Trieste, the second shipyard of the Empire, is in full swing outside, and a secret building is underway to build the largest ironclad ship in the world, which is expected to weigh more than 7,000 tons. It is almost 2,000 tons heavier than today's largest sail battleships.

It was not until 1852 that the first ironclad ship to break through the 6,000-ton mark was ushered in. It was the "Wellington", which the United Kingdom was proud of - the hegemon of the seas at that time.

And Friedrich's goal has always been to surpass Britain and France. In order to reverse the huge numerical disadvantage, he needs a group of capital ships that can pose a great threat to his opponents.

The construction of a 7,000-ton battleship was not a small risk, and it faced both technical difficulties and other challenges.

However, due to the rapid development of Austria in steelmaking technology over the years, the construction of this super-large warship has completed a major breakthrough from drawing work to final launching.

In fact, the young admiral did not really realize that his warships could be built bigger and heavier, and even more than 10,000 tons were no longer a distant dream.

But in fact, in view of the current steel quality has not yet reached the standard, the 10,000-ton giant ship is simply unable to tap and give full play to its full potential and advantages. At this time, the power of the rocket was insufficient, and the strategy of carrying the cannon in a small boat also did not work.

Since they are subject to the above restrictions, they simply build a 7,000-ton ship to drive the British to kick off the naval race in advance and see how the other side falls.

Come to think of it, it may take 6-7 years to complete the ship; After all, no one had ever set foot on an ironclad of such tonnage. The price of this ship is expected to be probably more than 6 million florins, which is five times that of an ordinary battleship; The total length of the ship is 85 meters, the width is 20 meters, and the height is 6 meters.

The internal structure is similar to that of the later "Dingyuan Ship", but the power system adopts a new type of steam turbine, which can reach more than 15,000 horsepower, twice as fast as the latter, and the speed is about 21 knots. Speed alone can beat any warship in the world today, a record that may be difficult to break in the coming decades.

However, there are also many flaws, and its firepower and defensive design are much worse than those of the Dingyuan ship. The main reason is that the current technology in artillery and armor is still very backward.

In addition, at Franz's strong request, the ship also reproduced the ramming angle, an equipment that only ancient warships would use.

In addition, Friedrich, at Franz's repeated suggestion, also began to explore and study mines and torpedoes. The technological threshold of these two weapons is not very high, but the power is huge.

Although Franz was aware of the development trend of these weapons, he still had to rely on professionals to study the specific applications.

Fighting the Anglo-Saxons, who started with pirate raids, is only ideal. Even if you want to be Song Xianggong, it doesn't mean that the other party will follow your train of thought.

War is the reduction of all moral boundaries of human beings, and mercy is only a means in the highest form of this violent expression.

As the empire's industry continued to expand, the rubber crisis had changed from once a year to once every six months. Factories are only guaranteed to operate for a few months each year, as raw materials are quickly depleted.

The promises of the Brazilians are as completely unreliable as their industrial development, and the rubber nicks are as difficult to plug the spilled blood as a ruptured wound.

And they seemed to have nothing to do with the "number one thug", and instead of being defeated by the Brazilians, Garibaldi became more and more defeated.

"There are three fights of Italian martial arts, Garibaldi has five fights, and the people of the world owe two fights." —A comment from a book friend.

Garibaldi was once a follower of Mazzini, having joined the Charcoal Party, participated in the Savoyard expedition, and was chased by the Austrians.

But his experience in South America is legendary, as Garibaldi and some Italian expatriates fled to Brazil to escape Austrian pursuit.

Soon they were moved by the spirit of the Fallapians and joined in the revolt.

(The "Falapos" uprising, an uprising of republicans in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 1835-1846, got its name from the fact that the republicans in southern Brazil were called "Farapos," meaning "poor man.") ）

The legend once led twelve soldiers and his Indo-European wife at the mouth of the river to repel a government fleet ten times their strength.

He also took seven fortresses in five days and killed 11 enemies in a single battle. The Brazilian government had offered a bounty of 10,000 Croceru, but none of the bounty hunters who took over the business made it back alive.

(Croseru – the Brazilian currency at the time.) ）

On another occasion, Garibaldi's ship had run out of shells in battle, and in the face of the Brazilian battleship, he chose to take the initiative to approach it. As soon as the two sides made contact, the bullets in the guns were emptied.

While the two sides were changing ammunition, Garibaldi picked up a plate axe and swung directly to the opposite side with the power of the rope.

Inspired by him, his own crew members jumped to the enemy ship one by one. In the ensuing battle, a heroic man with a plate axe slaughters all sides of the Brazilian warship, as awe-inspiring as a ghost.

The most dangerous was in a tavern, where five gunmen surrounded Garibaldi and his wife, only to find a mess there.

Soon after, the husband and wife reappeared on the battlefield. No one knows what happened, but he did confirm the name of "the number one thug".

But in fact, the activity of the "number one thug" has not been able to fundamentally reverse the situation between the two sides, and the Brazilian government's military strength is still strong.

Coupled with Austrian loans, a large number of soldiers were called up and sent to the front, along with boxes and boxes of weapons brought from the former's homeland.

On the other hand, the rebels occupied areas with no access to the sea, lack of industry, complex terrain, and harsh environment, making it difficult for agriculture to be self-sufficient. Coupled with the devastation of the war, even if they win consecutive battles at this time, they are not able to meet everyone's needs for food and clothing.

Of course, if they hold on to the danger, it will not be a problem for the rebels to hold out for a few more years. But General Cannabaro, already overwhelmed by the victory, wanted to fight a decisive battle with the government forces on the plains.

But that's not the only factor, it comes down to a lack of supplies. As more and more areas were occupied by the rebels, more and more Fabypos joined their ranks.

These poor people are not so much here to liberate all of Brazil as they are here to eat. In less than a year, the size of the rebel army has grown from 3,000 to 5,000 to 10,000 and now to 50,000.

Combined, these Fabipos families mean hundreds of thousands of mouths. The same is true of the people of the occupied territories, and the consumption of food has reached a terrible level.

To add insult to injury, the rebels' top brass almost exclusively belonged to the large estate owners and merchant class, who demanded "fair trade" in strict accordance with the principles of free trade.

The power to set the price of food was in the hands of the upper echelons, and the soldiers' salaries, which used to be enough for a family for three months, were now only enough to feed for a week. On the one hand, there is the increasing issuance of free money, and on the other hand, the crazy rise in food prices.

In the end, the soldiers were surprised to find that they had not had enough to eat before the uprising, and they still did not have enough to eat after the uprising. But how can the soldiers fight if they don't have enough to eat?

Those Fabipos who chose to join in order to have enough to eat, since they could join the rebels, they could also join the government army. And it is not uncommon to kill comrades-in-arms and defect with guns.

General Cannabaro was just a soldier, and he only knew that he couldn't let his soldiers eat or have weapons. As a result, Cannabarro rejected Garibaldi's suggestion to continue fighting guerrilla warfare in the Cassan jungle and decided to adopt a strategy of military adventure.

(End of chapter)