On 12 April 1916, seven airplanes of the K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen, led by Godwin von Brumowski, attacked and bombed a military review in the city of Chotin. Both the Tsar and Brusilov were present, but unharmed.
Let's day Brumowski and his fellow pilots get a little luck, and kill both the Tsar and Brusilov.
The Lake Naroch offensive has already petered out, but the Tsar had not yet been truly tied to military catastrophe, instead being killed in on the front (relatively speaking). Does this allow a more capable officer to lead the army, balancing the loss of it's most capable general?
Or instead might this give the Dual Monarchy a shot in the arm, sparing it the Brusilov offensive and giving it an entirely native symbolic victory?
Without the Brusilov offensive, and I'm fairly convinced that the successful version won't happen without him, I think the K.u.K. Armee will stay a cohesive force in the east, maybe even speeding up victory there. Certainly it stands to win against Italy if the military is still more or less intact when Russia breaks. However I dont see how the CP can win the west. If Italy is knocked out though, A-H is basically victorious on all fronts even if Germany starts crumbling.
Any thoughts?
Let's day Brumowski and his fellow pilots get a little luck, and kill both the Tsar and Brusilov.
The Lake Naroch offensive has already petered out, but the Tsar had not yet been truly tied to military catastrophe, instead being killed in on the front (relatively speaking). Does this allow a more capable officer to lead the army, balancing the loss of it's most capable general?
Or instead might this give the Dual Monarchy a shot in the arm, sparing it the Brusilov offensive and giving it an entirely native symbolic victory?
Without the Brusilov offensive, and I'm fairly convinced that the successful version won't happen without him, I think the K.u.K. Armee will stay a cohesive force in the east, maybe even speeding up victory there. Certainly it stands to win against Italy if the military is still more or less intact when Russia breaks. However I dont see how the CP can win the west. If Italy is knocked out though, A-H is basically victorious on all fronts even if Germany starts crumbling.
Any thoughts?