Chapter 380: The Conception of Dreadnoughts

The budget competition among various government departments could be said to be quite fierce, and some quarrels even lasted until the middle of the year.

However, Gao Da did not pay much attention to the budget competition of various departments, and only cared about the assimilation work of the colonial affairs department regarding the Morocco colony.

The area of the current Morocco colony was different from the Morocco in history. Because large areas of land in the east and south were deserts, this also led to the fact that besides Algeria, a neighbor, Morocco no longer had any adjacent forces of scale.

The result was that the land near the Sahara Desert in the surrounding area was not stepped on by any force, and these lands originally relied on Morocco, and after Spain occupied them, they naturally relied on Spain's Morocco colony.

This was also the reason why Spain's Morocco colony was a circle bloated than the real Morocco. Of course, these extra lands were basically desert areas in the east and south near the Sahara Desert, in other words, it was a desert with no people.

In the localization work of Morocco, these desert areas were not included. The main reason was that these lands did not have much value, neither having population nor mineral resources, and the difficulty of building railways and roads was extremely great, and there was no necessity for any development.

Gao Da's plan was that after the localization work of the Morocco colony was completed in the future, these lands with more deserts in the east and south would establish a new colony.

Moroccans who were willing to obey Spain's rule could live in the Morocco region with a better climate environment. Those Moroccans who were unwilling to obey Spain's rule could only live in these desert areas.

If they really had too deep feelings for the country of Morocco, it was not impossible to re-establish a Morocco country for them on this desert.

In this way, those Moroccans who hated Spain could also be well settled. Spain would grant them certain rights, allowing this Morocco country on the desert to run peacefully and stably like a real country.

For Spain, such a Morocco country on the border was also beneficial. It could not only serve as a buffer zone between Spain and the French colony but also prevent the French colonial forces from expanding toward Morocco.

Those extreme Moroccans could still live in this country of Morocco, and for Spain and Morocco, this could also be considered a win-win situation.

In May 1896, the Morocco Railway formally started construction.

The current Spain and the Spain of more than 20 years ago were different, and Spain's railway construction ability had already been different from the past.

When Gao Da just became the King of Spain, even if the government spent a large price, the railway that could be built every year was less than 500 kilometers.

By now, the railway mileage that Spain could build every year had reached more than a thousand kilometers. This was still because the railway development of Spain had suffered certain restrictions.

If they built railways without restriction like the United States before the economic crisis, the construction speed of Spain's railways might be able to double again.

Of course, building railways too fast was not necessarily a good thing.

Spain's mainland only had such a large area, and the railway mileage required was naturally limited. Coupled with the fact that Spain's mainland had many mountain ranges, the cost of building railways was higher than other European countries.

Building railways unscrupulously would not only trigger an economic crisis but also make the government fall into a fiscal deficit. If it weren't for annexing Morocco, Spain's transportation department had not built railways with such long mileage for several years.

In previous years, the railway mileage built by the transportation department every year was less than 200 kilometers, and more was to repair and mend the existing railways to ensure that Spain's railway system could run safely and soundly.

While the railway construction work in the Morocco colony was in full swing, the Spanish government also ushered in two pieces of good news.

The construction work of the last two of the five battleships in Spain's shipbuilding plan, the battleship Philip II and the battleship Carlos I, had been successfully completed and could be incorporated into the corresponding fleet to formally serve.

These two battleships started construction at the end of 1892, and the entire construction cycle lasted for three and a half years. Originally according to the plan, the two battleships should have served at the beginning of this year.

But because Spain undertook the construction work of three battleships for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the launching of these two battleships was also dragged to the middle of this year.

It is worth mentioning that the first battleship built by Spain for the Austro-Hungarian Empire started construction in May 1893 and was completed in November 1894, which also happened to be delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the middle of this year.

Not long after the battleship Philip II and the battleship Carlos I formally served, it was almost time to deliver the first battleship to the Austro-Hungarian Empire navy.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was impatient for the delivery of this battleship. The naval officers they sent had been stationed in the shipyard since half a year after the battleship started construction, paying attention to the construction progress of the battleship at any time.

After the battleship construction was completed in November 1894, these naval officers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire started the long process of sea trials and training.

Sea trials while training was almost the common choice of various European countries. Although doing so might extend the time of sea trials, the good news was that it could allow the navy to form combat effectiveness earlier.

Generally, sea trials had to be maintained for one to two years, and these naval officers and soldiers on the warships trained together with the warships for two years, naturally they could possess certain combat effectiveness when the warships just served.

Because the naval officers and soldiers on this battleship were all soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in fact, this battleship only needed a superficial delivery ceremony, and then it could be sailed back to the port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the naval officers and soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Because they witnessed the construction work of this battleship with their own eyes, the naval soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were quite envious of Spain's navy.

The battleship they were looking forward to, Spain already possessed five. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire would also equip three in one year, in terms of quantity, it was destined to be unable to compare with the number of Spain's battleships.

Since the birth of the battleship, the role of the ironclad ship had been greatly reduced. This also meant that the ironclad fleet with a quite good scale possessed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire had actually lost its role.

During the year or so of sea trials, the naval soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire also clearly understood the power of the battleship.

Such a battleship facing the siege of three ironclad ships definitely had the power of a battle. If facing the siege of two ironclad ships, the one that finally won was likely the battleship, not the ironclad ship.

This was the advantage brought by technological leadership, and it was also the reason why the naval soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were quite looking forward to the battleship.

In the current European situation, only by equipping a considerable number of battleships could it be called a navy with powerful combat effectiveness.

Relying only on ironclad ships could also maintain the navy tonnage at a good level, but if a large-scale war really broke out, a navy with only ironclad ships would have no effect.

Speaking of which, it had been nearly six years since the birth of the Monarch-class battleship.

The Spanish navy department had requested Gao Da, hoping to develop a battleship with more powerful performance, but Gao Da finally rejected the request of the navy.

Gao Da knew that although the battleship was much more powerful than the ironclad ship, the subsequent dreadnought was also much more powerful than the battleship.

The construction cycle of a warship was as long as several years, and continuing to invest in battleships now was not cost-effective.

Even if a more powerful battleship could be developed within two years, the construction time of the first battleship alone would require at least three years or more.

Two years plus three years was equivalent to five years wasted on the first battleship. Five years later it would be 1901, which also meant that even if a new battleship could be developed, after several new battleships were built, the era of dreadnoughts would almost be coming.

Instead of wasting capital to develop more powerful battleships, it was better to concentrate energy on developing powerful dreadnoughts.

After rejecting the navy's proposal, Gao Da put forward a conception related to dreadnoughts. Upon hearing that Gao Da's rejection of their request was not because he did not want to continue building the navy, but because he wanted to build more powerful warships, the generals of the navy department were all excited.

They naturally also wanted to see the birth of more powerful warships. Whether it was a battleship or a dreadnought, as long as it was a more powerful warship, the generals of the navy could be satisfied.

For the naval construction plan in the next five years, because of the dreadnought big cake painted by Gao Da, the generals of the navy were also willing to reduce the military expenditure of the navy.

Finally, a new five-year shipbuilding plan was freshly released. The Spanish navy would only build two battleships in the next five years, and these two battleships were still Monarch-class battleships.

The first battleship was named the Empire battleship, and the second was named the Sun Never Sets battleship. Naming Spain's battleship the Sun Never Sets was actually quite reasonable. As the founder of the Sun Never Sets Empire, although the current Sun Never Sets Empire was the British Empire, it was no problem for Spain to recall its own history.

What's more, the relationship between Spain and the British was not very good in the first place, so there was naturally no need to put the title of Sun Never Sets Empire on the British.

The original meaning of the Sun Never Sets Empire was that the country's territory was all over the world, and no matter when, there would always be a piece of territory shining with the sun.

If calculated according to this meaning, the current Spain was still a Sun Never Sets Empire.

Spain's land was all over Europe, Africa, America, and Asia, which was almost enough to make the sun never set on Spain's land.

Of course, such a Sun Never Sets Empire looked quite reluctant, which was also the reason why no country in the world except the British claimed to be the Sun Never Sets Empire.

Although there were only two battleships built, Gao Da's investment in the research and development of naval warships would not be reduced at all.

After the construction of the five Monarch-class battleships was completed

What exactly is a dreadnought? And what is an ordinary battleship?

The name "dreadnought" comes from the battleship HMS Dreadnought, and all warships of the same type built thereafter were called dreadnoughts.

The biggest difference between this type of warship and previous battleships lies in the massive improvements in steel armor material, the warship's propulsion system, and its artillery.

Armor protection, propulsion, and firepower are the three key elements of a warship. Comprehensive improvements in these three areas actually represent a massive advancement in every aspect of a warship's performance.

It is precisely because of these massive improvements in a warship's performance that, after the birth of the dreadnought, all the battleships previously built by various countries became scrap metal.

This scenario is very similar to how ironclads lost their utility after the birth of the battleship. However, the dreadnought is a more advanced ironclad; to build a dreadnought, in addition to the continuous advancement of naval design philosophy, one must also wait for continuous technological progress in armor materials, warship propulsion, and artillery.

The reason Britain led the world in building the dreadnought was that Britain's technology in warship construction at the time was world-class.

They possessed the most powerful naval design capabilities, as well as the most advanced artillery technology, steam engine technology, and steel smelting technology. Only by integrating these technologies were they able to develop the dreadnought, which achieved massive improvements in all performance metrics.

This actually means that the difficulty of wanting to surpass Britain in terms of dreadnoughts is extreme.

It is no exaggeration to say that for any country, the difficulty of wanting to surpass Britain in terms of dreadnoughts is no less than defeating Germany in a land war.

Looking at it now, the only one with any real hope is France. The possibility of France surpassing Britain in dreadnoughts is about the same as the possibility of France defeating Germany in a land war.

One can only say it exists, but the probability is ultimately not high.

Gao Da also understood that relying on Spain's current technology to surpass the British Navy in the dreadnought era would be extremely difficult.

Gao Da did not harbor delusions of overtaking the British Navy during the dreadnought era. The Spanish Navy only needed to be able to build a powerful navy during the dreadnought era that could threaten the British Royal Navy.

After all, once the dreadnought era arrived, the First World War would not be far off. In the First World War, there would be no contests between individual countries; there would only be contests between two major military blocs.

Joining one of these military blocs and integrating the naval power of all the allied nations within that bloc, using the naval strength of the entire military bloc to defeat the British Navy—this is the most likely way to defeat the British Navy.

As for whether Britain would join one of these military blocs, the answer to that question is, of course, yes.

Fortunately, Spain also has sufficient freedom of choice; it can choose which side to join based on the direction of the European situation, rather than having no choice at all and being muddled into the world war.

Gao Da does not demand that Spain be the first country in the world to develop a dreadnought, but Gao Da feels it is very necessary for Spain to strive to be the second country to develop a dreadnought after Britain.

In terms of battleships, although Spain was not the second country to design a battleship, it was the second country to possess them.

The French Navy's concepts for battleships were earlier than the British, but their naval construction time was simply too long, which instead made them the third country to possess battleships.

Although the order of first, second, and third does not look like much of a difference, the actual gap is very large.

Britain is currently the country with the largest number of battleships in the world; the second-place Spain and third-place France combined cannot compare to them.

And since Spain is the country with the second-largest number of battleships in the world, there is still a large gap between France's battleship count and Spain's.

France's battleship count has not pulled away from other countries. Even the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with Spain's help, will soon close the gap in battleships with France.

From this, one can also see the backwardness of France in naval matters; the once-glorious French Navy is gone forever, and France's status as the second-ranked navy will sooner or later be surpassed by other European countries.

As Spain is currently the world's third-ranked naval power, Gao Da naturally hopes that the country to surpass France will be Spain.

If Spain can replace France as the world's second-ranked naval power, this will also mean that Spain will officially rank among the super-great powers.

After all, besides having a powerful navy, Spain's land forces are also very strong. Although the current scale of Spain's army is relatively small among the European powers, the deficiency in Spain's population has been made up for.

Currently, Spain's population has reached 31 million, and the maximum number of troops that can be mobilized domestically is as high as three to four million.

If one adds the colonial troops, the number of troops Spain can mobilize in a world war is at least six or seven million.

With a land army of six or seven million plus the world's second-ranked navy, Spain really might be able to change the direction of the world war.

Such powerful military strength, regardless of which military bloc it is invested in, would instantly give that military bloc an advantage.

What about the historically defeated German-Austrian military bloc? As long as they obtain the support of today's Spain, Germany might not necessarily fail to become a victor in World War I.

As for the other major military bloc, Britain, France, and Russia, it goes without saying. If they could obtain Spain's support, their lead over the German-Austrian military bloc would be immense.

Based on this point alone, Gao Da is confident that Spain can obtain sufficient benefits in World War I.

A country like the United States, which is far away from the European continent, naturally has no need to participate in the First World War.

Spain can completely fulfill the role the United States would have in the First World War, and even far exceed it.

Although the United States' population, land area, economy, and industrial scale are far ahead of Spain's, the military strength of the United States is not proportional to Spain's.

The current United States is neither a land power nor a naval power. The army has already been downsized to only a few tens of thousands of people, not even comparable to some medium-sized European countries.

The navy is also just at the tail end of the great powers, and coupled with the fact that the United States' naval construction technology lags behind that of European countries, they find it difficult to keep up with the current progress of European countries in terms of battleships, let alone the future dreadnoughts.

(End of chapter)