Chapter 388 The Number One Thug
In Trieste, in the Second Shipyard of the Empire, the spring outside is in full swing and the earth is warming up. Here, the largest ironclad ship in the world is being secretly built, and its weight is expected to exceed 7,000 tons. It is nearly 2,000 tons heavier than the largest sailing battleship today.
In history, it was not until 1852 that the first ironclad ship that broke the 6,000-ton mark was ushered in. That was the "Wellington" that the United Kingdom was proud of-the overlord of the ocean at that time.
And Friedrich's goal has always been to surpass Britain and France. In order to reverse the huge disadvantage in numbers, he needs a batch of battleships that can pose a huge threat to his opponents.
Originally, the risk of manufacturing a 7,000-ton battleship was not small, with both technical difficulties and other challenges.
However, due to the rapid progress of Austria in steelmaking technology in recent years, the construction of this super-large battleship has completed a major breakthrough from drawing work to the final launch.
In fact, the young admiral has not really realized that his warship can be built bigger and heavier, and even more than 10,000 tons is no longer an unattainable dream.
But in fact, given that the quality of steel has not yet reached the standard, the 10,000-ton giant ship cannot be tapped and exert its full potential and advantages. At this time, the rocket power is insufficient, and the strategy of small boats carrying cannons will not work either.
Since there are the above restrictions, just build a 7,000-ton ship to drive the British to kick off the naval competition in advance and see how the other side will play.
It may take 6-7 years to complete the ship; after all, no one has ever set foot on such a tonnage ironclad ship. The price of this ship is expected to be more than 6 million florins, which is five times that of an ordinary battleship; the length of the ship is 85 meters, the width is 20 meters, and the height is 6 meters.
The internal structure is similar to the later "Dingyuan Ship", but the power system uses a new steam turbine, the horsepower can reach more than 15,000 horsepower, which is twice that of the latter, and the speed is about 21 knots. In terms of speed alone, it can beat any warship in the world today. This record may be difficult to break in the next few decades.
However, there are also significant flaws. Its firepower and defense design are much worse than that of the Dingyuan. The main reason is that the current technology in artillery and armor is still very backward.
In addition, at the strong request of Franz, the ship also reproduced the ram, an equipment that would only be used by ancient warships.
In addition, under Franz's repeated suggestions, Friedrich also started the exploration and research of mines and torpedoes. The technological threshold of these two weapons is not high, but the power is very huge.
Although Franz knows the development trend of these weapons, he still has to rely on professionals to study their specific applications.
Fighting with the Anglo-Saxons who started out as pirates only exists in ideals. Even if you want to be Duke Xiang of Song, it does not mean that the other party will follow your ideas.
War is to reset all the moral bottom lines of mankind to zero. In this highest form of violent expression, kindness is just a means.
As the empire's industry continued to expand, the rubber crisis had changed from once a year to once every six months. The factory could only guarantee a few months of operation each year because the raw materials would be quickly consumed.
The Brazilians' promises were as unreliable as their industrial development. The rubber gap was like a broken wound and it was difficult to stop the blood from overflowing.
And they seemed to have no way to deal with the "number one thug". Garibaldi was not defeated by the Brazilians, but became more and more courageous.
"There are three buckets of Italian martial virtue, Garibaldi alone has five buckets, and the world owes two buckets." - A comment from a book friend.
Garibaldi was once a follower of Mazzini, joined the Carbonari, participated in the Savoy Expedition, and was chased by the Austrian army.
But his experience in South America was legendary. In order to avoid the pursuit of Austria, Garibaldi and some Italian expatriates fled to Brazil.
Soon they were moved by the spirit of the Faroese and joined this vigorous uprising together.
(The "Farabos" uprising was an uprising of republicans in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from 1835 to 1846. It was named because republicans in southern Brazil were called "Farabos", which means "poor man".)
This legendary figure once led twelve soldiers and his Indo-European wife to the estuary and repelled a government fleet that was ten times their strength.
He also captured seven fortresses in five days and killed 11 enemies in a battle. The Brazilian government once offered a reward of 10,000 Croserius, but none of the bounty hunters who took the business came back alive.
(Croserius - the Brazilian currency at the time.)
Another time, Garibaldi's ship used up all its shells in the battle. Facing the Brazilian warship, he chose to approach it actively. As soon as the two sides came into contact, they emptied the bullets in their guns.
When the two sides were changing bullets, Garibaldi picked up a hatchet and swung directly to the opposite side with the help of the rope.
Inspired by him, his crew members jumped onto the enemy ship one after another. In the following battle, a heroic man with an axe killed people on the Brazilian warship, and was as awesome as a ghost.
The most dangerous time was in a tavern, where five gunmen surrounded Garibaldi and his wife, but in the end people only found a mess there.
Soon after, the couple reappeared on the battlefield. No one knows what happened, but he has established the name of "number one thug".
But in fact, the activeness of this "number one thug" did not fundamentally reverse the situation between the two sides, and the Brazilian government's military strength was still strong.
Coupled with the loan from Austria, a large number of soldiers were recruited and continuously sent to the front line, and boxes of weapons were also shipped from the former's homeland.
On the other hand, the places occupied by the rebels had no access to the sea, lacked industry, had complex terrain, and harsh environment, and even agriculture was difficult to be self-sufficient; coupled with the destruction of the war, even if they won consecutive battles at this time, they were unable to meet the needs of everyone for food and clothing.
Of course, if they defended in a dangerous place, the rebels would have no problem holding on for a few more years. But General Canabarro had been overwhelmed by victory, and he wanted to have a decisive battle with the government army on the plains.
But this was not the only factor, and it was ultimately due to insufficient supplies. As the rebels occupied more and more areas, more and more Fabipos joined their team.
Rather than thinking that these poor people were coming to liberate all of Brazil, it was better to say that they were coming to eat. In less than a year, the size of the rebels increased from the initial 3,000 to 5,000, and then to 10,000, and now to 50,000.
The families of these Fabius together mean hundreds of thousands of mouths. The people in the occupied areas cannot be ignored either, so the consumption of food has reached a terrible situation.
To make matters worse, the top leaders of the rebels are almost all large estate owners and businessmen, who demand strict compliance with the principle of free trade and the implementation of "fair trade".
The pricing power of food is in the hands of this group of upper-class people. The soldiers' military pay was enough for a family to eat for three months, but now it is only enough for one week. On the one hand, there is the continuous increase of free currency, and on the other hand, there is the crazy rise in food prices.
In the end, the soldiers were surprised to find that they were not full before the uprising, and they were still not full after the uprising. But how can the soldiers fight if they can't even eat enough?
Those Fabius who chose to join in order to have enough food can join the rebels, and they can also join the government army. And killing comrades and defecting with guns is not uncommon.
General Cannavaro was just a soldier, he only knew that it was not good to deprive his soldiers of food or weapons. So, Cannavaro rejected Garibaldi's suggestion to continue guerrilla warfare in the Kassan Jungle and decided to take a military risk strategy.