The Rise of the Empire

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard for me to imagine that the Bavarian army has artillery with a rate of fire comparable to that of a rifle! This kind of artillery turned all old artillery into rubbish overnight. As long as we can reach an arms cooperation agreement with them, we will It was a worthwhile trip." General Auffenberg said with some emotion.

"But we already have Skoda." Earl Taft said with some embarrassment.

"However, Skoda's production capacity is actually very limited. Our troop equipment cannot be compared with that of Germany in terms of quantity or quality. The German center did not choose between Austria and Russia, and now Germany and Russia tend to approach each other. We have to prepare for the worst," Offenberg said tactfully.

"At least we have to start with some troops. These weapons will not be outdated even if they are used for ten or fifteen years! Austria's elite troops must have first-class combat effectiveness, at least not inferior to the Prussians. The courage of the Balkans and the Russians to compete for supremacy can no longer be relied on, but we can only rely on ourselves!" Looking at the hesitant count, Offenberg said anxiously.

Although Germany has notified the Austria-Hungarian Empire of the content of the "Reinsurance Treaty" to ease the tension of the Austria-Hungary Empire, as the head of the government, Earl Taft still feels great pressure. If it ends decently, if Italy and Austria can only be regarded as petty fights, then once they fight Russia, the European steamroller, the price of failure will be too high!

Earl Taft has a deep understanding of the weakness of Austria-Hungary and the strength of the outside world. He knows that without the help of Germany, Austria-Hungary, let alone competing for the Balkans with Russia, is a question of whether they can protect themselves. When the situation is clear, no matter how difficult it is, Austria-Hungary will sharpen the saber in its hand!

"We need the basic technology of Skoda, and you need the braking system of the new rapid-fire gun and the design of the new rifle. We have common ground on this point, and we can completely unify the equipment of the Bavarian army and the Austrian army. If something happens to the empire, we can at least provide equipment support." When Earl Taff returned to the negotiating table again, Prince Ruprecht directly offered conditions.

"We can buy patents," Taaffe countered.

"However, the cost of weapons produced in Skoda is high. In the entire hinterland of Europe, there is no place where coal and iron are more dominant than the Ruhr area and Alsace-Lorraine. Although we are outside these areas, our The cost of raw materials is still lower than in your country.”

"And if we want to consider accessories, we have an advantage. From an economic point of view, even if freight and tariffs are added to produce weapons in Bavaria, it is still better than Skoda." Unification has its purpose. The experience of history tells the prince that without miracles, the Western Front has no future. The battle on the Western Front is to consume and consume until one of them completely collapses. However, there is a lot of room for manipulation on the Eastern Front.

Bavaria has the right to purchase its own armaments. If it is unified with the equipment of some Austro-Hungarian troops, it is undoubtedly possible to ask the German General Staff to allow the Bavarian Army to participate in the Eastern Front battle. What's more, in history, his uncle was later the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front. Whether it is from the perspective of historical inertia or objective situation analysis, if the Bavarian and Austrian troops are equipped with the same equipment, they will be able to fight on the Eastern Front in all likelihood!

"As the future king of Bavaria, even from the perspective of benefiting the people of the country, he must participate in the Eastern Front. The Western Front is simply too cruel!" The prince secretly made up his mind.

"Very limited meaning, really," replied Lord Taft.

"With the development of the times and the advancement of technology, the advantages of setting up factories in Bavaria will become more and more obvious. Germany's basic industries are very good, and subsystems and accessories of new weapons can be easily obtained.

Trust my sense of smell on this. "

"Maybe one day in the future, we can put an engine on the artillery and walk by itself without being dragged. Maybe one day in the future, horses will be withdrawn from our army, and cars and tractors will become the main force of logistics transportation for troops. Maybe one day, besides airships and balloons, another machine that can hover in the air will decide the outcome of the war." The prince spoke with a very sincere tone about the weapons that can only be described as science fiction or dreams in this era.

"You are joking. If you write science fiction, you will be better than Verne." Offenberg laughed.

"So I can make hardened armor, but you can't. You are not sensitive enough to technology. As a soldier, learning how to command battle is one aspect, but at the same time he must understand the development direction of military technology." The prince still He replied with a smile on his face.

"It seems that our negotiations have fallen into disagreements, but even so, we are still willing to buy your country's patents. Let's start with small things." Taft still insisted on his point of view.

"Even from an economic point of view, it is beneficial to set up a factory in Germany. Don't just focus on the army. Since we can replace Krupp artillery with self-produced artillery, we can also squeeze out our opponents in the field of large-caliber naval guns. !I am not satisfied with the 240MM artillery and 280MM artillery in Germany, the former has a low muzzle velocity, and the latter has an unsatisfactory ammunition weight.” said Prince Leopold on the side.

Although he is an army general, he is also an artillery commander. He is also very concerned about the performance of naval guns. After all, this thing is called a train gun when it is installed on a train...

The fundamental reason why Skoda's heavy artillery did not improve was that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was too weak, so weak that there was no need for naval guns! However, this does not mean that the production level of Skoda naval guns is poor! In history, when the 240MM artillery used by the Germans fired a 140KG shell at a muzzle velocity of 690 meters per second, Skoda's K94 naval gun could shoot a 215KG shell at the same initial velocity!

The performance of the K10 12-inch naval gun and the K14 350MM naval gun of later generations is also higher than that of the Krupp naval gun of the same period. This is true whether it is artillery performance or shells! If you look at it from a fair point of view, it is better to equip the German Navy with Skoda naval guns than Krupp naval guns!

"If Skoda is an Austro-Hungarian company, then it will almost miss the order of the German Navy, but if it is a German company, both the German Navy's own warships and export warships can be equipped with the artillery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The profits are not No smaller than armor!" said the prince.

"This plan is more reliable than what you said at the beginning." Austria provided technology, and Bavaria provided venues and personnel. The two sides set up a naval gun production plant again, and get a share of the German Navy's future shipbuilding plan! I have to say that Earl Taft was a little moved.

"The investment will be relatively large," Taff said.

"After all, there is a country behind us, and money is not a problem. As long as you can produce the new 240MM artillery within 4 years and the 12-inch artillery within 6 years, then I can guarantee that you will grab at least half of the orders from Krupp !” said the prince confidently.

In the prince's plan, whether it is for his own money or for the future of the German Navy, it is necessary for him to compete with Krupp in the field of naval guns! Where is the root of the German warships carrying small cannons in World War I? Half of the reason lies with Krupp! He was the only one who supplied the German naval artillery. There was no pressure at all, and naturally there was no power. So after plagiarizing the Krupp armor, the prince decisively decided to cheat the opponent from the naval gun!

As a result of the final talks, the Bavarian royal family agreed to the Austria-Hungary Empire to produce 75MM rapid-fire guns under license. In return, the Austro-Hungarian Empire purchased a batch of machine guns and semi-automatic rifles from Bavaria. At the same time, the two parties decided to start building a joint-venture heavy artillery production plant in Bavaria next year, that is, in 1891. Prepare to seize the German naval market.

Thanks to book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward~~~, I am under a lot of pressure on the new book list recently! The following authors are following closely, and it seems that it is very difficult to move forward. Can you support one or two readers?