Chapter 858: The Austro-Hungarian Empire Grows Stronger
German Admiral Chancellor Tirpitz actually knew that since the German Emperor Wilhelm II and Chancellor Hohenlohe had decided to give a Siegfrey-class aircraft carrier to the Spanish Navy, he, the German Admiralty, was powerless to stop it, but every German battleship was like Tirpitz's child, and he was extremely uncomfortable with giving it to the Spaniards for nothing. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
However, when he heard Prime Minister Hohenlohe say that Wilhelm II had agreed to the Navy to build 4 Frederick the Great-class super dreadnought battleships, 4 Seydlitz-class battlecruisers and 8 Siegfrey-class aircraft carriers, Tirpitz's discomfort suddenly disappeared, "Great! The lads of the Navy will be crazy when they hear this exciting news! Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Prime Minister! ”
Seeing Tirpitz's excited look, Wilhelm II said with a smile: "The development of the German Navy has always been one of my greatest concerns, and I have never extinguished the dream of building the German Navy into the first in the world." ”
Then Wilhelm II sighed and said: "It's a pity that our German Empire has too many places to spend money, and we can't take out more funds to invest in the navy, even the funds that I can use privately can only be taken out, if the funds are abundant, our German shipyards have a total of 24 docks that can build capital warships, and we can build 8 more capital warships at the same time." ”
Tirpitz immediately said: "Your Majesty, the officers and men of our navy know the financial situation of the empire, and now the funds that can be scraped together to build 16 capital warships can already make our navy officers ecstatic, and our German Navy will definitely not live up to Your Majesty's expectations, once a war breaks out, our German Navy must be the sharpest knife in the hands of Your Majesty!" ”
Prime Minister Hohenlohe said at this time: "The remaining 8 large docks in our German shipyards will not be idle, the Ottoman Turkish Empire has already placed an order for 2 Siegfrey-class aircraft carriers and 2 Bavarian-class super dreadnought battleships for our German shipyards, and Spain, which is about to join the Allies, seems to be ready to order a few capital warships from our Germany, but unfortunately Austria-Hungary has vigorously developed the shipbuilding industry in the past 2 years, otherwise Austria-Hungary knows that our German shipyards have large docks free, Orders will definitely be placed for our German shipyards, and of course the Austro-Hungarian Empire's current heavy investment in military affairs is also something that our German Empire likes to see! ”
Wilhelm II touched his beard and said with a smile: "Thanks to the generosity of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, they ordered 2 aircraft carriers and 2 super dreadnought battleships in our German shipyard, plus we ordered 120 German purchased Fokker fighters, 40 purchased Yatu dive bombers and 40 purchased Heinkel horizontal bombers, which is enough for our German Navy to add 2 more Siegfrey-class aircraft carriers, otherwise we can only build 6 Siegfolly-class aircraft carriers at the same time this time." ”
Prime Minister Hohenlohe smiled and said: "Your Majesty, these words can only be said here, you must know the price we give to our allies, but it is a preferential price!" ”
Germany's industrial strength has always been very strong, and the Luftwaffe is currently equipped with several new fighters, which are even superior to the British's several new fighters in terms of performance, but the Luftwaffe has concealed the specific data of several of its fighters, making the British think that the several fighters they have developed and produced are the most advanced in the world.
The Luftwaffe Fokker fighter, with a maximum take-off weight of 3670 kg, a maximum level flight speed of 405 kilometers per hour, a range of 660 kilometers, a maximum flight altitude of 8,000 meters, and four 12.7 mm rapid-fire machine guns on board, can also suspend two 25 kg aerial bombs, with a crew of 1 person, and its comprehensive performance is stronger than that of the British Air Force's Big Gull fighter.
The Luftwaffe's Yatu dive bomber with a maximum level flight speed of 360 kilometers per hour, a range of 780 kilometers and a maximum flight altitude of 7,500 meters, The airborne armament is equipped with 4 12.7 mm rapid-fire machine guns, which can carry 800 kg of aerial bombs, the Luftwaffe Heinkel horizontal bomber, with a maximum level flight speed of 345 kilometers per hour, a range of 1200 kilometers, and a maximum flight altitude of 8200 meters, and the on-board armament is equipped with 6 rapid-fire rapid-fire machine guns of 12.7 mm, which can carry 1.5 tons of aerial bombs, and these two Luftwaffe bombers are also much stronger than the British Air Force's similar bombers.
In addition, several carrier-based aircraft of the German Navy are based on the three models of the Air Force, which are improved, and their performance is slightly stronger than that of similar carrier-based aircraft of the British Navy, but the fighters sold by Germany to other countries are all purchased types, and their performance is worse than Germany's own fighters.
Wilhelm II suddenly asked Prime Minister Hohenlohe: "Prime Minister, how many fighters do we have in the Luftwaffe now?" I'm referring to new fighters, and the previous ones with garbage performance are not counted. ”
Prime Minister Hohenlohe immediately said: "Your Majesty, at present, our Luftwaffe has 530 Fokker fighters, 130 Yatu dive bombers and 140 Heinkel horizontal bombers, and several aircraft factories are working overtime to produce, I believe that it will not be long before the number of our new German fighters will exceed 1,000." ”
Wilhelm II continued: "In the last war, the reason why the Chinese Empire was able to defeat the alliance of 9 countries is that the Chinese Empire has a large number of advanced fighters, so we Germany must pay attention to the Air Force. ”
Prime Minister Hohenlohe nodded and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, that fund is enough to be used for a long time, and the minister will try to allocate more military funds to the Air Force from the treasury." ”
Wilhelm II added: "Do I remember that our German army has reached 2.8 million? ”
"Yes, Your Majesty, the total strength of the army has exceeded 2.8 million, and it has completely recovered from the last war." Prime Minister Hohenlohe replied.
Wilhelm II thought for a moment and said: "The army has always been the pride of our Germany, no matter how difficult the financial situation is, the army's military spending must not be short, and the number of troops can not be increased for the time being, but in terms of weapons and equipment, the army must be equipped in place." ”
After the end of the last war with the Chinese Empire, all the major powers in Europe have entered the rhythm of the arms race, and one of them, although the speed of its military development cannot be compared with Britain and Germany, but the military investment in recent years has shocked the whole of Europe, and this country is the Austro-Hungarian Empire among the Allied Powers.
In fact, the economic development rate of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the whole European countries is second only to Germany, and the economic growth rate is faster than that of Britain and France, but in terms of overall economic aggregate, it is less than that of the European economic powers of Britain, Germany and France.
Plus the Austro-Hungarian Empire had an ambitious emperor, Franz? Ferdinand I almost doubled the military power of Austria-Hungary in recent years, especially the Austro-Hungarian navy.
The last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz? Joseph I, more than 2 years ago, shortly after the end of the war with the Chinese Empire, suddenly died of illness. Ferdinand I succeeded to the throne, and this Franz? Ferdinand I was the assassinated Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary who caused World War I.
Originally, before the last war with the Chinese Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Navy already had 6 dreadnought battleships, but in the 2 expeditions, the Austro-Crarian Navy lost 5 of them, which suddenly made the Austro-Hungarian Navy's ranking among the world's navies plummet.
However, after the end of the war, the newly enthroned Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz? Ferdinand I ordered the shipyards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to build the Austro-Hungarian Navy's own super dreadnought battleships, and soon the Vienna-class super dreadnought battleships designed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire began to lay keels on the dock, and 6 were built at once, thanks to the prosperity of the Austro-Hungarian machinery and instrument manufacturing industry, as well as the strong foundation of the steel and arms industry.
Vienna-class super dreadnought battleships with a standard displacement of 23200 tons and a full load displacement of 27800 tons, The ship is 189.3 meters long, 30.5 meters wide, 9.5 meters draft, can reach a maximum speed of 23 knots, is equipped with 4 twin 45 times caliber 343 mm main guns, 10 120 mm secondary guns, 20 47 mm anti-aircraft guns, 20 anti-aircraft machine guns, 3 500 mm torpedo tubes, horizontal armor belts 200 mm to 310 mm, deck armor 57 mm, main turret armor 310 mm, conning tower armor 310 mm, crew 1280 people.
And that's not all, Emperor Franz of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Ferdinand I saw other naval powers building battle cruisers and aircraft carriers, Franz? Ferdinand I then ordered the shipyards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to build the Austro-Hungarian Navy's own battle cruisers and aircraft carriers.
The Austro-Hungarian warship designers were still very good, and soon came up with a design drawing for a battle cruiser and a design for an aircraft carrier. After Ferdinand I saw the design drawings, he thought that the performance of the two main warships designed was good, so the finance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire invested a lot of money in several large shipyards in the country for the construction of new large docks, and the previous construction of 6 Vienna-class super dreadnought battleships has occupied all the large docks of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Austria-Hungary built 10 new dockyards at once, and according to Emperor Franz? By order of Ferdinand I, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was to build 6 Alpine-class battlecruisers and 4 Bohemia-class aircraft carriers at once.
The Alpine-class battlecruisers had a standard displacement of 23,000 tons and a full load displacement of 27,500 tons, The length of the ship is 202.8 meters, the width of the ship is 26.9 meters, the maximum draft is 9 meters, the maximum speed is 26.5 knots, and it is equipped with 4 twin 45 times the caliber of 343 mm main guns, 10 120 mm secondary guns, 20 47 mm anti-aircraft guns, 20 anti-aircraft machine guns, 3 500 mm torpedo tubes, horizontal armor belts from 112 mm to 245 mm, deck armor 67 mm, main turret armor 280 mm, conning tower armor 280 mm, and a crew of 1240 people.
The Bohemia-class aircraft carrier has a full load displacement of 19,000 tons, a length of 225 meters, a width of 37 meters, a maximum draft of 7.5 meters, a design maximum speed of 22.5 knots, and is equipped with 16 47 mm anti-aircraft guns and 24 anti-aircraft machine guns, and can carry 20 aircraft carrier fighters, 12 aircraft carrier dive bombers, 12 aircraft carrier torpedo bombers and 2 reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Austria-Hungary itself. There is no small gap.
Today, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's 6 Vienna-class super dreadnought battleships, 6 Alps-class battlecruisers and 4 Bohemia-class aircraft carriers have all been built and entered the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, making the Austro-Hungarian Navy's navy the sixth in the world, and only the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, the Royal Navy of the British Empire, the German Navy, the United States Navy and the French Navy are in front of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and even the Italian Navy is behind the Austro-Plenian Navy.
The Austro-Hungarian Air Force has also begun to equip the Austro-Hungarian Empire's own developed and produced fighters, although in terms of performance, it is still inferior to the new fighters of the British Air Force and the Luftwaffe, but the difference is not large, and the number of them is more than 600, and it continues to increase.
With a population of 53 million, Austria-Hungary was the third largest in Europe, behind Russia and Germany, which provided the Austro-Hungarian army with sufficient troops.
Because of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's political system, its army includes the Wehrmacht and 2 local defense forces, all of which have a total of 2.2 million at present, including 1.6 million in the Wehrmacht and 300,000 in each of the two local defense forces.
A local defense force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is a local defense force in a non-Hungarian region, although it is called a local defense army, but it has field capabilities, but according to the laws of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its deployment and operation have certain geographical restrictions, unlike the Wehrmacht can be deployed and operated in any area of the empire, and the other local defense army is the local defense force of the Hungarian region, which also belongs to the regular field army.
Austria-Hungary has invested heavily in the military in recent years, and it can be said that the happiest country is Germany, you must know that although the Allied countries had 4 countries before, and the Entente countries had only 3 countries, but the Entente Britain, France and Russia can all be called military powers, and the Allied countries can only be regarded as military powers in the real sense of the word, and the military strength of the other 3 allies is somewhat weaker than that of Britain, France and Russia of the Entente.
Now, after several years of vigorous military investment in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the overall military strength has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the strength gap between the Central Powers and the Entente has been shortened a lot. (To be continued.) )