Chapter 1058： The Mediterranean is our inner sea

Under Franz's intervention, the Admiralty's all-heavy artillery battleship plan was passed logically.

There is no fanfare, and no deliberate secrecy.

After all, it is only a test ship, and no one can guarantee success. In the exploration of naval technology, the Vienna government has stepped on too many holes.

There is no accident, every time after failure, it will attract a group of "afterwards Zhuge Liang" criticized. The Admiralty is like a waste, it will only waste taxpayers' money.

In fact, the failure of new technology attempts is nothing. The key is the Navy’s lack of convincing record. If you change the army with a sturdy record, you will definitely not have such criticism.

"learn from mistakes".

After learning from the previous experience and lessons, when exploring new technologies and concepts, the Admiralty adopted cold treatment.

If it is successfully announced, just enjoy the applause. If you fail, you will naturally swallow the bitter fruit in silence.

This is the price that must be paid to stay at the forefront of the times. In the field of scientific research, there has never been a so-called unbeaten victory. Behind every success, countless failures are piled up.

Of course, there is also a gap between failure and failure. The performance of the test ship cannot meet the design requirements, or the lack of actual combat capability can be forgiven, but the basic mechanics principles still have to be followed.

If the ship that was built sank before it left the port, it would be held accountable.

No publicity is fine, but "confidentiality" is not necessary. In fact, such big things as warships cannot be kept secret once they are on the slipway.

The battleship of the 19th century is the embodiment of the highest industrial level in a country. To build a qualified battleship, at least the cooperation of hundreds of related companies is required.

There is no way to hide such a big movement from the past. What can be hidden is nothing but the performance parameters of the warship, and the building of the warship is not a secret at all.

Even for the Holy Roman Empire, there are only a few shipyards that can build battleships. I was spotted by international spies a long time ago, and I knew the ship was being built when the materials were shipped in.

Of course, if the Vienna government is willing, it can also play strategic deception. Putting a merchant ship in the dock of a battleship can also fool people.

It's just not necessary. If it weren't for worrying about being too deliberate and arousing the suspicion of the British, Franz had stabbed the parameters of the all-heavy artillery battleship.

The arms race naturally requires people to participate. If the British don’t know, how can they play?

"Secrecy", using the advantages of new technology to hit the enemy with a surprise attack, that only exists in theory.

The most important thing is that the "Dreadnought" is full of uncertainty. Before the warship is launched, no one can guarantee that it will succeed.

If he was 100% sure of success, Franz wouldn't mind starting a dozen or so ships in one go, and immediately caught the British by surprise.

In fact, the birth of the original space-time dreadnought ship is full of twists and turns. Everyone only saw the success of the British, no one paid attention to the setbacks experienced behind them.

Ten years ahead of schedule, Franz couldn't guarantee that the Admiralty's "Dreadnought" plan was truly perfect.

If there is a problem with the design, it would be embarrassing to create a bunch of big toys with no practical value. The emperor also cannot afford such political risks.

Gambling is a taboo of the monarch, and the people need a stable emperor.

Small countries do not have more choices before they need to take risks; big countries have more choices and higher fault tolerance, and conservativeness is king.

The parameters of the warship have not been leaked, and the outside world is just an ordinary battleship, and Shinra is built almost every year, so it naturally did not cause any disturbances.

For all this, Franz was in no rush. Anyway, when the warship is launched, the British will know. The stimulus to the London government will be even greater then.

According to the plan, Shinra's first "all-heavy artillery battleship" will start construction in early February 1898. If there were no accidents, it could be launched in 1899.

The time was very good, and the Central Asia Railway was opened to traffic at about the same time. Maritime hegemony and India are being threatened at the same time. It is estimated that the British government will not be driven mad, but will also be anxious.

...

In the evening, the lights in the Spanish Embassy in Vienna were brightly lit, accompanied by bursts of music, and a diplomatic ball began.

"Your Excellency, we really don't have the heart to watch your country's colonies. Isn't it tiring for you to try two days and two?"

Weissenberg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Shinra, who was invited to the banquet, has a headache now. I don't know where the Spaniards got the news of Shenluo's plot to Morocco. Recently, Minister Brad has been pestering him every day.

In order to verify the authenticity of the news, Wesenberg not only approached the military and the colonial ministry, but even sent electricity to inquire about the province of Algeria, saying that there was no similar plan "recently".

However, no matter what Wesenberg explained, the Spanish minister in front of him Brad didn't believe it.

Well, this is not surprising. There is no recent plan to conspire in Morocco. It does not mean that there is neither in the past nor in the future.

On the issue of overseas colonization, the Vienna government is fully delegating power.

Not only can the military and the colonial ministry lead the development of colonies, but overseas colonial governments, nobles, and non-governmental organizations can also open up colonies.

Generally speaking, before the start of colonial activities, it is enough to report to the nearest government, and there is no mandatory requirement.

Anyway, whoever is in charge is responsible, and the colony is successfully opened up, and the Vienna government ratified it. Non-government planning, colonial activities failed, all consequences are at your own risk.

In recent decades, the number of colonial licenses issued by the Vienna government was 80,000 without 100,000. There are too many groups and individuals with colonial qualifications.

When the forest grows, there are all kinds of birds. With so many colonial groups, there are definitely not a few that are eyeing Morocco.

Among them, a few of them were ironic, leaking their own colonial plan into the hands of the Spanish government. That was normal.

Weissenberg has encountered similar protests many times. Don't say it is a Spanish colony, even the British colony, there are people who dare to watch.

Generally speaking, these are stuck in the planning stage. Without the support of the Vienna government, few dared to take concrete actions.

Weissenberg can only guarantee that the Shenluo officials did not have the idea to fight Morocco. As for whether there is anyone involved in the civil affairs, it is not his business.

In any case, Spain is also a medium-sized country, and it cannot be provoked by a few civil colonial groups.

In Wesenberg's view, Minister Brad's current nervousness is completely fussy.

As if being stepped on his tail, Brad denies: "Your Minister, I really have no temptation.

As you know, we have suffered from wars in recent years and the government’s financial pressure is very heavy.

Although the colonial rebellion was suppressed not long ago, it still takes a long time for the local economy to return to normal.

In the next few years, our colony will not only be unable to create wealth, but will need the government to pour money into it.

In order to reduce the cost, after careful research, the country prepares to sell the Moroccan area. Considering our traditional friendship with your country, I have given priority to contact with your Excellency. "

Obviously, Wesenberg’s denial not only failed to clear the suspicion, but made Minister Brad firmer the domestic judgment.

Since it was determined that Shinra was plotting in Morocco, the Spanish government, which was unable to resist, naturally had to find a way to stop the losses.

Anyway, you can’t keep it, so you have to find a way to sell it at a good price. It's a pity that buyers are hard to find these years. There are many countries that are eyeing Morocco, but none are daring to grab food.

Even the British do not want to be neighbors with Shinra for a Morocco.

For the British government, the longer the land border with Shinra, the greater the pressure it will bear.

It’s easy to buy Morocco. The question is what should I do after the occupation? You can't deploy hundreds of thousands of troops to confront the Shinra for the sake of one Morocco, right?

Sea power countries run to the mainland to play against land power countries, which is definitely a manifestation of brain flooding.

To put it bluntly, the Spanish government only has a nominal suzerainty. It was obtained illegally, and the Moroccans would not admit it.

If Spain completely occupied the Moroccan region and established a complete order, chances are that someone would dare to grab food.

After all, at this point, the Vienna government has begun to lose face, and it is impossible to **** everyone's colony for no reason.

Unfortunately, the Spanish government can only sell it in a name. At most, the control of the northern area is added, but this control area is not only limited in size, but also very lacking in control, and often faces threats from indigenous tribes.

In this context, buying Morocco at a big price may not only offend the Vienna government, but also send troops to go to war with Morocco, which is obviously a loss-making business.

No one is willing to pay a big price, the Spanish government can only put the idea on the Vienna government.

After a long period of contact and understanding, the Spanish government discovered that the Holy Roman Empire is different from the previous European hegemons, it is a master who pays attention to appearance and image.

For the Spanish government, the viennese government's face is the biggest "good". Since the boss pays attention to his own image, he cannot take advantage of it.

Even for the purpose of "buying bones with daughters", the Vienna government, which does not want to bully the younger brother's notoriety, must also give a high price.

As a kind of wealth, the colony itself can be traded. The former Spanish government almost sold Cuba, but the American hands were a little black.

Although the offer was made, the conditions were all empty checks full of traps. You must know that the U.S. dollar was not an international currency at that time. The U.S. government was only willing to pay in U.S. dollars, and it was not a one-time payment.

If 100 million US dollars were exchanged for 100 million pounds and paid in cash, it is estimated that there would be no subsequent American-Spanish War.

At this point, Wesenberg didn't bother to explain. If you misunderstand, you can misunderstand. If you want to be the overlord, you can still be afraid of misunderstanding.

Since the Spanish government dares to sell, the Vienna government dares to buy. In any case, Morocco is also a rare and good place in Africa.

There is not only a piece of fertile soil, but also the reputation of "cool land under the scorching sun" and "North African garden". More importantly, it can guard the gateway from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

In the hands of the Spanish government, Morocco's strategic value is infinitely close to zero. Once in the hands of Shenluo, it would be able to lock the west gate of the Mediterranean.

When the domestic media are boasting, they can add another sentence: "The Mediterranean is our inland sea."

Although such boasting is a bit defiant, I don’t have much opinion when I compare it to Spain, France, Greece, Montenegro, and Sardinia, which are also Mediterranean countries.

With military and political bonuses, even if it's just a nominal suzerainty, it can't be cheap.

After a pause for a while, Wesenberg said slowly: "Well, since your country is in financial difficulties, we can understand the sale of Morocco.

It's just that your country does not completely control the Moroccan region. The Kingdom of Morocco still retains a certain degree of strength, so a discount is required on the price.

If your government really wants to sell it at a good price, I suggest that your country should still send troops to occupy the Moroccan region and talk to us.

In that case, we will definitely give a price that satisfies your country, and your country will definitely not suffer. "

Knowing that "encouraging Spain to send troops to Morocco" is unrealistic, Wesenberg still didn't mind throwing it out.

It's not for lowering prices, but for Minister Brad to recognize the reality. Don't think that the Vienna government needs to pay attention to the situation, and they can take Shenra as a fool.

As soon as the voice fell, Minister Brad's expression became exciting. If Spain has the strength to kill the Kingdom of Morocco, there is no need to wait until now.

As the closest country to the European powers, Morocco has been able to maintain its independence for so many years. In addition to the mutual restraint between the powers, their own strength is also an important factor.

You know, in order to deal with a few indigenous tribes in the north, the Spanish government has tossed back and forth several times, but they have not completely solved the problem.

Sending troops to destroy the Kingdom of Morocco is simple to say. If it is really implemented, I don’t know how much military expenditure it will cost.

Brad chose to ignore the "satisfactory price" that Wesenberg called it. Just listen to this, if you take it seriously, you will be a fool.

"Your Excellency, in our current situation, it is no longer suitable to continue the war. For Spain, the most important thing at the moment is to recuperate.

As for the Kingdom of Morocco you mentioned, there is actually no need to care. An aboriginal kingdom is nothing more than an aboriginal kingdom. For your country, they can be erased with no effort.

Even the army does not need to be mobilized. As long as your government signals, civilian armed forces can destroy Morocco ten times.

Such a little dust will not affect this transaction at all. "

Flatter, shameless flattery. In order to sell the Moroccan region at a good price, Minister Brad obviously gave up his morals.

Knowing that Brad was flattering, Wesenberg still laughed unceremoniously. The overlord wants the overlord's aura. If you don't have confidence in your own strength, how can you be confused?

Moreover, Brad is not overly touted. The Kingdom of Morocco is really not troublesome to Shinra. In the issue of expanding colonies, Shinra’s civilian armed forces are extremely active.

If Shinra gathers all the civilian armed forces, not to mention destroying the Kingdom of Morocco, even Spain will not be a problem.

If you want to make a world army ranking, then it is:

First, the Holy Roman Empire;

Second, the Russian Empire;

Third, the private armies of the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire;

...

There is no way, the status of these guys are all shot out of the battlefield. You may not be able to do other things, but there is absolutely no fear in fighting.

Before these strong military men went to see God, the private armies of the nobles of Shinra were an important armed force.

"Your Excellency, it doesn't make sense to talk about this. Since your country really wants to sell the Moroccan region, should you make a price first?"

It can be seen that Wesenberg is in a good mood. It seemed that Brad's flattery had an effect, and he seemed to be satisfied with the sale.

Minister Brad: "Well, your Minister. The Moroccan region has a very large economic value, military value, and political value. I think 300 million Aegis is a reasonable number."