Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 1091 - 105, Thrifty Household Management

Chapter 1091: Chapter 105, Thrifty Household Management

The naval “dumpling dropping” game was never fun. It not only tested a nation’s industry but also its financial capacity.

Looking at the military budget, one could see that the influence of the shipbuilding race caused the Shinra Navy’s budget in 1904 to increase by one hundred million.

Obviously, not all of that money was spent on shipbuilding. Just building a dozen main battleships wouldn’t cost that much; much more was spent on support and expansion.

Since the end of the European wars, the Shinra Navy had started on a path of rapid development. In order to compete for funds, the Navy had even collaborated with the Air Force a few years earlier to challenge the Army.

Although they didn’t succeed, the Navy’s share of the military budget still increased. With the advent of the “Era of Super Battleships,” the Shinra Navy also entered a golden age.

Since 1900, Shinra’s naval academies had begun to expand their admissions. From initially accepting over two thousand students a year, it had gradually expanded to now over three thousand a year.

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Compared to the Army, which admitted tens of thousands annually, it was of course no match, but the Navy’s demand for officers wasn’t as high as the Army’s.

The reason is very simple—it wasn’t aiming to maintain world hegemony but to defeat the British.

To achieve this goal, building main battleships was still the most cost-effective. Other ships, like battle cruisers, seemed important, but weren’t economical to use in a decisive battle.

There were other advanced technologies, but they weren’t reliable enough. For example, aircraft carriers, and also, submarines.

Both had formidable combat capabilities, but they required specific battlefields. No one dared to guarantee that they could lure the British into a specific battlefield for a decisive battle; hence, it was natural not to rely on the British making foolish moves.

If the battlefield were in the Atlantic Ocean, the mere waves would be enough to incapacitate an aircraft carrier. Struggling to battle might be possible but would surely end in tragedy.

Submarines went without saying—their distance from the battlefield couldn’t be too far, or else the war would be over before their arrival.

Their inability to participate in a decisive battle didn’t mean these assets were useless.

One must remember that Shinra was also a major colonial power. Although its overseas colonies weren’t core territories and could be abandoned at any time, keeping them was obviously preferable.

Aircraft carriers might struggle against the British in the Atlantic, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be used in the Pacific. Sending them to the Pacific to bully the Japanese Navy or the American Navy was a good option.

Submarines were even better. Relying on Shinra’s colonies spread across five continents, they could conduct attacks anywhere in the world.

Of course, such aggressive tactics were best avoided if possible. After all, Shinra was also a major marine trade nation and was equally vulnerable to being targeted by others.

The focus was still on the decisive naval battle. If they won the sea battle, they could smoothly take over hegemony; if they lost, there was no choice but to break the rules.

In fact, Franz had created so many smoke screens, really to protect these secretly built submarines and aircraft carriers.

Unlike main battleships, aircraft carriers could indeed be disguised as merchant ships. Though they looked somewhat unconventional, as long as they weren’t equipped with weapons, deceiving amateur-level intelligence operatives was feasible.

Submarines were even more straightforward—given their small size, they could leave the shipyard underwater and evade the sight of intelligence officers, which was entirely plausible.

After being commissioned, spreading them among the colonies ensured no one knew exactly how many submarines Shinra had.

There was no choice, as the reputation of the Royal Navy was too formidable.

Not to mention anyone else, even Franz himself lacked confidence.

He estimated that apart from the delusional folks at the naval department, hardly anyone in the world believed they could win.

But politics, essentially, was all about acting. Despite his internal doubts, Franz outwardly remained completely confident.

The era was progressing, and by the 20th century, the struggle for hegemony had evolved from mere military strength to a competition of comprehensive national power.

If a head-on battle was not feasible, then it was time to compete in national strength. Failure was not to be feared, as long as there was the determination to “fight repeatedly after repeated defeats.” With enough attempts, it was always possible to bring the British down.

In fact, one significant reason the Vienna Government dared to challenge the British was that they were positioned on invincible ground.

As a terrestrial power, no matter how many times they failed at sea, as long as their homeland was not impacted, their foundation remained unshakable.

Losing a naval battle did not matter. At worst, they could retreat to the Mediterranean to regroup for a year or two before returning to the fray for a second decisive battle.

If the second attempt failed, there could still be a third, fourth, or fifth attempt. After all, one could lose countless times, but only needed to win once.

Similar to the Pacific War between America and Japan during World War II in the original timeline, initially, the Japanese Navy was overwhelmingly successful, only to lose the war amidst their victories.

The gap between Shinra and Britain, although not as wide as that between America and Japan, still favored Shinra with an industrial strength ratio of three to one.

Moreover, since Britain was an island nation with resources that could not support industrial needs independently, it had to rely heavily on imported raw materials, giving Shinra an even greater advantage.

Once they were ready to move, they did not claim to completely destroy British maritime trade, but causing a significant decline in their trading volume was certainly feasible.

German submarines in the original timeline, even within limited operating areas, had made the Allied Powers suffer immensely. Now, with Shinra submarines able to operate globally, there was no reason for them to be less destructive.

Destruction was easier than construction; as shipbuilding could not keep up with losses, any disruption in trade routes would leave the British Isles starving.

Problems on the home front rendered the Royal Navy useless regardless of its capabilities in battle. If it were to be consumed in the war, it would likely be due to inadequate logistics.

The tactics might have been somewhat sneaky, but strategically, they were utterly straightforward. It was a pure demonstration of dominance without any underhanded tricks.

…

While Shinra and Britain were racing against time, the Japanese and the Russians were also racing against time, and even more fiercely.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Regardless, while Shinra and Britain were engaged in a covert struggle, Japan and Russia were genuinely battling with real weapons.

To accelerate the construction of the Siberian Railway, the Tsarist Government unprecedentedly adopted a three-shift, 24-hour working schedule.

But don’t think this made things easier, especially since the construction site was in Siberia. In this scarcely populated hellish location, all kinds of harsh weather existed.

Despite it being April, many areas still experienced temperatures below minus ten degrees Celsius at night, utterly unsuitable for construction work.

But work had to continue regardless; in the Russian Empire, there was no “too cold for construction” excuse. If winter halted construction, the Siberian Railway would not need to be built.

The nickname “permafrost” wasn’t just for show. In many parts of Siberia, the snow never melted year-round.

Although the railway’s planning had avoided as many harsh climate areas as possible, many regions were unavoidable.

Human ingenuity was powerful, and engineers still found ways to overcome harsh climates; yet human wisdom had its limits, and the safety of the workers could not be guaranteed.

Affected by the harsh night weather, along with the implementation of the 24-hour shift system, the mortality rate of the workers did not decrease but increased.

Particularly at night, deaths peaked. Not just frontline workers, but many Russian Army soldiers supervising the work also suffered from the cold.

No matter how difficult it was, it did not shake the Tsarist Government’s determination to rush for time. The heavy casualties among the workers were paralleled by severe losses among frontline Russian soldiers.

The sooner the railway was operational, the sooner the main forces could pass through, and the sooner victory could arrive.

In the grand scheme of strategy, one can even sacrifice their own people, let alone a bunch of worthless French laborers.

The Tsarist Government was anxious, but the Japanese Government was even more so. Unlike the Tsarist Government, which was indifferent to being scalded like a dead pig, the Japanese Government was a model of thrift and frugality.

There was no choice; the money from their financial backers had to be repaid, and it was a high-interest loan at that, so it was best to borrow as little as possible.

One could tell by looking at the Japanese Army’s equipment that there had been no fundamental changes since the Jiawu-Japanese War Period; many units were still using the spoils of war from that time, taking the concept of “thriftiness” to the extreme.

Fortunately, the equipment of the Russian Army was nothing to boast about either, being only a tad better than theirs. Although their firepower was a bit stronger, it was limited by insufficient logistical support, so ammunition had to be used sparingly.

In the Far Eastern region, within the Russian Empire, another term was used: “exile zone.” Not only were criminals exiled, but also the unfortunate ones who had failed in political struggles.

If officials were the losers of political struggles, then the military force in this region was the marginal group of the Russian Army.

Whether in terms of weapons, equipment, or routine training, they could not compare with the main forces, naturally placing them at the lowest rung of combat effectiveness within the Russian Army.

Facing such an enemy, the Japanese Army, which had superior troops, failed to exhibit the momentum of a sweeping autumn breeze, naturally making the Japanese Government anxious.

Even Emperor Meiji, known for his good composure, couldn’t help but curse in anger, berating the high-ranking military officials at several imperial meetings.

It was impossible not to be angry, as the military performance of the army was truly dismal. They had besieged *** Shun Fortress for months, and aside from leaving corpses scattered all around, they were still circling the periphery.

According to the military, this was because the Russians had adopted the most advanced combination of trenches, machine guns, and barbed-wire lines of defense, making them exceedingly difficult to break through.

Identifying the problem was one thing, but was it of any use?

The answer was: no.

The butterfly effect was profound; serving as a weather vane within the armies, the armies of various countries couldn’t help but follow the tactics of the Sacred Shinra Army.

The Russians, who were deeply influenced by Shinra, were naturally no exception. As generations of foreign students strived, the tactics of the Sacred Shinra Army naturally permeated the Russian Army.

This made the already formidable *** Shun Fortress even more daunting, turning the traditional Japanese charge tactics into a suicidal strategy.

If nothing unexpected occurred, General Nogi Maresuke was likely to be forever estranged from the title “God of War,” even though this commander of the 3rd Army of the Japanese Army had just arrived at the front lines to replace a predecessor who had committed seppuku.

There was no other reason except that his acclaimed valorous “flesh bomb tactic” had become ineffectual against the well-defended *** Shun Fortress.

In Japan, a country that revered the strong, the defeated had no right to worship. If Nogi Maresuke could not fulfill his combat mission, his fate would be no different from his predecessor.

The conflict at *** Shun Fortress was not going well, nor were the battles across the Dongman and Nanman regions developing as expected.

Although the Japanese Army had gained an upper hand, pressuring the Russians to continuously retreat, they too had paid a heavy price.

It was difficult to determine whether they were at a disadvantage or had gained any advantage, at least for the time being.

Unlike the original timeline, the Russians had been engaged in continuous wars for the last few decades. Even the combat capabilities of the Russian forces in the Far Eastern region had improved, most notably in the overall quality of military officers, which was clearly higher by more than a notch.

Their equipment had improved, officers’ quality had risen, their combat experience had grown richer, and naturally, their combat capabilities had increased.

Meeting strength with greater strength was just a fantasy. Although the Japanese Army was also learning, they were not imitating as thoroughly as the Russians.

Although the morale of the Japanese Army was higher, the morale of the Russian forces was not low either! It wasn’t that the Russian soldiers and officers liked to fight, it was more about maintaining dignity.

Losing to the Japanese, how could the pride-filled Russians accept it?

Even though the Japanese Army had more numbers, the inherent psychological advantage made the Russian soldiers and officers feel capable, and they were not intimidated at all.

In the original timeline, Japan’s victory was largely due to the contribution of the Navy. Victory in naval battles strengthened the resolve of the Japanese soldiers and officers to win and also shook the morale of the Russians.

It was just the beginning, although there were losses in many battles, the morale of the Russian Army had not yet wavered.

Suffering losses was inevitable; who could blame the Japanese Government for being “thrifty”?

With insufficient military funds, it was normal for the Army’s development not to keep up with the times.

Especially under the influence of traditional “Bushido” ideology, many Japanese generals believed that bravery could compensate for the lack of equipment and despised armies that relied solely on firepower.

In this context, with limited military funds, everyone first thought of maintaining the size of the Army rather than improving weapons and equipment.

Now that they had suffered losses, they realized the importance of firepower, and the Army was too embarrassed to admit it!

For all this, as a Prime Minister who came from the Army, Katsura Taro watched anxiously and urgently.

The Army’s top brass was too embarrassed to speak up not only for the sake of face. They feared that admitting mistakes would subject them to ridicule by the Navy; that was just one reason, and more importantly, they feared it would affect their future influence within the Empire.

Regrettably, this was also one of Japan’s characteristics—no allowance for mistakes.

Since receiving a report from the Guard, Emperor Meiji’s expression had turned grim. Katsura Taro knew more bad news had arrived and hurriedly interjected,

“Your Majesty, calm your anger. The enemy we are facing this time is the Russians, so it’s understandable that the frontline troops are advancing slowly.

To hasten the progress of our troops, I propose that we purchase some equipment from the British to increase our forces’ strength.

For instance, tanks and armored vehicles would be excellent for capturing positions and could be very effective.

Although they are a bit expensive, we only need to purchase a small quantity, so it shouldn’t cost too much.”

The Russian-Austrian alliance meant that the Vienna Government naturally would not sell military supplies to the Japanese Government during the Russo-Japanese War.

Under these circumstances, although British Army equipment, either in terms of performance or price, lacked competitive strength in the market, the Japanese Government had no other choice.

Apart from these two countries, other nations’ military equipment was even more garbage, none more so.

Up till now, only the Sacred Shinra Army in the entire world had armored troops organized at the division level; other nations’ armored troops were at most regiment-level.

This was partly due to the cost—equipment was expensive and even more costly to maintain and use; and partly due to technical standards not being met, with core components unable to be produced domestically.

As for a poor country like Japan, not to mention, apart from having a few for show, equipping on a large scale was absolutely impossible.

Otherwise, after the outbreak of the war, they wouldn’t even have been able to muster an armored unit capable of breaking through the enemy lines.

Emperor Meiji nodded, “Then purchase them, quickly. It would be best to directly buy the British’s active-duty equipment.”

Whether armored troops could break through the enemy’s lines was unclear to Emperor Meiji, but according to European experience, it was indeed the case.

At least, the Anti-French Alliance back then had their armored troops open the way, tearing through the French lines and then pressing forward all the way.