Chapter 341: Arms Trade

Although the successive statements of Britain and Spain effectively prevented the further expansion of this war, people with discerning eyes could see that the European situation had undergone earth-shaking changes after Germany and Russia entered the war.

The Three Emperors' Alliance became a thing of the past, and what followed was the confrontation between the German-Austrian alliance and Russia.

Although Germany, Austria, and Italy protected the tripartite alliance treaty very well, the relationship between Italy and Germany-Austria was not a secret.

Not just Spain, but many European countries including France, Russia, and even Britain, all believed that Italy had already signed an unknown alliance treaty with Germany-Austria.

The purpose of signing this alliance treaty was also very simple; Germany-Austria was to make up for the vacancy after losing Russia, after all, Italy is also a power country.

And Italy was to find a thigh for itself to hug; after all, the performance of the Italian army is well known to various European countries.

Don't look at the fact that Italy's population is much larger than Spain's, but in terms of the right to speak on the European continent, Italy cannot compare to Spain at all.

The main reason for this phenomenon is that the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is relatively poor. Even in the last stage of the Bourbon dynasty's rule, the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army could be considered above average.

After Gao Da's multiple reforms and improvements in weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of the current Spanish army is not to say it is the top in Europe, but it is absolutely the strongest batch among the armies of various European countries.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is poor, it is not without benefits for the German-Austrian alliance to pull in Italy.

First of all, Italy's agriculture and industrial scale are still worthy of affirmation. Although the industrial scale cannot compare to other European powers, it is quite superior compared to non-power countries.

Italy is adjacent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is adjacent to Germany. Such a geographical location is also very important, because this means that during the war, Italy's materials can also be transported to Germany through the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It has been mentioned before that Germany is located in the "four-battle land" of Central Europe, with the two powerful powers of France and Russia in the east and west, and the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and Denmark in the north.

Coupled with the fact that Germany's naval power does not have an advantage compared to its competitors, this makes it easy for Germany to be cut off from logistical supplies during the war and fall into an isolated and helpless situation.

Italy is clearly a good supplement; although it cannot provide too much help to Germany in terms of military, it can also prove its foundation as a power in other aspects.

Facing the tripartite alliance that had already vaguely shown itself, the Germans, no matter how much they looked down on Italy, had to look for other helpers for the sake of the tripartite alliance.

Although the British warning made France give up the idea of joining this war, for the gradual contact with Russia, the French did not intend to give up.

It is possible not to reach an alliance treaty in this war, but they will certainly lean toward the relationship with Russia in this war.

If Russia wins this war, perhaps it can slow down the progress of the Franco-Russian alliance. But if the German-Austrian alliance wins this war, perhaps the Franco-Russian alliance will already have relevant clauses before the war ends.

Unlike these countries that have their own allies or are about to have their own allies, Britain and Spain are in a relatively awkward situation regarding the alliance event.

Of course, the truly awkward one is Britain.

Because Britain has major contradictions with both France and Russia, and the other side, the German-Austrian-Italian alliance, has three major powers participating, this also means that Britain cannot join either side; they will more likely balance the strength gap between the two major military groups, thereby allowing Britain, this special existence, to have more right to speak.

And for Spain, as long as Spain is willing, it can join any military group.

First of all, Spain's geographical location is too important; secondly, Spain's comprehensive strength is not weak, and it is even a point stronger than Italy, almost at the same level as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is because the number of main ethnic groups in the country is not large, and the independence of states like Hungary is too strong, which affects the country's comprehensive strength.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire's tens of millions of people were all Austrians, the comprehensive strength of this country might not be weaker than Germany's.

And Spain's shortcoming is that the population is relatively too small, even lagging behind Italy, this latecomer.

Spain is an old-brand power that has roamed Europe for hundreds of years, while Italy unified the whole country only after Gao Da became King of Spain.

According to reason, Spain's population should be more than Italy's. But the actual situation is that Spain's population not only lags behind other powers but also lags far behind Italy.

However, because of its own comprehensive strength, the gap in population has also been ignored by other countries.

Compared to Spain, the British's situation is slightly awkward.

Britain is indeed the most powerful country in the world, but the British "Splendid Isolation" policy has made them further and further away from the European continent.

Coupled with the fact that Britain possesses the most colonies in the world and the most affluent colony, India, this also makes there a large chasm between European countries and Britain.

Looking at all European powers, there is really no country that has a good relationship with Britain. The contradictions between Britain-France and Britain-Russia go without saying, and there is also a deep hatred between Britain and Spain.

It is the relationship between the British and the German-Austrian alliance that is not that bad, which might also be the only alliance force that Britain might join.

Historically, it is indeed so; the British were almost close to reaching an alliance treaty with the Germans at the end of the 19th century. If such an alliance treaty could be reached, the outcome of World War I would also have undergone huge changes.

It is a pity that British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, who pursued conservatism and isolationism, strongly opposed the suggestion of forming an alliance with the German Empire proposed by Chamberlain, ultimately causing the possible Anglo-German alliance to miscarry directly.

Of course, the Chamberlain referred to here is not the British Prime Minister Arthur Neville Chamberlain who pushed the appeasement policy in World War II, but his father, Joseph Chamberlain.

The Chamberlain family can also be considered a new noble in British politics at this time. Although Joseph Chamberlain did not reach the highest position of Prime Minister, he also stirred up the wind and clouds in British politics as the leader of the opposition in history.

Besides Arthur Neville Chamberlain, the second son, successfully becoming British Prime Minister and being recorded in world history, his eldest son, Austen Chamberlain, also entered the British cabinet many times in the early 20th century and served as important positions such as Minister of Finance or Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Although Britain's current situation is very awkward, the ones who actually express concern about Britain's awkward situation are actually just the British themselves.

On the European continent, everyone is more concerned about the situation of this war.

Just as Spain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire signed relevant trade agreements, France and Russia also accelerated the signing of a trade agreement after the outbreak of the war.

The main content of this trade agreement is that France transports the strategic materials needed by Russia to Russia; after all, wanting to rely on Russia's own industry to resist the industry of the two industrial powers, Germany and Austria, is still somewhat too reluctant.

Besides reaching relevant trade agreements with Russia, France also signed a loan agreement with Russia. The French government, which had already paid off the 50 billion francs in reparations at this time, was still quite rich; the few hundred million francs that Russia borrowed were just "sprinkling water" for the French government.

France's support is also the confidence for Russia to continue fighting this war. If they relied on Russia's own economy and industry to support it, I am afraid that Russia would have declared bankruptcy within a few months. For France's support of Russia from behind, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire could only watch with their eyes and be anxious in their hearts.

With France giving Russia blood, in terms of a war of attrition, Germany and Austria are really not necessarily Russia's opponents. What Russia lacks is economy and industry, and France happens to be able to make up for this shortcoming.

And Russia itself possesses a population of over 100 million; for Russia, a war of not-so-large scale, it can accept the loss of tens of thousands of people.

And for Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they certainly cannot accept losing too many troops in this war. The combined population of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not as large as Russia's, and the population growth rate is far behind Russia's.

In terms of human consumption, even if the German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers could achieve a 1:3 damage ratio with Russia, it would be relatively a loss for Germany and Austria.

Especially the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the Austrians as the main body are limited and cannot withstand such consumption.

This also means that this war can only seek a quick victory for Germany and Austria, otherwise they can only look for an opportunity to negotiate peace with Russia.

France continuously giving Russia blood is actually good news for Spain. This actually also means that it is not that easy for Germany and Austria to win this war.

The longer the war lasts, the more money and benefits Spain, as a neutral country, can earn and get.

In the first month of the war, the three countries of Germany, Austria, and Russia were basically in a state of emergency mobilization.

A large amount of weapons, equipment, and strategic materials were transferred to the front line, and many reservists and prime-age males were also conscripted into the army, urgently starting training for a few months.

As the three countries expanded their armies, their weapons also faced a huge gap.

Take the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an example.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's standing army before the war was only about 270,000 people; one month later, this number had reached nearly 400,000.

Although various countries will also hoard a certain amount of weapons and equipment for strategic reserves, for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which only has 270,000 standing troops, they cannot hoard too many weapons and equipment.

After all, the replacement of weapons in this era is still quite fast; if too many weapons and equipment are hoarded and no war breaks out, after the weapons are replaced, these eliminated inventory weapons will become scrap iron.

The total weapons and equipment hoarded in all the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military warehouses were less than 100,000 rifles; after fully arming the army, there was actually a gap of more than 30,000 rifles within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

These gaps were naturally filled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire's allies, Italy and Spain, among which the one that contributed the most was Spain.

There are two models of rifles sold by Spain to the outside world; the first is the active-duty rifle, the Maxim M1884 rifle, and the other is the eliminated backward product, the Vitali M1872 rifle.

There is still a relatively large gap in the performance of these two rifles, and the gap in price is also very large.

The Vitali M1872 rifles currently possessed by Spain are basically second-hand rifles eliminated by the Imperial Guard, the Royal Army, and the colonial army, and the selling price is less than half of a new gun.

And the other new rifle, the Maxim M1884 rifle, because it is an active-duty rifle, most of what can be bought are the latest products produced by the Royal Military Factory.

This also led to the selling price of a Maxim M1884 rifle being almost three times that of a Vitali M1872 rifle, and the rifle bullets equipped with smokeless powder are also more than twice the manufacturing cost of black powder bullets.

In the arms trade with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not choose either of the two rifles but chose to purchase both rifles simultaneously to equip its own army.

Those relatively elite armies composed of Austrians obtained the most advanced Maxim M1884 rifles.

As for the remaining armies composed of Czechs, Hungarians, and other ethnic soldiers, they could only hold the second-hand weapon, the Vitali M1872 rifle, and make do with it.

However, because the manufacturing cost of black powder bullets is cheaper than smokeless powder, these soldiers holding second-hand rifles could also obtain a benefit, which is that the supply of bullets is more sufficient than that of soldiers holding new rifles.

Just in the first month of the outbreak of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ordered more than 20,000 rifles from Spain and ordered more than 10,000 rifles from Italy.

It was also this war that started Spain's progress in re-equipping part of the colonial army.

The ones that could be re-equipped earliest were only a few divisions of the colonial army, and the combat effectiveness of these few divisions was still worthy of affirmation.

In the battle against African natives, the colonial divisions played a role far exceeding that of the colonial garrison regiments. These colonial divisions were also baptized by the flames of war; if a war happens on the European continent in the future, they can also play a certain role in the Spanish battlefield.

Compared to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany's shortage of weapons and equipment was not that serious.

On one hand, Germany's own military industry is relatively powerful; on the other hand, Germany's number of reservists is larger, and the inventory of weapons and equipment is also much more than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's 200,000 standing army hoarding more than 100,000 rifles is already quite exaggerated.

And Germany possesses nearly 500,000 regular troops, and the number of rifles they hoard is already close to 200,000.

Coupled with the fact that German domestic military factories are working overtime to provide for the army, this allowed Germany not to face any shortage of weapons and equipment at all when it expanded by hundreds of thousands of troops in the first month of the war.

Germany even had the ability to provide a portion of weapons and equipment to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including the light artillery that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was extremely lacking.

Although the Poland region is a large plain, at the junction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Poland, there are still many mountain and hilly terrains.

These terrains are not suitable for large-caliber heavy artillery to join the battlefield, but those small-caliber artillery pieces can play a crucial role.

First of all, small-caliber artillery shells are more convenient to transport; under the condition of sufficient logistical supply, the firepower is incomparable to those large-caliber artillery pieces.

Secondly, small-caliber artillery pieces are easy to transfer; the front-line war situation is quite complex, and heavy artillery is likely to be unable to be dismantled in time, thereby leading to being captured by the enemy.

Light artillery does not have such troubles. If they are willing, soldiers can dismantle the artillery at any time and move it to a new position.

4200 words, first update, another update later.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 342 =====