The British army, navy, and air force were competing for military spending, and HRE was no exception. The outside world does not know the parameters of the Roma, but the top of the Vienna government does!

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: 2 sets of transmission steam turbines/4 shafts

Main boilers: 18 mixed water boilers

Power: 23000 hp

Armament: 6 305 mm 45 x diameter twin guns (one in front and one in the back, two on each side, in a hexagonal shape), 16 120 mm 45 x diameter single guns, 2 450 mm underwater torpedo tubes

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

Crew: 863 people

……

Compared with the previous traditional battleships, the firepower of the "Roma" is really much stronger. In the era of artillery giants, strong firepower equals strong combat effectiveness.

Having finally gained an advantage on the track, the Admiralty was naturally reluctant to let the British overtake them. To expand this advantage, the Admiralty came up with an ambitious program of redressing.

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

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

The prerequisite is "now". The British are not stupid, it is impossible to see themselves being surpassed, and they will definitely take corresponding measures.

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

In the field of emerging technology, HRE does have an advantage, but this does not include shipbuilding technology.

The Royal Navy's annual military spending is not in vain, and 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 build its own "super battleship" in two years at most. The plan of the Admiralty is nothing more than to compare speed with the British.

In any case, the HRE has a test ship. What needs to be done now is only to make slight technological improvements on the basis of the "Roma", and then it can be replicated in industrial production.

In terms of time, the Holy Roman Empire was at least a year and a half ahead of its competitors, and this advantage could be amplified in the following competitions.

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

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

The industrial chain is in motion? Not to mention how much more advanced technology is than the British? At least in terms of capacity, it can definitely have an advantage.

I dare not say that if the British build one, the HRE will be able to build two. But the shipbuilding industries of the two countries are in unison? At the same time? The HRE will certainly be able to build more warships than the British.

Now that the technological revolution in the Navy has broken out, everyone has been pulled to the same starting line? Shinra is even slightly ahead, and everyone is naturally reluctant to let go of such a good opportunity.

No doubt? You can't build a ship without money. As a test ship? The "Roma" took many detours during the construction process, and the final cost was 4.976 million Aegis.

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

What does this mean? Even if it is a large-scale ship, on average, the cost of each "super battleship" will not be less than 4 million Aegis.

25 super battleships, at least 100 million Aegis. Just to build ships, the Navy will increase the budget of 100 million Aegis? And what about the Army and Air Force?

Although the Holy Roman Empire's military spending is increasing every year, this increase is basically linked to the economy? Military spending is basically limited to about 30 percent of fiscal revenue.

This proportion is not low. Even though the Holy Roman Empire had two levels of finance, the central government and the state governments, there were also a large number of central government territories.

The internal construction of the state? The central government does not need to bear too many obligations, but the infrastructure, livelihood projects, and administrative costs of the direct jurisdiction? That's the same.

Of course? The proportion is not low, mainly Franz's opinion. Compared to the rest of the world? The proportion of HRE's military spending is really not high, lower than 90% of the world's countries.

Due to productivity constraints, many countries spend more than half of their fiscal revenues on their military. Only industrialized countries will be able to bring this proportion down.

Whether the proportion of military spending is high or not does not change the fact that the Holy Roman Empire has the largest military expenditure in the world. The HRE consumes more military spending each year than the gross national product of most countries in the world.

According to the current pace of development, I am afraid that in less than ten years, Franz will have the feeling of the future American imperialists, and his family's military spending will exceed that of the next two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight...... The sum of the total.

Actually, you can feel that way now. If nothing else, the Vienna government's military spending from next year will exceed the sum of the next two, three, and four.

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

Obviously, this is a thing of the past. The Navy and the Air Force are not satisfied with their military spending ratios and are now joining forces to bombard the Army.

……

Admiral Castagni: "The French have been abolished, and even if they are loosened now, they will not be a threat to us for a hundred years."

The Russians are our allies, and at the same time their economic lifeblood is in our hands, and the threat on the Eastern Front is simply non-existent.

From the beginning of the victory in the war against France, we had no enemy on land. Throughout the world, we have only one enemy – Britain.

To deal with the British, the navy and air force that were needed, the army continued to grab a lot of resources, which was a complete waste of taxpayers' money. ”

Air Force Minister Conrad: "Your Excellency is right, the army has too many resources, and it has seriously hindered the ...... of the Empire"

War Minister Fislav interrupted: "Both, be careful with your words. Don't forget that the Holy Roman Empire is a land power, and our roots lie on the land.

It is never the vast oceans that determine the rise and fall of empires, but our own territory across the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.

To defend such a vast territory as ours, how can the army not be strong enough?

On the contrary, your navy and air force are enough. As long as we can hold the Mediterranean, we'll take care of the rest!

The War Office had made a well-developed plan that if the government decided to overthrow the British supremacy, we could at any time cross Persia and enter India. ”

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

France is really being played with. If history could repeat itself, it is estimated that the French would not surrender even if they were killed.

Compared to the post-war disaster, the hard times of the European War were nothing at all. At that time, I ate poorly at best, but now I can't eat at all, or I don't have to eat at all.

After two years of fighting on the battlefield, there were far fewer people killed by the Allies after the war. To be precise, production was destroyed, forced displacement, 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 have often done more desperately than the Russian army.

It's just that the territory occupied by their division is not large, and their own sense of existence is too weak, and the limelight has been stolen by the Russians.

Just look at the direction of the French escape. Either to Switzerland, to Spain, or to the HRE, no one dared to run to Belgium and Italy.

There's no way, the hatred in front of you is too deep, and don't expect people to help you when you run over.

Even those who run to HRE have to take a detour, and they don't dare to pass through Luxembourg, Rhineland and other areas at all.

The locals were also in the vanguard of the anti-French emergency, and the Vienna government had raised a batch of relief food to be sent to France for disaster relief, but it was intercepted by the people in the Rhineland.

In the end, the Vienna government changed its mind and decided to give it to 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 will be.

With the endorsement of the anti-French alliance and many countries, the international community only verbally condemned a few words, and then there was no more.

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

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

Without the HRE as a big buyer, the mining industry and agriculture of the Russian Empire would have collapsed.

If you want to open up new markets, you can't find such big buyers in the international market. In many areas, HRE has formed a de facto monopoly.

Although the HRE is also uncomfortable, there are alternatives to the bottom. It's a big deal to open up mining restrictions, and at the same time put African grain in, and the processing and manufacturing industry can't die.

Without the threat, it is very unsightly for the army to continue to occupy the most resources. If it weren't for the army's strong military achievements and being strong enough within the empire, I am afraid that it would have been unable to withstand the pressure a long time ago.

Even so, the Army is often criticized in the annual competition for military spending. Not only the navy and air force sprayed them, but even the government has been criticizing them.

If you are scolded, you will be scolded, and if you criticize it, the army will not let go of the benefits in your hands anyway.

On this issue, most of the time Franz pretended not to see. There is no simple right or wrong in politics, and the emperor's first task is to balance the forces of all parties.

The monopoly of the Shinra Army has been going on for many years, and it is only in recent years that it has changed.

At the beginning of Franz's succession, the army's military expenditure accounted for more than 90 percent of the total military expenditure, and it has slowly dropped to 46 percent now.

Since the navy and air force have jumped out to make trouble, why should he, the emperor, be a bad guy? When they are almost over arguing, it is enough to decide the final distribution of military expenses according to the results of the quarrels of all parties.

A blunt knife is not a good option, but sometimes it is the only option. If it is really a one-size-fits-all approach, it will be truly irresponsible to cut the army's military spending immediately.

Whether it is disarmament, downsizing, or finding ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, we need a time buffer.

Therefore, the proportion of the army's military expenditure in the national defense budget is declining year by year, but when it comes to the specific amount of military spending, it has never decreased, but is increasing year by year, but the growth rate is slower than that of the navy and air force.

Don't look at the fierce competition now, in fact, what is really competing is the new military spending, not the previous almost fixed cost.

In order to change the passive situation, the army will naturally not be idle. The Navy has the "Super Battleship Program", the Air Force has the "Terminator Program", and the Army can naturally also have the "India Program".

No matter how difficult it is to implement, it is better to have something than nothing. Anyway, the success rate of the plans of the Navy and the Air Force is not necessarily high.

The strategic plans of the army, navy and air force have all come out, and now it is time for the top echelons of the Vienna government to have a headache. It's a balding question of who to support and who to against.

At first glance, the three major strategic plans, no matter which one of them, can pull the British down; A closer look reveals that these three strategic plans are just plans. Completing any of these initiatives requires a significant investment of resources.

……

Seeing that it was getting late, Franz got up impatiently, waved his hand and said, "Let's get here today first, and come here tomorrow to continue."

I hope that you will come up with a fuller and more responsible plan, instead of drawing me a pie that I can see and cannot eat. ”

In fact, Franz was already secretly glad that he was not lazy this time. If this trouble is left to Frederick, it is estimated that this battle of strategic line will be able to stage an all-out military action.

It is clear that the Army does not intend to continue to back down this time. It is simply unrealistic to rely on pressure from all sides to get the Army to make concessions.

In case of urgency, the War Department will poke out the news and invite the whole country to participate in the discussion, and it will be a lot of fun.

No one can say for sure when it comes to politics. Compared with the Air Force and Navy, the Army's civilian support is much higher.

Ask ordinary people to do this multiple-choice question, and it is estimated that 80% of them will choose to kill all the way from Persia to India and cut off the lives of the British.

Nineteen percent of the other people are moderates, and they will invite the Russians to join them in India. As for less than one percent, they may support the Navy or the Air Force.

This is determined by the record. Through the successive victories of the Army, it has brought enough confidence to the people.

Although the Air Force has also performed some things, the power of the Air Force in these years is obviously not big enough to bring enough confidence to everyone.

Not to mention the navy, it has always been a soy sauce role, not to mention ordinary people, even Franz did not think that the HRE Navy could defeat the British Royal Navy.

If you can't win a head-on battle, can't you find a way to play a roundabout game?

Anyway, the gateway to the Mediterranean has been obtained, and the HRE Navy can attack from both east and west, so that the British can't take care of everything.

Anyway, it is faster to run the inner circle in the Mediterranean than to run the outer circle to get the British. Unless the Royal Navy can have more than twice the tonnage of the HRE Navy, it will directly play to block the door.

To do this, it seems that it is still a bit insufficient. At this time, the strategic position of the Strait of Gibraltar was once again manifested.

The Vienna government could deploy an air force in Morocco to complete the locking program; The British could also run Gibraltar as a giant aircraft carrier.

There are planes in the sky, submarines in the water, and from time to time a wave of mines is laid. The same can be done to lock the Strait of Gibraltar.

You can't get out of the west gate, and you can only go out of the east, so it's passive. At that time, there is really only one way to cooperate with the army, and then to join forces with the Russians, and the two will kill from Afghanistan and Persia to India respectively.

……