Chapter 788

When the war broke out in the Near East, other parts of the world were also not peaceful. Britain, France, and Russia started fighting, which made the Americans across the ocean feel that their opportunity had come.

First, Cuba caused trouble, and the Spanish cut off their tentacles. Then, they were warned by Britain and France, so they had to continue to act like cowards.

However, the Americans did not give up. In July 1853, the Americans created the Kurofune incident in Japan and used force to force the shogunate to accept their conditions and sign the Treaty of Kanagawa between Japan and the United States.

According to the nature of the great powers, they naturally could not watch the Americans monopolize the interests of Japan, so they all joined in. Britain, France, and the Netherlands took the lead and forced the shogunate to sign a similar treaty.

When the news reached Vienna, the Austrian colonists saw the opportunity and wanted to take the opportunity to join in. The Government of Vienna was discussing whether to take advantage of the situation.

Prime Minister Felix said, "Your Majesty, Japan is too far away from us. Besides, we don't have much interest there, so there is no need to spend too much energy.

Now our focus is still on domestic development, especially on South Germany. Instead of taking action in East Asia, it is more in our interest to penetrate into the German Federal Empire. "

Minister of the Navy Felix objected, "Prime Minister, we don't need to pay much to take action in the Near East. The Dutch can force the Government of Japan to compromise. It is not difficult for us to get the same benefits.

Now, the Japanese government is like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow. They don't dare to reject our proposal.

Even if diplomatic means fail, we have agreements with the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal to get supplies from their colonies. It is not difficult to send a fleet to Asia to deter Japan. "

It was not that Austria did not do anything to open up overseas colonies. Signing an overseas port supply treaty with the declining colonial empires was one of the measures. The price was that Austria could not covet the overseas colonies of other countries.

In the short term, it was an empty promise. Austria did not have overseas colonies, but no one doubted that Austria had the strength to open up overseas colonies.

According to the convention, the new empires were bound to occupy the sphere of influence of the old empires. The Government of Vienna showed goodwill and was willing to coexist peacefully. Naturally, no one would object.

Metternich analyzed, "There are many countries eyeing Japan. Now that they have opened the door, I am afraid everyone will flock to them.

In fact, Russia has long had plans to colonize Japan. If it were not for the Near East War, I am afraid the Americans would not have been the first to do so.

In the current international situation, it's not a big problem for us to join in and get a share of the pie, but if we want to get more benefits, we need to send the navy. "

Austria's navy wasn't very good, even after Franz took over and expanded it to a certain extent.

However, the difference in strength was obvious. Compared to the United Kingdom and France, the United Kingdom was not worth mentioning. There was no pressure in bullying Japan in this era.

However, this was not a reason for Austria to send a naval fleet to the Far East. The key was still to see the benefits.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz made a decision. "The Far East is not the focus of our expansion. Even if we are going to colonize overseas, we must avoid conflicts with European countries as much as possible.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz made a decision. "The Far East is not the focus of our expansion. As long as it is an area that is easy to rule, we must try our best to avoid conflicts with European countries.

What we should do now is to send more expeditions to explore the land that has not been occupied by other countries. As long as it is an area that is easy to rule, we can take it to practice. There is no need to pursue immediate benefits.

Just follow the footsteps of other countries on the Japan issue. Just take a part of our benefits and don't continue to expand. "

Franz said this casually, but his heart was bleeding. It was not easy to catch the last train of colonial empires, but because of the strength of the navy, they could only pick up some leftovers from England and France.

If they recklessly grabbed the fat meat, not to mention England and France, it was estimated that the old colonial empires such as Spain and the Netherlands would not be able to bear the consequences.

Overseas colonization was not only about strength, but also about the way of governance. As a newcomer, these old empires did not need to use force to interfere. They could just dig a hole and make you lose everything.

Including the history of the United States when they seized the Philippines. It seemed that they had won, but in fact, they suffered. The land, which was rich in the hands of the Spanish, became a loss in the hands of the Americans.

This was still the rich Philippines. If it was a poor and remote place, it was estimated that the loss would be even worse.

Colonial rule also had to look at the cost. Without colonial management experience, blindly joining the colonial army was ready to lose!

In contrast, Franz was more willing to go to an uninhabited island and plant the flag. He could simply send a few soldiers to station and declare sovereignty. He did not have to worry about people robbing it.

Of course, this kind of island either had bad geological conditions or was too small. He did not expect much benefit. At most, it could only be used as a resource reserve area.

Navy Minister Filcos suggested, "Your Majesty, we have been developing on the European continent and have not made a voice in the world. This is very disadvantageous for us to open up overseas colonies in the future.

It is better to organize a naval cruise around the world, visit countries around the world, and find an opportunity to take some unclaimed land as our first step out of Europe. "

The rise of almost every power on the sea was inseparable from a large-scale naval battle. Obviously, Austria did not have such an opportunity and could not find such a stepping stone.

England and France could not win at all. They still could not win after 20 years of development. Franz did not want to court death and had no intention of challenging the maritime overlords.

Unfortunately, the rest of the countries were not worthy of Austria's challenge. Looking at the map, everyone could not reach it at all, and there was not enough conflict of interest.

Unless they beat up the Osman Empire. In history, the Osman Empire's navy was once ranked fifth in the world, barely qualified.

But according to the current situation, Franz was very doubtful that the Osman government had the money to build such a fleet.

Without suitable opponents, they could only take another path. Anyway, Austria was an old empire and did not need to go through a war to determine their status as a great power. They were already on the battlefield, so why fight for admission tickets?

As a civilized person, Franz hated war. In his opinion, war meant risk. Madmen who rashly provoked war without enough benefits would definitely not survive in this era.

Now the Navy Minister's proposal was actually based on the international political environment. Since Austria adopted a conservative colonial strategy, it was important to use force to deter them.

Even if they could not scare England and France, they had to show their strength to deter other countries so that they would not encounter unnecessary trouble when colonizing overseas.

Historically, in the early 20th century, the Americans established their position as a maritime power through a flaunting voyage around the world.

It was feasible, but the premise was that the Austrian Navy had the strength. Franz was very doubtful about this. It was not that easy to cross the ocean, and it was still challenging to travel around the world in this era.

If an accident were to happen midway, he would become an idiot after failing to act tough. Then, he would be in big trouble. The Austrian Navy did not have experience in the global industry, and it was a problem whether their warship could withstand it.

If the warship broke down along the way, where would they repair it? How would they get logistics supplies in the ocean? How would the naval officers and soldiers endure long-term life at sea? These various aspects of the problem had to be considered.

Franz asked directly, "Felcos, are you sure our navy can do this and not become an international joke?"

This was a serious matter, and Felcos naturally could not guarantee it. Not to mention the Austrian Navy, even the British and French navies could not guarantee that there would be no problems in a global voyage.

Felcos encouraged, "Your Majesty, this is a medium-term strategic concept, and it is definitely not possible at the beginning. We can choose an ocean voyage route first to accumulate experience, and when the time is ripe, we can do a global voyage.

Moreover, it is not that our Navy is unprepared. In order to narrow the strength gap with the British and French navies, our self-developed ironclad warship technology has matured.

We have already placed an order, and it is expected that the first ironclad warship will enter the service of the navy within two years.

This epoch-making warship will definitely rewrite the history of naval warships and eliminate the current naval warships of all countries. "

As a catch-up, the best way to gain an advantage in the navy was to promote technological innovation and eliminate the old warships so that everyone would be on the same starting line again.

Historically, the German Navy's rise was due to the arrival of the era of dreadnoughts, which gave them the opportunity to catch up with the British.

The Austrian Navy was no exception. If they were to develop sail warships to catch up with the British and French, no one had the confidence to do so. The gap between them was too big.

Ever since Franz proposed the concept of ironclad warships three years ago, it had attracted the attention of the Austrian Navy. After careful research by the shipyard engineers, they found that, in theory, ironclad warships were feasible.

Since it was feasible, they naturally had to carry out research and development. In the past few years, the Austrian Navy had increased its military expenditure, and most of it had been invested in the development of warships. Now, it was finally going to bear fruit.

No matter how many sail warships the British and French had, once ironclad warships were introduced, these warships would be eliminated.

It was impossible to block the technology. In this era, the navies of various countries were only a conceptual breakthrough away from ironclad warships, and there was no big problem in terms of technology.

During this period, the French Navy had also begun the development of ironclad warships. After the British obtained information about the French ironclad warships, they had a similar plan in 1856.

Of course, it would definitely take time from the development to the final service, and the adoption of new technology would not be smooth. Even if the development was started a few years in advance, Franz was not sure who would be the first to build ironclad warships.

What he wanted was to build ironclad warships, not ironclad warships covered with a layer of iron sheet. If it was just a layer of iron sheet, it would have been introduced hundreds of years ago, and there would be no need for research and development at all.

Prince Wendisch Gretz questioned, "Ironclad warships? Mr. Felcos, are you sure that an all-iron warship won't sink after being equipped with cannons and can still run? "

This was the opinion of most people, and many people's first impression was that it had to sink. An ironclad warship was definitely much heavier than a wooden warship, and with the addition of cannons, ammunition, personnel, and so on, it would be a problem if it could run.

Felcos said unhappily, "Your Highness, please don't question my professionalism. If it was the same tonnage, an ironclad warship would definitely not be able to carry as much as a wooden warship due to its weight.

However, wooden warships were limited by raw materials, and the current technology of various countries could only build warships with a displacement of more than 4,000 tons. Ironclad warships did not have this limitation.

We can make up for this small problem as long as we increase the tonnage of the warship.

The armor of an ironclad warship can block the enemy's artillery attacks. Even a 48-pound cannon would only cause a little trouble to it at most.

And because the hull of an ironclad warship is more stable, we can also equip it with explosive cannons. Against a sailing warship, as long as we hit a vital point, we can kill the enemy in one shot.

Ironclad warships are powered by steam engines, so there's no need to worry about speed at all. We can refer to steamships.

On the battlefield, an ironclad warship can easily kill more than a dozen sailing warships. "

These were the advantages of an ironclad warship, and the disadvantage was naturally the skyrocketing cost. Felcos naturally wouldn't say these problems.

In any case, as long as Austria wanted to carry out colonial expansion, the cabinet wouldn't give up after seeing the power of an ironclad warship.

Prince Wendisch Gretz continued, "I'm sorry, Felcos, I'm not questioning your professionalism. I'm just a little puzzled. With so many advantages of an ironclad warship, why don't other countries build it? Could it be that our shipbuilding technology has become the world's best? "

Felcos said confidently, "Your Highness, that's not accurate. We're not the only ones interested in an ironclad warship.

As far as I know, the French have a similar design, but they haven't started implementing it yet.

Both Britain and France have a large number of sailing warships. Once the era of an ironclad warship arrives, their warships will all be eliminated.

This isn't just an economic loss. More importantly, their naval advantage will be lost by more than half. Everyone will have to start from the same starting line again.

Therefore, even if they have such a plan, they have to weigh the pros and cons. Rashly promoting a technological innovation in shipbuilding will not only bring benefits, but also disaster.

As the latecomers, we don't have this pressure. Because we don't have overseas colonies, the size of our navy is far from comparable to theirs.

Even if we were to push them all down and start all over again, we would still be the ones with the advantage. In fact, we only need two ironclad warships to match the total tonnage of the Austrian navy. "

Minister of Finance Carr exclaimed, "What? An ironclad warship has a displacement of more than 10,000 tons? How much would that cost?"

There was nothing strange about it. Naval warships in this era weren't big, and the total tonnage of the Austrian navy was only this small.

What surprised the Minister of Finance wasn't the size of the warship, but the professional reaction. How much would it cost to build such a warship?

Felcos said calmly, "It's not that much. I'm just exaggerating a little. The displacement of an ironclad warship is only 8,000 to 9,000 tons.

The specific data will only be known when it's built. You all know that the role of new technology is full of uncertainty, and a little error in the final displacement is acceptable.

The cost is indeed a little higher than an ordinary warship, but the excellent performance of an ironclad warship is still worth the price. Including the weapons and equipment, it's about three to four million duns, not more than five million.

This is the first ironclad warship, and there are many technologies that need to be experimented with. The cost will be reduced as more and more are built. "

A warship and weapons and equipment would take up one-third of the navy's annual budget. Franz knew that the era of the navy burning money had arrived.

If this money was used to build sailing warships, it would be enough to build five or six first-class battleships, which would inevitably put more financial pressure on the colonial empire.

Everyone fell into deep thought and began to weigh the pros and cons. Should they start a new round of naval arms race?