Chapter 1065： Strategic choice

The British army, navy, and air force are competing for military spending, and Shinra is no exception. The outside world does not know the parameters of the Rome, but the top of the Vienna government knows it!

Displacement: 20,100 tons

Length: 169.6m

Width: 26.3 meters

Draft: 8.7m

Speed: 20.5 knots

Endurance: 6500 nautical miles at 10 knots

Main engine: transmission type steam turbine 2 groups 4 shafts

Main boiler: 18 co-fired water boilers

Power: 23000 horsepower

Armament: 6 305mm 45-diameter twin guns (one front and one rear, two on each side, hexagonal), 16 120mm 45-diameter single guns, 2 450mm underwater torpedo tubes

Armor: side 255 mm, deck 76 mm, gun mount 230 mm, turret front 280 mm, conning tower 280 mm

Crew: 863

...

Compared with the previous traditional battleships, the firepower of the "Rome" is far too powerful. In the era of cannon giant ships, strong firepower equals strong combat power.

After finally gaining an advantage on the track, the Admiralty was naturally unwilling to let the British overtake it. In order to expand this advantage, the Admiralty proposed an ambitious change plan.

That is: within five years, build 25 super battleships similar to the "Rome" to seize maritime supremacy from the Royal Navy.

In theory, there is no problem, 25 dreadnoughts can indeed sweep the current Royal Navy. You can even make a half-fold.

The prerequisite is "now". The British are not fools, it is impossible to see themselves being surpassed, and they will definitely take corresponding measures.

The birth of the Dreadnought was not an epoch-making development in technology, but a breakthrough in concept.

In the field of emerging technology, Shenluo does have an advantage, but it does not include shipbuilding technology.

The annual military expenditure of the Royal Navy is not in vain. In the field of warship construction technology, the British are still at the forefront of the times.

As long as the London government is willing to spend money, it can build its own "super battleship" in up to two years. The Admiralty’s plan is nothing more than speeding up with the British.

In any case, Shinra has a test ship. What we need to do now is to make a little technological improvement on the basis of the "Rome" and we can replicate industrial production.

In terms of time, the Holy Roman Empire has at least one and a half years ahead of its competitors, and this advantage can continue to be magnified in subsequent competition.

Although the British shipbuilding technology was advanced, the warship involved not only shipbuilding, but also industrial cooperation.

As the world's largest industrial power, the Holy Roman Empire is absolutely able to beat the British in terms of comprehensive industrial strength.

When the industrial chain starts, not to mention how advanced the technology is than the British, at least it can definitely have an advantage in production capacity.

I dare not say that the British built one ship, and Shenluo could build two. However, the shipbuilding industries of the two countries are working together. At the same time, Shinra will certainly build more warships than the British.

Now that the naval technological revolution has broken out, everyone has been pulled to the same starting line, and Shinra is even slightly ahead. Naturally, everyone is reluctant to let go of such a good opportunity.

There is no doubt that shipbuilding is inseparable from money. As a test ship, the "Rome" took many detours during the construction process, and the final cost was 4.976 million Aegis.

If ships are built in large quantities, the cost will definitely come down; however, the technology of warships has always been more and more advanced, and each time a ship is built, the previous technology will be optimized, which also requires costs.

This means that even if it is large-scale shipbuilding, the average cost of each "super battleship" will not be less than 4 million Aegis.

25 super battleships, at least 100 million Aegis. Just shipbuilding, the Navy will increase its budget for Aegis by 100 million. What about the Army and Air Force?

Although the military expenditure of the Holy Roman Empire is increasing every year, this increase is basically linked to the economy, and military expenditure is basically limited to about 30% of fiscal revenue.

This ratio is not low anymore. Even though the Holy Roman Empire has two levels of finances, the central government and state governments, there are also a large number of central government jurisdictions.

The central government does not need to undertake too many obligations for the internal construction of the state, but the infrastructure, livelihood projects, and administrative costs of the municipality are the same.

Of course, the ratio is not low mainly due to Franz's view. Compared with other countries in the world, the proportion of Shenluo's military expenditure is really not high, and it is lower than 90% of the countries in the world.

Limited by productivity, military spending in many countries has reached more than half of fiscal revenue. Only countries that have completed industrialization can suppress this ratio.

Whether or not the proportion of military expenditures is high cannot change the fact that the military expenditures of the Holy Roman Empire are the world's largest. Shinra’s annual military expenditures exceed the gross national product of most countries in the world.

According to the current pace of development, I am afraid that in less than ten years, Franz will have the feeling of later generations of American emperors. The military expenditure of his family exceeds the sum of the following two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...

In fact, you can feel this way now. If nothing happens, the military expenditures of the Vienna government from next year will exceed the sum of the following two, three, and four.

No matter how much money, it cannot withstand the army's calamity. According to past practice, the military expenditure ratio of the land, sea and air forces is usually 4.6:3.7:1.7.

Obviously, this is a thing of the past. The navy and the air force are not satisfied with their military expenditure ratios, and now they join hands to bombard the army.

...

Secretary of the Navy Castagni: "The French have been abolished. Even if they are loosened now, they will not threaten us in a hundred years.

The Russians are our allies, and at the same time their economic lifeline is in our hands, the threat of the Eastern Front simply does not exist.

Since the victory of the Anti-French War, we have no enemies on land. Throughout the world, we have only one enemy-Britain.

To deal with the British, the navy and air force are needed, and the army continues to seize a lot of resources. This is a waste of taxpayers' money. "

Air Force Secretary Conrad: "Your Excellency is right. The army has so many resources that it has severely hindered the Empire..."

The Secretary of the Army Feslav interrupted: "Two, please pay attention to your words. Don't forget that the Holy Roman Empire is a land-powered country, and our foundation lies on land.

It is never the vast ocean that determines the rise and fall of an empire, but our homeland across three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa.

How can the army be not strong enough to guard our vast territory?

On the contrary, your navy and air force are enough. As long as we can hold the Mediterranean Sea, we will leave the rest to us!

The War Department has formulated a sound plan. If the government decides to overthrow the British hegemony, we can cross Persia and enter India at any time. "

As a land-powered country, there is nothing wrong with focusing on developing the army. The only problem is that the Holy Roman Empire has lost its terrestrial threat.

France is really scrapped by playing. If history can be repeated, it is estimated that the French will not surrender if they are killed.

Compared with the disasters after the war, the bitter days of the European War are nothing at all. At that time, it was poor eating, but now I can’t get enough to eat at all, or simply don’t have enough to eat.

After two years of fighting on the battlefield, people died, far fewer than those killed by the Allied forces after the war. To be precise, after the destruction of production, they were forced to be displaced and eventually died of illness or starvation on the road.

Other countries are also tossing. For example, the garrisons in Belgium, Sardinia, Tuscany and other countries are not inferior to the Russian army.

Driven by the power of hatred, these few anti-French vanguards often did better than the Russian army.

It's just that the territories occupied by them are not large, their sense of existence is too weak, and the limelight is robbed by the Russians.

Just look at the direction of the French fleeing. Either go to Switzerland, or go to Spain, or go to Shenluo, no one dares to go to Belgium and Italy.

No way, the hatred formed in the front is too deep, don't expect others to help you run over.

Including those running towards Shenluo, they must detour, and they dare not pass through Luxembourg, Rhineland and other regions.

The locals were also anti-French vanguards. The Vienna government previously raised a batch of relief food and prepared to send it to France for disaster relief. As a result, it was intercepted by the people in the Rhineland region.

In the end, the Vienna government changed its mind and decided to send it to the Russian army as military rations, and it was immediately unimpeded.

So many people want the French to die, and France will be as miserable after the war.

Many anti-French alliances followed in their endorsements, and the international community only verbally condemned a few words, and then there was nothing.

Without France, the Holy Roman Empire lost its terrestrial threat. As for the Russian Empire, it was no longer a threat decades ago.

Don't say it is a war with the Shinra, even if trade is interrupted, the Tsarist government may collapse.

Without the big buyer of Shinra, the mining and agriculture industries of the Russian Empire would collapse.

If you want to open up new markets, you can’t find such a large buyer in the international market. In many areas, Shinra has formed a substantial monopoly.

Although Shinra is equally uncomfortable, there are alternatives. The big deal is to open up mining restrictions and at the same time bring in African food, processing and manufacturing will not die.

Without the threat, the Army continues to occupy the most resources, which is very eye-catching. If it hadn't been for the army's sturdy military exploits and strong enough within the empire, I would have long been unable to withstand the pressure.

Even so, the army is often blamed in the annual battle for military expenditures. Not only the navy and air force spray them, but even the government has criticized them.

The army will not let go of the benefits of getting scolded anyway.

On this issue, most of the time Franz pretended not to see. There is never a simple right or wrong in politics. The emperor's first task is to balance the forces of all parties.

The dominance of the Shinra army has been going on for many years, and it has only changed in recent years.

For details, you can refer to the proportion of military expenditures. When Franz succeeded to the throne, the army's military expenditures accounted for more than 90% of the total military expenditures, and it has slowly dropped to 46% now.

Since the navy and air force have jumped out to make a fuss, why should he be an emperor? After they have almost quarreled, they can decide the final military expenditure allocation based on the results of the quarrel.

Although cutting meat with a blunt knife is not a good choice, sometimes it is the only choice. It would be truly irresponsible if the army’s military expenditures were cut down immediately.

Whether it is disarmament, reduction of staff, or finding ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, time buffer is needed.

Therefore, the proportion of army military expenditure in the national defense budget has been declining year by year, but when it comes to specific military expenditures, it has never been reduced. Instead, it has increased year by year, only the rate of increase is slower than that of the Navy and Air Force.

Regardless of the fierce competition now, in fact, the real competition is the new military expenditure, not the nearly fixed expenditure before.

In order to change the passive situation, the Army will naturally not be idle. The Navy has the "Super Battleship Program", the Air Force has the "Terminator Program," and the Army can naturally have the "India Program."

Regardless of how difficult it is to implement, some are better than none. Regardless of the plans of the Navy and Air Force, the success rate is not necessarily high.

The strategic plans of the army, navy, and air force have all come out, and now it's time for the top leaders of the Vienna government to have a headache. Who supports and opposes, this is a question that can make people bald.

At first glance, the three major strategic plans, no matter which one they are, can disarm the British; if you study carefully, you will find that these three strategic plans are just plans. To complete any of these plans, a lot of resources are required.

...

Seeing it was getting late, Franz got up impatiently, waved his hand and said, "Come here first, and continue tomorrow.

I hope you can come up with a more adequate and responsible plan, instead of drawing me a pie that I can see and cannot eat. "

In fact, Franz was already secretly rejoicing, but fortunately he was not lazy this time. If this trouble is thrown to Frederick, it is estimated that this battle of strategic lines will be able to stage a full force.

Obviously, the Army does not intend to continue to back down this time. It is simply unrealistic to rely on pressure from all parties to allow the Army to make concessions.

In case of an emergency, the Ministry of the Army will shove the news out and invite people from all over the country to participate in the discussion.

No one can say anything about politics. Compared with the Air Force and the Navy, the Army’s support among the civilian population is much higher.

Let ordinary people do this multiple-choice question. It is estimated that 80% of people will choose to kill all the way from Persia to India, cutting off the lifeblood of the British.

In addition, 19% of the people are conservative, they will invite the Russians to send troops to India. As for less than one percent of people, they may support the Navy or the Air Force.

This is determined by the record. The army has brought enough confidence to the people through its victories in the past.

Although the air force has performed well, the power of the air force this year is obviously not big enough to bring everyone enough confidence.

Not to mention the navy. It has always played the role of soy sauce, not to mention ordinary people. Even Franz doesn't think the Shinra Navy can defeat the Royal Navy.

If you can't win a head-on decisive battle, can't you find a way to play roundabout?

Anyway, the gateway to the Mediterranean has been obtained, and the Shenluo Navy can attack from both east and west, so that the British can't do both.

Anyway, running the inner circle in the Mediterranean is faster than the British running the outer circle. Unless the Royal Navy can have more than twice the tonnage of the Shenluo Navy, just play and block the door.

To achieve this, it seems that there is still not enough. At this time, the strategic position of the Strait of Gibraltar was once again reflected.

The Vienna government can deploy the air force in Morocco and complete the door lock plan; the British can also operate Gibraltar as a giant aircraft carrier.

There are planes in the sky, submarines in the water, and waves of mines are planted from time to time. The Strait of Gibraltar can also be locked.

You can't get out of the west gate, but you can only get out of the east and you will be passive. At that time, the only real thing is to cooperate with the army, and then bring in the Russians to join forces, and the two will kill from Afghanistan and Persia to India.

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