The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 1115: Chapter 834: Italy-France Game_2

“Damn, what is that?” Enrique was somewhat puzzled, hurriedly picking up the telescope to carefully observe the distant speck.

“Damn, it’s the enemy’s airplane, an air raid!” Enrique had not yet seen what that distant black dot was when his comrade-in-arms, Torank, sounded the alarm from the co-pilot seat.

“Damn, do the Spanish dare to provoke us with their airplanes?” Enrique was surprised; he didn’t think that Spain’s outdated planes could pose a threat to Italy’s advanced fighter aircraft.

“Enrique, that’s not a Spanish plane!” Torank exclaimed once more, bringing news that turned Enrique pale: “The tail of that damn plane has the French national flag on it!”

“A French plane? Are the French getting involved in Spain’s civil war?” A whirl of confusion seized Enrique’s heart, but in the upcoming air combat, he dared not let down his guard.

The Spanish planes were outdated models, but the French planes were certainly not.

As early as when Italy and Germany had signed their treaty, both parties had extensively studied the French aircraft.

There were two main types of fighter aircraft currently equipped by the French: one was the c1, a modern monoplane fighter proposed by the French Air Force, and the other was the Dewoitine D.500, a lower-wing fighter developed by Dewoitine for the French.

Regardless of which type of fighter aircraft it was, for Enrique, neither was good news. Both had been manufactured within the last two years and were among the most advanced in the French fighter series.

“Have you figured out which airplane it is?” Enrique was getting anxious and shouted back to Torank.

“Damn, I can only see a blurry outline; it’s impossible to confirm which one it is.” Torank tried his best to make out the appearance of the aircraft, but due to the great distance, he could ultimately only see a vague outline.

“Contact the combat department, Enrique. If those damned French have deployed more than one airplane, we are completely outmatched,” suggested Torank.

“This is outrageous. Weren’t those French not going to engage in this war?” Enrique was a bit despondent, as if talking to himself, yet also as if asking Torank: “They’re heading towards us, do they really intend to fight us?”

As Enrique had anticipated, the moment the French plane entered firing range, it had already begun attacking Enrique.

This also meant that the aerial dogfight between the planes of the two nations had instantly ignited. Regardless of their intentions, at that moment they had only one mission: to win this damn aerial combat and then return.

Word that French planes were appearing in Spanish airspace was swiftly reported to the Italian combat department and then relayed to the Italian Government.

Mussolini, of course, also received this message. Like the soldiers at the front line, Mussolini could hardly believe that the French would dare to blatantly interfere with the Spanish civil war.

Initially, they had all backed down, so what had made the French choose to re-enter the war?

“Contact the German government; we need to be vigilant of every move the French make,” Mussolini commanded his subordinates during a meeting with the Italian Government: “Prepare the military for war; the actions of the French are not without reason, and we must be ready in advance.”

Knowing that French public opinion was anti-war, Mussolini planned to use this sentiment to exert pressure on the French government.

The best way was to release the news of French aircraft appearing in Spanish airspace. This signified not only that France would engage directly with Germany and Italy but also suggested that a war could potentially erupt between France and the German-Italian alliance.

To those French people who were against the war, this was naturally unacceptable. And that was exactly Mussolini’s aim: to undermine the actions of the French government through the will of the French populace.

The move proved to be quite effective.

The memories of World War I, twenty years prior, were still a sorrowful and unforgettable experience for the French public, affecting their views on the global situation to this day.

Upon hearing that their government’s actions might lead to a comprehensive war with Germany and Italy, the French people expressed their dissatisfaction with the French government’s actions and demanded a reasonable explanation.

Of course, the French government had long been prepared for this.

Facing domestic public pressure and diplomatic pressure from Germany and Italy, the French government declared that those aircraft bearing the French national flag had in fact been sold to the government of the Spanish Republic several months earlier.

Being obsolete fighters that had been phased out, coupled with the hasty handover, the French national flag had not been removed from the aircraft, but the pilots at the controls had already become Spanish soldiers.

The French government’s statement could be summed up in a single brief sentence: the planes had been sold to the Spanish government, and everything about them was no concern of the French government.

Was this really the case? Not necessarily.

But without sufficient evidence, and with the French government beginning to placate its people and quell domestic public pressure, Germany and Italy could only abandon their attempts to pressure the French government through public opinion.