Chapter 835
The sudden arms race disrupted the deployment of many people, including Austria.
In fact, the Vienna government also had plans to start an arms race, but that's all in the past.
Since the decision to implement the Near East Development Program, Franz has abandoned that tantalizing plan for no other reason—poor.
While engaging in infrastructure construction and playing an arms race, it is not something that Austria can afford.
It is easy to provoke an arms race, but the key issue is how to deal with the aftermath.
This is not just a matter of face, it is more about showing strength to all countries in the world. The stronger the strength, the easier it is to find a younger brother in international politics.
Of course, there are occasional exceptions that can be counterproductive. How to operate it depends on everyone's political skills.
I have to admit that the British grasped the timing right. Now is indeed the best time to overwhelm France and Austria. After this time point, the strategic plan of the two countries will be completed, and the situation will undergo a shocking reversal.
Even if it is impossible to suppress the two countries at one time, it is necessary to combat the arrogance of the two countries and tell the world who is the king of this era.
Putting down the information in his hand, Franz frowned and asked, "Do we have to fight?"
Foreign Secretary Wesenberg: "Yes, Your Majesty!
The British have timed it, and now that we back down, the outside world will think that Austria is afraid of Britain.
According to the news from the embassy in Paris, the French government has decided to take on the challenge, and it may not be long before a new shipbuilding plan will be announced. "
It's not that there is no strength to follow up, it's just that Franz is unwilling to do such meaningless consumption.
Well, this is all self-comfort. The real situation is that without affecting the domestic economic construction, Austria's financial resources cannot compete with the British.
Even if the house is raided, it is the same. The Near East development plan, urban renovation and upgrading, and the construction of road transportation facilities have already consumed seventy-seven-eighth-eight.
In the arms race, the biggest problem is not shipbuilding, but military spending in the later period. Just for shipbuilding, a hundred battleships of the Vienna government can easily explode.
The problem is that when the ship comes out, the maintenance expenses in the later period will cost people's lives.
Let's put it this way, the construction cost of a new battleship this year was just over one million Aegis, and the five-year maintenance cost exceeded the cost of the warship itself.
Maybe it will be less than five years. If you train more diligently, you can exceed three years.
This can be calculated. A battleship needs to be equipped with six or seven hundred officers and soldiers, and the logistics and maintenance personnel are only a lot more than the front-line personnel. The annual military salary alone is a lot of money.
To ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, daily training is definitely indispensable. You can see that the naval shells are not cheap by looking at the barrels. The battleships fired dozens of Aegis at a time, and if they used special ammunition, hundreds of Aegis were lost.
Seemingly inconspicuous coal, if the unit is turned into thousand tons, it is also not a small amount.
Routine maintenance, equipment maintenance, and replacement of damaged parts are also a considerable expense.
The sum of the zeros and zeros adds up, and without hundreds of thousands of Aegis funds a year, it is simply not enough to spend.
If you want to be cheap, you can play with the poor man's navy. Learning from the previous practice of the Russians, warships are parked in ports, soldiers are trained with army drills, and military expenditures only need one-tenth of the normal level.
Franz nodded and said to the Minister of the Navy, "Castagni, tell me about your shipbuilding plan!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Admiralty Castagni: "The British Navy already has four Sovereign-class battleships, and this time it will build six new battleships, 10 destroyers, seven cruisers, and 31 warships of various sizes.
We want to deter them, at least keep 80% of their main ships and 70% of their auxiliary warships.
At present, we only have 3 new-style battleships, and the Admiralty plans to build 5 new-style battleships, 8 destroyers, 6 cruisers, and a total of 25 other affiliated warships. "
I don't know where to start, the Austrian Navy began to popularize the "eight points theory", that is: to have 80% of the tonnage of the Royal Navy, forming a deterrent to the British.
You must know that from the beginning of the great development of the navy, the initial goal of the Austrian Navy was only one-tenth of the Royal Navy, which has increased eightfold in less than 30 years.
Think about it, who made the tonnage of the Austrian Navy's capital ships approaching 70% of the British?
It's 65.7 percent to be exact, rounding up to 70 percent is correct. With such a wealthy family background, it is not surprising that the eight-point theory is advocated.
Perhaps from the inside of the navy, not putting forward a one-to-one shipbuilding plan is already a face.
Franz doesn't care about this, he just doesn't know if the British can stand it. However, the bottom line of people is constantly being refreshed, and changing to a country is no exception.
Compared with the original time and space, the bottom line of the British government is much lower.
This was all forced out. As the economic strength of France and Austria increased, they increased their investment in the navy. The Royal Navy's two-strong standard was slapped in the face as soon as it came out.
Then the plan was changed, using the Royal Navy as a parameter to maintain a 1:0.6 advantage over the world's second largest naval power.
This ratio is actually just talking about it. After a few years of hard work, the British government had to refresh again
Bottom line.
Austria, the third naval power, has 65% of the tonnage of the Royal Navy, and the French Navy has reached 72% of the Royal Navy.
The pattern of Britain, France and Austria was actually caused by the Royal Navy’s inability to suppress France and Austria, and the London government was forced to accept that it would share the rest of the world with France and Austria.
Suppression, the British government has been doing it all the time. The problem is that the effect is really not good, and none of them has been suppressed.
No one is a fool, with a fisherman on the side, France and Austria tacitly suppressed conflicts and stared at the British with wide eyes.
The British government tried to do things several times, but it was discovered. Under the retaliation of France and Austria, the British were almost pushed out of the Mediterranean.
It was uncomfortable at first, but over time, the British government has become more adaptable and has accepted the reality.
After all, 072+0.65 is only 1.37, and it is impossible for the two to truly unite, and the Royal Navy can barely survive.
The prerequisite for all this is that this ratio will not continue to grow.
If the tonnage of the Austrian navy increases to 80% of that of the Royal Navy, and the French navy follows suit, it is estimated that the British government will explode.
This is impossible to achieve, and the ratio is now almost the limit of the British people. Even if it sells iron, the British government will keep the advantage of the Royal Navy.
If Austria did not engage in so many constructions, it would not be afraid to compete with the British for financial resources, but it is obviously not possible now.
After hesitating for a while, Franz said slowly: "Let's announce it according to this plan, but the construction plan is 2 years longer than the British.
Later, if Britain and France increase the number of ships to be built, we will follow up according to the current ratio, but our shipbuilding progress can be slowed down a little bit, and it is enough to build two or three battleships every year.
When necessary, the Admiralty can also come up with those big plans to confuse the public. "
Loser is not lost, Franz has made up his mind to play an arms race with the British by bragging.
Anyway, it's not that the warship is not built, but it will be built later, which will not affect the credibility.
After the shipbuilding time is extended, the financial pressure on the government is reduced. As long as the financial support is maintained, it is not entirely without benefits that the arms race lasts a little longer.
Burning money is also burning together. In any case, the more warships the British built, the more money they burn.
If this former dreadnought can be used to retire, it is naturally not a loss.
The problem was that the former dreadnought was too close to the dreadnought. In essence, it is the difference in design concepts. Although the technical difficulty of shipbuilding has increased, it is not impossible to overcome.
Once the dreadnoughts come out, the former dreadnoughts will be eliminated again.
Just after an exhausting competition, I was told that this was only the first half of the game, and the second half of the game was about to start. That feeling was definitely sour.
Perhaps the rich and powerful British can barely hold on, and the French government is probably unable to continue its efforts.
Even because of the increase in the investment in the navy, the French investment in the army will be reduced, which is very beneficial to the strategic plan behind Austria.
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