The airship that caused the disaster was the LZ-20 model of Zeppelin. It is divided into large airships according to its volume load. It is 160 meters long, 18 meters in diameter, and has an airbag capacity of 35,000 cubic meters. It is driven by 4 Maybach engines. Its maximum speed in windless state was 95 kilometers per hour. It was a standard airship ordered by the German team during the war. After the war, Zeppelin launched a civilian model using passenger pods. Deutsche Airways was the largest customer of this type of airship. By the summer of 1916, at least 11 hard airships of this type were active on European routes.

When the accident occurred, the Zeppelin, named "Blacklingen", had just completed a flight of more than 1,700 kilometers. The staff of Limerick Airport One were operating according to the standard process of the airship tethering. In another minute or two, the airship pole door and the empty trestle of the tethering tower would be connected to the airship crew for the airship crew to land. At this time, a fire ignited at the rear of the airship without warning, and the fire spread rapidly. In just over forty seconds, the entire airship turned into a ball of rapid falling fire. 38 crew members, 6 staff members and 32 passengers, 33 people fell to death, burned and seriously injured, and only 5 people survived.

Since the Global Aviation Expo will open the next day, journalists from many countries witnessed the air crash on the spot. In addition, Limerick gathered royal politicians and celebrities from various countries. It was impossible for the Irish government to adopt the practice of blocking news from the outside. Half an hour after the accident, all the telegraph offices in Limerick were squeezed out. This shocking news was seen in newspapers in Germany, France and other countries on the same day. Due to the time difference in the United States, the news will not be known to the public until the next day, but as imagined, most newspapers and magazines put it on the front page...

Long before the war, Zeppelin had always given people a stable and reliable impression. Now this exaggerated image has emerged. Zeppelin and companies that use Zeppelin for aviation operations must have suffered heavy losses. Ninety-five percent of Ireland's air transport uses aircraft, and should not have been implicated. However, this extremely badly affected aviation accident cast a deep shadow on the unprecedented third Global Aviation Expo.

For this expo, the Irish government has already spent enough funds to build a heavy cruiser. If it is abandoned halfway, the funds will not only be wasted, but will also have a bad negative impact on Ireland's national image. For this reason, after Xia Shu returned from the airport inspection, he hurriedly summoned his cabinet ministers and administrative staff to discuss countermeasures.

At the same time, at No. 10 Downing Street, London, 600 kilometers away, British Prime Minister Bona Lau sat in the conference room. Around the oval mahogany table were the cabinet ministers and several middle-aged men in military uniforms. They were all energetic and their eyes were shining, and the meaning of gloating was written on their faces.

After the Army Intelligence Officer informed the "Hellingen" air crash, it was not the cabinet ministers who spoke first, but Sir Charles Douglas, the Chief of Staff of the Army.

"Since the end of the war, the rich and even the middle class have been keen on boarding planes and airships, one because of freshness and curiosity, and the other because of convenience and speed. Nowadays, Germany is the dominant one in Europe, and Ireland and Italy are developing rapidly. Judging from the operating conditions of major aviation companies in these three countries, air transportation is quite profitable. If this trend continues, in another two or three years, the British aviation industry will be left far behind by them. At that time, whether it is a direct war or a diplomatic conflict, we will be in an extremely passive situation. Therefore, gentlemen, while our opponents are hit hard by this air disaster, we must accelerate the development of the aviation industry, strive to catch up with Ireland and Italy within three years, and tie Germany within five years."

Forget it, Douglas also added, "This is the most basic requirement."

"Will a mere airship really cause a historic blow to the international aviation industry that has developed rapidly in the past two years?" Sir Nat Green, Minister of Industry and Chairman of the Trade Commission, expressed his doubts.

The veterans of the British cabinet for three consecutive terms and the "thorn king" who made his colleagues frown at him, the Secretary of the Army Marshal Kitchener said in a muffled voice: "If we do nothing and let our opponents find ways to remedy it, people will soon forget this disaster, but if we take the initiative to guide public opinion and seize the human faults in this disaster, the situation will be different. Everyone, if we have enough courage and determination to revive the British Empire, this battle without gunpowder must be done with all our might."

Kitchener's number one "debate", Lord Norris, the upright Minister of Finance, jumped out first, and shouted: "We are not soldiers, we always fight against the enemy. In the previous war, we lost too badly, the colonies shrank significantly, and our military strength was much worse than the Germans. If we want to revive the country, we must not be able to force ourselves to the camp of allies led by Germany. We should adopt the strategy of keeping a low profile. Even if the British official does not speak out this time and the media and newspapers make a fuss, too obvious direction will definitely arouse the opponent's alertness and counterattack, which will be very unfavorable to ourselves. Our fragile economy cannot afford any war without gunpowder!"

Kitchener snorted coldly: "If you don't even have this courage, what else can you talk about revival? We might as well bow down to the Germans and seek their military protection!"

Lord Norris was not angry at all about the ridicule of the Army Minister. He sneered: "Then please let our army show convincing the whole world in the next war! At least don't mess up your sharpness and confidence like the two Boer wars, before you even face the real enemy."

The success or failure of the Boer War should be the responsibility of the military commander at that time, and it has nothing to do with him, so Kitchener was not angry, but replied, "Let's see," and cleared his throat and returned to the topic: "Except for one or two for royal politicians, almost all Zeppelin airships are filled with flammable and explosive hydrogen, which is actually well-known. From a safety perspective, riding a airship is no different from sitting on a powder barrel. Life and death are only a little bit of a small Mars. It just so happens that there are British people on the airship. It is not sure whether there are two or three. We can ask the families of the victims to sue the German shipping company and the German government, and ask them for huge amounts of demand on the grounds that they know the danger but do not take effective protection measures.

and require them to suspend all airship routes before resolving safety issues. Media and newspapers seized this civil lawsuit and reported more. Even if the Germans knew that we were instigating behind the scenes, there was no reason to fight back and sanction us. As long as we attracted enough attention and asked people to question the safety of airships and aircraft, they could create a catastrophic blow to the aviation industry. When people's enthusiasm for riding aircraft subsides, the operation of the aviation industry will naturally slow down. We use government funds to support the development of our own aviation industry, which will increase and decrease, and it will be much easier to catch up. By the time the technological development of aircraft makes up for these safety issues, we may never find such a good opportunity again!”

Most of the cabinet ministers present were moved by Kitchener's profound analysis and meticulous planning. Nowadays, most of the British aviation power is under the command of the army. Kitchener does have great authority in this regard. However, with the lessons learned from the previous few failed confrontations with opponents, the ministers are still cautious about this "war without gunpowder", because not only economic and financial, but all areas of Britain are basically in the post-war recovery period, and are so fragile that it is difficult to withstand a new blow. Prime Minister Bona Lau suggested: "We can start to arrange the exquisiteness of the Army Minister immediately, but for the sake of stability, we will not provoke public opinion attacks first, see the reactions of the outside world and the actions of the allies before taking the opportunity to attack."

Although Kitchener was dissatisfied, he was not as angry and angry as before. He said coldly: "The best opportunity is right in front of you. If you miss it, it will be the destiny. We will do our best. No matter what the result is, we don't have to blame anything."

Everyone left the meeting here, and Prime Minister Bona Lau was still rushing to Buckingham Palace to report to George V. Night had already fallen, and Kitchener did not return to the Army Department, but asked the driver to drive back to his residence directly. After arriving at home, he turned on the radio, but was not listening to British radio programs, but adjusted to the frequency of the Irish National Radio Station. The Kingdom of Ireland established the official language status of Irish Gaelic in the Constitution, but Irish National Radio Station had a habit.

Every news will be broadcast several times in Gaelic, German, French, Spanish and English. Theoretically, the signal of a short-wave radio can achieve the effect of covering the intercontinental, but under normal circumstances, except for the main island of Ireland and the adjacent Britain and France, only the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, western Germany and northern Spain can receive clear and recognizable signals through the radio, and the stability of the signal cannot be guaranteed even further.

Before nine o'clock in the evening, Ireland National Radio was still introducing the next day's Global Aviation Expo, and also gave a special explanation of the rules for the flight competition unit, the racing competition, the skills competition and the team competition, which was an temptation that most aviation sports enthusiasts could not refuse.

In this era, there are not many families with radios, and the radio programs that can be listened to are very limited. Family members often rest at noon or all work, and only stay in front of the radio for a while after the party activities are over to listen to the radio, so at 1:00 noon and 9:00 pm are considered prime time. At about 9:00, Kitchener, who was sitting by the radio for a drink, finally waited for a serious and heavy voice. The Irish National Radio reported news about the "Hellingen" air crash that day. At this time, nearly eight hours have passed since the incident occurred. Many people have learned the news through various channels. This radio news is equivalent to the official announcement in Ireland and has unquestionable accuracy.

When he heard the air crash mentioned on the air crash, Kitchener's drinking action paused for a moment. Since he was not proficient in Irish Gaelic, there were many words behind him that he could not understand. He had to wait patiently for the final English broadcast to hear everything clearly. After hearing everything, his action paused again, and the pause was much longer than before.
Chapter completed!