Holy Roman Empire

Although the navy's shipbuilding plan was not approved, the strategic plan to provoke the Anglo-Russian war was highly praised by Frederick.

What any country fears most is bureaucratic inaction. Only a busy bureaucrat is a good bureaucrat.

Although the Admiralty was a little bit more concerned and considered the problem not so thorough, after contacting the actual situation, Frederick also understood the approach of the Admiralty.

Although the Navy of the Holy Roman Empire has reached the second level in the world; but it is far from the first.

Originally, the Shinra Navy was expected to catch up with the British, but unfortunately the French warships were sold to the British by the government, further widening the power gap between the two navies.

Of course, everything has two sides, and there are disadvantages and advantages. The Royal Navy, which had obtained the French warships, did not please.

The original purpose of purchasing these warships was to suppress the Shinra Navy and consolidate maritime hegemony.

Persevering, the situation behind has changed a little bit. The expected arms race did not break out. The Royal Navy, which has a large number of warships, can only choose to seal some warships.

I bought a bunch of big toys home, and they could only lock them in a drawer. The British also had difficulties.

However, there is no other way. The British can only jump inside, knowing that there is a pit, otherwise the warship will fall into the hands of the Shinra Navy, and the superiority of the Royal Navy will be difficult to guarantee.

After all, warship construction also takes time. If the Royal Navy has no advantage, if one day the Vienna government suddenly convulsed its head and ran over to play with the Royal Navy, it would be a tragedy.

Shenluo is a land power country that can afford to lose, but Britain can't stand it. If the Royal Navy suffered heavy losses and the international situation was torn down and reshuffled, it would be difficult for Britain to restore its maritime hegemony.

After missing an opportunity to catch up quickly, we immediately ushered in the biggest economic crisis in human history. All the money was spent on the economy, and military expenditures were naturally reduced.

Since the end of the European War, Shinra’s military expenditures have stayed in place. The total military expenditure has not increased, and the amount of military expenditure allocated to the navy will naturally not increase.

After the war, in order to raise military expenditures, the army and air force sold second-hand equipment. Not to mention making a lot of money, but it is still possible to improve your life.

The navy is hard pressed. Because of the previous warship sales, the international market has long been saturated, and there is no room for them to play.

In fact, even if there is room to play, it is useless. The army and the air force sold equipment on a large scale, which was left over from the anti-French war. No matter how big a tearful sale is, it is better than dismantling and selling scrap iron.

The navy is different. Not only is there not a bunch of warships left, but it also faces competition from the British.

The military budget of the Shinra Navy has not increased, but the navy budget of its competitors has increased year by year. The Admiralty is watching it in its eyes and anxious in its heart.

It’s just “urgency” that’s useless. The government’s annual budget is so much. If you take care of this one, you can’t care about the other. The government budget can only give priority to areas that are more needed.

There is no doubt that the Shenra Navy is clearly not the most urgent development. The Royal Navy’s advantage is already great, no matter how big it is, they dare not enter the Mediterranean anyway.

The prestige of the Royal Navy is too great. Many senior officials in the Vienna government, including Frederick, lack confidence in the Navy.

On the issue of confrontation with the British, there has always been another voice in the Vienna government, that is, to build more airports in coastal areas to deploy air defenses, and at the same time vigorously develop submarines as a supplement.

There is no need to sink all enemy warships. As long as the air force can damage the enemy warships, the navy can go up and pick up the leaks.

With such a low requirement, the difficulty is naturally not high. Now the main force of the Royal Navy dare not enter the Mediterranean Sea, which is done under this theory.

After all, the air force is far more mobile than the navy, and the Vienna government has built a large number of airstrips along the coast.

If the Vienna government is willing, it can assemble hundreds or even thousands of aircraft in any area.

In the face of dense clusters, anyone will have a numb scalp. Although the Royal Navy is powerful, it still has three points of fear of the enemy overhead.

The Air Force even formulated a strategic bombing plan against the United Kingdom, that is, to concentrate thousands of bombers at one time and launch air strikes on the Royal Navy to end the British maritime hegemony.

Although it cannot be done with the existing technology, considering the development speed of aviation technology, it may not be impossible in the next 20 to 30 years.

After all, the English Channel is only a short distance away. As the overlord of Europe, Shenluo can deploy fighters in France and Belgium. It is not difficult to launch air strikes.

Although the plan is full of ideals, people still have more confidence in the Air Force than in a decisive battle at sea with the British.

In this context, the life of the Shinra Navy is naturally difficult. Even if the army does not win the battle for military expenditures, even the Air Force rushes to grab resources from them. It is normal for the Navy Department to be anxious.

The military budget is limited, and the original plan of the Admiralty to "rely on the industrial advantage of the Shinra and directly pile up the number to kill the British" is obviously not feasible.

After another attempt was made by Frederick, Castagni took out a new document and handed it over: "Your Highness, this is an alternative plan prepared by our Admiralty.

The imperial navy and the British Royal Navy are far apart, and a lot of financial resources are necessary to catch up.

Taking into account the limited fiscal revenue of the empire, in order to save military expenditure, the Navy Department is ready to promote the technological revolution of naval industry.

This is a new battleship that we designed with a new design concept that is different from any previous warship.

We abandoned the previous concept of multiple artillery coordination and replaced all with heavy artillery. The firepower is three times that of traditional battleships.

If this attempt is successful, then the traditional battleships of the past will be swept into the garbage dump of history. "

"Test ship", this is very important. Although the Vienna government detained and searched for naval investment, in order to encourage naval technological innovation, it was extraordinarily generous to "test ships" that adopted new technologies.

The direct consequence is the Shenluo Navy, with many wonderful designs coming out every year. However, these efforts are necessary to promote the development of naval technology.

Throughout the history of the development of the human navy, you will know that every technological revolution is stepped on by thunders.

For this reason, Franz also set up a special naval design exhibition hall to display various technological innovations on the road of naval development. Success and failure are all put in one mind.

There was no accusation, no criticism, as if everything were taken for granted. After a long time, everyone will get used to it. The designers' brains have been opened up, and the more fun they are on the road of trickery, the happier they are.

Of course, more than ninety-nine percent of the design drawings of the warship were left in the archives in the end, and even less than 1% of the warships that can truly become warships.

Being brave to try is not the same as trying without a brain. At least it must conform to the most basic principles of mechanics to ensure that the warship will not sink before it can enter the next step of the demonstration.

After an internal screening process, the final design proposal is actually more reliable.

Frederick didn't know much about naval technology, but he still had the most basic common sense. Looking at the design of the warship in front of him, Frederick asked suspiciously: "Sweep all the previous battleships into the garbage dump. Are you sure you can do it?"

It's not that I feel sorry for the elimination of warships. In fact, no matter how the warship technology is changed, it will not affect the value of the previous warships.

After all, not every country can keep up with the naval technological revolution. Now the opponents are Shinra and Britannica, and the rest are little brothers.

If you want to participate in the naval technological revolution, let's wait until we grow up. It's not their turn to join in the fun right now.

If the naval technological revolution really breaks out, just like the birth of the ironclad ship, it will definitely benefit the Holy Roman Empire and no harm.

Today is different from the past, starting from the same starting line, and with strong industrial strength, Shinra is not afraid to compete with the British.

Although the elimination of old battleships will cause heavy losses, the British will suffer the most. In terms of financial resources, "Kill one thousand enemies, self-defeating eight hundred", it is still possible for Shenluo to try.

Secretary of the Navy Castagni shook his head: "His Royal Highness, the birth of new technology is always unavoidable. Before it comes out, no one can guarantee that it will work.

I can only tell you that this new battleship has such potential. With three times the firepower of traditional battleships, theoretically speaking, it is indeed possible to kill. "

Just "potential" is enough. In order to have an opportunity to quickly close the power gap with the British Navy, it is completely acceptable to take out more than four million Aegis for a test.

After some thoughts, Frederick slowly said: "I will leave this document for now. In principle, I have no objection.

As for when the plan will be launched, let's wait until the cabinet has discussed it! "

More than 4 million Aegis is not a small number, it is already close to one percent of the fiscal revenue of the Vienna government, and it occupies an important proportion in the government's fiscal budget.

Frederick felt that he had better be cautious, and no one knew whether more important projects would appear later. If you can’t preside over the budget allocation for the first time, it will mess up.

Especially after the successful test of the new ship, there will be an arms race on an unprecedented scale, and it will not be sloppy.

Frederick did not think that the British could not make a warship that Shinra could build. Although the overall industrial strength of Shinra is stronger, Britain is the king in naval technology.

Even after the end of the European War, Shinra inherited the French naval technology and made up some of the shortcomings, but that only brought the two sides to the same level and still failed to surpass the British.