Holy Roman Empire

As before, there was no news for more than ten years, which made it difficult for the Royal Navy to ask the Parliament for military expenses.

How good it is now, given the importance of the navy to Britain, it must be overestimated in the context of an unclear background!

You don't need to think about it, but in the next few days, the military expenditure of the Royal Navy will increase significantly again.

Air Force Minister Weizsäcker: "The Austrians did not just have a Roma, no matter how powerful a battleship is, it cannot reverse the gap between them and the Royal Navy.

According to information we have gathered, the Vienna government has also formulated an ambitious "Terminator Project".

According to this plan, the Vienna government will build a large number of airports in the coastal areas of France and Belgium, and will eventually mobilize thousands of bombers at one time to launch air strikes against the Royal Navy.

As the world's number one air power, the Holy Roman Empire has gone a long way in the field of aviation.At present, the main battle bomber they are equipped with, the Flying Eagle 2, has a bomb load of more than 2 tons.

According to this plan, theoretically speaking, the Shinra Air Force can drop 2000 to 3000 tons of bombs on us at one time.

The power of a 2000-ton special bomb explosion far exceeds that of 5000 tons of high explosives. The enemy doesn't need a hit rate at all, and can destroy any of our ports with direct random bombing.

Although our air defense firepower is not weak, only the air force can deal with the air force.Ground anti-aircraft firepower can only serve as an auxiliary and cannot be used as a reliance.

Once the enemy's plan is ready, we have no corresponding countermeasures.Not only the Royal Navy is in danger, but the entire British Isles are within the bombing range of the enemy air force.

Compared with the "Terminator Project" hidden by the enemy, the battleship Rome thrown out now is more like a guise to attract our attention.

One is the area they are best at, and the other is their shortcoming. It is self-evident which direction to choose as a breakthrough point. "

For military expenses, Weizsäcker also worked hard.Britain is dominated by the Royal Navy, and both the Army and Air Force are struggling.

Just look at the annual military budget.The military budget of the Royal Navy is 30% higher than that of the Holy Roman Empire Navy, while the budgets of the Air Force and Army are less than a third of each other.

How much money and how many things to do.

The gap in military expenditure is directly reflected in the comparison of the strength of the two armies.The Royal Navy crushes the Shinra Navy, while the Army and Air Force do the opposite.

Unlike the Army's inability to struggle, Weizsäcker felt that the Air Force could still be rescued.Even if you can't catch up with your competitors, you have to be able to protect yourself, right?

In this context, and regardless of whether the "Terminator Project" is real or not, Weizsäcker takes it seriously.

In order to seek military spending from the Parliament in Britain, a "need" is obviously not enough, and a good story must also be prepared.

The "Terminator Plan" of the Vienna government is undoubtedly a good story.Not to mention that everyone's consent can be obtained, but there is still hope for fooling most of the congressmen.

In order to gain the support of the cabinet, Weizsäcker proposed it at the cabinet meeting in advance, so as not to have time to fight alone.

It is easy to fool a layman without military knowledge, but it is difficult to fool an expert.Although the people present are not military masters, they still have basic common sense.

The Secretary of the Navy, Flora, immediately retorted: "As the Minister of the Air Force, your Excellency is really inferior. You should write science fiction, and I believe there will be good results.

To mobilize thousands of bombers, if the Vienna government is desperate, I believe they are capable of doing it; but to concentrate bombing on the same target is ridiculous.

It is obviously unrealistic to take off from the same airport. Taking off from multiple airports will cost lives just by working hard. One bad thing is a large-scale collision in the air.

What's more, although bombers carry a large amount of ammunition, their own combat effectiveness is not very good.Without combat escort, running here to play bombing is to die.

If you want to protect the safety of thousands of bombers, you need a similar number of fighter jets.With so many planes, even if they come to bomb in batches, it may be difficult to complete the scheduling work.

Even if it is really completed, with such a dense aircraft group, our anti-aircraft firepower will achieve a good record.

If the enemy's plan is to be completed, the prerequisite is that we were not prepared in advance and were successfully attacked by them.

As long as you usually strengthen your guard, don't leave an opportunity for the enemy to take advantage of.As an early warning of air defense, we can completely let the enemy's Terminator plan against us become their own Terminator plan.

As for whether the Roman battleship is a cover released by the enemy, we will know in a few months.Anything can deceive people, except the combat effectiveness of warships. "

Noisy, the navy and the air force are fighting fiercely, and the army is also unwilling to be lonely.

The Minister of War, Skyblue, had just organized his language and was about to join the battlefield. Prime Minister Robert Cecil preempted the opening and said, "Okay. If you continue to quarrel, this meeting will turn into a debate contest.

I know the navy is very important, and the air force is also very important, so this is the head office!

Calling everyone here today is mainly because the Holy Roman Empire is restless again.

We must plan ahead and prepare targeted plans in advance; we are not listening to you competing for military spending.

As for the issue of military expenses, if you are capable, go to the parliament to ask for it yourself. If you are not capable, don't shout at me here, it is useless! "

This is the truth. It is the parliament that decides the British military budget. Although the prime minister, Robert Cecil, has a great say, he does not have the final decision.

The navy and air force are very confident. Now that they have the target of the Holy Roman Empire, they are sure to ask for military expenses from the parliament.

Only Skyblue is struggling, and the British Army is really unpopular.That's all, the worst thing is that you can't even make up stories now.

From beginning to end, the British Army has only "defended India" and "defended British Africa". These two themes can be extended.

However, the current international situation is very clear.The Russians are not going south for the time being, and the story of "defending India" is over first.

Although the story of "defending British Africa" ​​can be told, it is a pity that everyone has no confidence!

Almost all MPs believed that once war broke out with the Holy Roman Empire, British Africa would be the first to fall.

Anyway, there is no way to save it, so it is better to invest resources in other regions to increase Britain's advantages.

Chapter 76 Strategic Choices

The British army, navy and air force are competing for military expenses, and Shinra is no exception.The outside world does not know the parameters of the Roma, but the senior officials of the Vienna government know it!

Displacement: 20100 tons

Length: 169.6m

Width: 26.3 meters

Draft: 8.7m

Speed: 20.5 knots

Endurance: 10 knots/hour, 6500 nautical miles

Main engine: transmission type steam turbine 2 sets/4 shafts

Main boilers: 18 mixed-fired water boilers

Power: 23000 horsepower

武备：305毫米45倍径双联装炮6座（前一后一，两舷各二，成六角形），120毫米45倍径单装炮16门，450毫米水下鱼雷发射管2具

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

Crew: 863 people

……

Compared with the previous traditional battleships, the firepower of the "Rome" is much stronger.In the era of giant cannon ships, strong firepower equals strong combat effectiveness.

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

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

In theory, there is nothing wrong with it. 25 dreadnoughts can indeed sweep the current Royal Navy.Even a half-fold can be done.

The prerequisite is "now".The British are not fools. It is impossible to watch themselves being surpassed by others, and they will definitely take corresponding measures.

The birth of the dreadnought is not an epoch-making development in technology, but more a breakthrough in concept.

In the field of emerging technologies, Shinra does have an advantage, but this 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 will be able to produce its own "super battleship" in at most two years.The plan of the Admiralty is nothing more than a speed comparison with the British.

Anyway, Shinra has a test ship.All that needs to be done now is to make a little technical improvement on the basis of the "Roman", and industrialized production can be replicated.

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

Although the British shipbuilding technology is advanced, warships involve not only shipbuilding, but also industrial cooperation.

As the world's largest industrial power, the Holy Roman Empire can definitely beat the British in terms of comprehensive industrial strength.

When the industrial chain is started, not to mention how much more advanced the technology is than the British, at least it will definitely have an advantage in terms of production capacity.

I dare not say that if the British build one, Shinra can build two.However, the shipbuilding industries of the two countries are in full swing. At the same time, Shinra will definitely be able to 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 unwilling 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 497.6 million Aegis.

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

This means that even if it is a large-scale shipbuilding, the average cost of each "super battleship" will still not be less than 400 million Aegis.

25 super battleships, at least 1 million Aegis.For shipbuilding alone, the navy will need to increase its budget by 1 million Aegis, so 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 30.00% of fiscal revenue.

This ratio is not low.Even the Holy Roman Empire has two levels of finance, the central government and the state government, but there are also a large number of central government territories.

The central government does not need to bear too many responsibilities for the internal construction of the state, but the infrastructure, livelihood projects, and administrative costs of the municipality directly under the Central Government are all indispensable.

Of course, the fact that the proportion is not low is mainly Franz's opinion.Compared with other countries in the world, Shinra's military expenditure is really not high, lower than 90.00% of the countries in the world.

Restricted 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 the proportion of military expenditure is high or not will not change the fact that the military expenditure of the Holy Roman Empire ranks first in the world.The annual military spending of Shinra exceeds the gross national product of most countries in the world.

According to the current pace of development, I am afraid that within ten years, Franz will have the feeling of the future US emperors, and his family's military expenditure exceeds the sum of the following two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...

In fact, you can feel that way now.If nothing else, starting next year, the military expenditure of the Vienna government will exceed the sum of the next two, three, and four.

No matter how much money there is, it can't withstand the calamity of the army's gold-swallowing beast.According to past practice, the military expenditure ratio of the army, navy and air force is usually 4.6:3.7:1.7.

Obviously, this is a thing of the past.Both the navy and the air force are dissatisfied with the ratio of their military expenditures, and now they are joining hands to bombard the army.

……

Secretary of the Navy Castagni: "The French have been abolished. Even if they are untied now, they will not be able to pose a threat to us within 100 years.

The Russians are our allies, and their economic lifeline is also in our hands. The threat from 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 but 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 complete waste of taxpayer money. "

Secretary of the Air Force Conrad: "Your Excellency is right. The army possesses too many resources, which have seriously hindered the empire's..."

Minister of War Feslav interrupted: "You two, please pay attention to your words. Don't forget that the Holy Roman Empire is a country with land power, and our foundation lies on land.

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

How can the army not be strong enough to defend such a vast territory like ours?

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

The War Office has a well-planned plan, and if the government decides to overthrow the British hegemony, we can cross Persia and reach India at any time. "

As a country with land power, there is nothing wrong with focusing on the development of the army.The only problem is that the Holy Roman Empire has lost its land-based threat.

France was really ruined by playing around.If history could repeat itself, it is estimated that the French would not surrender even if they were killed.

Compared with the disasters after the war, the hardships of the European war period are nothing at all.At the time, at most, I ate poorly, but now I simply don’t have enough to eat, or I simply don’t have anything to eat.

The number of people who died fighting on the battlefield for two years was far less than the number who were killed by the Allied forces after the war.To be precise, after the production was destroyed, they were forced to be displaced, and finally died of illness or starvation on the road.

Other countries are also tossing, for example: the garrisons of Belgium, Sardinia, Tuscany and other countries are not inferior to the Russian army in doing things.

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

It's just that the territory they occupy is not large, and their own sense of presence is too weak, and the limelight has been taken away by the Russians.

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

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

Including those running to Shinra, they have to detour, and they dare not pass through Luxembourg, Rhineland and other regions.

The locals were also vanguards against France. The Vienna government had previously raised a batch of relief food, which was going to be sent to France for disaster relief, but was intercepted by the people in the Rhineland area.

In the end, the Vienna government changed its mind and decided to give the Russian army as military rations, and it was unimpeded in an instant.

So many people want the French to be finished, and the post-war France will be as miserable as it is.

Many countries in the anti-French alliance followed and endorsed it, and the international community had nothing but verbal condemnation.

Without France, the Holy Roman Empire lost its threat on land.As for the Russian Empire, it was not a threat decades ago.

Not to mention a war with Shinra, even if the trade is interrupted, the tsarist government may collapse.

Without Shinra as a big buyer, the mining industry and agriculture of the Russian Empire would all collapse.