Chapter 142: The Two Pillars of Military Industry (Two-in-One Chapter)

Although the current Royal Guarnizo Shipyard is long past its former glory, it is of vital importance to Spain's future development plans.

For Carlos, this is also the first military shipyard under his own control; it is not only of extraordinary significance, but its strategic value is also immeasurably important.

Although this era has given birth to a large number of land-based powers, such as the former "European bulldozer" Russia, the one-time European hegemon France, and the current world-leading land power, Germany.

Yet, without exception, none of these nations have been able to shake the brilliance of the British Empire. Relying on the largest naval scale, the British sit firmly on the throne of the world's number one, watching the competition and fighting among European nations with a smile, dominating the European situation with the posture of a victor.

The biggest reason for this situation is precisely the naval superiority the British maintain over other great powers.

In other words, in this era, if one cannot possess a relatively powerful navy, one cannot exert influence abroad.

Is Germany, having defeated the French, not powerful? Of course, it is very powerful. But in the eyes of the British, the current threat from the Germans is even lower than that of France and Russia.

France and Russia at least have navies of a certain scale, while the Germans only have a seemingly powerful army. But no matter how powerful an army is, it cannot cross the ocean; the English Channel and the Royal Navy are the guarantees of the British Empire's strength, and also the reason why they do not care about the German threat.

Since the navy is so important, why do only a very small number of countries possess large-scale navies?

The reason is also very simple: building a navy requires a massive investment of capital, as well as human and material resources.

In any era, the establishment of a navy requires a high price. Even in the age of sail, battleships were not easy to build; they required towering trees hundreds of years old, along with the meticulous craftsmanship and design of artisans, to create warships capable of roaming the seas and even engaging in oceanic warfare.

Ironclads, meanwhile, test a nation's industrial level even more. The steam turbines that provide power to the warships and the naval guns that serve as the primary firepower are each a crystallization of industrial development up to this point.

Building a warship not only requires a large amount of advanced equipment but also a massive amount of steel, which dictates that some nations with weak industries are unable to build warships themselves.

Furthermore, having such technology alone is not enough; one also needs sufficient experience reserves in shipbuilding. Warships are not disposable items; they need to undergo long periods of use and even experience several naval battles.

If a warship's design has hidden problems due to a lack of experience, they might not be visible in peacetime, but once war is encountered, it could endanger the safety of the entire vessel.

Added to this is the fact that the cost of a single warship reaches hundreds of thousands of pounds, and the naval officers and men on board also require significant material and time to train.

If it is not a major industrial and economic power, the navy of this era is truly not something an ordinary country can handle.

Moreover, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard was originally Spain's largest shipyard, with rich experience in building warships.

Although it became somewhat desolate during the transition from sail-powered warships to ironclads, it had, after all, built ironclads for the Spanish government and possessed some relevant experience.

It is precisely because of this that Carlos places even greater importance on the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, aiming to save one of the few excellent shipyards Spain has in the field of ironclads.

After obtaining all the shares of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard from the government, Carlos decided to immediately launch an expansion project for the shipyard, aiming to rebuild the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard into Spain's largest shipyard within three years, possessing the capability to build the latest types of ironclads.

The good news is that with technical assistance from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and partial support from the French side, it is quite simple for the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard to acquire the capability to build the latest ironclads.

The only difficulty at present is the scale of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard. Because of the shipyard's increasing losses, its scale has been repeatedly reduced.

Seventy years ago, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard was still the largest shipyard on the Iberian Peninsula, having built dozens of powerful sailing warships for Spain.

But 70 years later, in 1872, the scale of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard has shrunk by more than half, and the number of employees in the shipyard is not even 300.

Although theoretically the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard has the capability to build ironclads, with a staff of fewer than 300 people, it would take more than a year or nearly two just to build an already outdated ironclad, let alone build the latest models.

If one were to rely on foreign orders to make money at such a construction speed, I am afraid it would not be enough to cover the expenses of the entire shipyard.

On October 27, 1872, Carlos and Steward Luo Lun traveled to Guarnizo Port in northern Spain to inspect the current state of what was once Spain's largest shipyard.

Because the shares of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard were previously in the hands of the government, the government naturally had no time to attend to the development of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, leaving it essentially in a state of neglect.

And the current director of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, Antonio Monali, is an individual with very mediocre abilities.

It can be said that the decline of Spain's four major shipyards is influenced by various reasons.

The biggest reason among them is the decline of Spain itself, which has led to the Spanish government repeatedly lowering its emphasis on the navy and basically not developing it much at all.

After the four major shipyards lost orders from within Spain, they had no choice but to find ways to survive through foreign warship orders or by building civilian ships needed by the public.

But the tonnage of civilian ships is very small, with the smallest being only a few tons. At a time when military vessels have evolved into ironclads, most civilian ships are still wooden boats wrapped in iron sheets, or even without iron sheets at all.

Building such civilian ships does not make much money, and with the shipyard's income becoming lower and lower, they have no choice but to helplessly reduce their scale, or even wait for the day of bankruptcy.

As Spain's once-largest shipyard, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard has very rich shipbuilding experience and once possessed the most advanced shipbuilding technology.

According to common sense, such a large-scale shipyard should not have fallen into such a state even if it lacked domestic orders.

After all, there are still a large number of countries in the world that could become partners; as long as one or two ironclads could be sold each year, it would help the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard maintain its expenses.

But it is clear that neither the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard under the control of the Bourbon royal family nor the shipyard under the control of the interim government had a sufficiently excellent director to save this enterprise.

As the shipyard declined along with Spain, it was naturally impossible to compete with traditional powers like Britain and France.

Now, Spain's shipbuilding industry is entirely relying on its former foundation to hold on, and its overall scale is slowly shrinking.

If it weren't for the fact that Spain's overall size is still relatively large, and the time of Spain's decline has not been long, perhaps the Spanish shipbuilding industry would not even be able to compete with a country like the Netherlands.

However, thinking about it carefully, the Dutch were once the hegemons of the sea. They also possess a very rich foundation in the shipbuilding industry, and building ironclads is naturally not a problem for them.

If it weren't for the fact that the Netherlands' land area and population are too small, the Netherlands would also be more competitive in terms of navy and shipbuilding.

Returning to the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, since all the shares of the shipyard have been obtained, the next step is naturally to return the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard to the pinnacle of the Spanish shipbuilding industry and expand the foreign market for Spain's military shipbuilding sector.

Although Spain does not currently need to build ironclads, this does not mean that other countries do not need ironclads to save face.

The Royal Guarnizo Shipyard is located within Santander Bay, a small port between the Cabargo and Maliano peninsulas.

From an overall location perspective, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard is located in northern Spain, facing the Bay of Biscay. Another major shipyard, El Ferrol, is located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Atlantic Ocean directly.

There is another major shipyard located in the east of Spain, facing the Mediterranean. The three major shipyards form a triangular layout, though they are more oriented toward the Atlantic direction, because that is where Spain once had vast colonies.

Fifty years ago, Guarnizo Port was still quite prosperous. But with the decline of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, Guarnizo Port has returned to its previous state as a small village.

After arriving near the Guarnizo Shipyard, Carlos's first reaction was the decay of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard.

However, this can also be considered good news; in the future, when Spain builds warships domestically, it will be more convenient to keep the news under wraps.

Walking straight into the interior of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, Carlos also met the current director of the shipyard, Antonio.

How should I put it? Antonio's first impression on Carlos was very poor, and Carlos became even more determined to replace the shipyard's leadership.

The Royal Guarnizo Shipyard is very important to the future development of the royal family and Spain, and the choice of shipyard director is of paramount importance, even capable of determining the future development direction of the shipyard.

"Your Majesty, as you can see, this is the existing dock of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard. We are repairing a sailing warship for the navy, and it is expected to be completed within half a month." Antonio introduced the current state of the shipyard to Carlos with a smile on his face, clearly not anticipating that his career as director had only a few days left.

"Does the current Royal Guarnizo Shipyard still have the capability to build ironclads? Or rather, what tonnage of warships can the existing docks build? How long does it take to build a state-of-the-art ironclad?" Carlos threw out his questions one after another; these were also the questions Carlos cared about most.

"We certainly have the capability to build ironclads, Your Majesty." Antonio nodded hurriedly and replied, "Currently, we still retain the largest dock, and the maximum tonnage of warships that can be built is 6, 00 tons."

"But because we haven't built ironclads for a long time, please forgive me for not being able to give you an exact construction time. But if the entire factory were to go full throttle to build an ironclad, I think it could be completed within three and a half years."

Carlos shook his head, clearly even more disappointed by this answer.

If it takes three and a half years just to build an ironclad, plus the subsequent sea trials and training time, the entire warship might take more than five years from the start of construction to forming combat capability.

Five years is simply too long, not to mention that this is just for building one ironclad. If several were started at the same time, perhaps by the time the ironclads entered service, the era of pre-dreadnoughts would already be arriving.

"How many workers does the shipyard currently have? How many of them are skilled workers?" Carlos asked, "If the royal family increases investment in the shipyard, can the shipyard have a sound development plan?"

Director Antonio replied hurriedly, "Currently, the shipyard has about 200 workers, and the number of skilled workers is close to one-quarter."

"If Your Majesty wants to expand the scale of the shipyard, you only need 5 million pesetas, and I can expand the scale of the shipyard to over a thousand people within three years."

Carlos nodded without saying anything more.

This inspection of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard ended quickly, and Carlos had a more detailed plan in his mind.

For the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard to develop, it must have a more capable director to be in charge of the entire shipyard. Director Antonio might have some ability, but compared to Carlos's expectations, it is completely insufficient.

However, since he is an old man who has devoted a long time to the shipyard, Carlos will not be too heartless.

Director Antonio will have two choices. Either go to other shipyards under the control of the government to continue serving as director, or go to other government departments to serve in less important positions.

Leaving the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, Carlos immediately gave an order to Steward Luo Lun: "Steward Luo Lun, do you have any suitable candidates for shipyard director?"

"Not for the moment, Your Majesty. However, I will select suitable candidates for shipyard director within Spain. Please give me some time, and I will submit a list of candidates to you," Steward Luo Lun replied.

In terms of the shipbuilding industry, Italy has also just started, so if one really wants to find talent, it has to be in Spain. If one compares the foundation in shipbuilding, there are really not many countries that can compare to Spain right now.

Carlos nodded. The development of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard cannot be completed in a short time, so there is naturally no need to rush the choice of director.

Before a new, more suitable candidate is determined, Antonio can temporarily remain in the position of director. If the subsequent development of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard meets Carlos's expectations, perhaps Antonio could even stay on.

But if the development of the shipyard still does not meet Carlos's expectations, or even makes Carlos increasingly disappointed, then Carlos will have no choice but to bring in someone more excellent.

Although Carlos left the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, he also left a small group of people to help the shipyard sort out its financial situation and complete the expansion.

If there are no problems with the financial situation of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard, funds can be allocated to the shipyard next.

Carlos has only one requirement, and that is to restore the scale of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard as much as possible with the support of sufficient funds, and to regain the capability to build the most powerful ironclads.

The three-and-a-half-year construction time is simply too long; at the very least, the time to build a warship needs to be compressed to within two years to meet Carlos's expectations.

After completing the further reform of the shipyard, one can take the ironclad blueprints designed by the shipyard to find buyers all over the world.

Perhaps even within Europe, one could find buyers for ironclads, such as the two great powers that have only completed unification in recent years.

Germany and Italy both unified only in recent years, and they will definitely need to develop naval power in the future. Especially Germany, which has become a veritable top European power and the world's number one land power after defeating France.

But Germany's naval scale is simply too weak; even its current naval scale cannot compare to Spain's.

A large part of the reason for this is the choice made during the Prussian Kingdom period to emphasize the army and neglect the navy. A Prussian Kingdom was clearly unable to handle both the army and navy branches at the same time, and coupled with the pressure from the Austrian Empire, it could only force the Prussian Kingdom to choose to emphasize the army more.

But now, after unifying the German region, Germany has a more powerful industry and economy, and also has the qualifications to handle both the army and navy branches at the same time.

The difficulty of handling both the army and navy at the same time is very high; even the British Empire has only barely managed to do so. The strength of the Royal Navy is beyond doubt, but while the British Army's strength is not weak, it is not very strong either.

Spain once managed to do it. During the era of the Empire on which the sun never sets, Spain not only had the Invincible Armada as the most powerful navy but also possessed a top-tier European army.

The Spanish Tercios were famous for a time, and they even achieved the feat of capturing the French king. At its most prosperous, Spain could be said to be a veritable European hegemon, with both land and naval forces being world-class and having proud combat records.

Currently, the British have only achieved hegemon-level strength in the navy, while their army is only at the level of a medium power.

However, this is quite good. After all, Britain is just an island nation, so it does not need to maintain such a massive army to protect its national security.

The expansion of the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard requires a lot of funds, but this is not a big problem.

After several years of development, the assets in Carlos's hands have become more and more.

The income brought by the two major banks, the National Bank of Spain and the Royal Union Bank, is enough to cover the expenses of the Guards Division and the Wang Gong.

And the income from Carlos's many factories is all used to expand or invest in more industries. Currently, the total value of the royal assets, even if it hasn't exceeded 100 million, is definitely in the tens of millions of pesetas.

Taking out a few million pesetas to help the shipyard expand is no problem, and even if the shipyard continues to lose money in the next few years, it is not a big deal for Carlos.

The Royal Guarnizo Shipyard and the Royal Military Factory are Carlos's foundation in the military industry. Future Spanish military technology will rely on these two leading military enterprises to support it.

Two-in-one chapter, please support!

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(End of chapter)