At the end of November, before taking up the post of Director of the Security Bureau, General Foderes sent Claude information about the Royal Navy. This was probably the last task he handled as head of the Military Intelligence Department, so it was completed.
It's perfect. Compared with General Murray Ed's bribery of a technical researcher, the spies of the Military Intelligence Department lurking in the Royal Navy are deeply hidden and know more inside information. Even those Royal Navy generals will
It is clear how much funds allocated by His Majesty the King have been embezzled...
After receiving the file on the Royal Navy's internal affairs, Claude asked General Foderes about the split of the Military Intelligence Department. In addition to the Dominion Investigation Bureau established by Marshal Bolognik, the Intelligence Bureau and the Security Bureau
, as well as the personnel of the four intelligence agencies of the Army Intelligence Department and the Naval Intelligence Department under the military region, all must be transferred from the original Military Intelligence Department. All Military Intelligence Department personnel must be assigned to these four departments based on their specialties and personalities.
, In addition, huge files and materials also had to be split, and I was very busy for a while.
General Foderes was very satisfied with Claude's splitting and adding of intelligence departments. He believed that doing so would make it easier to clarify the scope of duties. Although he was the head of the Military Intelligence Department in the past, he seemed to have high authority and responsibility.
He had too many things to do, and to put it bluntly, he was the one who took the blame. If he did well, he would be scolded, but if he didn't, he would be scolded. He himself felt that this position made his hair turn gray quickly, making him look like he was getting older before his time.
It's fine now. He only has to be responsible for counterintelligence and eliminating spies from other countries, and protecting the technologies and secrets that the Dominion Military Region cares about. His shoulders suddenly feel a lot lighter, and he doesn't have to worry about waking up from nightmares when he goes to bed at night.
What went wrong? The most important thing is that he served as the director of the Security Bureau and a member of the Intelligence Supervision Committee. He was promoted one level higher than the director of the Military Intelligence Department, and he received the double salary of the director and the committee member...
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After talking to Claude for a while about the split of the Ministry of Military Intelligence, General Fodeles said goodbye and left. During this period, he was very busy with the handover and split, so Claude did not keep him.
The conversation continued in depth. Opening the file, Claude quickly learned the inside story as to why the Wang Navy's imitation of the iron-clad warship had not been successful.
As Claude expected, corruption was the number one reason for the failure of the Royal Navy. His Majesty King Frederic I obtained a large amount of money from the kingdom's nobles in the name of promotion fees and land selection fees, so in the Dominion Military District
After delivering sixteen armored warships, he generously allocated a huge sum of five million gold crowns to the Kingdom's Navy Department and ordered the research and imitation of the armored warships, striving to master the construction technology of the armored warships and improve them to a higher level.
It's just that the Kingdom's Admiralty has been suffering from no money for so many years. Everyone's eyes were red when the five million gold crowns came into the account. First, they took 30% as dividends as usual, making all the officers of the Kingdom's Admiralty very fat.
year. Then he misappropriated the public funds under various names. If he had not remembered his duty as a Royal Navy officer to be loyal to His Majesty the King, perhaps not a single gold crown would have been left. It was just used to research iron-clad battleships.
At the time of imitation, Frederick I's five million gold crowns were only left with more than 1.8 million...
The reason for the failure of the second ironclad battleship imitation was the failure of material imitation. The Wang Navy just dismantled three ironclad battleships, drew all the layouts and mechanical power configurations on drawings, and recruited shipbuilding experts and sailing warships.
The technicians conducted detailed analysis and demonstration, and they did a good job in these steps. It was just that they made a big mistake when looking for rune mages to imitate the materials of the armored battleships and power machinery.
It is not that the Kingdom of Orvelas does not have rune mages who serve the royal family, but after the death of Sterling X, Prince Wedelek succeeded to the throne as Sterling XI, and competed with the eldest prince for the throne to start a civil war in the kingdom.
, due to the lack of military spending and in order to maintain his luxurious life, Sterling XI drastically reduced the unnecessary expenses of the royal family. The funds for the rune mages who served the royal family were among the cuts, so those rune mages were greatly reduced.
Get out of here.
After Frederic I succeeded to the throne, several rune mages who worked for the Sterling royal family also returned. But not all rune mages are good material experts. Those who really deal with metals and are more expert in material synthesis.
Rune mages were still enshrined in the military industry of the old noble families in the kingdom. Now that the nobles of the kingdom have been granted titles and have their own family territories, these rune mages who work for them have also been brought back to their family territories.
The rune mages enshrined by the Sterling royal family are all good at pharmacies, and are more specialized in treating diseases and detoxifying. But asking them to conduct experiments on the synthesis and refining of metal materials is like making a mistake. Just to find out which metals are common
The properties of materials are not an easy thing to figure out. It takes time and a lot of money to conduct the most common material tests.
The structure and construction of an iron-clad battleship is actually very simple, but it does not mean that all iron plates can be used to build an iron-clad battleship. At the very least, the metal material can prevent seawater corrosion and rust, and it must also have good anti-shelling performance and not deform. These are all
The most basic requirements. Especially for power machinery, just a propeller is a big problem. Ordinary iron or steel plates cannot make a propeller. Master Bird spent more than a year testing the propeller.
The officials in charge of the Royal Navy thought that it would be very interesting to allocate 100,000 gold crowns to these rune mages sent by the royal family. Anyway, these rune mages are so coaxing that they don't really care about these metal material synthesis experiments and drawings.
They are all drawn in such detail. If you can figure out the material synthesis of this armored battleship, then there will be no problem in imitating it.
Then when we started to conduct these material synthesis experiments, several rune mages were dumbfounded. One hundred thousand gold crowns, they couldn't even figure out the most basic metal deck materials of the iron-clad battleship. Especially those experimental magic materials, which were purchased by the purchasing department.
Some of them are the cheapest, and some are fake, just to get the high kickbacks. The failure of the material synthesis test is inevitable, and it also made the rune mages feel disgraced and embarrassed, and two of them ran back in anger.
The royal capital.
The few remaining rune mages were more responsible and even made a list and handed it to the Kingdom's Navy Department. As a result, the senior officers of the Kingdom's Navy Department were dumbfounded. Because these rune mages believed that there were no two or three years of service.
It took time and two to three million gold crowns for testing to figure out the metal composite materials on this ironclad battleship. It’s just that the funds allocated by His Majesty the King were either divided or spent. Where did you get so much money?
go?
Without Zhang Butcher, can we still eat pigs with hair? There are many smart people. In order to avoid damage to their pockets, someone came up with an idea. There is no need for these rune mages to conduct any metal material synthesis experiments. Everyone goes through the pile of old papers. In the past, Si
Didn't the Trin royal family open a firearms research institute and come up with many metal material formulas? Everyone can just find similar metal material formulas to replace them. With metal formulas, there is no need for rune mages to do experiments.
, just deliver it directly to the refining workshop for forging...
So similar ship plate materials are available, and deck materials are almost the same. The only difficulty is that there are no casting materials for the power machinery and the propeller. Other materials are used to make the power steam engine. Even if there are detailed drawings, it can be made
What came out was still different. It either leaked air or was not resistant to fire and high temperatures. There were numerous problems such as deformation and jamming of mechanical parts. There were even two explosion accidents, which killed several technicians and workers.
At this time, all the money had been spent, and His Majesty the King asked about the progress of the imitation of the iron-clad battleship. The senior officers of the Kingdom's Navy told Frederic I that the progress was going very smoothly, and soon they
The kingdom's own armored warships could be manufactured. As a result, Frederick I was happy and decided to send an imperial envoy to test the results. Now the royal navy was in trouble.
Fortunately, there were many smart people in the Royal Navy, and they quickly came up with a way. One was to ask the people from the Kingdom's Army Department to hold back the imperial envoy in the royal capital, and the other was to build the selected ship planks first.
The appearance of the iron-clad ship came out. In any case, it must be at least several times larger than the iron-clad warships of the overseas autonomous territories, so that it can be contrasted and clearly visible. So the Wang Family Naval Shipbuilding Workshop in Bailu City was racing against time to build the iron-hulled ship.
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In order to save time and convenience, the Wang Navy directly dragged a large flat sailing ship over and covered the surface with iron ship plates. As for the power machinery, if you can't build it yourself, wouldn't there be an iron-clad warship? Another one was dragged over.
, after dismantling it, the steam-powered machinery was installed on the iron-hulled flat-bottomed ship. After installing it, I found that the ship could not be pushed. I had an idea and installed another one, and dismantled an iron-clad battleship. In the end, I could finally make this iron-clad battleship
The flat-bottomed boat slowly advanced on the sea. Although it was very unbalanced and the hull shook a lot, at least it looked very scary...
The imperial envoy sent by His Majesty the King received warm hospitality from the Kingdom's Navy Department all the way, and even he felt embarrassed. When he arrived at Bailu City, he looked at the iron-shelled flat-bottomed boat, and then joined the armored destroyer next to him.
Bi, it was a giant. He was full of praise. He didn’t understand the navy. He only thought that the bigger the ship, the more powerful it was. If nothing else, the large space above could be used to place a few more artillery pieces. In war, there are always artillery pieces.
More awesome.
In order to repay the affectionate treatment of the Kingdom's Navy Department, the imperial envoy asked the accompanying painter to draw the heroic appearance of the iron-shelled flat-bottomed boat at sea. At the same time, he used his imagination to paint more than a dozen giant cannons on the bare deck.
The fort, regardless of whether putting so many artillery pieces on it would sink the iron-shelled flat-bottomed boat. He only knew that the more powerful and beautiful the painting, the easier it would be for him to do business. Whether it was His Majesty the King or the Kingdom's Admiralty, it was all explained to him.
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Sure enough, after returning to the royal capital, everyone was very happy when the imperial envoy handed over the painting. Frederick I liked it very much. The artist used an exaggerated technique to paint the armored battleships of the overseas dominions next to the iron-hulled flat boat.
The ratio looks like that of a child compared to an adult. In fact, this iron-hulled flat-bottomed boat is only twice as big as the iron-clad destroyer, but on the screen it looks more than five times larger.
King Frederick I was really happy. The armored battleship built by his own navy was so powerful. There were so many cannons on it, which looked more powerful than the few cannons on the armored battleship built by the overseas autonomous territories. He
Turning around, he asked the director of the Kingdom's Navy how much it cost to build such an iron-clad warship. The director of the Kingdom's Navy hesitated for a long time and stretched out a finger. He knew that this iron-hulled flat-bottomed ship was pieced together, and it only cost one dollar.
It’s about 10,000 gold crowns, and he’s going to quote 100,000 gold crowns...
Unexpectedly, Frederick I misunderstood. You must know that the quotations on paper for the sixteen armored warships used by the overseas autonomous territories to compensate for the promotion fees and land selection fees were between 180,000 and more than 200,000 gold crowns each.
.The home-made iron-hulled flat-bottomed boat on the screen is five times larger than the armored destroyer next to it, so it is natural that the cost is five times higher.
Therefore, Frederick I said, such an armored warship costing one million gold crowns is worth the money. Then I will allocate another five million gold crowns and build five more. With these six armored warships
, I believe that there is nothing to worry about in the Kingdom’s waters. Those small sampans in the overseas autonomous territories are simply vulnerable in front of our six armored giant ships. Those in the overseas autonomous territories should also let those in the overseas autonomous territories take a look at the Wang Family
With the majesty of the navy and the foundation of the kingdom, we can build a giant iron-clad ship with greater firepower and greater firepower than them...
The head of the Kingdom's Navy Department suddenly felt that the finger he stretched out was shining with golden light and turned purple. However, he was a smart man, so he would not contradict His Majesty or even ask for trouble. He just patted his chest on the spot and promised to do it for you.
The kingdom has built these five giant iron-armored ships that show the majesty of the royal navy. The majesty of the Yangstrin royal family will be known in the waves of the sea!
Knowing the bottom price of shipbuilding, the Royal Navy received a huge sum of five million gold crowns this time, instead of taking a 30% dividend, it directly deducted half of it, and gave a generous bonus to all senior officers of the Royal Navy. Then.
Another million gold crowns were taken, and he paid heavily to the imperial envoy and the big guys in the royal court, so that if anything happened in the future, there would be people to intercede on behalf of the Kingdom's Admiralty...
It was only when there was only one million gold crowns left in this huge sum of money for shipbuilding that the Kingdom's Admiralty decided to start building five giant iron-clad ships. But then the bad news came that the sample iron-hulled flat-bottomed ship had already
It sank to the bottom of the sea, probably due to water leakage. So the number of armored giant ships to be built became six, and they were more than three times larger than the armored destroyers of the overseas dominions. The last question was where to get twelve steamships.
Power machinery is back...
After numerous meetings, the Kingdom’s Navy finally decided to lose face and sent a special envoy to the overseas autonomous territories to seek help, and purchased twelve marine steam engines at a high price. Only after the envoys arrived in the overseas autonomous territories did they realize that there was no need to ask for help, as long as
As long as the commercial power machinery workshop is willing to sell it, it will be fine. When he told the purchase request, the commercial power machinery workshop reported the matter, and the military region headquarters found out that it was only the steam power machinery of the first generation of iron-clad battleships, and it was an obsolete product.
In other words, the transaction can be approved with the stroke of a pen.
Since the Royal Navy Department came to purchase, the director of the commercial power machinery workshop quadrupled the price and added a little more, and quoted a price of thirty-five thousand gold crowns. The envoy refused, and the workshop director was
I wanted to reduce it even more, but the envoy quoted me a price of 50,000 gold crowns, which meant that the extra 15,000 gold crowns would be used as a kickback...
Therefore, these twelve first-generation iron-clad battleships' marine steam-powered machinery cost the Kingdom's Navy Ministry 600,000 gold crowns, not counting the special envoy's business trip expenses and the transportation costs of these power machines. The remaining more than 300,000
Jinkron was struggling to build six giant iron-clad ships. Because the strict requirement was to be three times larger than the armored destroyers, there was no suitable flat-land transport ship to make do. It was necessary to first build a flat-bottomed wooden ship three times the size as the base model, and then
Cover the outside with marine iron plates, then weld them, polish them, paint them, etc...
To be honest, the senior officers in the Royal Navy and the Royal Navy also wanted to do something practical, but they could not help the people below to take advantage of it and get some kickbacks. When they saw that the bottom molds of the six flat-bottomed wooden ships were about to be completed, suddenly
I found that the money was almost spent. After careful calculation, I found that the purchase of ship iron plates, the cost of welding labor materials, the subsequent process costs, etc., added up to a gap of nearly one million gold crowns...
It is impossible to ask His Majesty the King for money, because everyone is worried that Frederick I will get serious and send people to verify the cost of building ships, but it is also impossible to ask everyone to pool money to complete these six giant iron-clad ships. Discuss and discuss.
, someone put their mind to the remaining dozen or so armored battleships. Maybe some people had already accepted the favor or were persuaded or something. They decided to scrap a few armored battleships after several maritime accidents, and then scrapped these nominally.
The armored warships were sold secretly, and the money from the sales was used to continue manufacturing the six armored warships...
Then there is the information obtained by General Muriel. The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands spent 480,000 gold crowns to buy an ironclad destroyer and an ironclad cruiser, along with a complete set of drawings drawn by the Kingdom's Admiralty. The southern part of the Farea continent
The coastal Kingdom of Kamanlane bought an armored destroyer for 180,000 gold crowns, and the Kingdom of Morosik also bought an armored destroyer for 200,000 gold crowns.
This really surprised Claude. The colony of the Morosik Kingdom on the west coast has become the territory of the Pamigal National Republic. The Morosik Kingdom failed two expeditions and was severely weakened. Unexpectedly, it was still interested in developing it.
Ironclad battleships, it seems that the Morosik Kingdom is still not convinced, maybe they will make a comeback in a few years.
The last "scrapped" ironclad destroyer was sold to the Kingdom of Western Kamcharia for 250,000 gold crowns, along with a complete set of drawings. This is a peninsular kingdom in the northern part of the Farea continent, about six kilometers away from the Kingdom of Hicks.
More than a hundred miles away, further to the west, it can be considered a naval power.
Claude closed the document, shook his head and sighed. After Frederic I came to the throne, the kingdom returned to a rare peace, the economy recovered, and its vitality recovered. It can be said that the kingdom has a qualified King. It’s just that Frederic I is young and older.
In the deep palace, I don’t know the fireworks of the world, so I don’t understand how the people below are playing tricks on him, His Majesty the King...
From the shipbuilding farce of the Kingdom's Navy, we can see how far the Kingdom's administrative corruption has reached. It seems that Marshal Bolognik's decision to rectify administrative issues in overseas autonomous territories is very correct and timely, and must not be allowed overseas
The Dominion, like the Kingdom itself, has become a paradise for corrupt officials...