Greece to roman road

Fifteen days after Trikupis and his party left for England, Constantine in the Tatoy Palace received a telegram from the ship-buying team: the ship-buying team preferred the Esmeralda-class protected cruiser.

This is a masterpiece of British protected cruisers. In terms of firepower, armor, and maneuverability, the Esmeralda is relatively balanced.

The Esmeralda cruiser is a cruiser produced by the British Armstrong Company for Chile. At the end of the 19th century, it was the time of the naval competition among the three South American countries of Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The three countries were competing for naval warships and refused to give in to each other.

It has a displacement of 3,000 tons and is equipped with a 6,000-horsepower double-expansion steam engine, which can allow the ship to reach knots. For protection, it adopts a dome armor structure without side armor, and the average thickness is 25 mm. At the same time, 600 tons of coal were completely surrounded by the core power cabin, forming a solid cofferdam.

In terms of firepower, it is equipped with two 254mm MkI–IV L/32 breech-loading cannons, kII–VI L/40 rapid-fire cannons, and a bunch of 6-pound and 2-pound rapid-fire cannons, which are absolutely powerful. This kind of firepower, speed and protection fully met Chile's requirements, and it instantly became the dominant force on the South American sea.

A protected cruiser with a relatively balanced strength like this is indeed more suitable for Greece at this time. It is used to cruise and maintain trade lines in peacetime. Even in wartime, its large-caliber artillery can ensure enough damage to the Ottoman ironclads. threats.

It is definitely impossible for Greece to fully adopt armored ships. It does not have that much money. If it has to, such a cruiser can also be pulled into the battle line and act as a battleship. It is fast and can outflank. It is really an all-rounder at sea. .

At the same time, Kontoriotis strongly recommended the purchase of several large newly developed British torpedo boats, which the British called destroyers.

This kind of warship whose main weapon is fish can come and go like the wind, is flexible, and can reach a maximum speed of 26 knots. At the same time, it uses fish so that as long as one hit, it can cause heavy damage to large warships at sea. This deadly weapon has caused The interest of the ship-buying team.

This type of destroyer is 4 meters long, 6 meters wide, has a displacement of 275 tons, a design speed of 26 knots, and is equipped with one 76mm gun and three 47mm guns. It can catch torpedo boats at sea without any difficulty and carries three 450mm torpedoes. , used to attack enemy ships.

In addition, it can easily catch up with a torpedo boat and surpass the latter, which fully proves its ability to capture torpedo boats and is enough to compete with other surface ships.

The price given by the British was 160,000 pounds for an Esmeralda-class cruiser. Constantine agreed with the proposal of the ship-buying delegation.

In June 1889, Trikupis placed an order with the Armstrong Company: two Esmeralda-class cruisers, six destroyers (torpedo boats), together with some torpedoes, shells, and spare barrels, totaling 500,000 pounds. s price.

At the same time, the UK will be responsible for training 500 crew members in the next two years.

As for the money, the Congolese government will pay it in installments and pay corresponding fees based on the construction progress of these warships at the shipyard.

According to the plan, after delivery, two cruisers and three destroyers will form a cruiser formation and will be sent to the mouth of the Congo River to protect the safety here.

The other three destroyers will be handed over to the Greek Navy to patrol and guard the Aegean Sea.

Although the naval lineup of two cruisers and several destroyers still seemed a bit weak during a maritime conflict with the Ottomans, there was no problem in maintaining the security of the Greek offshore waters.

Considering that the Ottoman Navy has lacked military spending in recent years and has even had no warships sailing out of the harbor for several years. As long as the Greek navy trains normally and the warships are properly maintained, control of the Aegean Sea may not be impossible for Greece during wartime. in hand.

After the naval affairs came to an end, Constantine focused all his energy on the army.

At the Ministry of Defense building in the center of Athens, Constantine and Chief of General Staff Emmanuel discussed improving the Greek General Staff.

"Your Highness, where do you think we should start?" Emmanuel asked.

With the personal consent of King George and the permission of Prime Minister Trikupis, 200 million drachmas were invested in military expenditures within four to five years to carry out comprehensive reforms of the army. As the Chief of General Staff Emmanuel was naturally eager to give it a try.

"Let's start by improving the functions of the staff," Constantine said, sitting on the sofa, facing Emmanuel.

"The first thing is to recruit more professionals to the General Staff. When I say professionals, I don't necessarily mean officers."

After listening to Constantine's explanation, Emmanuel was confused. The General Staff was recruiting people, but they were not necessarily military commanders. He said, "If you are not an officer, what are you recruiting into the General Staff?"

Seeing Emmanuel's confused expression, Constantine had no choice but to explain: "For example, Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff, does our Greek army have a clear map of the Balkans? At the military level."

"If not, shouldn't we recruit some surveyors to carry out map surveying?"

In the 19th century, accurate maps were very important. In this era before printers, almost every map had to be completed manually by draftsmen.

Moreover, cartographers were required to conduct on-site surveys and then draw them by hand bit by bit. Therefore, drawing maps in this era was not only a job that required patience, but also required cartographers to inspect various places.

When marching and fighting, if you don't understand the terrain, it's like a blind man riding a blind horse. When two armies are facing each other, military maps are an important source of information for the commander. If you don't understand the terrain, how can the commander dispatch troops and arrange their formations?

"You also know, Your Highness, except for this big move, the Greek Army's military expenditures have always been tight. Like you mentioned, drawing accurate maps is a task that costs a lot of manpower and material resources and requires a huge amount of money. Financial support," Emmanuel said nonchalantly.

There is no accurate map of the Greek army. Even with military expenditures, it gave priority to military expansion under the huge military threat of Turkey. After all, strengthening its strength in this way is more secure than having a few more military maps. feel.

"So, since military expenditures are abundant now, we should set up a surveying and mapping office under the General Staff, mainly to survey and map the places where the Greek army may fight in the future. Let alone other places, you should give priority to mapping the European part of the Ottoman Empire. "Constantine said.

"For example, Macedonia and Albania, the military maps of these places are prioritized for surveying and mapping."

In the event of a conflict with Türkiye, maps of these two areas will definitely be urgently needed.

"Indeed, let's do this. It is more dangerous for surveying and mapping personnel to enter Ottoman territory alone. We can carry out espionage work in the newly established intelligence office, and at the same time let the personnel of the two departments help each other and complete this task together." Emmanuel also agrees It is clear that the work that the General Staff could not effectively carry out before was restricted by Greece's tight military expenditure, can now be carried out.

It is indeed dangerous to carry out surveying and mapping work in a large area in a hostile country. After all, as long as there are few people who are vigilant, such espionage will be discovered.

"Well, you can remind the new head of the intelligence department that is about to be formed to make good use of the large number of Christians in Ottoman Turkey. These people are closer to Greece emotionally. I think they will be willing to help us," Constantine reminded road.