The warship "dumpling" game has never been fun. It is not only necessary to test a country's industry, but also a country's pockets.
Looking at the military budget, the Shinra Navy’s military budget in 1904 directly increased by 100 million due to the impact of the shipbuilding competition.
Obviously, so much money cannot be used to build ships. It would not take that much to build just a dozen capital ships, and more would be spent on matching and army expansion.
Since the end of the European War, the Shenluo Navy began a road of rapid development. In order to compete for military spending, the Navy and the Air Force have also joined forces with the Air Force in the past few years to force the Army.
Although it was unsuccessful, the share of the navy's military expenditure has increased. With the advent of the "Super Battleship Era", the Shinra Navy has also entered a golden age.
Since 1900, several naval academies in Shinra have expanded their enrollment. From the initial annual enrollment of more than 2,000 people, it has gradually expanded to the current annual enrollment of more than 3,000 people.
It is naturally incomparable with the army’s generous recruitment of tens of thousands of people each year, but the Navy’s demand for officers is far less than the Army’s.
The reason is very simple. The main strategic goal of the Shinra Navy is to defeat the British, not to maintain world hegemony.
To achieve this goal, the most cost-effective is to build a battleship. Others, such as battlecruisers, seem to be very useful, but they are not economical to use in decisive battles.
Black technology is not absent, but it is not safe enough. For example: aircraft carrier, or for example: submarine.
The combat effectiveness is very strong, but requires a specific battlefield. No one can guarantee that the ability to lead the British to a specific battlefield to fight, naturally cannot pin their hopes on the British to be stupid.
If the battlefield is in the Atlantic Ocean, wind and waves are enough to stop the aircraft carrier, and it is not impossible to barely fight, but the final outcome must be tragedy.
Not to mention the submarines, they should not be too far away from the battlefield, otherwise the war would be over without waiting for them to get there.
Difficulty in participating in the decisive battle does not mean that these possessions are useless.
You must know that Shinra is also a colonial power. Although overseas colonies are not the core and can be abandoned at any time, it is definitely better to keep them.
The aircraft carrier is difficult to pk in the Atlantic and the British, it does not mean that it cannot be used in the Pacific. Sending to the Pacific, bullying the Japanese navy or the U.S. Navy are all good choices.
Not to mention submarines. Relying on the colonies of Shenluo spread over five continents, they can launch attacks all over the world.
Of course, it is better not to use this method of lifting the table. After all, Shenluo is also a major maritime trade country, and it is equally easy to be targeted by others.
The main thing depends on the naval decisive battle. If the naval battle is won, then the hegemony will be accepted in a regular manner; if the naval battle is lost, there is no way, but the bad rules can be broken.
In fact, Franz has set off so many smoke bombs, the real cover is these secretly constructed submarines and aircraft carriers.
Unlike capital ships, aircraft carriers can be disguised as merchant ships. Although it looks a little different, as long as it does not install weapons, it is still feasible to hide from amateur-level intelligence personnel.
Not to mention the submarine, this thing is not big. It is completely possible to walk underwater without leaving the shipyard, avoiding the sight of intelligence personnel.
Let alone after serving, as soon as the colony is scattered, who knows how many submarines Shinra has equipped?
There is no way, who made the Royal Navy's reputation too prestigious?
Don't say it was someone else, even Franz himself had no confidence.
It is estimated that, except for the self-hypnotizing guys from the Navy Department, few in the world think they can win.
But politics, the essence is acting. Despite the lack of confidence, Franz was confident.
The times are advancing, and in the 20th century, the struggle for hegemony has evolved from a competition of pure military strength to a competition of comprehensive national power.
If you can't get a head-on decisive battle, then fight for national power. Failure is not terrible, as long as you have the determination to "fail repeatedly" and come several times, you can always pull the British down.
In fact, one very important reason why the Vienna government dared to challenge the British is that it has established itself in an invincible position.
As a land-powered country, regardless of the number of failures at sea, as long as the mainland is not affected, the foundation cannot be shaken.
It doesn't matter if the naval battle is lost. The big deal is to return to the Mediterranean for a year and a half, and then come back to the second decisive battle.
The second time doesn't work, you can still have the third, fourth, fifth time. Anyway, you can lose countless times, and you only need to win once to win.
Just like the Sino-U.S.-Japan Pacific War of World War II in the original time and space, the Japanese navy opened up all the way in the early days, and then lost the war in victory.
Although the gap between Shinra and Britain is not as great as that between the United States and Japan, the industrial strength is still three to one.
In addition, Britain is an island country, and its own resources do not need to support industrial needs. Industrial raw materials have to rely heavily on imports, and the advantages are even more obvious.
Once the second hand is activated, I dare not say that the British sea trade will be completely abolished, but it is not a problem to let their trade volume drop significantly.
The original space-time German submarine, in the limited space of activity, caused the Allied Powers to suffer unspeakably. Now that the Shenluo submarine can run around the world, its lethality is unreasonably weaker.
It is easier to destroy than to build. Shipbuilding cannot keep up with the consumption. Once there is a problem with the trade line, the British Isles will have to go hungry.
There is a problem in the homeland, and it is useless for the Royal Navy to fight. If it is consumed in the war, it may be dragged to death due to poor logistics.
Although the tactics are a bit trivial, the strategy is definitely upright. She is purely overpowering, without any speculation.
...
While Shinra and Britain were fighting for time, the Japanese and Russians were also fighting for time, and even more intense.
In any case, Shinra and Britain are only fighting secretly, but Japan and Russia are fighting with real swords and guns.
In order to speed up the construction of the Siberian Railway, the Tsarist government adopted a three-shift, 24-hour work system for the first time.
Don’t think it’s easy, you know, the construction site is Siberia. In this inaccessible ghost place, any kind of climate exists.
Even if it has entered April, there are still many places where the low temperature at night is more than ten degrees below zero, which is not suitable for construction at all.
If it is not suitable for construction, you must do it. In the Russian Empire, there is no saying that construction cannot be done in winter. If construction cannot be done in winter, the Siberian Railway will not need to be repaired.
The reputation of "frozen soil" was not blown out. In many areas of Siberia, snow does not melt all year round.
Although the Siberian Railway was planned to avoid these harsh climate areas as much as possible, many places still cannot be avoided.
Human wisdom is powerful, engineers still think of ways to overcome the harsh climate; human wisdom is also limited, and the safety of labor cannot be guaranteed.
Affected by the bad weather at night and with the implementation of the 24-hour rotation system, the death rate of labor has risen instead of falling.
Especially at night, there is a high incidence of death. Mo said it was a front-line worker, even many Russian soldiers who were in charge of supervision were frozen out of trouble.
No matter how great the difficulty is, it cannot shake the tsarist government's determination in a hurry. The laborers suffered heavy casualties, and the Russian soldiers on the front line suffered heavy casualties.
The railway will be opened to traffic a day earlier, the main force will be able to pass by, and victory will come a day earlier.
In the face of the overall strategy, everyone can give up, let alone a bunch of worthless French laborers?
The Czarist government is anxious, and the Japanese government is even more anxious. Unlike the Tsarist government, which is not afraid of boiling water, the Japanese government is the representative of diligence and thrift.
There is no way, the money of the sponsor's father is also to be repaid, and it is still usury. It is better to borrow less or less.
Looking at the equipment of the Japanese army, you can see that compared with the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, there was no essential change. Many troops still used the spoils captured that year. It can be said that the "diligence and frugality" were carried forward to the extreme.
Fortunately, the equipment of the Russian army on the opposite side is not that good, it's just better than them. Although the firepower is stronger, but limited by the lack of logistics, the ammunition can only be used a little.
In the Far East, there is also a saying within the Russian Empire called the "exile zone". Not only exiled criminals, but also exiled unlucky people who failed in political struggles.
If officials are the losers of the political struggle, then the army here is the marginalized among the Russian army.
Neither weapons nor daily training can be compared with the main force, and the combat effectiveness is naturally the bottom of the Russian army.
In the face of such an enemy, the Japanese army, which has superior strength, has not been able to show the momentum of sweeping the fallen leaves in autumn, so the Japanese government is naturally impatient.
Even the Emperor Meiji, who was well-contained, couldn't help but swear, and after several imperial meetings, he caught the high-level army violently.
It's not enough if you don't get angry, the army's record really can't be shot. After besieging the Brigade Fortress for several months, in addition to leaving corpses all over the ground, they still wandered around the periphery.
According to the military, it was because the Russians used the most advanced trenches + machine guns + steel barbed wire defense line, which was very difficult to break through.
I found the problem, but does it make sense?
The answer is: no.
The influence of the butterfly effect is powerful. As a weather vane in the army, the armies of all countries can't help but follow the Shinra army.
Naturally, the Russians who were most affected by Shinra are no exception. With the efforts of generations of overseas students, the tactics of the Shinra Army naturally spread to the Russian army.
Let the ***shun fortress, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, become more terrifying. As a result, the traditional assault tactics of the Japanese army became the tactics of giving away heads.
If nothing happens, General Nogi Nozori is afraid that he will be insulated from the **** of war. Although the commander of the 3rd Army of the Japanese Army has just arrived on the front line to take over from the unlucky person who committed suicide by amputating his stomach.
There is no other reason, mainly because the brave "meat bomb tactics" he admired, facing the well-defense fortress, the threat has been lost.
In Japan, a country that respects the strong, losers are not eligible to be worshipped. If he can't complete the combat mission, Nogi Nogi's fate will be similar to that of his predecessor.
Not only was the fighting in the ***shun fortress not going well, but the fighting in Dongman and Nanman also did not develop as expected.
Although the Japanese gained the upper hand and forced the Russians to keep retreating, the Japanese also paid a heavy price.
It is estimated that it will be difficult to define whether it is a loss or a gain.
Unlike the original time and space, the Russians have been in constant wars in recent decades. Even the Russian military's combat effectiveness in the Far East has improved. The most typical thing is the overall quality of officers, which is obviously higher than that.
The equipment is better, the quality of the officers is improved, the combat experience is richer, and the combat effectiveness naturally increases.
Stronger is stronger, that is just fantasy. Although the Japanese Army is also following the study, it is still not as thorough as the Russians followed suit.
Although the morale of the Japanese army is higher, the morale of the Russian army is not low! It is not that Russian officers and soldiers like to fight, but more because of face.
Losing to the Japanese, how can the arrogant Russian accept it?
Even if there are more Japanese troops, the innate psychological advantage makes the Russian officers and soldiers feel that they can do it, and they don't persuade them at all.
The original space-time Japan's victory was largely the contribution of the navy. The victory of the naval battle strengthened the determination of the Japanese officers and soldiers to win, and at the same time shook the hearts of the Russians.
It has only just begun. Despite the losses on many battlefields, the Russian army has not yet reached the point where the military's heart is shaken.
There is no other way to lose money. Who will let the Japanese government "do diligence and frugality"?
In the case of insufficient military expenditure, it is also normal for the army to fail to keep up with the times.
Especially due to the influence of traditional "Bushido" thinking, many Japanese generals believed that "brave" can make up for the lack of equipment and despised the army that only played with firepower.
In this context, with limited military expenditures, the first thing everyone thinks about is to protect the size of the army, not to upgrade weapons and equipment.
Now that I have suffered a loss and realized the importance of firepower, the Army is too embarrassed to say it!
Regarding all of this, as a prime minister from the army, Katsura was in his eyes and anxious in his heart.
The high-level army is embarrassed to speak, and it is not just for face. The fear of admitting mistakes will be ridiculed by the Navy, but for one reason, more is the fear of affecting the future voice in the empire.
There is no way, this is also one of the characteristics of Japan, it is not allowed to make mistakes.
Since the guards handed over a battle report, Emperor Meiji's face became gloomy. Knowing that there was bad news coming, Kataro quickly remedied:
"Your Majesty, calm down. The enemy we are facing this time is the Russians, and the slow progress of the frontline troops is understandable.
In order to speed up the progress of the troops, I propose to purchase a batch of equipment from the British to increase the strength of the troops.
For example: tanks and armored vehicles are good, they can play a great role in conquering positions.
Although it is a bit more expensive, we only need a small amount of purchase, which should not cost much. "
Russia and Austria are an alliance, and the Russo-Japanese War has already broken out. Naturally, the Vienna government will not sell its arms to the Japanese government.
In this context, although the British Army equipment has no market competitiveness in terms of performance or price, the Japanese government still has no choice.
Except for these two countries, the weapons and equipment of other countries are only more trash, not the most trash.
Up to now, only the armored forces of Shinra have a division-level organization in the world, and the armored forces of other countries are at most regiment level.
On the one hand, it is expensive, the equipment is expensive, and the later use and maintenance costs are more expensive; on the other hand, because the technology is not up to standard, the core components cannot be produced in-house.
Needless to say, for a poor country like Japan, it is impossible to equip it on a large scale except for a few to support the facade.
Otherwise, after the war broke out, even an armored force that broke through the enemy's defenses would not be able to get together.
Emperor Meiji nodded: "Then buy it. The speed must be fast. It is best to buy the British's active-duty equipment directly."
Emperor Meiji didn’t know whether armored forces could break through the enemy’s line of defense, but it was true based on experience from Europe.
At least, the anti-French alliance was the armored force that opened the way, tore through the French line of defense, and then drove straight in.
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