Chapter 629

The sudden arms race disrupted many people's plans, including Austria's.

In fact, the Government of Vienna also had plans to start an arms race, but that was in the past.

Ever since Franz decided to implement the Near East Development Plan, he gave up on that tempting plan. There was no other reason other than poverty.

Austria couldn't afford to engage in an arms race while building infrastructure.

It was easy to start an arms race, but the problem was how to deal with the aftermath. It would be embarrassing if they ran out of money after starting such a meaningful activity.

This was not just a matter of face. It was more about showing the world their strength. The more powerful they were, the easier it was for them to find allies in international politics.

Of course, there were occasional exceptions that might have the opposite effect. As for how to do it, it would depend on everyone's political skills.

Admittedly, the British grasped the timing very well. Now was indeed the best time to suppress the Fao and Austria. After this time, the strategic plan of the two countries would be completed, and the situation would be reversed.

Even if they could not suppress the two countries at once, they had to suppress the arrogance of the two countries and tell the world who was the king of this era.

Franz put down the documents in his hand and asked with a frown, "So we have to accept the challenge?"

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Yes, Your Majesty!

The British calculated the timing. If we retreat now, the outside world will think Austria is afraid of Britannia.

From the embassy in Paris, the Government of France has decided to accept the challenge. It may not be long before they announce a new shipbuilding plan. "

It was not that they did not have the strength to follow up, but Franz did not want to do this kind of meaningless expenditure.

Okay, this was all self-consolation. The reality was that without affecting the domestic economic construction, Austria's financial resources could not compete with the British.

It was the same even if they had a lot of gains. The Near East Development Plan, urban upgrading, and road and transportation facilities had almost been used up.

The biggest problem in an arms race was not the shipbuilding, but the military expenditure in the future. Just shipbuilding alone, the Government of Vienna could easily afford a hundred battleships.

The problem was that once the ships were built, the maintenance costs would cost lives.

To put it this way, the cost of building the first new battleship this year was only a million BD, and the maintenance cost for five years would exceed the cost of the warship itself.

Perhaps it would not even take five years. If they trained diligently, it could be exceeded in three years.

This could be calculated. A battleship had to be equipped with six to seven hundred soldiers. The logistics and maintenance personnel would be much more than the frontline personnel. Just the annual military expenditure was a considerable amount.

To ensure the combat power of the army, daily training was necessary. Just by looking at the barrels, it was obvious that the artillery was not cheap. The battleship fired a salvo and used a few hundred BD.

The seemingly insignificant amount of coal was also not a small amount if the unit was thousands of tons.

Daily maintenance, equipment maintenance, and replacement of damaged parts were also not a small amount of expenses.

All in all, without a few hundred thousand Divine Shields, it wouldn't be enough to spend at all.

If they wanted it, it would be, it would be. Learning from Russia, the warships would be docked in the port, and the soldiers would be trained. The military expenditure would only be one-tenth of the normal level.

Franz nodded and ordered the Navy Minister, "Castagni, tell me about your shipbuilding plan!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Navy Minister, Castagni, said, "The British Navy already has four Monarch-class battleships. This time, we will build six new battleships, ten destroyers, seven cruisers, and 31 warships of various sizes.

If we want to deter them, we need to maintain at least eighty percent of their main battleships and seventy percent of their auxiliary warships.

Currently, we only have three new battleships. The Navy plans to build five new battleships, eight destroyers, six cruisers, and a total of twenty-five auxiliary warships. "

It was unknown when it started, but the Austrian Navy started to adopt the 'eighty percent theory', which was to have eighty percent of the Royal Navy's tonnage to deter the British.

From the beginning of the development of the navy, the Austrian Navy's original goal was only one-tenth of the Royal Navy's. In less than thirty years, the goal had increased by eight times.

Thinking about it, the Austrian Navy's main battleship tonnage was close to seventy percent of the British.

To be exact, it was sixty-five point seven percent. Rounding it up to seventy percent, it was not wrong. With such a deep foundation, it was not strange to advocate the eighty percent theory.

Perhaps in the eyes of the navy, not proposing a one-to-one shipbuilding plan was already giving face.

Franz did not care about this, but he did not know if the British could bear it. However, people's bottom line was constantly being refreshed, and it was no exception for countries.

Compared to the original timeline, the bottom line of the Government of the United Kingdom was much lower.

This was all forced. As the economic strength of the two countries increased, they increased their investment in the navy. The two strongest standards of the Royal Navy were slapped in the face as soon as they came out.

Then they changed the plan and used the Royal Navy as the parameter to maintain a 1: 0.6 advantage over the world's second strongest navy.

This ratio, in fact, was just for show. After a few years of hard work, the Government of the United Kingdom had to refresh the bottom line again.

Austria, the third strongest navy, had sixty-five percent of the tonnage of the Royal Navy, and the French Navy reached seventy-two percent of the Royal Navy's tonnage.

The situation of the three major countries, the Royal Navy, was actually caused by the Royal Navy's inability to suppress the two countries. The Government of London was forced to accept sharing the rest of the world with the Royal Navy and the Royal Navy.

Suppression, the Government of the United Kingdom had always been doing it. The problem was that the effect was really not good, and none of them were suppressed.

No one was a fool. There was a fisherman on the side. The two countries, the Royal and the British, suppressed the conflict with tacit understanding and stared at the British.

The Government of the United Kingdom wanted to cause trouble several times, but they were discovered. Under the retaliation of the two countries, the British were almost squeezed out of the Mediterranean.

It was uncomfortable at first, but after a long time, the Government of the United Kingdom's ability to adapt was strong, and they accepted the reality.

After all, 0.72 + 0.65 was only 1.37, and it was impossible for the two countries to sincerely cooperate. The Royal Navy could barely handle it.

The premise of all this was that this ratio would not continue to increase.

If the Austrian Navy increased its tonnage to eighty percent of the Royal Navy, and the French Navy followed, it was estimated that the Government of the United Kingdom would explode.

This was impossible to achieve. The current ratio was almost the limit of the British's tolerance. Even if they had to sell everything they had, the Government of the United Kingdom would let the Royal Navy maintain its advantage.

If Austria did not do so much construction, naturally, they were not afraid of competing with the British in financial resources, but obviously not now.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz slowly said, "Let's announce this plan, but the construction time will be two years longer than the British.

If the British and French increase the number of ships, we will follow the current ratio, but our speed of ship building can be a little slower, building two to three battleships every year.

When necessary, the Admiralty can also come up with a few big plans to confuse the public. "

Franz had made up his mind to play the arms race with the British by bragging.

Anyway, it was not that they would not build warships, it was just that it would be built later, and it would not affect their credibility.

After the warship building time was extended, the financial pressure on the government would be reduced. As long as the finances could support it, it was not completely without benefits to continue the arms race for a longer time.

Everyone was burning money together. No matter what, the British had built more warships, so naturally, more money was burned.

If the pre-dreadnought could be used until it was retired, it would naturally not be a loss.

The problem was that the pre-dreadnought was too close to the dreadnought. In essence, it was the difference in design concepts. Although the technical difficulty of building warships had increased, it was not impossible to overcome.

Once the dreadnought was introduced, the pre-dreadnought would be eliminated again.

After an exhausting competition, they were told that it was only the first half of the competition, and the second half was about to start. That feeling was definitely sour.

Perhaps the rich British could barely hold on, but the Government of France would most likely not be able to continue.

Even because of the increased investment in the navy, the French investment in the army would be reduced, which was very beneficial for Austria's later strategic plans.

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