King Phillip I, his uncle Grand Duke Colin and General Von Zillmann were bent over the desk, studying a diagram.
"So this thing will, erm; fly"? asked the young king.
The Grand Duke folded his arms and straightened up:
"Apparently so. All to do with "hot air rising" and such, so Dr Tross assures me".
King Phillip looked up:
"And Dr Tross will be able to construct this, what did he call it,..."
"A Balloon Phillip". The Grand Duke was quite informal with the King, his nephew.
"Ah yes; Balloon".
The King directed the next question to the General:
"So Colonel Ann will escort Dr Tross, and the engineers to Wodongatown, build a stockade, and then from within develop all the where-with-all to have this balloon launched so as to provide a "birds eye view" into Alburburg".
General Von Zillmann snapped his heels together:
"That is the plan Sire. We believe that is where the Raiders from the RNS concentrate and launch their raids from. We believe the Raiders are actualy the 4th Dragoons"
The King moved away from the desk and diagram and plans of the strange flying machine. The others followed.
They listened as he began again:
"These cross border raids must stop. I trust this contraption will give us the early warning we need to enable us to intercept any future raids before too much harm can be done. I'm confident the Yarra Militia and a troop from Bree's Battery should be a sufficient force to defend the works"
General Von Zillmann added:
"Ja Sire, and the 4th Foot and the Royal Dragoons can intercept any raids nearby".
The King stopped and turned to face his Uncle and the General.
"Well done Gentlemen! When did Colonel Ann's column depart"?
The Grand Duke answered:
"Last week. They should almost be at Wodongatown now".
King Phillip I smiled:
"And Lady Hugankiss should soon be arriving in the RNS Capital..."
TO BE CONTINUED!
Posts
Can something go up, down under? We shall soon see.
ReplyDelete-- Jeff
A striking mark of progressive thinking: compliments!
ReplyDeleteLouys
P.S.: The Monte-Cristan Academie des Sciences has interesting patents to sell to the highest bidder. Maybe, on his/her personal initiative, some overzealous bureaucrat already sent the same message to the RNS -unfortunately?
The Reich Duke would love such a novelty...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, perhaps GEN B.A.Gration's suggestion, to reintroduce heavy ballistae into service to save on the cost of gunpowder for artillery, may have had some merit. Rather like a large needle pricking a larger balloon....
ReplyDeleteJean-Louis, we have had no such plans delivered. The Spymaster, Mr LeCarres, will be flogged for missing this opportunity!
He fully deserves it - he did not even manage to put his hands on our deceiving false plans! "Clumsy as a Stagonian" was the unofficial comment of our Bureau de Surete Nationale.
ReplyDeleteLouys