Holy Roman Empire

Having dismissed the crowd, Franz's tense face instantly eased up. I could see that he wasn't really angry.

It was part of the balance of power. If the army, navy and air force were to stop fighting for military spending, that would be the real problem. If the army, navy and air force stopped fighting, that would be the real problem.

Seeing that Franz wasn't angry, Frederick asked with concern, "Father, which of the three options just proposed by the military do you prefer?"

Not to be confused with curiosity, Frederick was genuinely indecisive and had no idea who to support.

On the surface, the strategic plans proposed by the army, navy, and air force were all very actionable. The success of any one of these plans would have brought the Holy Roman Empire to the top.

All of them are "quality strategies," and it is impossible to analyze their advantages and disadvantages, making the choice more difficult.

"Does it matter?"

Franz asked rhetorically.

As if he had been tortured by his soul, Frederick's mind kept running with the question, "Does it matter? It seemed to matter a lot, but it also seemed not to matter at all.

The Shinra military was qualified, and despite the flaws of each of the three proposed solutions, they all came out on the same page.

None of the other competitors had grown up, and as long as the British were brought to heel, Shinra was the unique world leader.

After a long while, Frederick slowly replied: "I understand."

Looking at his son with a cautious face, Franz smiled and said, "No, you don't understand. In fact, we don't have a choice at all.

Politics is never about right or wrong. It may be that a strategy alone can win with the least cost, but we have to consider the realities of the situation.

Some years ago the Army was dominant, and in order to balance the military, I supported the Navy, and then spun off the Air Force, creating the current triangular system of checks and balances.

Now the Navy and the Air Force together can barely compete with the Army, while also touching the Army's bottom line.

No matter how much they give in, they can't let the Navy get the same amount of money as they do, which is the pride of the Army.

You should know how much influence the Army had. The Holy Roman Empire was built, basically, by the army.

More than ninety percent of the overseas feudal lords and emerging farm owners were army born, and more than seven layers of bureaucrats in the government had served in the army.

Not to mention the civilian population, our compulsory military service law is aimed at the Army. The Navy and Air Force are both technical branches of the military, and it is simply impossible for everyone to serve.

With so many supporters, the Army can't lose. As long as they insist on not giving in, even if the Air Force and Navy join forces, it won't make any difference.

We can't go down there ourselves and pull off a deflection, can we?"

The emperor himself goes down to pull a deflection, just as the referee goes down to kick a ball. Just think, no mature monarch would do that.

Even before the support of the navy and the divestiture of the air force, it was the cabinet that was in the thick of it, and all the way through Franz did not personally get off the field, let alone now.

Perhaps for the army, navy, and air force, this fight for military spending was crucial, and their development for the next decade was at stake.

But for the emperor, and for the Holy Roman Empire, no matter which option was chosen, the final outcome was a foregone conclusion.

It was a matter of overall national power, and to this day, the gap between the Holy Roman Empire and Britain has been widened.

Counting the colonial citizens, the total population of the Holy Roman Empire was 160 million, with 120 million in Europe alone.

On the other hand, the population of Britain, the British Isles combined, was only 30 million, and with the addition of the citizens of the overseas colonies, the total population was just over 40 million.

Of course, if you include the colonial natives, the ratio is reversed. India alone had 300 to 400 million, and the total population under the control of the entire British Empire was more than 500 million, while the population of Shinra was less than 180 million.

The population of the British Empire was large, but it was not well utilized. Primitive colonial rule was fine for extracting wealth, but it was not enough for increasing national power.

The economy of the Holy Roman Empire was one-fifth larger than that of the entire British Empire (including colonies), and its industry was 2.5 times larger than that of Britain.

This was just the beginning, and the gap continued to widen as time went on.

If such a large advantage could be played to lose in the end, Franz wouldn't have to hang around.

In addition to hammering the military, Franz wanted the military to compromise with each other, which was the main reason for the deliberate expression of dissatisfaction.

Unless the British conceded defeat in advance, no matter which strategy was chosen, the future would require the cooperation of the army, navy and air force, and it was only a matter of priorities.

Even if it was a compromise between the three armies, Franz conceded that simultaneous development would waste a lot of financial resources.

In order to balance the interests of all sides, almost every major power will face the problem of wasting resources.

......

While the struggle for military expenses continued, the newborn "USS Roma" had problems first. It was only after the armament and supporting equipment were finished that we suddenly found that the "USS Roma" was very ordinary in its ability to withstand wind and waves.

It is not surprising that almost all test ships have these and other problems. The perfect product, produced at once, was not suitable for warships.

In the Navy, the saying "design ahead, build backward" has always prevailed.

The "USS Roma" was good, but at least it was built and remained a world leader. The British "Super Battleship" is still being designed, and other countries are not even interested in following suit.

Despite the lack of weather resistance, and a number of minor problems, the "USS Rome" could not hide the fact that it was a powerful ship, at least in the Mediterranean.

The Army naturally took advantage of this situation. As soon as it was proven that the USS Roma was not capable of ocean-going naval warfare, the Navy Department's super battleship program would have to die.

Unfortunately, Franz was already familiar with this little trick, and didn't give anyone a chance to talk about it: "Let's shut down the news, and let's put an end to the defects of the USS Roma.

The lack of resistance to wind and waves will not affect its use in the Mediterranean. The navy will pay attention to it when arranging the mission, so that it will not leave the Mediterranean.

The follow-up propaganda will continue, as long as the item on world cruising is removed.

The exploration of new technologies is already full of uncertainties, and we can still take this risk."

The Shinra Navy was already known as the "Bathtub Navy", and Franz didn't mind making it worthy of the name. If the British wanted a joke, let them get one first.

To put it another way, being able to use the Mediterranean as a bath tub was another achievement.

Throughout the history of mankind, which country that has used the Mediterranean as a bath tub is not a great one?

As long as it stays in the Mediterranean, the USS Rome is a true super battleship. Whether it was a show or a scare, it could be arranged.

Deep down Franz has made up his mind, if it is not really necessary, he is not ready to let the "USS Roma" to the battlefield.

After all, it was an experimental ship, who knows how many potholes to step on. Specific reference can be made to the first generation of dreadnoughts in the original space-time world, which are all kinds of flowery potholes.

Hundred years of navy is not necessarily a navy to develop a hundred years, but naval ships need to spend a hundred years, and constantly step on the potholes, mine, and accumulate various lessons.

For Franz, as long as the test ship does not sink, and can go to sea normally, it is qualified. As for other problems, they could wait for the second and third generations to improve.

Although Franz's words saved him from further accountability, the Navy Department's "Super Battleship Program" was one step ahead of the others.

One ship that could not go out of the Mediterranean Sea, the USS Roma, could be tolerated, but more than twenty ships at one time, no one could tolerate that.

Even though the Navy Department had repeatedly assured that the latter ships would not have similar problems, no one dared to take the risk with them.

Of course, the USS Roma was not without its merits. At least the fighting power was really strong, and as long as she avoided bad windy weather, she was still the king of naval battles.

In the end, the Navy Department's "five years and twenty-five ships" super battleship program was cut to "five years and five ships", the first to be eliminated from the war for military spending.

Franz knew the matter was not over when he saw the reluctant eyes of Castagni leaving, and estimated that when the problem was solved, the Navy would propose the "Super Battleship Program" again.

With the Royal Navy as a competitor to help set the stage, I believe this day will not be too late.

The Royal Navy's competitor is helping out with this project. ......

Reducing the size of the ship does not mean cutting back on propaganda efforts. As this year's brightest "pup", "USS Roma" is still the media darling.

After perfecting the supporting facilities, the "USS Rome" is wandering up in the Mediterranean, under the guise of exchange of experience, and constantly visit the Mediterranean countries.

Every country it visited was bound to have a joint military exercise.

The most miserable is the newly independent Italian states, with more than a thousand tons of small destroyers and more than 20,000 tons of "Rome" joint exercises, the scene is simply .......

If it weren't for the different flags flying, people would probably think of them as sidekicks and would not believe that this was a joint military exercise.

The Vienna government had no choice but to do this in order to raise the heat. The British Parliament would only be willing to allocate funds to the Royal Navy if they could build up the momentum.

It's hard to think about the enemy when you're so well thought out. But in order to deplete the British national power, Franz decided to do it.

Regardless of whether the Shinra Navy could surpass the British in the Dreadnought Era, the British lost more than 70 percent more than the Shinra in this wave of warship modernization.

Who let them have more warships?

Whoever has the most ships has the most to lose by catching up with this naval technology revolution.