War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Royal Garden.

Franz and Friedrich started a simulated war over plates and food.

Friedrich was very interested in Franz's special operations. A small force took advantage of the darkness to paralyze the enemy's important forts, attack the enemy's arsenal, or prepare in advance in the enemy's city to cooperate with the large force inside and outside, although it was a bit despicable. , but it is indeed direct and effective.

As for the tactics of steamships, they should focus on harassing and killing the crew.

Therefore, artillery should be installed at the bow and stern of the ship to facilitate pursuit and escape.

At the same time, the broadside firepower should be mainly based on explosive shells and grapeshot. The purpose is to kill the deck personnel of the enemy ship, ignite the deck and destroy the sails, so as to cause chaos on the enemy ship.

As for sinking and gang-hopping, let's forget about it for the Austrian Navy.

Venetian sailors are indeed very good at fighting, but if you expect a group of professional drunkards to deal with a group of professional soldiers, you should wake up.

The main reason is that the current modified steam-powered ships are still too small to be suitable for these two tactics.

In addition to running fast, steam-powered ships can also add additional armor to the outside, which is called ironclad ships.

But there is a big difference between the ironclads of this era and the ironclads we will know in later generations.

At this time, the ironclad ships were just an iron shell wrapped around a wooden hull. Some ships even had a few pig iron plates hung on both sides of the ship to protect against cannons.

As for the source of power, it is also confusing, there are those that rely solely on steam power, and there are also those that are powered by steam and sail hybrids.

Especially now, Austria's warships modified from merchant ships and cargo ships usually only have 500 to 1,000 tons, which can only be regarded as the level of cruisers. They are really powerless in the face of battleships that often exceed 2,000 tons.

As for using this small boat to sink a 3,500-ton first-class battleship, it is even more impossible.

"Franz, I think what you said is very good. If the Marine Corps can really reach the level you mentioned, then the war will be too easy. Maybe we can complete it without losing even a single battleship. Fighting that the ancients could not even imagine.”

Friedrich wanted to flatter him, but his technique was poor, so Franz had to pretend to accept it.

"When will your steam battleship be launched?"

"Hmm" Friedrich thought for a while and said, "Three to five years."

"So long?" Franz was a little surprised. In fact, he thought it was just a pile of wood and a layer of iron, and it should be about the same in a month or two.

"This is considered fast, but it still has to be built in Venice. If it is built in Trieste and there is a lack of experienced shipwrights, it may not be able to be launched in five years." Friedrich emphasized.

Franz felt something was wrong and said.

"What level of battleship are you talking about?"

"My flagship is, of course, a first-class battleship!"

".I want to ask about the construction time of conventional capital ships."

Looking at Friedrich's thoughtful look, Franz felt that the third-level battleship must not take so long to build.

"Two to three years."

".Is the construction speed so slow?" Franz was still a little confused.

"Unless, of course, you want him to sink in one shot." Friedrich laughed.

"Sink with one shot?" Franz was a little confused, because when he chatted with Friedrich before, he knew that the most efficient way to sink a warship during this period was actually to hit it.

It's just that a violent impact will most likely cause both parties to sink together.

If you want to use artillery to sink the opponent's warship, it will be difficult to do it without half an hour of fighting, unless it is crushed by tonnage firepower.

"The Americans on the other side of the continent once built a third-class battleship named the USS America to thank France for helping them get rid of British rule. However, due to cutting corners, it sank as soon as it arrived in France."

Friedrich laughed and revealed the dark history of the United States.

In fact, historically, on November 9, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the construction of three 74-gun battleships. This was the first time that the United States independently built battleships, and the USS America that Friedrich mentioned was among them.

On September 3, 1782, the U.S. Congress decided to donate the USS America to France.

On November 5, 1782, the hull was launched.

On June 24, 1783, it was completed and set sail for France. and arrived on July 16th.

In 1786, the French Navy inspected and found that the ship's wood had rotted and could not be repaired, so it was immediately scrapped.

The Americans spent six years building a rotten ship and then gave it to the French, euphemistically calling it a "gift". This is really the old American way.

"Friedrich, if we want to build three first-class steam-powered ironclads, how long will it take?"

"God knows! I haven't even built one! You ask me how long it will take to build three? Let's wait until my flagship is launched."

Franz didn't know much about shipbuilding, so he could only ask Friedrich, but Friedrich didn't want to answer Franz's question at all, because he didn't have the answer either.

What's even more embarrassing is that Franz rejected several of Friedrich's ideas based on the experience of later generations, so the latter seemed a little irritable and eager to win back some face, but Franz was used to enjoying the convenience of later generations' networks. People are quite uncomfortable with the life of not being able to get answers as soon as possible, and the atmosphere at the dinner table seemed awkward for a while.

Adjani saw something was wrong with the atmosphere in front of her, so she said.

"Archduke Franz, you and Archduke Friedrich haven't had dessert yet, why don't you let him try the double-skinned milk you invented?"

Adjani deliberately walked between Franz and Friedrich and cleared the dishes on the table.

"Double-skinned breasts? Franz, are you still a gourmet?"

This is not because Friedrich is too out-of-the-box and easily led astray by Adjani.

But Adjani is very good at handling this kind of thing. Her voice, expression, and body language can easily induce people to fall into her rhythm.

It's just that she usually deals with jealousy between men rather than children's fights, but in her eyes there is actually no difference.

"I didn't invent it. It's a practice spread from the East. I just happened to read it in a book." Franz replied.

In fact, since the day Adjani took charge of Franz’s diet and daily life, sugar has never left Franz’s menu.

The food in Vienna itself is on the sweet side, and Adjani and Thalia hit it off when it comes to adding sugar, such as pork chops in syrup, ham in honey sauce, sweet cabbage, honey chicken soup, and coffee that is so sweet that it is more than lethal.

If Franz doesn't prepare his own food to eat, he may develop diabetes early on.

"I really admire you for reading so many books. At your age, I only read "Gaul Wars" and "Army Code of Conduct."

It was obvious that Friedrich was sincere, but Franz really deserved it because he was born in two lives and could do this. When he was seven years old in his previous life, he was still watching Calabash and Cat and Mouse.

"No, you are very powerful. At least I haven't read "Gaul Wars" and "Army Code of Conduct". I only read some casual books." Franz explained.

"Franz, actually I have always had a question. Where can we find people who can speak Arabic in our Austrian Empire? If we want to infiltrate secretly, we can't let our people speak German or Italian."

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