The game of "dumplings" on warships is never fun. It is necessary not only to test a country's industry, but also to test a country's pockets.

If you look at the military budget, you can see that due to the impact of the shipbuilding competition, the military budget of the HRE Navy in 1904 directly increased by 100 million.

Obviously, it is impossible for all this money to be used to build ships. Just to build a dozen capital ships, it doesn't cost so much, it still spends more on supporting and expanding the army.

From the end of the European War, the HRE Navy began a path of rapid development. In order to compete for military spending, a few years ago, the navy and the air force also joined forces to launch a campaign against the army.

Although it did not work out, the share of military spending of the Navy increased. With the advent of the "Super Battleship Age", the HRE Navy also entered a golden age.

Since 1900, several of Shinra's naval academies have been expanding. From the initial annual enrollment of more than 2,000 people, it has expanded to the current annual record of more than 3,000 people.

It is naturally incomparable with the army's large-scale recruitment of tens of thousands of people every year, but the navy's demand for officers is far less than that of the army.

The reason is very simple, the main strategic goal of the HRE Navy at the moment is to defeat the British, not to maintain world hegemony.

To achieve this goal, the most cost-effective thing is to build capital ships. Others, such as battlecruisers, seem to be of great use, but they are not cost-effective in decisive battles.

It's not that there is no black technology, but it's not enough insurance. For example: aircraft carriers, for example: submarines.

All are strong in combat, but they require a specific battlefield. No one dares to guarantee that the British will be able to lead them to a decisive battle on a specific battlefield, and naturally they cannot pin their hopes on the stupidity of the British.

If the battlefield is in the Atlantic, the wind and waves alone are enough to make the aircraft carrier stop, and it is not impossible to reluctantly fight, but the final outcome will definitely be tragic.

Not to mention submarines, they can't be too far from the battlefield, otherwise the war will end without waiting for them to get to the place.

It is difficult to participate in the decisive battle, which does not mean that these belongings are useless.

You must know that HRE is also a colonial power, although overseas colonies are not the core and can be abandoned at any time, but it is definitely better to be able to keep them.

Aircraft carriers are difficult to PK in the Atlantic and the British, not equal to the Pacific Ocean is also unusable. It is a good choice to send to the Pacific Ocean and bully the Japanese Navy or the US Navy.

Not to mention submarines, relying on the colonies of Shinra on five continents, it is completely possible to carry out attacks all over the world.

Of course, this kind of table-flipping method is better not to use it or not. After all, HRE is also a big country in maritime trade, and it is equally easy to be targeted by others.

The main thing is to look at the decisive naval battle, if the naval battle is won, then it is enough to receive hegemony in a proper manner; If the naval battle is lost, then there is no choice but to break the rules and smash the pot.

In fact, Franz put so many smoke bombs, and it was these secretly built submarines and aircraft carriers that really covered up.

Unlike capital ships, aircraft carriers can really be disguised as merchant ships. Although it may seem a bit unusual, as long as it is not armed, it is still feasible to hide from amateur-level intelligence officers.

Not to mention submarines, which are not big. It is entirely possible to leave the shipyard and walk under the water, avoiding the eyes of intelligence officers.

Not to mention after commissioning, once dispersed to the colonies, who knows how many submarines the HRE is equipped with?

There is no way, who made the prestige of the Royal Navy too great?

Mo said that it was someone else, and even Franz himself had no confidence.

I guess there are few people in the world who think they can win, except for the self-hypnotic guys at the Admiralty.

But politics, the essence is acting. Although he was uncertain, Franz was still full of confidence on his face.

The times are advancing, and in the 20 th century, the struggle for hegemony has evolved from a simple competition of military strength to a competition of comprehensive national strength.

If you can't get it in a head-on decisive battle, then fight for national strength. Defeat is not terrible, as long as you have the determination to "defeat and fight" a few more times, you will always be able to pull the British off the horse.

In fact, one of the most important reasons why the Viennese government dared to challenge the British was that it was already invincible.

As a land-powered country, no matter how many times it fails at sea, as long as the homeland is not impacted, it will not be able to shake its foundation.

The naval battle was lost, it doesn't matter. It's a big deal to go back to the Mediterranean Sea to rest for a year and a half, and then make a comeback for a second decisive battle.

If you can't do it the second time, you can still do it for the third, fourth, and fifth times, anyway, you can lose countless times if you lose, and you only need to win once.

Just like the Sino-American and Japanese Pacific War in World War II, the Japanese Navy was open all the way in the early stage, and then lost the war in victory.

Although the gap between HRE and Britain is not as great as that between the United States and Japan, the industrial strength is also three to one.

In addition, Britain is an island country, its own resources do not need to support industrial needs, and industrial raw materials have to rely heavily on imports, and the advantages are even more obvious.

Once the latter is launched, I dare not say that the British maritime trade will be completely abolished, but it is no problem for them to have a significant decline in trade volume.

The German submarines of the original time and space, in the limited space for their activities, made the Entente countries miserable. Now that the HRE submarine is able to run all over the world, there is no reason for the lethality to be weaker.

It's easier to destroy than to build, shipbuilding can't keep up with consumption, and if there is a problem with the trade routes, the British Isles will have to starve.

If there is a problem on the mainland, it is useless for the Royal Navy to fight. If they are consumed in the war, they will be dragged to death due to poor logistics.

Although the tactics are a little obscene, the strategy is definitely upright. Pure power oppression, not the slightest bit of opportunism.

……

While HRE and Britain were scrambling for time, the Japanese and Russians were also scrambling for time, and even more intensely.

In any case, the HRE and Britain are only fighting in the dark, but Japan and Russia are doing it with real swords.

In order to speed up the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the tsarist government adopted a 24-hour three-shift work system for the first time.

Don't think it's easy, but the construction site is Siberia. In this inaccessible ghost place, any kind of climate exists.

Even though it has entered April, there are still many places where the temperature is still more than ten degrees below zero at night, which is not suitable for construction at all.

If it is not suitable for construction, it must be done, and in the Russian Empire there was no saying that "construction cannot be done in winter". If it really can't be built in winter, the Trans-Siberian Railway doesn't need to be repaired.

The reputation of "frozen soil" is not blown out. In many parts of Siberia, snow does not melt all year round.

Although the Trans-Siberian Railway has been planned to avoid these harsh climate areas, many places still cannot be avoided.

Human ingenuity is powerful, and engineers have still thought of ways to overcome the harsh climate; Human wisdom is also limited, and the safety of workers cannot be guaranteed.

Due to the bad weather at night and the implementation of the 24-hour rotation system, the mortality rate of workers has increased instead of decreasing.

Especially at night, it is a period of high incidence of death. Mo said that it was a front-line worker, and even many Russian soldiers who were in charge of supervision were frozen out of the disease.

No matter how great the difficulties were, they could not shake the determination of the tsarist government to hurry up. There were heavy casualties among the laborers, and there were also heavy casualties among the Russian officers and soldiers on the front line.

The sooner the railway was opened, the sooner the main force could drive through, and victory would be the day earlier.

In the face of the overall strategic situation, everyone can give up, let alone a group of worthless French laborers?

The tsarist government was in a hurry, and the Japanese government was even more anxious. Unlike the tsarist government, in which dead pigs were not afraid of boiling water, the Japanese government was a representative of thrift.

There is no way, the money of the owner's father also has to be repaid, and it is still a loan shark, so it is better to borrow less or borrow less.

Just look at the equipment of the Japanese army, compared with the First Sino-Japanese period, there has been no essential change, and many troops still use the loot captured that year, which can be said to carry forward the "diligence and thrift" to the extreme.

Fortunately, the equipment of the Russian army on the opposite side is not bad, it is just better than them. Although the firepower is stronger, it is limited by the lack of logistical supply, and the ammunition can only be used a little.

In the Far East, within the Russian Empire there was also a term called the "penal colony". Not only the exile of criminals, but also the unfortunate ones who lost in the political struggle.

If officials are the losers of the political struggle, then the army here is the marginal in the Russian army.

Whether it is weapons and equipment, or daily training, it cannot be compared with the main force, and the combat effectiveness is naturally the lowest existence in the Russian army.

In the face of such an enemy, the Japanese army, which has superior forces, has not been able to play the momentum of the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, and the Japanese government is naturally anxious.

Even Emperor Meiji, who was very well-educated, couldn't help but burst into foul language, and several imperial meetings in a row caught the army high-level spray.

If you don't get angry, you can't do it, the army's record really can't be matched. The siege brigade *** fortress lasted several months, and in addition to leaving corpses all over the ground, it was still circling around the perimeter.

According to the military, it was because the Russians used the most advanced trench + machine gun + barbed wire defense line, which was very difficult to break through.

Found the problem, but does it make sense?

The answer is: no.

The influence of the butterfly effect is powerful, and as a weather vane in the army, the armies of all countries can't help but look up to the HRE army.

The Russians, who were most deeply influenced by the HRE, were naturally no exception. With the efforts of generations of international students, the tactics of the Shinra Army naturally spread to the Russian army.

makes the already easy to defend and difficult to attack fortress even more terrifying. So much so that the traditional charging tactics of the Japanese army became the tactics of sending people to the head.

If nothing else, General Nogi Noshinori is afraid that he will be insulated from the god of war. Although the commander of the 3rd Army of the Japanese Army had just arrived at the front line to replace a certain unlucky guy who committed suicide by seppuku in front.

For no other reason, the main reason is that the brave "meat bullet tactics" he admires, in the face of the well-fortified fortress, he has lost the threat.

In Japan, a country that honors the strong, losers are not eligible to be worshipped. If he can't complete the combat mission, Nogi Noshinori's fate will be similar to that of his predecessor.

Not only did the battle of the fortress go badly, but even the battles in East Manchuria and South Manchuria did not develop as expected.

Although the Japanese gained the upper hand and forced the Russians to retreat, the Japanese also paid a heavy price.

Whether it is a loss or an advantage, it is estimated that it will be difficult to define for a while.

Unlike the original plane, the Russians have been at war in recent decades. Even the combat effectiveness of the Russian army in the Far East has improved, and the most typical is the overall quality of officers, which is obviously more than a notch higher.

The equipment has been improved, the quality of officers has improved, the combat experience has become richer, and the combat effectiveness has naturally increased.

When it is strong, it is stronger, that is just a fantasy. Although the Japanese Army is also learning from it, it is still not as thorough as the Russians have followed suit.

Although the morale of the Japanese army is higher, the morale of the Russian army is not low! It's not that Russian officers and soldiers like to fight, it's more because of face.

How can the arrogant Russians accept the loss to the Japanese?

Even if the number of Japanese troops is larger, the innate psychological advantage makes the Russian officers and soldiers feel that they can do it, and they are not afraid at all.

The victory of Japan in the original time and space was largely due to the contribution of the navy. The victory in the naval battle strengthened the determination of the Japanese officers and men to win, and at the same time shook the morale of the Russians.

It has only just begun, and although there have been many defeats on the battlefield, the Russian army has not yet reached the point where the morale of the army is shaken.

There is no way to suffer losses, who let the Japanese government "run the house diligently and thriftily"?

In the case of insufficient military spending, it is also normal for the development of the army to not keep up with the times.

Especially under the influence of the traditional "bushido" ideology, many Japanese generals believed that they could make up for the lack of equipment by relying on "bravery", and despised the army that could only play with firepower.

In this context, with limited military spending, the first thing everyone thinks about is to ensure the size of the army, not to upgrade weapons and equipment.

Now that they have suffered a loss and realized the importance of firepower, the army is embarrassed to say it!

For all this, as a prime minister from the army, Katsura Taro sees it in his eyes and is anxious in his heart.

The Army's top brass was embarrassed to speak, and it wasn't just for the sake of face. The fear of admitting mistakes and being ridiculed by the navy is only one reason, but more because of the fear of affecting the future voice in the empire.

There is no way, and this is one of the characteristics of Japan, which does not allow mistakes to be made.

Emperor Meiji's face darkened after the guards handed over a battle report. Katsura Taro knew that bad news was coming again, and hurriedly remedied:

"Your Majesty, rest your anger. The enemy we faced this time was the Russians, and the slow progress of the front-line troops was understandable.

In order to speed up the progress of the troops, I proposed to purchase a batch of equipment from the British to increase the strength of the troops.

For example, tanks and armored vehicles are good, and they can play a great role when conquering positions.

Although it is a little expensive, we only need to purchase a small amount, which should not cost much. ”

Russia and Austria are allies, and the Russo-Japanese War has already broken out, so the Vienna government naturally will not sell arms to the Japanese government.

In this context, although the British-made army equipment, both in terms of performance and price, is not competitive in the market, the Japanese government still has no choice.

In addition to these two countries, the weapons and equipment of other countries are only more rubbish, not the most rubbish.

So far, only HRE's armored forces in the world have divisional strengths, and the armored forces of other countries are at most at the regimental level.

On the one hand, it is because it is expensive, the equipment is expensive, and the maintenance cost is more expensive in the later use; On the other hand, because the technology is not up to standard, the core components cannot be produced in-house.

Not to mention a poor country like Japan, where it is simply impossible to equip on a large scale, except for getting a few vehicles to prop up the façade.

Otherwise, after the outbreak of war, it would not have been possible to put together even an armored force to break through the enemy's defensive line.

Emperor Meiji nodded: "Then let's procure, the speed must be fast, and it is best to directly buy the active equipment of the British." ”

Emperor Meiji did not know whether he would be able to break through the enemy's lines with armored forces, but it was true based on experience from Europe.

At the very least, the anti-French alliance was the armored forces that opened the way, tore through the French defenses, and then drove all the way in.