-The Red Baron-

"--You're here."

　Upon receiving reports from scouts that the German army was advancing, Lieutenant General Anton Denikin, assigned to the Baltic theater, ordered all troops to prepare for defense.

　Denikin, who would later become a powerful White general, was known for his excellent leadership and organizational skills. He mobilized hastily assembled recruits and built a defensive line consisting of multiple trenches and barbed wire, which he reinforced with strategic reserve regular troops stationed at home.

　What is noteworthy is the expansion of artillery.

　World War I changed the conventional wisdom of warfare, and the Russian army, which had a tendency to rely heavily on bayonets, gradually came to recognize that the time for firepower warfare was upon us. Cannons have a destructive physical effect, but they also have a psychologically destructive effect. The psychological stress of artillery fire, later known as shell shock, stopped the enemy from moving, even if only temporarily.

　While an enemy's movements are restricted, we can move freely...doesn't that advantage directly translate into an advantage in ``mobility''?

　Mobile warfare is not just about increasing the mobility of your own troops. Reducing the mobility of the enemy through firepower and increasing the mobility of your own troops in comparison is also a fine form of "mobile warfare."

"Commence bombardment!"

　At Denikin's command, the cannons stationed all over the place started firing at once. Blocks of iron dug into the ground, occasionally scattering pieces of the flesh of unfortunate German soldiers.

However, there was no counterattack from the Germans. They simply endured Russian artillery fire without receiving a single shot in return.

(Okay, it's as General Headquarters says...!)

　No matter how advanced the railways may be, once you leave the station you still have to rely on foot or horseback. If you advance at a rapid pace, the gap between you and the slow-moving artillery will only widen.

　This is the fundamental reason why World War I dragged on and the advantage of the defenders over the attackers. The defenders could take full advantage of the country's railroad network and freely deploy slow but powerful artillery, whereas the attackers could not.

"Artillery, continue the attack! Infantry, prepare to counterattack!"

　Denikin gives a sharp command: the more damage you can inflict on the enemy in the first battle, the better, as it will boost morale on your side and make the enemy more cautious and slow down their advance.

　However, just as the Russian forces were preparing to counterattack, something strange was happening in the sky.

　＊＊＊

　World War I was also the first war in human history to feature aerial combat.

　Initially, their main missions were reconnaissance and artillery observation, but as fighter planes equipped with machine guns appeared, they began competing for air superiority by shooting down each other.

In an era without radios, aerial combat naturally became dominated by one-on-one dogfights. Perhaps for this reason, the spirit of chivalry that has long since disappeared from the ground is still deeply rooted among fighter pilots. In a brutal war in which human lives have become mere numbers, the sky is the last battlefield where vestiges of the good old days can be seen.

　But that won't last long... RedBaronThe Red BaronCaptain Manfred von Richthofen looked out at the Russian military positions below him with a depressed feeling.

"Okay guys, let's go at once."

　He muttered under his breath to his subordinates who were following behind him. Of course, they didn't have radios, and their means of communication were primitive flag signals and gliders. But that was enough for his well-trained subordinates.

"For the sake of those who follow us, we need to hit it properly."

　Behind them were about ten slightly larger twin-engine bombers: the cutting-edge Gotha G.IV bombers.

　Richthofen said to his partner flying next to him.

"Have you got the signal flares ready?"

"Yes! We can drop it any time!"

　"Okay," Captain Richthofen nodded, and sped off in his bright red Albatros D.III toward the Russian artillery position.

"All right, our target is the enemy artillery position! Fire!"

　Following his orders, a signal flare was fired. Looking to the side, his wingmen were also firing signal flares at the Russian artillery positions, each of their own choosing.

　**

"Could it be the enemy...?"

　Seeing enemy aircraft firing signal flares at the artillery position one after another, Denikin jumps to his feet as if bounced off the ground.

"Prepare for anti-aircraft combat! Shoot down that plane!"

"It's impossible! With an infantry gun...!"

　"In that case, let's use the machine gun," Denikin was about to shout, but swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Even if he forced the machine gun to point upwards, it would be unable to rotate or change its elevation.

　To be more specific, an attack from the air itself was completely unexpected. In those days, it was common knowledge that military aircraft were used for artillery observation and enemy reconnaissance. There was no training for anti-aircraft combat, and there was no way that they had weapons to deal with it.

　In fact, small-scale air battles had already taken place on the Western Front, but on the Eastern Front, where the fighting was mainly against countries such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, it was extremely rare to see airplanes.

　As a result, even Denikin, who has served on the front lines for many years, only knows about it through rumors. When large bombers roar and approach, even soldiers are paralyzed by fear of the unknown.

(I can't do anything but endure it...!)

　In order to keep damage to a minimum, Denikin did his best to order his troops to evacuate.

　**

　It was the first ever aerial bombing attack by the German military...However, Denikin's fears turned out to be unfounded.

　Despite the impact it had on both sides, the results were disappointing. Four groups of three planes bombed the same target, but they barely managed to hit their targets.

"Tsk... It doesn't work like training."

　As he circled overhead to inspect the results of the battle, Richthofen bit his lip in frustration at the disappointment of his own troops.

　At the time, there were no observation devices or control valves for precision bombing, so even aerial bombing depended almost entirely on the pilot's intuition and skill for the timing and altitude of the bombs to be dropped. The aim was determined by eye, and it was rare for a bomb to hit its target when dropped from an aircraft that was swaying in the wind.

Of course, they were well aware of this fact during the training stage. But even so, if 10 planes were to throw bombs at the same target, it was still possible to manage it "in training" based on the theory of probability that "even a poor gun will hit something if you shoot enough times."

　However, this is a battlefield. No matter how much training you receive, unexpected problems will occur one after another during your first battle.

(Even though it's rare to be shot down, your skills will become dull if bullets come flying from the ground. Also, because of the smoke from explosions by both enemies and allies, it's hard to see the ground from the sky.)

　The second and third waves of bombing followed, but none of them hit the target artillery position. The Russians seemed to have recovered from the first shock, and took advantage of the missed bombs to set off fireworks and other taunts.

"What... after all it's just a gimmick for a new toy."

　Confirming that the damage suffered by his allies was minor, General Denikin breathed a sigh of relief.

　Although the damage was minimal, we had wasted precious time. We had to launch a counterattack immediately.

　**

(This is bad... my pride wouldn't allow me to not even land a single hit.)

　Richthofen glanced down and saw that he had only one grenade left. He couldn't return to the base until he had at least gotten some revenge.

　But what can be done? Bombing from the air inevitably results in poor accuracy. Smoke blocks visibility, and even if you manage to aim your bombs, they will be blown off course by the wind.

However, flying too low makes an easy target for enemy soldiers, and the plane's vulnerable underside is exposed to the ground until it reaches its target.

"In that case--!"

　In desperation, Richthofen aimed at the artillery position and began a rapid dive.

"I need your help."

"Commander?! What are you doing――!"

　The wingman behind him reflexively followed suit, but screamed in fear. They probably misunderstood that he was going to make a kamikaze attack. It was true that if he crashed the whole plane into the target, the accuracy rate would increase dramatically, at the cost of his life.

　Richthofen's answer was no, although it was quite close to the correct answer.

"I'll rise just before the impact! I'll throw the remaining bomb at that timing! This will hit it!"

"This is reckless! The plane will be destroyed!"

"Shut up! Trust my skills!"

　Ignoring his subordinates' protests, Richthofen launches a dive bombing attack, causing the wind to howl and sending the Russians on the ground fleeing in panic.

"What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack! They're charging in!"

"Don't panic! You saw me miss just now. It's just a bluff! Just stay calm and keep firing."

　Still, some brave soldiers stayed behind and began firing their light machine guns into the air. One shot hit a wingman, causing him to retreat.

"Alright, there's only one enemy left! Take down that red Albatross!"

　The Russian soldiers cheered. They were gone. If they were shot down at this distance, they would surely crash to the ground and die.

　---But still.

　Nothing can stop the Red Baron's Albatross D.III.

"Dorryyyyyyyyyy!!"

　The full force of Richthofen's bombing raid hit one of the artillery positions. The long-range heavy guns were out of range of the Germans, and the shells piled up nearby ignited one after another. With just one dive bombing, six heavy guns, over 100 artillerymen, and nearby soldiers were blown away.

"Yessssssss!!"

　Feeling great, but with the mentality of a pilot, Richthofen skillfully balanced the plane and managed to climb just before it crashed into the sky.

(If you try, things will work out somehow...)

　As they ascend, the planes of his subordinates gather one after another, exchanging congratulations as they pass each other.

"You did it, Commander! But please don't do anything reckless like that again. It made me so nervous just watching."

"Well, you still don't have enough courage. I'll give you a good workout later."

　It was unfortunate for his subordinates who were feeling relieved that they had somehow managed to survive, but Richthofen was convinced by this blow. From now on, he would be doing those dive bombing attacks many times. And not just him, but his entire unit.

(This will change history!)

　Richthofen's dive bombing technique was quickly adopted by the German Army Air Corps and became known as "flying artillery."

　**

　In fact, at this time, General Wrangel and Princess Tatiana of Russia were also writing papers on dive bombing, but although the Russians were ahead in theory, they were overtaken by the Germans in practice.

　What separated the two was industrial power.

　At the start of the war, the production capacity of the Russian Empire was only about 60% of that of the German Empire. The gap was narrowing due to Nicholas II's early total war policy, but it was still only about 80%.

　It's by no means a hopeless wall.

　Even though he had foresight, his lack of basic physical strength meant that he was easily overtaken by a large wall.