It has to be said that the colonial department chose a good time, and the competition between Britain and the United States around Central America could continue until ten years ago, because no one took advantage of each other's stabbing knives.

In order to suppress the Indian rebellion with all their might, the British made a limited strategic contraction overseas. In 1859 the London government made concessions and relinquished its sphere of influence in Central America.

Originally, the radicals in the South were ready to annex Central America as a slave state, but this was opposed by the business owners of the North.

The conflict between the North and the South should also start with the Mexican-American War, because the seizure of a large area of land in Mexico triggered the conflict between the North and the South.

The planters in the South wanted to turn these areas into slave states, and the industrialists in the North wanted to turn them into free states.

The conflict of interests has not been discussed, and the contradictions between the North and the South have become open.

The economic crisis of 1857 exacerbated this contradiction. The capitalists in the North demanded higher tariffs to protect the market, and the planters in the South demanded lower tariffs in order to export agricultural products.

Don't get me wrong, the capitalists in the north want to raise not only the import tariffs on industrial and commercial goods, but also the export tariffs on agricultural products so that they can get cheap raw materials.

Cutting off people's financial routes, such as killing parents. Naturally, the plantation owners in the south could not bear it, and this was cutting the flesh directly on them in order to exploit agriculture and supplement the industry.

As for the abolition of slavery, it was really just a pretext for the outbreak of war. If it was only for the abolition of slavery, most slave owners would still be acceptable as long as the government was willing to pay a sum of compensation.

Anyway, the cost of bonded labor is not much higher than that of slaves. There are also many labor export companies active in the United States, and they still have easy access to enough cheap labor.

Obviously, the northern capitalists wasted so much effort, not only to liberate the slaves, but also to have such a high moral cultivation.

Turning the South into a source of raw materials and dumping of industrial and commercial products is their ultimate goal.

Because both sides knew that there was no way to mitigate, after losing the political struggle in history, the southern plantation owners directly chose to strike first.

Now that both the North and the South are working hard for the general election, they are already in a lot of trouble, and they simply do not have the energy to take care of the Central American region.

Against this background, Austria has penetrated its tentacles. Of course, this action is very small, and it is still stuck in commercial activities.

If the American Civil War had not broken out, there would be no doubt that the Austrian forces, which had not gained a firm foothold, would not be able to defeat the Americans, and the colonial department would have gambled.

Unlike Britain and France, Austria had no foothold in the Americas, and if it wanted to intervene in the American Civil War, it had to prepare in advance.

The army can wait, and the navy must not be absent. The planters of the South were absolutely unwilling to give in, and as long as they kept the sea transport routes and let them see the European countries standing behind them, they would not surrender easily.

Although the gap between the North and the South in strength is huge, this gap can be narrowed. With European countries providing logistics, they can have the upper hand in terms of weapons and equipment.

To put it bluntly, it's the Age of Discovery. A ship can transport thousands of tons at a time, and it only takes a few months to travel to and from North America.

As long as it has the support of the major European powers, it is not a problem to replenish tens of thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition every month.

The current United States is not the American imperialist of later generations, it is just a dick. They don't have the capacity to produce tens of thousands of tons of ammunition every month.

If the European countries blockade the material supplies of the northern government, the advantage of the northern government will only be manpower.

But the southern government has money, and they can use cotton and tobacco as collateral to recruit mercenaries in Europe.

If you don't have any more shame and pretend to be the navy of the south, you will first cripple the navy of the north.

From time to time, there is no need to land on the coastal cities in the north, and hundreds of tons of shells are fired into the cities every day, or it will not be long before the economy of the north is finished.

What the final outcome will be, Franz is not a prophet and cannot be sure. In any case, the longer the war lasts and the wider the scope of the war, the more difficult it will be for the United States to recover after the war.

The power of hatred can never be underestimated, and when the North and the South are stained with blood on each other, even if they are barely reunified, they will not be stable.

Franz asked: "How long will it be before the newly built Bavaria, Lombardy, Württemberg, Hesse, and Saxony will be able to enter service?" ”

The Admiralty also sold the naming rights of these warships for money, and the governments of various states bore one-third of the cost of building the ships before they got the naming rights.

Even Franz encouraged the governments of the states to build their own navies, but unfortunately no one was fooled. It's all landlubbers, and they don't even have access to the sea, so how can they arouse everyone's interest?

Willing to pay extra money to sponsor the navy, it is all for the sake of face. Can't other countries have it, but don't you have it?

It just so happened that the states of the New Holy Roman Empire were not poor, and hundreds of thousands of Aegis could still be easily taken out.

So under the influence of the Admiralty, the governments of these states paid a sponsorship fee, making the new Holy Roman Empire's navy even larger.

After these ironclad ships were put into service, Austria became the world's third naval power after Britain and France.

The total tonnage of the navy has also crossed the 100,000-ton mark, and it also has ten ironclad ships, making it the country with the largest number of ironclad ships in the world.

Of course, this advantage will not be maintained for long. At most, after a few months, it will be overtaken by the British; In a year or two, it will be overtaken by the French again.

Naval arms race? Franz wasn't going to play anymore, and now these ships were built mainly to sell.

As soon as the Civil War broke out, he would sell part of it to the Southern government at a high price, and of course it was possible to sell it to the Northern government.

The best choice is to let the Americans continue to kill each other, and it is very necessary to maintain the balance of power between the two sides.

As for saying how big the advantage of the north is, it will definitely win, in fact, it is very nonsense. Just look at how long the Civil War was fought, and if the strength of both sides was overwhelming, how could it be fought for four years.

The superiority of the North is in industry and population, and the superiority of the South is in the military. The capitalists did not have the courage to carry their guns into battle, but the plantation owners did.

The United States is a country of immigrants, and the people's sense of identity is not high. Later generations of Americans propagandized that the people enthusiastically joined the army, but in fact most of them were enthusiastically joined the army.

Especially the new immigrants, who originally came here to escape the war during the Great Revolution, and now they have to let them go to the battlefield, so it's strange if they are willing!

"Your Majesty, the Bavaria is expected to be completed by the end of this year, and the remaining few will not be completed until the beginning of next year, and all these warships will be commissioned until around May next year." Admiral Philcos replied

After some calculation, Franz found that there was still plenty of time. No matter how butterfly effect is, the American Civil War will not be fought in a few months, and there is still time for the Austrian Navy to rush over.

"The Admiralty's global cruise program can be launched, sending seven ironclad ships to visit the world, starting in Asia, then to the Americas, and finally back to Europe."

To brush up on the sense of existence, it is better to go to overseas countries, so as not to stimulate the sensitive nerves of European countries.

When this lap is over, these warships will be almost sold, and when the time comes, it will not be dazzling when they return to Europe.