, being labeled with such a huge stigma would reduce him to one singular role after this: the villain of all Austria.

"I don't want to hear your lengthy explanations." The Austrian Prime Minister waved his hand to interrupt Minister Ryan before he could attempt to explain and clear his own suspicions, "What I need are results, Minister Ryan. No matter what it takes, you must ensure we maintain air supremacy over the Czech region.

I believe you understand the consequences we'll face if we lose air supremacy in the Czech region. The only thing you can do now is to redeem yourself by keeping those damned Germans' airplanes out of the battle lines, understand?"

Just as Minister Ryan needed to clear himself of responsibility, so did Daniel Overy, as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet of Austria, need to make every effort to absolve himself of any blame in this incident.

And the current Air Force Minister, Ryan, was clearly the most suitable candidate to take the fall. After all, if the Air Force, having been taken by surprise and suffering heavy losses, doesn't bear the blame, then whose fault could it be?

"Yes, I understand, Your Excellency the Prime Minister," Minister Ryan replied, his face pallid as he nodded. Although he was well aware that Prime Minister Daniel was trying to shift the blame, he felt powerless to do anything about it.

After all, just as Prime Minister Daniel had said, no matter how much he argued, it was an undeniable fact that the Austrian Air Force had suffered heavy losses under the assault of the German Air Force.

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Unless he could ensure the safety of Austria's airspace and prevent German airplanes from threatening Austrian urban cities, the furious people would sooner or later attribute all the blame and guilt to him, and he would have to bear the brunt of their wrath.

The heavy losses suffered by the Air Force caused the Austrian government to be in a state of chaos. Many pacifists emerged, claiming that in the great European war of the past, Germany and the Austrian Empire were allies.

Now, Austria should not be enemies with Germany. Austria and Germany should become allies again, with the target of both German-Austrian cooperation being the two great enemies of Western and Eastern Europe: France and Russia Nation.

The pacifists' assertions were not without foundation. Aside from the unexpected development with Austria, the current war situation remained the same as the European war twenty years prior, still a conflict between Britain and France and Germany.

The difference was that Italy, which had fought against Germany during World War I, had now joined the German side, while Austria had joined the British and French.

The pacifists stated that the current Germany was clearly stronger than it had ever been, and their expansion seemed unstoppable.

Moreover, the attitude shown by Britain and France up to that point, apart from repeated concessions, left no glimpse of hope for victory.

Including now, when a full-scale war had theoretically erupted, the British and French Military still showed no sign of mobilizing on a large scale.

As an ally of Britain and France, was Austria expected to confront Germany and Italy alone? By doing so, Austria would merely squander its resources for no reason, while solidifying the established colonial status of Britain and France.

Such unnecessary internal strife for the Germanic nation would play right into the hands of Britain and France.

What the Austrian government hadn't anticipated was that, apart from the Dove faction's demands gaining a fair amount of support from the German people, nationalism had been on the rise. Since then, the German people had held a fervent desire for unity.

The sense of identity the Germans held for their nation and their national pride are what allowed this power to grow rapidly in the second half of the 19th Century and become the world's second superpower within just a few decades.

Among those who most recognized the Dove faction's ideas, believing that the Austrian Empire should ally with Germany to become stronger, were the Germans living in the so-called Sudeten region.

On the map, the Sudeten region almost encircles Bohemia, the fringe area of the Czech region near Germany's borders.

In this borderland area lived more than 3 million Germans. These people were the unstable elements of the Czech region, and also within the entire Austrian Empire, the Germans most eager to join Germany.

Indeed, all Austrian people were Germanic, but not all Austrians were willing to join Germany, for Austria also had a great history.

But it had to be admitted that after Germany's victory in the wars of unification and having unified a large part of the Germanic region, it became the legitimate representative of all Germanic peoples in their minds.

Compared to the loser, Austria, the Germans in the Sudeten region evidently preferred to submit to the rule of the German Empire.

What the Austrian government didn't anticipate was that right after the Air Force suffered significant losses, before the Military at the front line showed signs of problems, a rebellion broke out in the rear.

On April 29th, after successfully raiding most of the military airfields in the Czech region, the German Army commenced a comprehensive offense.

Almost simultaneously, in an Urban City called Bujeyovice in the southern part of the Czech region, a massive armed rebellion broke out against the Czech and Austrian governments.

It was clear that this rebellion was organized and premeditated. In the areas around Bujeyovice, thousands of temporary armed forces composed of Germans had gathered.

These forces were generally equipped with standard German and Italian firearms, and even possessed heavy weapons such as machine guns and Firearm.

Despite being a sudden armed rebellion, these armed forces had a clear goal: to capture Bujeyovice and create an opportunity for the German Army.

The trouble was that the Austrian Military was all deployed at the border, and there weren't many Soldiers stationed in this city, which was already in the rear.

The armed force of thousands of Germans quickly captured the city and occupied the city's armory, expanding their military size once again.

On April 30th, this armed force issued a declaration from Bujeyovice, proclaiming independence and the establishment of the Bohemian Republic.

In this declaration of independence, those Germans who betrayed Austria stated that the German Empire was the legitimate representative of all Germanic people, and they would not join a war of internal strife against their own kin.

It had to be acknowledged that the German rebellion was a major blow to the Czech region and the Austrian Empire. In the days following, Germans in the Czech region responded to the rebellion one after another, stating they would not turn their guns on their own kin.

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