Anyone will set the target, and the Austrian Navy will target eighty percent of the Royal Navy, and the French Navy will naturally not be intimidated.

As the second naval power in the world, how can it surpass the Austrian Navy, for example, to reach ninety percent of the tonnage of the Royal Navy.

Everyone was very face-saving, there was no intention of challenging the sea power of the British, and the ship-building plans were only close to the navy, and there was no shouting to surpass.

Of course, this is only the view of France and Austria, and it is another view in the eyes of the London government.

Whether it is eighty percent tonnage or ninety percent tonnage, this affects the hegemony of the Royal Navy.

Everyone is a world empire, and it is impossible for the navy to be concentrated every day, in case someone does not follow the rules and suddenly launches a sneak attack, it is really difficult to say whether the winner will be or loser.

Even if the Royal Navy could win, it would lose a lot. After taking out one challenger, there is no ability to solve the other.

In this kind of lose-lose war, the two army powers of France and Austria can afford to lose, and even if they fail, they have a chance to make a comeback.

Britain will not be able to do this, once the Royal Navy suffers heavy losses, the enemies of the past will pounce on them, carve up their world empire, and there will be no chance of a comeback in the east.

A real threat is imminent, and the British Government, which has taken the initiative to provoke an arms race, will naturally not be instigated at this time.

In the Downing Street government building, comparing the shipbuilding plans of France and Austria, Prime Minister Gladstone smiled: "It seems that our opponents are very high-spirited!"

Austria plans to build 5 battleships, plus the total tonnage of all types of warships is close to 80% of our shipbuilding plan; The French built 6 battleships, and the total tonnage of all types of warships was almost ninety percent of ours.

An eight-point threat theory, a nine-point countervailing theory, could it be that they think that the navy is really just building warships? ”

In the naval field, Britain has the confidence to despise any competitor. Although the Franco-Austrian navies have been in business for many years, the core of the French and Austrian navies is still a land power state.

This kind of deep-rooted cultural influence cannot be changed in a day or two. As long as the core does not change, it will be difficult to really compete with the British Navy.

The way of expression is mainly reflected in money, and other aspects can be made up for in other ways, and there is no way to do it if the military investment is insufficient.

In recent years, the French Navy's military spending has remained roughly at about 55% of that of the Royal Navy, and the Austrian Navy's military spending has been roughly 50% of that of the Royal Navy.

It's not that the two governments don't have money, it's not that the two governments don't want to continue to increase, the problem is that they still have a continental army to support.

In Austria, for example, in recent years, the cost of both the navy and the army has been almost equal. As a son, the army's annual military expenditure is only one or two points higher than that of the navy's symbolic one.

Of course, the fact that the Austrian Navy was able to maintain 65 percent of its naval tonnage at half the Royal Navy's military expenditure did not mean that its training was compromised.

In addition to the slightly lower cost of salaries for officers and soldiers, more of the overseas colonies were not as large as the British, and the distribution was not so wide, and the number of expatriate missions was relatively small, and most of the warships were nested in their nests.

Foreign Secretary George: "Who knows? However, now the morale of the people of France and Austria is very high, and the desire to build ships is very good.

According to the news from the embassy in Paris, many non-governmental organizations such as the French Naval Federation and the French Naval Club are calling on the public to donate money to build ships.

In just three days, more than 18 million francs were raised, and the funds for the construction of a battleship came out.

Austria is not accepting donations from the private sector for the time being, but many organizations such as the German National Unity Council and the German Reconstruction Federation are doing so.

If the arms race continues, they will most likely solicit donations from the entire German region.

Under the influence of public opinion, the arms purchase agreement between us and the North German government was rejected by the state parliament.

The government in Hanover wants us to provide them with shipbuilding technology to help them fulfill their orders at their own shipyards, otherwise the business will end up in Austrian hands. ”

This is not the first time that the Parliament of the States has vetoed a British arms purchase, and to be more precise, it has not been approved since the formal establishment of North Germany.

The main reason for the frequent rejection of orders was nationalism, and the majority of the public believed that Britain was to blame for the division of the German region, and opposed military cooperation with the British in any situation.

In the face of monstrous public opinion, the weak central government of North Germany naturally could not bear it, and the state parliament was only a tool to push to the forefront.

Listening to this explanation, Prime Minister Gladstone's good mood suddenly disappeared, and he cursed: "Damn nationalism again, this is definitely the world's largest ideological cancer."

I'm willing to bet that if one day the situation in Europe gets out of control, it will definitely be nationalism.

Leave them alone, what's the difference between handing over the ship-building technology to them and giving it directly to the Austrians?

Tell the North German government that we can do without these orders for warships, but they must not fall into the hands of Austria, otherwise they will bear the consequences. ”

There is no way, the German region is the cradle of European nationalist ideas, and it is not at all that control can be controlled.

The princes have been fighting for hundreds of years, and everyone has long been tired. The reason why Prussia was able to easily annex many states of North Germany was because of the spread of nationalism and the peace of mind.

It is much the same now, even because the Great Powers interfered in the unification of the German regions, and the people felt humiliated, and nationalism was a little higher than it was at the same time in history.

Coupled with the impetus of Austria, anti-British became the mainstream ideology in Germany, and the little brother Hanover, who was single-handedly supported by this influence, was not so obedient.

The British government did not fight back, but unfortunately the effect was not very good, not only did the people not buy it, but even the rulers showed little interest.

It would have been effective to preach the Austrian threat theory before nationalism erupted, but unfortunately the timing is wrong.

In the minds of nationalists, the Austrian threat theory is similar to the Austrian unification theory, and it does not frighten people at all.

Against this background, it would be difficult to count on the shipyards of North Germany to keep British shipbuilding technology secret.

It is not surprising that Prime Minister Gladstone is angry, and in the face of a little brother who only sees investment, does not see returns, and vacillates his position, he will have an opinion.

……

Lord of the Navy, Sir Astley Cooper Key: "Your Excellency, the Admiralty's new shipbuilding plan has been drafted. ”

Prime Minister Gladstone took the document and only glanced at the number of ships built and the cost, as for the specific parameters, this is not something that he, a layman, needs to consider.

"Isn't it too much to add six capital ships, and how can this game continue if it scares away France and Austria?"

Prime Minister Gladstone's concerns are justified. For a country, face is important, but face cannot be eaten.

If Britain didn't play too hard, it would be normal for France and Austria to retreat, after all, it was a land power.

If you lose the naval arms race, you will lose, or you will die. Anyway, there is no referee, in other words, anyone can claim to be the winner.

Hearing this figure, Chancellor of the Exchequer Xiaoji Childers preemptively said: "This year's budget has been allocated, and even next year's budget has a place."

The shipbuilding plans of France and Austria are all three or five years, and there is no need for us to be in a hurry. The navy's shipbuilding plan might as well be postponed for two years. ”

In fact, most of the time, the Royal Navy's shipbuilding program was carried out separately, and this time it was only in order to take the lead that a "six battleships" were started at the front.

The effect was naturally leveraged, and Britain showed the world their formidable shipbuilding capabilities, shaking the world again.

With the exception of Britain, no country in the world has ever started construction of six new battleships at the same time.

However, the number one in the world also comes at a price, and that is that the money is spent very quickly.

Although a fortune had been made from the Jews, the bureaucracy's ability to spend money was unquestionable, and in a matter of months, the various departments had reported plans to spend money far beyond the total.

In order to control the speed at which the government spends, the prescient Xiaoji Childers chose to reduce his government debt early.

Except for a few important plans that have been approved, most of them have been shelved indefinitely, and it will be necessary to wait until the year when they are remembered.

In this respect, the current British government is excellent, at least in terms of responsibility.

Astley Cooper Key frowned, looked at the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a moment, and finally reluctantly lost the battle.

There's no way, the money bag can't be messed with. Even if the funds for building ships are allocated, the increased military expenditure in the future must also be supported by the Ministry of Finance.

Astley Cooper Key retreated: "The construction of the ship can be postponed, but I think the plan should be announced earlier."

To drain the financial resources of France and Austria, we have to put more pressure on them, and to be as tepid as we are now, it will not work at all. ”

It is indeed tepid, and the arms race is only theoretically opened. The shipyards of various countries are not working at full capacity, building two or three battleships a year, which is also embarrassing to say that the arms race?

You know, in a normal year, Britain would build two or three battleships a year. Otherwise, it will not be able to make up for the gap in the retirement of the capital ships of the Royal Navy.

……

As the British continued to increase their weight, the arms race was in full swing. Looking at the wonderful performances of the British, French and Austrian governments, Alexander III looked particularly lonely.

At such an important moment, the Russian Empire was actually absent.

You must know that even small countries such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, which are in decline, have gritted their teeth and announced their own shipbuilding plans.

Although the scale is a little smaller, or it is a symbolic way to build a brush existence, after all, I still participated.

It's not that the Russian Empire is so poor that it can't even afford to build a warship, the point is that they don't have the technology!

Several major Russian shipyards have not received orders for warships for decades, and the technology has long been abandoned, not to mention new battleships, even primitive ironclad ships, they have not built them.

The so-called ship-building materials are still in the era of sail warships. Isn't it a joke to leapfrog to the pre-dreadnought era without any technological accumulation?

Alexander III asked with concern: "How about it, did the Austrians agree to transfer the technology of building ships?" ”

In recent years, shipbuilding technology has basically been the embodiment of a country's highest level of science and technology, and everyone has kept it strictly secret.

Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez: "The Austrian government agreed to the transfer of technology, but the exact cost will have to be negotiated between us and the shipyard.

Our men separately visited the heads of several warship factories in Austria, but the results were not optimistic, they asked for bundles, and the quotations were far beyond our means.

The Venetian shipyard with the lowest offer, the latest battleship technology transfer conditions are also as high as 8 million Aegis, plus 4 battleships, 10 destroyers, 6 cruisers, and 36 auxiliary warship orders. ”

This is no longer technology transfer, it is clearly ripping the bamboo. But there is no way, there are only a few countries that have mastered these technologies.

There are less than 20 shipyards in the world that have new battleship building technology, and even fewer are willing to sell technology.

In fact, Oscar Jimenez still had something to say, and the Venetian shipyard, which had the lowest offer, never built a new battleship.

No one can answer the question of how advanced the so-called advanced technology is.

In fact, many shipyards in Austria are capable of building warships, but their main business is the construction of civilian merchant ships.

The main goal of participating in the manufacture of warships is to make a signboard for yourself, which is similar to advertising.

Generally speaking, the accepted criteria are: a shipyard that can build capital ships for the military is a first-class shipyard;

Shipyards capable of building destroyers and cruisers are considered second-rate shipyards;

Shipyards that can only build attached warships, that is, third-rate shipyards;

The shipyard of the warship that cannot be built, that is, the small family workshop, no matter how large.

Just like this Venetian shipyard, it was PK in the bidding process, and still did not give up the relevant technology research and development.

I was going to continue bidding next time, but when I heard that the Russians wanted to introduce technology, I was ready to rip off the money.

As for the other shipyards involved in the offer, of course, they are jointly raising the price together. If the business is negotiated, the Venetian shipyard will inevitably give everyone a compensation.

Expecting shipyards to lower prices for each other because of competition is completely overthinking, and no one will have trouble with money.

Alexander III was surprised: "How can it be so expensive?" ”

Foreign Secretary Oscar Jimenez explained: "The main reason is that there are very few factories that have mastered these technologies, and they also involve the core technology of enterprises, which are generally not sold to the outside world.

If it weren't for the order for our Navy, these shipyards would not even quote the price. ”

Alexander III nodded, no one wanted to sell technology, and it was normal to deliberately quote a sky-high price to scare them off.

The option of outsourcing warships has never existed. Without access to the most advanced shipbuilding technology, a few more warships meant nothing to the Russian Empire.

After pondering for a moment, Alexander III said bitterly: "Let's talk slowly! We are not in a hurry, anyway, this arms race has nothing to do with us.

If we can't get the most advanced shipbuilding technology, we will retreat to the next best thing and take down the relevant technology of these warships in our hands. ”

If Austria hadn't sent a bunch of warships to the door, Alexander III would never have had the idea of buying shipbuilding technology.

Now there is no way to buy technology from Austria, and the later maintenance of the warship will be carried out in the shipyards of Austria.

As a result, the Russian Navy can only move around the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and it is impossible to divide a fleet into the Baltic Sea.

As for the Russian shipyards, there are quite a few who have volunteered to say that they can do a good job of later maintenance, but the Admiralty can't believe it, fearing that these baby bumps will be harmed by them.

Not only did the navy not believe it, but in fact Alexander III did not believe it either. He's got a new education, and he knows how complicated the navy is.

If there is a problem with the maintenance of a warship, it may be inconspicuous in normal times, but it can kill people at critical moments.