Chapter 7: Work Hard and Fast (2)

After a night of planning, the father and son determined the "two horizontal and two vertical" concept of Italy's rapid railway network. The first two horizontal lines are on the northern border, starting from Trieste in the east, then Udine, Venice, Vicenza, Verona, Brescia, Milan, and the end point is Turin, with a total length of about 800 kilometers.

The second horizontal direction is actually more southeast, starting from Ravenna in the east, then Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, and finally turning to Genoa, with a total length of about 500 kilometers, of which Piacenza is also There is a branch line to Milan, which is almost 600 kilometers in total.

The first column starts from Venice in the north, then Bologna, Florence, Siena, Rome, Naples, Bari and finally Taranto, with a total length of 1,200 kilometers;

The second column starts from Naples, then to Crotone and Messina. After crossing the Strait of Messina, it branches into two branches. One branch runs along the northern coastline of Sicily to Palermo, and the other branch runs along Sicily. The total length of the eastern coastline to Catania and Syracuse is almost 1,200 kilometers.

ps: Students who are familiar with Serie A will definitely smile knowingly when they see these familiar names. With a few exceptions, the above names are almost all regulars of Serie A. With the rapid railway line, it will be convenient to play in the national league.

It can be clearly seen from this route that the transportation hub in the north is Milan, the hub in the middle is Bologna, and the hub in the south is Naples. Although Naples is not quite south, the dividing line between north and south Italy is traditionally drawn along the Naples line.

According to Contini's vision, the expressway network in the north will be mainly undertaken by the United Group, while the road network in the middle and south will be invested by the state. The father and son made a calculation. If they were to build a high-speed railway with a speed of about 80 kilometers per hour, the total investment would have to exceed US$500 million. Time did not allow it. Finally, they made strategic adjustments: the northern road network is mainly based on high-speed railways. The main line speed is set at more than 70 kilometers per hour. The southern road network is mainly based on standard railways, and the main line speed is 40 kilometers.

According to this standard, the total investment is about 300-350 million U.S. dollars (Contini knows this is impossible, and with the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, it will eventually exceed 500 million U.S. dollars), but these nearly 3,000 kilometers (a total of more than 4,000 Kilometers, some of which already exist and only need to be improved) After the railway network is completed, Italy's overall transportation level will be able to reach a higher level.

"In addition to the two vertical and two horizontal lines in Italy, the United Group may also consider building a railway in Libya."

"Is there really oil?"

"I believe there is." Contini tapped the map. "This route mainly advances along the coastline, starting from Tripoli in the west, then Sirte, Brega Port, Benghazi, Al Bayda, and finally Tobruk... ...This railway does not need to be built according to the express road network, but only according to the standard road network. At the same time, the coastal highway needs to be expanded and repaired, and the direction should be basically the same as the railway. I estimated that the railway is about 1,600-1,800 kilometers long, and the highway is about 1,600-1,800 kilometers long. Pretty much the same.”

"The Department of Transportation may not be able to afford this route in the short term. In fact, the road network construction you just mentioned has exceeded the budget of the Department of Transportation, and we still have to rely on construction bonds."

"I will build the Libyan railway!"

"Are you coming?" Old Ciano looked at his son suspiciously, "This railway will cost at least 100 million US dollars! Plus the highway, I'm afraid it won't be able to withstand more than 150 million US dollars."

"Not enough... I plan to arrange a budget of 200 million US dollars." Contini smiled, "I also plan to expand the port dredging in Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte, and Tobruk. Among them, Tripoli and Benghazi Western Canada must be able to accommodate at least 70,000-ton ships.”

"You're crazy! Why do you need 70,000 tons?" Old Ciano exclaimed in horror, "You know that these two ports currently have difficulty even accommodating 10,000 tons. How can they be expanded to 70,000 tons in one go? What is 70,000 tons? Do you know the concept? It’s bigger than the two best battleships currently!”

"Do you believe it?" Contini said word by word, "There will be giant ships of 50,000 tons, 60,000 tons or even 70,000 tons in the future!"

"I……"

"I study history, and I can see the data very clearly: During the Battle of Trafalgar, the tonnage of the battleships was only 2,500-3,000 tons. It took almost 70 years before the tonnage of the battleships reached the 10,000-ton level; From the 1890s to the beginning of this century, the Dreadnought entered service, and the tonnage of the battleships crossed the 20,000-ton mark, which took about 25 years. From then until now, almost another 20 years have passed, and the navy's capital ships have crossed the 3.5- In the 40,000-ton era, which of the current Big 7 models does not meet this standard? "Contini sighed, "According to this time and development rate, the tonnage of the main ship will reach the level of 60,000-70,000 tons in 15 years!"

"Don't forget that there is a naval arms treaty and no country can break through it."

"Treaties are meant to be broken. Have you ever seen a treaty that is always abided by?" Contini smiled coldly, "Besides, have we in Italy done too little to break treaties? How did we change sides in the last war?"

The old Ciano was speechless, but still argued: "Despite this, it is impossible for Italy to build a 70,000-ton battleship. It is too big and expensive, and we cannot afford it... Do you know? Two days ago The Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Finance quarreled again over the resumption of work on the Caracciolo."

Caracciolo was the first ship of the class, planned during World War I, and continued to be built after October 1919, but due to Italy's financial constraints, it was of course not completed. At that time, the Italian Royal Navy considered converting it into a flush-deck aircraft carrier like the British Argus, but as the Italian economy continued to deteriorate and the March on Rome was launched, the conversion plan was fruitless. Ansaldo wanted to turn Caracciolo into a seaplane carrier, which was much cheaper than the previous plan, but still too expensive for the Italian Navy.

Of course, in addition to the budget problem, the direction of the post-war Italian Navy development is also a big problem: one faction supports the traditional surface fleet, and the other faction believes that a fleet composed of aircraft carriers, torpedo boats and submarines is more ideal. Finally, the Caracciolo was sold to a shipping company on October 25, 1920, and then temporarily sealed in the harbor outside Naples. The two factions of the Navy continued to argue about this matter, and after having the money from selling several Queen-class ships, this argument became more fierce. Now not only the Navy Department is arguing, but also the Navy Department and the Ministry of Finance are arguing that the money from three Queen-class ships is obviously not enough to pay for the subsequent construction funds of the Caracciolo.

"I know about this. The leader came to me and asked me to help find a way to advance the money... I agreed."

"Agreed?" Old Ciano looked at his son with suspicion, "How much money do you have to play like this? Don't forget that your money is all borrowed, and the interest is more than 8 million US dollars a year!"

"So there is no pressure to lend a few million to the navy." Contini smiled, "I communicated with Admiral Leffel once. I can support the navy to complete the construction of the Caracciolo, but I made a personal suggestion and a business condition. The personal suggestion is to build the Caracciolo into a fast battleship, and no longer strengthen the armament and armor, but hope to increase the design power from the current 28 knots to 30 knots; the business condition is to sell the Dante to us as a scrap ship next year, and use the difference to make up."

"What do you want with this broken ship?"

"It's useless. I'll sell it after maintenance and painting..." Contini smiled slightly, "Someone in the Far East needs it! Otherwise, where do you think the scrap steel from the navy and the army went?"

"Useful? What What's the use? Five Dantes can't beat the Nagato..."

"Why should we beat the Nagato? Their goal is to unify the country... The Naples played an unparalleled role in this round of war. The Northern Army not only bombarded the Southern Army's positions, but also disintegrated the Southern Army's small navy. Now the Northern Army has controlled Beijing and regards itself as the central government. The desire for unification is more urgent than anyone else!" Contini laughed, "Selling the old warships, the Italian Navy doesn't have to worry about whether to build new ships or upgrade the old warships... Then build new ones, Caracciolo The original plan for the Lo class was to have four ships of the same class. Do you think the United Shipyard can get a contract to build one? "

Although Contini was fully aware that aircraft carriers would be the main force in future naval battles, in the mid-1920s, airplanes and aircraft carriers had little deterrent power and were far less important than battleships. The Caracciolo class itself was positioned as a fast battleship. If the speed could be increased to 30 knots, it would be extremely beneficial for the formation of an aircraft carrier formation in the future. So he instigated Lefer to throw away the old warships and build new ones, and also said that he would make some adjustments to the funds. This was exactly what Lefer wanted, and Dante would soon become "garbage" and be handled by the United Group.

Another reason is that Italy has no experience in aircraft carrier construction. Blindly building and modifying is completely a waste of time. Contini's Roma will soon be rebuilt as an aircraft carrier. He believes that the Navy will not fail to see this achievement. Once the Navy has mastered the rules and experience from the rebuilt Roma, United Shipyard will be the first choice for the builder, and the carrier-based aircraft will also choose United Airlines' products. The 9-cylinder air-cooled engine introduced from the United States is currently being used to build new aircraft.

So Contini now supports the Navy to build Caracciolo in order to better build aircraft carriers in the future, which is not contradictory at all.

Old Ciano was speechless: "Okay, you said there are 70,000-ton battleships, I believe it for the time being, but..."

"But before construction, I will only dredge these ports to the level of 35,000 tons!"

"That's about right... Greed for big and fast will definitely cause a tight capital chain. Although you solved the credit problem last time, I am still a little worried. It won't be so easy to deal with next time. You should be more cautious."

"So I don't plan to take out the last horizontal construction plan. I will announce the construction of the port when Libya finds oil. This will be safer..."