Chapter 141: Investing in Shipyards

The treaty signed between the French government and the Spanish government was not of a military nature, so naturally, there was no need to conceal it.

In fact, the French actually needed to make this treaty public to help themselves recover from their dire diplomatic situation. After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see how difficult things were for France right now, with no relatively friendly countries in their immediate vicinity.

On the Spanish side, there was naturally no need for concealment either. Cooperation with the French could even serve as a smokescreen to confuse the British, making them more cautious in their diplomatic policy toward Spain.

After the cooperation treaty with France was signed, the Spanish government immediately dispatched a relevant diplomatic delegation to France.

Their primary objective was to conduct a practical inspection of the industrial equipment and related technical expertise that France could export to Spain, to filter out the materials and technologies that Spain needed or that held high strategic value, and to find ways to transport them to Spain.

Regardless of whether the French loan had arrived, conducting an on-site inspection of the industrial systems in France was also very important. The experience the French had accumulated in industry could serve as a precious asset, allowing Spain to avoid taking unnecessary detours while developing its own industry.

At present, Spain has already made significant progress in the military industry, but these advancements are basically all related to army weaponry.

The Vitali M1872 rifle possessed by Spain can be said to be a first-class European bolt-action rifle, and the artillery technology obtained from Austria is likewise first-class in Europe.

Therefore, in terms of purchasing French military equipment and technology, Spain is mainly focusing on the introduction of naval technology, followed by French artillery technology, while basically ignoring the introduction of rifles.

After all, after the future invention of smokeless powder, rifle technology in various countries will see further improvement. Carlos's future goal is to develop rifles similar to the British Lee-Enfield and the German Gew. 98, which is the predecessor of the famous 98k rifle.

These two rifles were the pinnacle of rifle technology for Britain and Germany during World War I, and they were also the standard-issue weapons equipped in large numbers by both countries during the war.

Actually, if one had to say, the Lee-Enfield rifle is relatively more advantageous. The advantage of this rifle is its high rate of fire; a relatively skilled veteran can even fire at least 30 rounds per minute.

However, the disadvantage is also its high rate of fire. Accuracy on the battlefield cannot be guaranteed, and such a high rate of fire means massive ammunition consumption, which is a great test for military production capacity and logistical supply capabilities.

But if Spain's military production capacity and logistical supply capabilities can keep up with the consumption of rifles on the front lines, the Lee-Enfield rifle will exert its greatest effect, becoming the most powerful rifle of the World War I era.

The long rifle version (MLE) of the Lee-Enfield was born in 1895, and after the Boer War, it was improved into the short rifle version (SMLE), which remained in service until 1965.

Being able to be procured and used by Britain and Commonwealth countries for over 70 years, with over 71 million produced, is enough to show the power of this rifle.

The Gew. 98 rifle developed by the Germans performed slightly worse than the Lee-Enfield, but it was more famous.

The short rifle version of the Gew. 98 rifle is the famous Kar98 rifle, which is the 98k rifle.

The Gew. 98 rifle is not without its advantages. In terms of operability and precision, it is slightly higher than the Lee-Enfield.

As a pure standard-issue infantry firearm, the Lee-Enfield is certainly more excellent. But if used for special purposes, such as long-range precision sniping, the capabilities of the Gew. 98 are not in the slightest bit weaker than the Lee-Enfield.

A lower rate of fire also means lower pressure on military production and logistical supply. For some countries with insufficient military production capacity or logistical capabilities, a slower-firing rifle is sometimes a better choice.

A rifle is something that must be used in conjunction with ammunition. A rifle without ammunition is not much better than a fire poker; only sufficient ammunition can fully manifest the power of a rifle.

But whether it is the Lee-Enfield or the Gew. 98, their birth dates are more than twenty years away.

By that time, smokeless powder will have been invented, and the military production capacity and industrial foundation of various countries will be much stronger. Developing a more powerful rifle on this basis is a matter of course, and this phenomenon is equally applicable to warships.

The history of military vessels has been long; a hundred years ago, it was still sailing warships that dominated the world.

But by now, the most powerful capital ships of various countries have become ironclads, and industrial strength is also endowing ironclads with greater speed and firepower.

In the future, when the industrial scale of various countries becomes even stronger,

battleships with larger volumes, thicker armor, more powerful firepower, and faster speeds—that is, pre-dreadnoughts—will also be born.

The reason Spain is abandoning naval development in the short term is precisely to prioritize the development of industry and the economy, preparing for the birth of future pre-dreadnoughts.

The current British Empire is firmly the world's number one naval power, and other countries have no chance of catching up under normal circumstances.

The scale of the British navy is determined based on the world's second and third naval powers; their naval scale is always maintained at a level greater than the second and third combined, which is also the guarantee of the Royal Navy's dominance over the world.

If one compares purely by quantity, no country can compare to the British Empire. Because the British possess an entire India that they can exploit unscrupulously, the wealth India provides to the British allows them to spend on military expenditures with peace of mind.

One of the few opportunities to catch up to the British navy, or to pose a greater threat to it, might be when capital ships are being updated and replaced.

Currently, the capital ships of various countries are already ironclads; there are two more updates and replacements for the navy in the future, which are the replacement of ironclads with pre-dreadnoughts, and the replacement of pre-dreadnoughts with dreadnoughts.

The birth of pre-dreadnoughts will be in more than a decade; by then, Spain will be able to possess a certain scale of industry and economy, and can also strengthen its investment in the money-burning navy.

And dreadnoughts were born in 1906, which is more than 30 years away from now. 30 years is enough to build Spain into an industrial and economic powerhouse; as long as they can lay out plans for dreadnoughts in advance, Spain will become one of the naval powers of the 20th century.

Although the British navy has always maintained its position as world number one, the French have also followed closely behind, firmly occupying the throne of world number two.

This is also the reason why the French were able to become the hegemons of Europe; before the Franco-Prussian War, the French were the most powerful country on the European continent in terms of both army and navy.

But after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the focus of French construction shifted from having both a strong army and navy to emphasizing the army.

Although there were related naval construction plans, compared to the Germans who had already insulted France once, the naval competition with Britain became less important.

Of course, more importantly, France had no chance of winning in the naval competition with Britain. In any case, France was firmly in the position of the world's second navy, and currently, no country could surpass France.

Although the German threat on land was great, their navy could be said to be almost non-existent. The French government also estimated Germany's development potential, and they were certain that even if the Germans were given another ten years, Germany would not necessarily be able to surpass France in terms of the navy.

Even let alone catching up to France, even if the Germans were given five years, their naval scale might not necessarily compare to Spain's.

Yes, Spain is currently also among the ranks of naval powers.

The reason is also very simple. In the early 19th century, Spain could be called the third-largest colonial empire in the world in terms of colonial scale; Mexico, Argentina, and other vast American countries were all Spanish colonies.

Spain's colonies were spread across Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia, so naturally, they needed a powerful navy to protect these colonies.

If it were the early 19th century, the Spanish navy could even sit firmly in the top three in the world. But amidst political turmoil, after losing its American colonies one after another, Spain was unable to afford the expenses of a massive fleet.

From the mid-19th century to the present twenty or thirty years, Spain has not had much investment in the navy, and it has gone from being the third naval power to the top five.

Although it is claimed to be one of the world's top five naval powers, there is still a large gap between a naval power like Spain and Britain or France.

It is undeniable that as the former empire on which the sun never sets, Spain possesses an extremely powerful foundation in naval matters.

During its peak, Spain possessed the Invincible Armada that dominated the world; at that time, the Spanish navy could be called the world's number one.

However, after being defeated by the British later, the Spanish navy declined time and again, and the name of the Invincible Armada has already disappeared.

Most of the Spanish navy consists of old, broken, and outdated warships; the number of ironclads is very small, and many are even sailing warships.

But Spain still has a fairly good foundation in the shipbuilding industry. The reason Carlos believes Spain can become a new naval power when the capital ships of the future navy are updated and replaced is precisely because he sees the rich foundation Spain has in the shipbuilding industry.

Moreover, the current Spain has already obtained industrial assistance from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and an intention for cooperation from the French side.

If the experience of these two countries in military shipbuilding can be integrated, Spain's military shipbuilding field will also receive no small boost.

Although the current Spanish government has no demand for building warships, this does not mean that other countries around the world do not have a demand for building ships.

Carlos's expectation for Spain's military shipbuilding field is that when there is no demand within Spain, they can explore as many military ship orders as possible from other countries around the world.

This will not only allow Spanish shipyards to obtain more income but also allow them to accumulate more experience in the field of military shipbuilding, preparing for the large-scale construction of the Spanish navy in the future.

After all, if these military shipyards remain in a state of deficit, downsizing and bankruptcy are inevitable.

If too much of an impact is caused to the Spanish military shipbuilding industry, perhaps when the Spanish government wants to formulate a naval development plan in the future, it will need to reorganize larger-scale shipyards, which will undoubtedly waste a lot of time.

Before the 18th century, Spain's military shipbuilding industry was distributed across various regions, and there were no large-scale shipbuilding centers.

But after the 18th century, Spain's military shipbuilding industry was integrated into various shipbuilding centers, and four representative large-scale military shipyards were formed.

These four shipyards are the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, the Havana Shipyard in Cuba, the Ferrol Shipyard, and the Cartagena Shipyard.

Compared to these four major shipyards, any other private shipyard has a large gap in terms of scale, volume, or the importance attached to it by the government.

Among them, the Havana Shipyard in Cuba is the most special of the four major shipyards; the shipyard is located in Havana in the Cuban colony, and it is also the only large-scale shipyard Spain has located overseas.

But unfortunately, the Havana Shipyard was destroyed during the independence movements of the various American colonies. Although the Spanish government subsequently rebuilt the Havana Shipyard, because most of the American colonies had been lost, there was naturally no longer a need for such a large shipyard located in the Americas.

This shipyard, which was once able to build large sailing warships, has gradually fallen into the bottom tier of the four major shipyards and is not even on the Spanish government's list of concerns for the future development of the shipbuilding industry.

The last work of this shipyard was the heavy frigate *Luisa Fernanda*, built in 1845, which carried a full 44 cannons.

And in the nearly 30 years from 1845 to this year, 1872, the Havana Shipyard only undertook construction tasks for some small warships and civilian ships; there were no orders for large ships at all.

Currently, Spain's largest shipyard is the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, which bears the royal title.

It is worth mentioning that although the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard is an industry established by the Spanish royal family, because it belongs to the Bourbon dynasty, most of the shares currently actually belong to the government.

As King, Carlos actually does not have many shares in the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, and coupled with Spain's decline over the past thirty years, the scale of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard has shrunk by more than half; it is currently living beyond its means and facing a serious financial and bankruptcy crisis.

Besides the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard and the Havana Shipyard in Cuba, the remaining Ferrol Shipyard and Cartagena Shipyard are also no longer in their glory days.

If the Spanish government does not intervene, I am afraid they will sooner or later be bankrupt and reorganized, or disappear directly into history.

For the future development of the Spanish shipbuilding industry, Carlos and Prime Minister Primo reached an agreement.

The royal family will use very little capital to take back the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard from the government and rebuild it into Spain's largest shipyard.

The government will be mainly responsible for the maintenance of the Ferrol Shipyard and the Cartagena Shipyard. With the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard as the leader of the Spanish shipbuilding industry, the Ferrol Shipyard and the Cartagena Shipyard only need to maintain their existing scale, and the government does not need to spend much effort.

It is only necessary to ensure that these two shipyards can quickly expand into shipyards capable of building capital ships when needed, which will satisfy Spain's shipbuilding needs.

Royal investment and maintaining the scale of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard require a lot of capital, so when acquiring the shares of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, very little capital is needed to complete the acquisition process.

Afterward, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard will be an industry that belongs entirely to the royal family; whether it makes a profit or a loss is the royal family's business and has nothing to do with the government.

Carlos is still willing to acquire the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard. As Spain's once-largest shipyard, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard has very rich experience in shipbuilding, especially in building military warships.

This also ensures that after the royal family invests in the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, it can rely on the shipyard's own foundation, assistance from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and French technology to quickly restore the past glory of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard.

Still, that same point: even if there is not much demand for warships within Spain, it does not mean that all countries around the world do not have a great demand for warships.

Currently, there are still many countries that want to build new ironclads. If Spain can export the most advanced ironclads, it will definitely be able to attract a portion of foreign orders.

Currently, the cost of ironclads varies, but the cheapest ironclad costs more than 200, 00 pounds. For each shipyard, the income from building one ironclad is at least as high as 50, 00 pounds or more, and perhaps even more.

Especially for those more advanced and powerful ironclads, the higher the construction cost, the higher the external selling price will be.

Building just a few ironclads each year will not only maintain the daily expenses of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard but can even expand the scale of the shipyard through a steady stream of income, recruiting more employees to wait for the announcement of Spain's future shipbuilding plan.

At the same time, the shipyard undertaking foreign orders can also continuously accumulate experience in shipbuilding. I imagine that with the reputation of Spain as a top-five naval power, attracting a portion of countries to place orders at Spanish shipyards will be no problem.

Two-in-one chapter, asking for support!

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(End of this chapter)