As soon as Austria's shipbuilding plan was announced, European public opinion exploded.

Although the Viennese government repeatedly stressed that it was not targeting anyone, but only to fill the gap in the previously decommissioned battleships, no one wanted to believe it.

You must know that before this, Vienna already had a plan to "build 10 battleships in 10 years", and the 3 former dreadnoughts that are now in service are part of the shipbuilding plan.

On average, the construction of one battleship per year is just a normal operation, which is just enough to ensure the current size of the capital ships of the Austrian Navy.

Now the shipbuilding program of 5 battleships has been suddenly added, which is clearly a response to the previous shipbuilding program of the Royal Navy.

At this time, many people reacted, not long ago the Austrian government gave the Russians a large number of warships, and the navy was in an empty period.

A testimony of Russian-Austrian friendship?

Maybe there's that thing, it's given away for free, after all. Second-hand warships are also very valuable, and if they can be sold, according to the law of the international arms market, it is normal for fifty or sixty percent of new warships to be sold at the cost price of building ships.

But are you sure it's not to make room for new battleships?

Now it is not only Austria that needs to replace its warships, Britain and France are also facing a large number of warships to be decommissioned, and there are simply not so many powerful buyers in the international arms market.

Don't look at the fact that Austria's army equipment sells very well, and the naval equipment is really not as popular as the British.

This has nothing to do with the technology, performance, quality, or price of the warship itself.

The main reason why it can't be sold is because of politics, don't look at the relationship between Austria and European countries is very good, the relationship between countries outside Europe is really average.

This is not that the Austrian Foreign Ministry is not making efforts, the main thing is that there is no room for manoeuvre.

Outside of Europe, it is not a colony, it is also the younger brother of the great powers, or a sphere of influence, and there are only a handful of countries that have complete independence and sovereignty.

In fact, there is no need to count, except for the two United States, which have a certain amount of strength and maintain their own sovereignty, the rest of the countries have more or less signed unequal treaties with the foreign powers.

Of course, this is not to say that Austrian warships are completely unsellable, and occasionally they can still be seen.

After all, Austria is also a great power, and there is still a row to take it out, and the Vienna government dares to come forward when it encounters things, and it is not impossible to deal with political obstacles, the problem is that the British have a brand effect!

I don't know who poured out the theory of export, everyone takes it for granted that the quality and performance of British warships are the first, and countries prefer British goods when buying warships.

Against this background, the warships of France and Austria are not easy to sell. The two governments have also retaliated by spreading rumors that the export of British warships is a cut version.

It's a pity that everyone is not easy to fool, whether it is a deleted version or not, you will know it after seeing the goods.

The most advanced warships are exported, and the British have indeed engaged in a cut version, but the old retired warships, John Bull is not so particular.

The abridged version of the warship modification also costs money, at least the labor cost cannot be saved. It was originally a technology that was obsolete, and there was no need to waste money to hide it.

Political factors lost 60 percent of orders, brand effect lost 30 percent of the remaining shares, and finally only 28 percent of international orders.

（1-0.6）*（1-0.3）=0.28

This part of the market is not eaten by Austria alone. It was divided by the European countries together, basically between France and Austria.

Originally, there were very few powerful buyers in these years, and the market left for Austria was so small, so the retired warships naturally could not find a successor.

This was true not only of the Austrian Navy, but also of the British. The Royal Navy has to pull warships out to shoot targets every year, so you know how hard it is to sell.

In order to control the proliferation of warships, the European powers still have a tacit understanding, even if they can't sell them and pull them out to shoot targets, they will not deal with them cheaply, let alone give them away.

In a sense, Austria's large-scale donation of warships to the Russians also broke this tacit understanding.

It's just that this kind of unspoken rule is not explicitly constrained, and there is no verbal agreement, so naturally there is no binding force, and everyone is unhappy at most.

These are all minor problems, technological upgrading, and eliminated warships are a headache, in essence, because they are reluctant.

The warship has not reached the retirement period, and it is a pity to dismantle and sell scrap iron; There is no problem with staying in service and using it, the point is that the new warship is also coming.

Having a large number of warships, in addition to prestige, is accompanied by a large amount of military spending, which is very uneconomical economically.

Whether the guess is accurate or not, it doesn't matter anymore, anyway, the warships are all sent out.

Even if they can regret it and have another chance to choose, the Russians will still happily take over.

Without paying any price, you have the opportunity to become the fourth naval power in the world, and everyone knows how to choose.

It is rare to be able to see the great powers tear apart directly. The melon-eating crowd has prepared nuts and coffee, just waiting for the big drama to begin.

The British have not yet reacted, and the French can't stand it first. For the first time, Napoleon IV felt that the Admiralty was too petty.

Compared to the original plane, France is in a much better situation now.

There were no war reparations, no Russians to pull, and the recent anti-Semitic campaign had settled the debt problem of previous years, and now the French government also has money.

"The British and Austrian plans for building ships this year have come out, and judging from the current situation, our original plans for building ships have become out of date.

The Admiralty revised its shipbuilding program, not to say more than the British, or at least not less than the Austrians. ”

There is no problem, there is still some distance from France, the world's first naval power, but the hat of the world's second naval power cannot be easily thrown away.

Although there is no essential difference between the world's second and third naval powers, both are able to safeguard France's overseas interests.

But in politics, the second and the third are very different. Once the hat of the second naval power is lost, it will leave the outside world with the impression that France is in decline.

Not to mention that there are so many enemies in the world who are waiting to fall into the well, and those arrogant people in China alone can't accept it!

Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Vernon reminded: "Your Majesty, the cost of building warships is not large, and the trouble is the huge military expenditure in the later period.

Austria sent a large number of additional warships to the Russians before announcing the shipbuilding plan in order to reduce military spending.

If we are going to follow up on a big scale, it would be better to decommission some of the warships as well to reduce military spending. ”

It is true that the French government has money now, but it cannot spend it indiscriminately. and Britain and Austria to fight for financial resources, the French government is still not able to do it.

In order to avoid the worst, Roy Vernon believes that controlling military spending as much as possible in the arms race is the way to go.

Admiral Hamdi: "Your Excellency, none of the warships in service in the Imperial Navy are very old, and there are very few warships that are about to be decommissioned.

Most of the warships are new, and their performance is very high-quality, and it is a pity to retire these warships.

The most important thing is that after these warships are decommissioned, they will not be able to deal with them at all, there will be no buyers in the world, and we will not lack training ships.

There are only two ways in front of us, either to pull out the target or drag it to the factory to dismantle and sell scrap iron.

This kind of ruined behavior is a complete waste of taxpayers' money.

The performance of the old battleships is backward, and that is only for the new battleships. Apart from us, only Britain and Austria are currently equipped.

Sail these warships out and carry out escort missions anywhere in the world, you can do it.

Even if we really want to retire, we can wait for the new battleships to enter service, and we can maximize the value of these warships in the next few years. ”

Reluctantly a warship that is operated normally and costs millions or tens of millions of francs, it is said that it will be disposed of, and whoever is the Minister of the Navy will feel distressed.

Listening to this explanation, Napoleon IV nodded: "The new battleships have not yet entered service, and the matter of decommissioning warships is not in a hurry for the time being."

Unlike Austria, the overseas colonies were much more dependent on the navy.

During this period, you can also look for buyers as much as possible, even if the price is a little cheaper. ”

Since Austria can give it away for free, and France can naturally sell it with tears, Napoleon IV still has a bit of luck.

In case these warships, which are about to be decommissioned, are sold, then they are earned. As for the need for overseas escorts, they are all nonsense excuses.

In recent years, who in Britain, France and Austria is not overnumbered? Affected by the previous arms race, now the three countries have a large number of warships.

As long as the three countries do not fight each other, even if half of the warships are scrapped, the French Navy can also assume its current responsibilities.

This is also one of the reasons why the Austrian government has increased the number of Russian navies, and the remaining warships will be enough if the three countries do not fight, and if the three countries fight, the result will be the same whether they send it or not.

The Franco-Austrian PK does not need a navy, and it is the army that decides the outcome of the war; If it were to fight the British, the navy would have no chance of winning at all.

Either go out to break the diplomatic relationship and sabotage, or hide in the port to avoid the limelight, and the decisive battle at sea is equivalent to death.