Franz’s face, tense moments before, relaxed the instant the crowd dispersed. It was clear he was not truly angry. The navy, army and air force fighting over budget was to be expected. It was part of maintaining the balance of power. If the three services stopped arguing, then there would really be a problem. Seeing Franz was calm, Frederick asked with concern, “Father, of the three plans the military proposed just now, which do you lean toward?” This was not mere curiosity. Frederick genuinely could not decide and had no idea whom to support. On the surface, each of the three strategies the services offered looked highly actionable. Any one of them could lift the Holy Roman Empire to the summit. They were all attractive options, which only made the choice harder. “Does it matter?” Franz asked in return. The question felt like a test of the soul. Frederick kept hearing “Does it matter?” in his head. Something about it felt weighty, and at the same time oddly insignificant. The Empire’s military was competent. Although each plan had its flaws, they all ultimately aimed for the same goal. None of the other rivals had risen to challenge them. If they could topple Britain, the Holy Roman Empire would be the sole world hegemon. After a long pause, Frederick answered slowly, “I understand.” Franz smiled at his son’s solemn expression and explained, “No, you do not understand. In truth, we have no real choice. Politics is never decided by right or wrong. Perhaps one strategy alone could win with the least cost, but we must consider the practical realities. A few years ago the army dominated everything. To balance military power, I boosted the navy and set aside the air force, creating the three-way check and balance you see now. Together the navy and air force can barely match the army, and in doing so they have already crossed the army’s bottom line. No matter what concessions are made, they will never accept the navy getting an equal share of funds. That is the army’s pride from top to bottom. You should know how great the army’s influence is. The Holy Roman Empire was built largely by its land forces. Over ninety percent of the overseas feudal lords and emerging farm owners come from the army, and more than seventy percent of the bureaucrats in the government have served in the army. The civilian sector goes without saying as our compulsory military service law is aimed specifically at the Army. The Navy and Air Force are technical branches, making universal conscription practically impossible for them. With so many supporters, the army cannot lose. As long as they refuse to yield, an alliance of the air force and navy will not change the result. We cannot step into the ring ourselves and tip the scales, can we?” For the Emperor to personally step in and show favoritism is like the referee descending onto the field to play football. It is a nice thought, but no mature monarch would ever do such a thing. Even when supporting the Navy and stripping resources from the Air Force previously, it was the Cabinet that led the charge and Franz himself never personally interfered from beginning to end. Now, there is even less reason to do so. Perhaps the current competition for military expenditure is crucial for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as it concerns their development for the next ten years. But for the Emperor, and for the Holy Roman Empire, the final outcome is predetermined, no matter which option is chosen. This is decided by comprehensive national power. As of today, the Holy Roman Empire has established a qualitative gap with Britain. Counting colonial citizens, the total population of the Holy Roman Empire has reached 160 million, with 120 million residing in the European region alone. In contrast, the British Isles only total 30 million, and even including citizens in overseas colonies, the total population barely exceeds 40 million. Of course, if one includes colonial natives, this ratio is reversed. India alone has three to four hundred million people, and the entire British Empire controls a total population exceeding 500 million, while the Holy Roman Empire has less than 180 million. It is true that the British Empire controls a large population, but unfortunately, the utilization rate is low. Primitive colonial rule is adequate for plundering wealth, but it is far from enough to enhance national power. A comparison of the data shows that the total economic output of the Holy Roman Empire is one-fifth higher than the entire British Empire (including colonies), and its industrial output is 2.5 times that of Britain. This is merely the beginning, and as time goes on, this gap continues to widen. If, with such a huge advantage, Franz could still manage to lose, he would have no business being Emperor. His intentional display of dissatisfaction, besides admonishing the military, was primarily because Franz hoped the military branches could reach a compromise. Unless the British surrender early, any future strategy will require the cooperation of the Army, Navy, and Air Force—it’s merely a question of priority. Even if the three services compromise and develop simultaneously, leading to significant wasted financial resources, Franz accepts it. This is the helplessness of a great power and almost every major nation faces the problem of resource waste in order to balance the interests of all parties. ... The struggle for military funds continued, but the newly-built Roma unexpectedly encountered a problem first. Only after the armaments and ancillary systems were completed did everyone suddenly realize that the Roma’s seaworthiness was very mediocre. This is nothing strange as almost all experimental warships have issues of one kind or another. Producing a perfect product in one go is not applicable to warships. There has always been a saying circulating in the Navy: “Design is advanced, but construction is lagging.” The Roma is considered good, at least after completion, it still maintains a world-leading standard. The British ‘super-battleship’ is still only in the design phase, and other countries don’t even have the interest to follow suit. Despite its poor seaworthiness and various minor faults, none of this can conceal the Roma’s powerful combat effectiveness—at least, it is sufficiently powerful in the Mediterranean. With this flaw exposed, the Army naturally seized the opportunity to make a fuss. If they can prove that the Roma lack the capability for ocean warfare, the Navy Ministry’s super-battleship program will have to be shelved. Unfortunately, Franz was already wise to this kind of petty trickery, and he didn’t give anyone a chance to speak and said, “Block the news. The issue with the Roma’s deficiency ends here and need not be discussed again in the future. Insufficient seaworthiness doesn’t prevent its use in the Mediterranean. The Navy should simply be careful when assigning missions and not let it leave the Mediterranean. Continue with the subsequent publicity, just remove the item about world cruising. The exploration of new technology is inherently full of uncertainty, and we can certainly afford this level of risk.” The Holy Roman Empire’s Navy already held the reputation of being a “Bathtub Navy,” and Franz didn’t mind making that title truly deserved. If the British want to mock them, let them have their fill first. Looking at it differently, being able to treat the Mediterranean as a bathtub is, in a way, an achievement. Throughout human history, which country that has treated the Mediterranean as a bathtub hasn’t been powerful and impressive? As long as it doesn’t leave the Mediterranean, the Roma is a genuine super-battleship. It can be perfectly arranged, whether for maintaining appearances or for intimidation. Deep down, Franz had already made up his mind. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not plan to send the Roma to the battlefield. After all, it is an experimental ship, and no one knows how many pitfalls were encountered during its construction. One can reference the first-generation Dreadnoughts of various countries in the original timeline. They all suffered from a variety of flaws or problems. The phrase “a century-long navy” does not mean that a navy must literally develop for a hundred years. Rather, it means that it takes about a century of trial and error, of missteps and hard-earned lessons, for a naval force to accumulate the experience needed to truly mature. For Franz, an experimental warship was considered qualified as long as it didn’t sink and could put to sea normally. As for the other problems, they could be fully addressed by improvements in the subsequent second and third generations. Although a single word from Franz exempted them from further deep investigation of the fault, the Navy Ministry’s “Super-Battleship Program” was prematurely scrapped. A single Roma that cannot leave the Mediterranean is tolerable, but to produce twenty-something of them at once is something truly no one could endure. Even though the Navy Ministry repeatedly guaranteed that subsequent warships would not suffer similar issues, no one dared to risk going along with them. Of course, the Roma was not without merit. At the very least, its combat power was genuinely strong, and as long as severe stormy weather was avoided, it remained the king of naval battles. Ultimately, the Navy Ministry’s “Five-Year, Twenty-Five-Ship” Super-Battleship Program was cut down to a “Five-Year, Five-Ship” program, leading to the Navy’s early exit from this military expenditure contest. Seeing the look of unwillingness in Castagni’s eyes as he left, Franz knew that the matter was far from over. He guessed that once the current issue was resolved, the Navy would once again bring up the “Super Battleship Project”. With the Royal Navy as a rival helping to set the stage and play its part, Franz believed that this day would not be too far away. ... Reducing shipbuilding volume did not mean reducing publicity efforts. As the brightest star of the year, the Roma remained the darling of the media. Once its support facilities were completed, the Roma began sailing across the Mediterranean, visiting coastal nations under the pretense of “experience exchange.” At every stop, joint military exercises were held. The most miserable participants were the newly independent Italian states, whose tiny destroyers of barely a thousand tons were forced to conduct exercises alongside the Roma, a warship of more than twenty thousand tons. The scene was simply… ridiculous. If not for the different flags flying, one might have mistaken them for an escort rather than partners in a joint exercise. Still, to build up momentum, the Austrian government had to put on such a show. Only by creating a grand spectacle could they pressure the British Parliament into approving funds for the Royal Navy. It was almost absurd how thoroughly they planned on behalf of their rival. But to drain Britain’s national strength, Franz decided to go through with it. Whether or not the Holy Roman Navy could surpass the British in the dreadnought era, one thing was certain: in this wave of naval modernization, Britain’s losses would be at least seventy percent greater than those of the Empire. After all, they simply had too many ships. In this era of naval technological revolution, the more ships a nation possessed, the greater its losses would be.
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