Chapter 1097 The Real Crisis
After coaxing and threats, and the cabinet government's all-out protection, the British Parliament finally passed the motion to increase military spending with a narrow majority.
But the budget of 70 million pounds was cut to 65.81 million. This is already considered good, and it is common for budgets to be cut in half in parliament.
Perhaps feeling threatened by Shinra, the congressmen were stimulated by reality, and they showed mercy when they waved their scythes.
Despite this, various processes have been followed, and after the Navy has completed the tender to determine the shipyard, the time is still in May.
Before Campbell could breathe a sigh of relief, new bad news came again. The number of docks with a capacity of more than 20,000 tons is insufficient, and it is impossible to start construction of so many super battleships at one time.
"What, at this time, you told me that there are not enough docks to meet the conditions?"
Prime Minister Campbell growled.
Don't be angry, the super battleship can move more than 20,000 tons. Such a big man can't be placed on the slipway at all, and the construction must be carried out in the dock.
But the dock is not Chinese cabbage, especially the dock with more than 20,000 tons, which is even more rare.
From the original time and space until the outbreak of World War I, no one has heard of anyone who started construction of more than a dozen dreadnoughts at one time. It is not that everyone does not want it, but the hardware conditions are not satisfied.
Even in the Second World War, only the Americans were able to start the construction of more than a dozen large warships at the same time.
Faced with the Prime Minister's question, Admiral Swinding replied with a sad face: "I am very sorry, Your Excellency.
Although I also don't want to believe that the Empire will have insufficient production capacity, this is the reality. Dreadnoughts were born too soon, and we simply didn't have time to build more large docks. "
Although Britain's shipbuilding industry has developed rapidly in recent years, merchant ships of more than 20,000 tons are still rare.
It is not that there is no technology, but the market demand is not large. Although in theory, the larger the tonnage of the merchant ship, the lower the unit transportation cost, but that is only in theory.
We have only just entered the early 20th century, and overseas trade is far less developed than later generations. How can we fill a merchant ship with more than 20,000 tons?
Now there are only a few commodities that need to be shipped by shipping: agricultural products, cotton textiles, petroleum, ore, and steel.
Although it is a commodity, the demand for large merchant ships is actually still small.
Take cotton textiles as an example, who would dare to put tens of thousands of tons of goods into the same market at one time?
Even if there are large merchant ships, it can only be combined. This list is not easy to put together, it is impossible to have so many orders that need to be shipped at the same time.
Moreover, not all orders can be put together. Many commodities still have rigid requirements for transportation conditions.
For transportation companies, it is more economical to use 10,000-ton merchant ships instead of using 30,000 to 50,000-ton merchant ships to often be dissatisfied.
The same is true of steel. Most countries only purchase 10,000 or 8,000 tons a year at most, and countries that consume hundreds of thousands of tons or millions of tons are basically able to produce their own products.
Even if there is an order, it is usually purchased in batches according to the actual situation. After all, steel is going to rust, and if you buy too much at one time, you may end up in your own hands.
The ore is not much better, the bulk is the bulk, the problem is that the demand in various countries is small!
In the era of free trade, for many countries, instead of buying ores for refining, it is more economical to purchase finished products directly on the market.
The same is true for Britain. Except for the huge demand for steel, which requires you to build a local factory for refining, other rare metals are bought directly.
Unlike later generations, even "aluminum" is a rare metal these days, and Britain consumes a maximum of 10,000 or 8,000 tons every year.
In the original time and space until 1913, the aluminum output in Britain was only more than 7,000 tons. Large-scale industrial production, that was in the mid-to-late twentieth century.
Other rare metals, let alone. Many only exist in the laboratory, and there is no industrial application at all.
The market demand is too small to accommodate too many companies. Capital chases profit, and no one does business that loses money.
The oil that consumes the most in later generations is now only more than 30 million tons a year, and most of it is still produced and sold within Shinra.
Even if large tankers are needed, such business is digested internally, and it is impossible for the order to fall into the hands of British shipyards.
The same is true for agricultural products. The Shinra family is dominant, and the transportation is also handled by itself. There is no chance for the British shipyard to intervene.
The only market is the food of others. Without enough market orders, British shipbuilding companies will naturally not set up a bunch of large shipyards.
If it weren't for the purpose of proving its strength to the outside world, it must have the ability to build large merchant ships. With the integrity of the capitalists, it is estimated that only a few large docks will not appear.
Prime Minister Campbell scolded: "I don't want to hear any explanation, the problem now is that we need to build warships, but the capacity cannot meet the demand.
Don't you all eat idle food in the Admiralty? Why didn't you report such a big problem in advance?
Now there is a problem, how are you going to end it, the enemy will not give us so much time to prepare! "
No matter how many reasons, the Admiralty is to blame for what happened now.
"I didn't know the enemy would be so crazy and order so many dumplings at one time."
for such reasons,
It's okay to shed responsibility, but it doesn't solve the actual problem.
Swinding explained very embarrassedly: "We have already taken countermeasures, the shipyard has already started working overtime to build a new large dock as early as three months ago.
In view of the current situation, we have revised the design of some warships.
At the expense of some performance, the displacement was successfully compressed, so that the 20,000-ton dock can also meet the demand.
Although the number of large docks in the Holy Roman Empire is more, there are only six docks with more than 25,000 tons, and three of them are already in use.
Judging from this inference, the enemy has built a maximum of three dreadnoughts over 25,000 tons, which is exactly the same as ours.
The rest are a generation of dreadnoughts, and even if our displacement is smaller, the combat effectiveness is not much weaker than them. "
Notifying the shipyard in advance to build a large dock is naturally non-existent. If the Admiralty responded so quickly, the problem would have been thrown out long ago.
However, discerning capitalists did start working ahead of schedule. To a certain extent, this also saves the Admiralty politically.
As long as the capitalists admit that the construction of large shipyards is related to the Admiralty, it proves that the Admiralty has taken strong measures in time, and the matter is over.
I don't know if there is any benefit transfer behind this. Anyway, the shipyards that built large docks ahead of schedule have all received orders from the Ministry of the Navy.
These are all small issues. Everyone is a grasshopper on a rope and a political ally. There is no need to get down on the ground at this time.
Usually, people don't feel it. Anyway, the British Empire can come up with any technology. It's just a matter of one step and one step.
Now that the real meaning is going to be right, everyone suddenly realizes that things are big. It is true that the Royal Navy has an advantage, but the overall industrial level of the British Empire cannot keep up!
The production cost is high and there is no cost-effectiveness, and the troublesome production capacity can’t keep up.
Everyone present was playing politics and was pushed up, and they didn't know much about the details of the industry.
No one can imagine that the window paper is not pierced. Now that the blind spot of thinking has been pierced, many problems that are usually ignored have suddenly poured into everyone's mind.
They are all elites of the era, so naturally they would not naively think that the current problem in Britain is that there is only a shortage of large shipyards.
After a little brainstorming, everyone knew that there was a big problem in the British industrial system.
The world is so delicate. In order to better plunder the wealth of various countries, Britain has fiddled with the free trade system.
Wealth is indeed plundered. In the past few years, British capital has made a lot of money, but the sequelae are so big that it is "a little bit million".
There is no feeling in the free trade system, which has just become independent, and the British industrial system has a big problem.
The number of large docks is not enough. Will the production capacity of supporting enterprises for warships be able to meet the demand?
Don't forget, not long ago, these guys were crying and shouting to withdraw from the free trade system and implement tariff barriers to protect the market.
If it is a normal period, if it is slower, it will be slower. If you can support your own industry, it is not a loss to delay a little time.
It's different now, the two sides are competing for speed. Britain's shipbuilding plan has fallen behind, and if there is any more trouble in the middle, it will be over.
Prime Minister Campbell, who was in a cold sweat, hurriedly ordered: "Order the major shipyards to purchase relevant spare parts immediately.
The speed has to be fast, and we have to stock up on enough spare parts before the Vienna government reacts. "
Going to the doctor in a hurry, maybe! But Campbell can't afford to gamble, and the current situation is not easy for the British government to make major decision-making mistakes.
The domestic production capacity is insufficient, and only some spare parts are insufficient. Even if the production capacity is insufficient, there are many substitutes that do not necessarily need to be purchased from the Holy Roman Empire.
But the time that belongs to the British government is limited, and there is simply no time to carefully screen. If it happens that a part is out of stock, and no replacement can be found, it will be a tragedy.
Who made the Shinra family the only one with the most complete industrial system these days?
Originally, Britain also had a complete industrial system, but unfortunately it did not keep up with the second industrial revolution and took a breather at a critical moment.
After this break, he immediately dropped out of the team. Many industries have been impacted by new technologies, capitalists have turned around to play finance, and fewer and fewer people are willing to invest in real industries.
Of course, the American industrial system is also quite complete. It's just that the technology is behind a few times, and we can only copy products without technical content.
If you really expect to get spare parts from Americans, it is better to wait for your own company to explode production capacity, which is more reliable.
At this time, everyone already understands why the Vienna government suddenly changed its style and suddenly became aggressive.
Such a big daybreak was clearly placed under the eyes of the enemy. If you don't take the opportunity to get in trouble, do you have to wait for Britain to get out of the slump before making a move?