Chapter 1065 Strategic Choice
The British army, navy and air force are competing for military expenses, and Shinra is no exception. The outside world does not know the parameters of the Roma, but the senior officials of the Vienna government know it!
Displacement: 20100 tons
Length: 169.6m
Width: 26.3 meters
Draft: 8.7m
Speed: 20.5 knots
Endurance: 6500 nautical miles at 10 knots
Main engine: 2 sets of transmission steam turbines with 4 shafts
Main boilers: 18 mixed-fired water boilers
Power: 23000 horsepower
Armament: 6 305mm 45-caliber double-mounted guns (one in front and one rear, two on each side, forming a hexagon), 16 120mm 45-caliber single-mounted guns, 2 450mm underwater torpedo tubes
Armor: 255mm broadside, 76mm deck, 230mm gun mount, 280mm turret front, 280mm conning tower
Crew: 863 people
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Compared with the previous traditional battleships, the firepower of the "Rome" is much stronger. In the era of giant cannon ships, strong firepower equals strong combat effectiveness.
After finally gaining an advantage on the track, the Admiralty was naturally unwilling to let the British overtake them. In order to expand this advantage, the Admiralty proposed an ambitious refitting plan.
That is: within five years, build 25 super battleships similar to the "Rome" and seize maritime supremacy from the Royal Navy.
In theory, there is nothing wrong with it. 25 dreadnoughts can indeed sweep the current Royal Navy. Even a half-fold can be done.
The prerequisite is "now". The British are not fools. It is impossible to watch themselves being surpassed by others, and they will definitely take corresponding measures.
The birth of the dreadnought is not an epoch-making development in technology, but more a breakthrough in concept.
In the field of emerging technologies, Shinra does have an advantage, but this does not include shipbuilding technology.
The annual military expenditure of the Royal Navy is not in vain. In the field of warship construction technology, the British are still at the forefront of the times.
As long as the London government is willing to spend money, it will be able to produce its own "super battleship" in at most two years. The plan of the Admiralty is nothing more than a speed comparison with the British.
Anyway, Shinra has a test ship. All that needs to be done now is to make a little technical improvement on the basis of the "Roman", and industrialized production can be replicated.
In terms of time, the Holy Roman Empire is at least one and a half years ahead of its competitors, and this advantage can continue to be magnified in subsequent competitions.
Although the British shipbuilding technology is advanced, warships involve not only shipbuilding, but also industrial cooperation.
As the world's largest industrial power, the Holy Roman Empire can definitely beat the British in terms of comprehensive industrial strength.
When the industrial chain is started, not to mention how much more advanced the technology is than the British, at least it will definitely have an advantage in terms of production capacity.
I dare not say that if the British build one, Shinra can build two. However, the shipbuilding industries of the two countries are in full swing. At the same time, Shinra will definitely be able to build more warships than the British.
Now that the naval technological revolution has broken out, everyone has been pulled to the same starting line, and Shinra is even slightly ahead. Naturally, everyone is unwilling to let go of such a good opportunity.
There is no doubt that shipbuilding is inseparable from money. As a test ship, the "Rome" took many detours during the construction process, and the final cost was 4.976 million Aegis.
If ships are built in large quantities, the cost will definitely come down; however, warship technology has always been more and more advanced, and every time a ship is built, the previous technology will be optimized, which also requires cost.
This means that even if it is a large-scale shipbuilding, the average cost of each "super battleship" will still not be less than 4 million Aegis.
25 super battleships, at least 100 million Aegis. For shipbuilding alone, the navy will need to increase its budget by 100 million Aegis, so what about the army and air force?
Although the military expenditure of the Holy Roman Empire is increasing every year, this increase is basically linked to the economy, and military expenditure is basically limited to about 30% of fiscal revenue.
This ratio is not low. Even the Holy Roman Empire has two levels of finance, the central government and the state government, but there are also a large number of central government territories.
The central government does not need to bear too many responsibilities for the internal construction of the state, but the infrastructure, livelihood projects, and administrative costs of the municipality directly under the Central Government are all indispensable.
Of course, the fact that the proportion is not low is mainly Franz's opinion. Compared with other countries in the world, Shinra's military expenditure ratio is really not high, lower than 90% of the countries in the world.
Restricted by productivity, military spending in many countries has reached more than half of fiscal revenue. Only countries that have completed industrialization can suppress this ratio.
Whether the proportion of military expenditure is high or not will not change the fact that the military expenditure of the Holy Roman Empire ranks first in the world. The annual military spending of Shinra exceeds the gross national product of most countries in the world.
According to the current pace of development, I am afraid that within ten years, Franz will have the feeling of the future US emperors, and his family's military expenditure exceeds the sum of the following two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...
In fact, you can feel that way now. If nothing else, starting next year, the military expenditure of the Vienna government will exceed the sum of the next two, three, and four.
No matter how much money there is, it can't withstand the calamity of the army's gold-swallowing beast. According to past practice, the military expenditure ratio of the army, navy and air force is usually
Both are 4.6:3.7:1.7.
Obviously, this is a thing of the past. Both the navy and the air force are dissatisfied with the ratio of their military expenditures, and now they are joining hands to bombard the army.
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Secretary of the Navy Castagni: "The French have been abolished, even if they are untied now, they will not be able to pose a threat to us within a hundred years.
The Russians are our allies, and their economic lifeline is also in our hands. The threat from the Eastern Front simply does not exist.
Since the victory of the Anti-French War, we have no enemies on land. Throughout the world we have but one enemy - Britain.
To deal with the British, the navy and air force are needed, and the army continues to seize a lot of resources. This is a complete waste of taxpayer money. "
Secretary of the Air Force Conrad: "Your Excellency is right. The army possesses too many resources, which have seriously hindered the empire's..."
Minister of War Feslav interrupted: "You two, please pay attention to your words. Don't forget that the Holy Roman Empire is a country with land power, and our foundation lies on land.
It has never been the vast ocean that determines the rise and fall of an empire, but our homeland that spans the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
How can the army not be strong enough to defend such a vast territory like ours?
On the contrary, your navy and air force are enough. As long as you can hold the Mediterranean Sea, leave the rest to us!
The War Office has a well-planned plan, and if the government decides to overthrow the British hegemony, we can cross Persia and reach India at any time. "
As a country with land power, there is nothing wrong with focusing on the development of the army. The only problem is that the Holy Roman Empire has lost its land-based threat.
France was really ruined by playing around. If history could repeat itself, it is estimated that the French would not surrender even if they were killed.
Compared with the disasters after the war, the hardships of the European war period are nothing at all. At the time, at most, I ate poorly, but now I simply don’t have enough to eat, or I simply don’t have anything to eat.
The number of people who died fighting on the battlefield for two years was far less than the number who were killed by the Allied forces after the war. To be precise, after the production was destroyed, they were forced to be displaced, and finally died of illness or starvation on the road.
Other countries are also tossing, for example: the garrisons of Belgium, Sardinia, Tuscany and other countries are not inferior to the Russian army in doing things.
Driven by the power of hatred, these anti-French vanguards often did better than the Russian army.
It's just that the territory they occupy is not large, and their own sense of presence is too weak, and the limelight has been taken away by the Russians.
Just look at the direction of the French fleeing famine. Either go to Switzerland, or go to Spain, or go to Shinra, no one dares to go to Belgium and Italy.
There is no way, the hatred formed in front is too deep, don't expect others to help you even if you run over.
Including those running to Shinra, they have to detour, and they dare not pass through Luxembourg, Rhineland and other regions.
The locals were also vanguards against France. The Vienna government had previously raised a batch of relief food, which was going to be sent to France for disaster relief, but was intercepted by the people in the Rhineland area.
In the end, the Vienna government changed its mind and decided to give the Russian army as military rations, and it was unimpeded in an instant.
So many people want the French to be finished, and the post-war France will be as miserable as it is.
Many countries in the anti-French alliance followed and endorsed it, and the international community had nothing but verbal condemnation.
Without France, the Holy Roman Empire lost its threat on land. As for the Russian Empire, it was not a threat decades ago.
Not to mention a war with Shinra, even if the trade is interrupted, the tsarist government may collapse.
Without Shinra as a big buyer, the mining industry and agriculture of the Russian Empire would all collapse.
Even if you want to open up new markets, you can't find such a big buyer in the international market. In many fields, Shinra has formed a substantial monopoly.
Although Shinra is also uncomfortable, there are alternatives after all. The big deal is to open mining restrictions and let in African food at the same time, and the processing and manufacturing industry will not die.
Without the threat, the army continues to occupy the most resources, which is very obtrusive. If it weren't for the army's strong military exploits and being strong enough within the empire, I'm afraid it would have been unable to withstand the pressure long ago.
Even so, the Army is often criticized in the annual competition for military expenditures. Not only the navy and air force sprayed them, but even the government internally criticized them constantly.
If you are scolded, you will be scolded, and if you criticize, you will be criticized. Anyway, the Army will not let go of the benefits you get.
In this matter, Franz mostly pretended not to see. There has never been a simple right or wrong in politics, and the emperor's first task is to balance the forces of all parties.
The dominance of the Shinra Army has lasted for many years, and it has not changed until the last few years.
For details, you can refer to the proportion of military expenditure. When Franz succeeded to the throne, the army’s military expenditure accounted for more than 90% of the total military expenditure, and it has gradually dropped to the current 46%.
Since the navy and air force jumped out to make trouble, why should he, the emperor, be a bad guy? When they have quarreled almost, and then based on the results of the quarrels from all parties, the final allocation of military expenditures will be decided.
Cutting flesh with a blunt knife is not an option, but sometimes it is the only option. It would be truly irresponsible to cut down the army's military spending immediately.
Whether it is disarmament, compressing the establishment, or finding ways to increase revenue and save money
Both streams require time to buffer.
Therefore, the proportion of the army's military expenditure in the national defense budget has been decreasing year by year, but the specific amount of military expenditure has never been reduced. On the contrary, it has been increasing year by year, but the growth rate is slower than that of the navy and air force.
Regardless of how fierce the competition is now, in fact, what is really fighting is the new military expenditure, not the nearly fixed expenditure before.
In order to change the passive situation, the army will naturally not be idle. The Navy has the "Super Battleship Project", the Air Force has the "Terminator Project", and the Army can naturally have the "India Project".
No matter how difficult it is to implement, something is better than nothing. Anyway, the success rate of the plans of the Navy and Air Force may not be very high.
The strategic plans of the army, navy and air force have all come out, and now it's time for the senior officials of the Vienna government to have a headache. Who to support and who to oppose is a balding question.
At first glance, the three major strategic plans, no matter which one they are, can bring down the British; if you study carefully, you will find that these three strategic plans are just plans. To accomplish any of these plans, a lot of resources are required.
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Seeing that it was getting late, Franz got up impatiently, waved his hands and said, "Come here first today, and continue tomorrow.
I hope you can come up with a more adequate and responsible plan, instead of drawing me a big pie that I can see but can't eat. "
In fact, Franz was already secretly glad that he was not lazy this time. If Frederick were to leave this trouble, it is estimated that this battle of strategic routes could be staged in full force.
Obviously, the Army does not intend to continue to retreat this time. It is simply unrealistic to rely on pressure from all parties to make the Army make concessions.
In case of a pressing situation, the Ministry of the Army will spread the news and invite people from all over the country to participate in the discussion, then it will be a lot of fun.
When it comes to politics, no one can say for sure. Compared with the air force and navy, the army has much higher support among the people.
Let ordinary people do this multiple-choice question. It is estimated that 80% of them will choose to kill the British all the way from Persia to India and cut off the lifeblood of the British.
In addition, 19% of the people are moderates, and they will invite the Russians to send troops to India. As for less than one percent of people, they may support the navy or the air force.
This is determined by the record. The army has brought enough confidence to the people through its victories in the past.
Although the air force has also performed well, the power of the air force these years is obviously not strong enough to bring enough confidence to everyone.
Not to mention the navy, which has always been a role of soy sauce, not to mention ordinary people. Even Franz does not think that the Shinra Navy can defeat the British Royal Navy.
If you can't win a head-on decisive battle, can't you think of a way to play around?
Anyway, the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea has been obtained, and the Shinra Navy can attack from both directions, east and west, so that the British cannot take care of both ends.
Anyway, running the inner circle in the Mediterranean Sea is faster than the British who run the outer circle. Unless the Royal Navy can have more than twice the tonnage of the Shinra Navy, just play and block the door.
To do this, it seems that it is still not enough. At this time, the strategic position of the Strait of Gibraltar was once again reflected.
The Vienna government can deploy the air force in Morocco to complete the lock-up plan; the British can also operate Gibraltar as a giant aircraft carrier.
There are planes in the sky, submarines in the water, and waves of mines are laid from time to time. The same can lock the Strait of Gibraltar.
If you can't go out from the west gate, if you can only go out to the east, you will be passive. At that time, it really only needs to cooperate with the army, and then the Russians will join forces, and the two will fight from Afghanistan and Persia to India.
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