Under the Double Eagle 1

Under the Double Eagle 1 is a historical military web novel by Zhun'ga'er Daowang, serialized on Qidian and the first installment of the "Under the Double Eagle" series. At the outset, the protagonist Wu Wei arrives in mid-nineteenth-century Europe with a "system" unrelated to reality and becomes a member of the Habsburg family, operating in the Austrian Empire under the name Victor (also Grand Duke Victor). Unlike the author's earlier works, this volume shifts the stage from the modern German navy to the Austrian court and battlefield, focusing on how this multi-ethnic empire sought reform amid internal and external crises. The first half follows Wu Wei's beginnings: navigating court marriage arrangements and family ties in Vienna, gradually grasping the system's rules and settings such as soul crystals and spiritual power, and then, starting from the naval academy, the marine corps, and shipbuilding, advancing one novelty after another—triple-expansion steam engines, breech-loading rifles, bicycles, steel mills—within the empire, gathering prestige and capital through the emperor's concessions and military reform. The narrative then moves to the battlefield: the Italian War, the armament refitting of Lombardy–Venetia, the rise of Prussia, and the wars of German unification are all simulated, with Wu Wei serving both as technology provider and strategic persuader; side plots such as rifle exports to America and orders on the eve of the Civil War further link the two shores of the Atlantic. The latter half extends to the Balkans, North Africa, and farther battlefields, centering on operations at the Holy City, Beirut, and Benliu. Overall, this volume is the opening installment of "system building, industrial foundation, and war rehearsal," with military technology and national strategy occupying much of the text, while character relationships give way to historical simulation—reading more like a long-form speculative military history with Austria as the chessboard. This is volume 1 of the "Under the Double Eagle" series.