Chapter 306 The new battleship and the Korean telegram
It was too late for Borneo to know the news. Of course, it was the capital Rome that knew earlier.
After nearly a month of arduous negotiations, Italy spent 1.15 million pounds to purchase all of Dutch Borneo from the Netherlands.
That's right, no matter how much pressure Italy exerted, the Netherlands just took away almost the cost of building a Turin. It seems that the Dutch businessman attributes are maxed out and they are desperate for money!
Of course, for the shameless Netherlands, Italy can only send two. In the end, it is still not a loss. Most of Borneo is in hand. I believe it is enough to bring the fiscal revenue of the Borneo colony to a higher level.
It is precisely this that makes Italy pay a little more for its tolerance.
The Dutch treaty needs to be brought back and signed by the young queen, while the Italian side has already been signed by Carlo.
Next is the issue of colonial handover. There is no need to worry about this. With the task force and the 1st Guards Division, the Dutch will be more anxious than the Italians.
Speaking of the task force, Admiral Yagier, as the Minister of the Navy, has already approached Carlo several times.
No, Carlo didn't stay in the office for long today, and he heard from the guard that the Minister of the Navy was visiting.
"Your Majesty, the task force is the essence of the Italian Navy. Continuing to stay in Borneo will put too much pressure on the local coastal defense. Moreover, the cost of overseas garrisoning is also high, and the navy does not have much funds for the task force to consume."
When they met, Admiral Yagir once again talked about the same old talk, talking about the return of the task force.
Facing the Minister of the Navy who came to him again, how could Carlo not know what he was thinking. "Admiral Yagier, I will let the Borneo colony pay part of the task force's expenses to share the pressure of the navy."
Carlo's words did not satisfy the Minister of the Navy, and he said, "However, the coastal defense pressure on the mainland is very high. At present, we only have five Durios and their improved classes available, which cannot guarantee the needs of coastal defense at all."
It is obvious that Admiral Yagier's insistence is in response to the severe situation in Italy. He does not care what others think, but from the Navy's perspective, the current situation in Italy's coastal defense is very serious.
The French Navy, which is superstitious about the role of torpedoes, has recently begun to pick up three "Marceau" class battleships whose construction period has been delayed for almost 7 years. Although these battleships are already old and cannot keep up with the times, the signal from the French Navy
, but it made Admiral Agil, who was his imaginary enemy, very wary.
In addition, the transfer of the British Mediterranean Fleet to its home port is also puzzling. At least one thing is certain, the British Mediterranean Fleet has gradually transformed from a possible helper to the Italian Navy to a competitor.
In the view of Admiral Yagier, the current essence of the Italian Navy is three Turin-class ships and two Venetian-class ships. Except for the five Durios, which are still usable, other warships have long lagged behind the times. As for the Navy,
It has been three or four years since we placed an order with the shipyard. In this era of rapid technological advancement, this is simply unimaginable.
Of course, there is no problem with the large main battleships that Admiral Yagir refers to, such as small battleships, and many are ordered every year.
But what use can small battleships serve? Should he be forced to vigorously develop torpedo boats like his French colleagues next door?
Haven’t you seen that France is already preparing to build large warships?
So the purpose of Admiral Yagir's visit this time is very simple, to make money, build ships, and build big ships.
Of course Carlo also knew the purpose of the man in front of him. In the previous meetings, Admiral Yagier had always introduced the topic to shipbuilding in a roundabout way. Why is the Italian Navy warships already lagging behind other countries? Current technological development can allow the navy to have newer models.
The battleship has new results with the armor bars researched by Krupp, which may significantly reduce the cost of shipbuilding, etc.
The reasons are very good, but the Italian government is not well-off, and things will be difficult to do without money.
"Admiral Yagir, the government's fiscal expenditures are all planned. It is difficult to temporarily increase expenditures. How about waiting until next year?"
How could Yagir be willing to do this when facing Carlo?
next year?
Will we have to wait again after next year?
Of course, Yagir didn't want to wait, so he took out his trump card and placed a picture of a battleship that he had already drawn in front of Carlo.
"Your Majesty, this is the drawing of the Navy's new battleship. This battleship was designed by Sir Vittorio Cuniberti. It has a total length of 112.4 meters, a width of 22.7 meters, an average draft of 8.2 meters, and a standard displacement of 14,500 tons. Power
On the one hand, it is equipped with a vertical triple expansion engine, 19,000 horsepower, 2 shafts and 2 propellers, with a maximum speed of 19.1 knots. The designed coal reserve is 910 tons, normal 1,120 tons. The endurance is 2,780 nautical miles/14 knots, 3,086 nautical miles/13 knots, 4,720 nautical miles
/10 knots. Equipped with four new 305mm main guns, 12 152mm rapid-fire secondary guns, 16 57mm rapid-fire guns, and 5 torpedo tubes. The armor uses oily armor steel newly developed by Krupp.
The main armor belt is 92 meters long, 3.1 meters wide, and the thickest point can reach 309 mm. The turret armor is 310 mm, and the command platform is 280 mm thickest. The cost of the ship will not exceed the 2,600 lire of the Turin class, and our navy can raise 600 by itself.
million lire, the government only needs to allocate 20 million lire.”
That's right, Yagir's trump card is to raise part of his own military expenditures. Since the government has little money, then the navy can raise part of its own military expenses. With 20 million lire, you can own a latest battleship, so what else can you be dissatisfied about?
As for the navy's self-financing, Yagir is confident. By holding more fundraising parties, I believe the Chinese people will donate enthusiastically, especially shipping companies, who will donate generously.
The most important asset of a shipping company is the ship, and ships will always encounter various situations at sea. The navy can play a big role.
This is also a mutually beneficial help, and those shipping companies will not understand this principle.
As for raising funds among the people, the good image of the navy in the name of the country should be able to solve part of the problem.
Adding these two together, it is not a problem to raise three to four million lire. As for the remaining one or two million lire, it is easy. New ships need manpower. When the time comes, one or two more old ships will be decommissioned and sold, which will save money on maintenance.
Isn’t that the cost?
The Navy has even stated that it will raise its own funds, so it seems that it does need to add new ships.
Carlo thought for a while and then said.
"For 60 million lire, I need the navy to build three new warships."
"No problem...what?"
Faced with Carlo's sudden request for 60 million lire to build three new warships, Yagir was shocked. Didn't he say that he had no money? Why did he spend 60 million lire at once?
Carlo would not give him time to be surprised and continued to ask, "Can the navy do 60 million three new warships?"
Faced with Carlo's questioning, Yagir swallowed, thought quickly and then gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the navy will definitely be able to do it."
"Hahaha, then I'm waiting for news about the launch of three battleships."
Looking at His Majesty who was smiling happily, Yagil suddenly felt like he had been deceived. But even if he was deceived, he could only swallow it first. The 60 million shipbuilding money could not be pushed back at any cost. The navy was waiting for the new
The ship is already waiting to be seen.
The capital gap of 18 million can still be raised. The worst is to hold a few more fundraising parties and recruit all handsome and tall officers to accompany him. If there were no women in the navy, he would have wanted to find some beautiful women to perform.
As for the remaining gap, it is time to consider decommissioning more warships. Maybe we can go around the world and see if there is any enemy that needs warships. The best Italian off-the-shelf warships are less than 30 years old, and there are still 50% left.
It's new, just pay for it and sell it.
After sending away the Minister of the Navy with a heavy look on his face, Carlo also knew that he had squeezed the navy too much. But there was nothing he could do about it. Italy was poor and short of money. If you had money, wouldn't it be a battleship? You need to build three of them. I
Build five ships.
If it is so grand, Carlo predicts that he will not be able to say it out loud for twenty or thirty years.
The status quo is to be diligent and thrifty. However, there is also an advantage. Italy is currently burdened with huge debts, which are being reduced.
It has been reduced from 7.63 billion lire to 7.19 billion. This is a huge improvement. With the efforts of the past two years, Italy's debt has been reduced by more than 400 million. I believe that with the development of the economy, Italy will bear less and less debt.
.
Just as Carlo was thinking about the future, the captain of the guard, Filmicchi, came in with a telegram.
"Your Majesty, this is a telegram sent from the Far East. There is a Donghak Party uprising in North Korea."
