Chapter 1052: Subsequent Effects
Chapter 1032 – Follow-up Impact
The customer is God, never mind if people buy the right weapon or not, that’s their freedom.
As the saying goes, “Thousands of gold can’t buy me happiness”. On this issue, Shen Luo’s military industrial enterprises were all very clear-headed, never forcing customers to buy goods they didn’t like.
Technological blockades and export restrictions didn’t exist. This was the 19th century, and even if you gave away all the drawings for weapons construction, not many countries would be able to copy them.
Taking a weapon and pushing back the technology, that’s not to mention. It is estimated that only the British can do, other countries, even if the technology is pushed out, a moment can not be mass production.
So the question is, what can the British do with a bunch of army equipment?
It can’t be for the sake of grabbing the arms market with Shinra, can it?
You have to realize that these days, we are in the midst of a great era of weapons renewal. What is still advanced technology today may be obsolete tomorrow.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve, you have to keep investing. With the current plate of the international arms market, no matter how hard one tries to operate, one cannot afford to raise a few gold swallowing beasts in the age of peace.
Shen Luo’s military industrial enterprises could keep investing, and that was because the Holy Roman Empire itself was the largest arms buyer in the world. Its own military spending alone accounted for more than 1/3 of the total global military spending.
It’s true that British military spending isn’t low, but that’s only if the London government is willing to throw money at the Army. Sadly, that’s not going to happen.
In order to maintain the Royal Navy’s dominant position, the British government was working hard enough, and to engage in an army arms race with Shinra would definitely be too much of a death sentence.
As for the air force, it was a little brother these days. No matter how much importance Franz attached to it, the air force was still left far behind by the navy and land forces.
This was the case for Shinra, not to mention other countries. For many countries, the symbolic significance of getting a few planes back was far greater than the practical significance.
Although the air force had shown notable combat power in the war against France, the lethality of the airplanes was mainly directed at the airships, and the threat to the ground forces was limited.
In the opinion of many, the greatest strategic importance of airplanes was not for bombing, but for scouting the enemy, and demoralizing enemy ground forces.
To change this, unless engine technology breaks through again and increases the weight of the airplane. Being able to drop more and bigger bombs from the sky is the only way to really have the significance of strategic bombing.
Of course, if the engine technology breakthrough, not only the aircraft can benefit, the ground tanks and armored vehicles will also benefit, even the internal combustion engine industry will usher in a new development opportunity.
For Shinra, this is a project that benefits many people for a single dollar. If you put the British head, then it is only purely aircraft benefit, at most, plus the automobile industry.
There is no way, who let the British capitalists lying down to make money has been accustomed to, holding the steam engine is not willing to let go.
Originally, Britain was the first brother of the industrial world, but after the outbreak of the second industrial revolution, it quickly began to fall behind.
Whether it is scientific and technological research and development innovation, or the use and promotion of new technologies, the British are lagging behind.
One step behind, one step behind. If you are dedicated to catching up, it’s just a matter of time, if you are stuck in the same old rut and waiting around, then the gap will only get bigger and bigger as time goes by.
Well, you can’t blame the British government. The British Isles is such a big place, with a population of only 30 million, that even if it wants to move forward, the ceiling is locked.
Even if you want to move forward, the ceiling is still locked. To be able to surpass all the countries in the world to become a maritime hegemony despite the inherent limitations is already very remarkable.
……
London, Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence, Robert Cecil is watching a “movie” with senior government officials.
Although it was a silent movie and the picture was not clear enough, the content of the movie still shocked the crowd.
As the documentary ended, Prime Minister Robert Cecil asked, “What do you think of the performance of the Austrian army?”
“It seems to be well-trained and very imposing. However, the navy is different from the army, the navy emphasizes more on technology, and it is difficult for the pipsqueak to become powerful, these do not reflect the navy’s fighting strength.”
Navy Minister Flora replied indifferently.
Of all the people present, he was the least stressed. The Royal Navy’s advantage accumulated over a hundred years was not something that competitors could catch up with overnight.
Unless the Vienna government recklessly exploded the navy and piled it up by sheer numbers. Obviously, this was completely impossible for a land power country.
It can be seen from the military expenditure of the Holy Roman Empire, the army first the navy second the air force third, steady as a rock.
Despite the fact that the Holy Roman Empire’s military spending is already the world’s number one, the amount of military spending distributed to the Navy is far less than the Royal Navy’s.
With no advantage in technical experience and no way to spend money on kryptonite, it is simply unrealistic to want to surpass the Royal Navy with limited military spending.
“Your Navy has so much military spending every year, so naturally it’s not a worry. Our Army is miserable, we have to eat chaff every day and can’t even mix a cup of coffee.
Judging from the movie, I very much doubt that we and the Austrians are living in the same era.
Unfortunately, reality very cruelly told me: yes!
Now there is no need to be skeptical, I can just conclude that the Army and the Austrians are more than one era apart.
If we don’t invest more in the army, we won’t fare any better than the defeated French if we meet them on the battlefield someday.”
It has been a centuries-old tradition of the British Army not to miss an opportunity to ask for military spending. As a child of “grandma and uncle”, if you don’t learn to cry, you will really be starved to death.
Obviously, Skebro is a qualified Secretary of State for War. Appropriate rhetorical devices were used to emphasize the difference in strength between the two sides.
If he were a hot-blooded young man, he would probably have found a way to raise money for the Army by now.
Unfortunately, those present were all old men in the political world. The British Army has failed to keep up with the times, not once or twice. After a lot of experience, everyone will slowly get used to it.
Every advancement of the British Army has been forced out by external pressures, generally when it has been severely beaten by society.
For example: the First Near Eastern War, the South African War, after the defeat the British Army was given a brief golden period of development.
As soon as the politicians emerged from the shadow of defeat, they changed their tune again. Better to put funds into the Navy and waste them than to spend an extra penny for the Army.
Against this backdrop, it’s only natural that Skyebruh has to be quick to turn the tables. While everyone was still immersed in the movie and hadn’t come back to their senses, the results were finalized in advance causing an established fact.
Foreign Secretary Cameron: “Don’t worry, Sir. We’ve already bought back samples, and it won’t be long before we’re able to localize it.
But the Austrian’s hands are really black, the planes are sold from a hundred, and the tanks and armored vehicles are directly packed with five hundred.
In addition to a small amount needed for the enterprise to study the technology, the rest will be equipped to the troops, you want the flight division, tank division, armored division all have.”
Relying on a competitor to help increase the establishment, no one would dare to believe it if they said it out loud, yet it actually happened.
As an old-school industrial powerhouse, Britain’s technology wasn’t bad, and despite falling behind in the Second Industrial Revolution, British companies were still able to build the equipment.
It’s just that it requires a lot of R&D time, as well as a big financial investment.
The problem is that everyone knows that the British Army is a poor man, aircraft and tanks cost tens of thousands of dollars, even if you get these equipment, the Army is not likely to purchase a large number of them.
If the army does not purchase, the colonial army will be even more unable to buy. There is no domestic market, and the international competition is facing the Shen Luo, it is also difficult to pull the order.
After spending a lot of money to get the product out, the final sales were only in the triple digits. It might not even be possible to recover the research and development costs.
Capital seeks profit, there is not enough profit, the British military industrial enterprises naturally lack of motivation. Although also in the related technology research, but the investment is not comparable to the strength of that.
But standing on the national level, Britain can not do without these advanced equipment. Even if the battlefield may not be used, it must be there.
This is related to the face of the Sunset Empire, as the world’s hegemony, but all can hold up the scene to deter people’s weapons, must have.
Not only to have, but also to be able to build their own. Enterprises are not willing to engage in, the government will have to create conditions for them to help them complete the technological breakthrough.
After all, the small life of the military industrial enterprises in the era of peace would have been very ordinary, and they must strictly control costs in order to maintain profitability.
If not for the government requirements, it is estimated that many military industrial enterprises, have cut down the army equipment research and development production department.
Congress is watching tightly large orders can not be given. However, to provide sample models, so that the enterprise reverse push technology, to help them save R & D costs can still be.
This is also the reason why the British government immediately ordered after discovering that the Vienna government was conducting a weapons sale.
Although the price seemed a bit more expensive, considering the technology premium, it was actually quite cost-effective.
Flying divisions, tank divisions, and armored divisions were all things that the Army could only dream of, but Skebro couldn’t be happy. There was no way around it, and the key issue came back to military spending.
Technical soldiers are not as cheap as infantry, these flight divisions, tank divisions, armored divisions together, it is estimated that the Army’s small half of the military expenses are gone.
If we don’t increase the financial allocation, how will this make life easier for the other troops?
Just as Skebro was calculating how to convince the crowd to increase military spending, Prime Minister Robert Cecil gave another fillip.
“With the addition of the flying divisions, along with the previous airship unit, our air power has increased greatly. To remain in the Army would be an anachronism.
In this matter, we can learn from the successful experience of the Holy Roman Empire and create a new separate military branch to manage these air forces.”
Upon hearing this terrible news, Skebro immediately paled.
Exchanging airship units for armored units seemed similar. In reality, the hidden benefits behind this would be much bigger.
The army was already weak, if another air force came out to steal resources, Skebro didn’t know how to live in the future.
After all, the Royal Navy was too strong, and the flying units were independent, so they didn’t have the ability to compete with them for military expenses. The only thing that could be robbed was the Army’s share of military spending.
In addition, Britain has always had a good tradition of suppressing the army, Skebro instantly felt “the future is not bright”.
Not to say that the civilian origin of Skebro, really have deep feelings for the army, the problem is that he is now the Minister of War.
If he can not fight for the rights of the army, how can he get the support of the military?
A Secretary of State for the Army without the support of the military is destined to sit on the sidelines. It is estimated that the day the Air Force is established will be the day he leaves his post and gets out.
Skebrew looked at Prime Minister Robert Cecil with a grudge, as if to say: we are political allies, have you ever pitched a teammate like this?
Perhaps realizing that the situation was a bit ugly and not conducive to the unity of the leadership team, Prime Minister Robert Cecil then added: “Taking into account the actual situation, the establishment of the air force in a single leap is too abrupt, and I’m afraid that many people will not be able to accept it.
For a short period of time, the air force should still hang under the Ministry of War first. Only the flying unit must establish an independent leadership to prepare for the future split.”
This addition caused Skyebru to look a little slower, but the feeling of dissatisfaction was still hanging on his face. Clearly, the Prime Minister had made up his mind to split the Army.
From the calm expressions on the faces of the people present, it was clear that they had already communicated about this matter beforehand, leaving Skyebru, the Minister of War, to be the last to know.
“Mr. Prime Minister, it’s too obvious to do so. If we really formed an independent leadership, everyone would know that the government wants to split up the Army.
The Holy Roman Empire’s air force is centered on aircraft, and not all of the airship units have been assigned to the air force, with a significant portion of them remaining with the Army.
As the country with the most experience in using air power, the Holy Roman Empire must have had their reasons for doing so.
Since we have to learn from their successful experience, we have to learn it in a comprehensive way, not just the skinny of it.
Take the newly purchased airplanes and directly integrate them into a flying division, classifying it as a unit directly under the Ministry of War. It will neither arouse suspicion from the outside world nor affect future splitting efforts.”
Arm in arm, don’t want to accept the reality can’t, Skebro can do now, is as much as possible for the Army to fight for the rights and interests.
If it were in Congress, or in public, Skebrew would certainly have to fight for what is rightfully his. But in the high-level meeting attended by only a few people, there is no need to continue to show off.
Big people have their own big man’s temperament, do not move red-faced quarrel, that is mostly for outsiders to see.
The same political party origin, originally is a political ally, really if often fight face to face to slap the table, then the group has long been playing no longer.
In fact, since Franz took the lead in the establishment of the army, navy and air force, followed by a number of countries. There is also no lack of support within the British government to follow suit.
As an intelligent man, Skebro was able to see the benefits of independence for the three armies at a glance. But as Secretary of State for War, he did not want this to happen during his term of office.
(End of chapter)