The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 644: The magical effect of the Austro-Hungarian fleet



"To be honest, I really don’t understand why the Austro-Hungarian Empire is so obsessed with the navy. If Britain and France are necessary, and Italy is in need, then as a continental European country, it has to face the strong Why is Russia’s pressured country still interested in the navy? Especially now that Italy has been separated from Germany, whether the Austrian-Hungarian fleet can leave the Adriatic Sea is a problem. If possible, I would rather suggest the construction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. An offshore defensive fleet, dominated by destroyers, submarines and mine warships." Hipper, who has served as commander of the German fast fleet, wrote in a letter to the prince of Bavaria. The words are full of incomprehension and regret.

Just 5 days ago, General Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, came to Berlin. This time, he was ordered by Emperor Fritz and Grand Duke Ferdinand to get help from Germany in order to complete the first level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Type battleship, and from the information revealed, this time the Austro-Hungarian Empire intends to start construction of 4 battleships at a time. For an empire that does not have much maritime demand, the funding is already tight, and the environment is very harsh, this can be set The determination really surprised the Germans.

First of all, Emperor Fritz was not very interested in the navy, because since the establishment of the dual empire, the Hungarian Parliament, which has no oceans, did not care about the development of the empire on the sea. Therefore, before 1889, the empire’s naval development plan was often based on Hungary The opposition of the Royal Parliament was stranded. After 1889, although the navy budget was independent and was directly borne by the central government, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was in a low-speed development state all year round because of its own national strength.

Although Hipper is a navy commander, he also disagrees with this plan. The Adriatic Sea is too narrow. In an almost enclosed sea area, the advantages of large capital ships have been greatly reduced. On the contrary, how can the combat effectiveness of submarines, destroyers, and mine fleets be enhanced. The battleship consumes a lot of money, but the cost performance is not high. In fact, the capital ship of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I did nothing but the torpedo boats of the Italian Navy... However, the submarine force achieved some results.

Of course, the most important thing is that Italy has now become a nominal ally, and a de facto enemy. If Italy chooses to join the Allied powers during the war, then the Italian and French navies can completely crush the Austro-Hungarian fleet, even Adrienne Even the Asian Sea cannot go out. If the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea has a chance to jump a few times and pose a certain threat to the British, then the French and Italian Fleet is as stable as a dog in the Mediterranean!

Responsible General Hipper revised a letter to Prince Ruprecht, hoping that the latter could persuade the Austro-Hungarian Empire to abandon this not very useful naval construction plan, and, like the Russians, began to engage in offshore defense. But unfortunately, his goal is destined to fail...

"Hipper looked at me too high, how can I change what Ferdinand decided?" Looking at Hipper’s letter, the prince smiled and threw it aside. It is not that the prince has disagreements, but that even the prince who can't handle many things in Germany has very limited influence on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"House seems to want to visit you in Bavaria. If you have any ideas, you can say it at that time." Count Schelling said.

"Don't tell me, I really have some ideas." Ruprecht touched his chin and said.

"Do you plan to adopt the opinion of General Hipper?" Count Schelling became interested.

"No, the construction of the Austro-Hungarian fleet is irreversible. What I am thinking now is how to make this fleet play a greater role." The prince said with a smile. "Well, if it's okay, you can go down first, and I'll work for a while."

"Austro-Hungarian fleet, if it is changed to another place, can it play a certain role?" At the insistence of Grand Duke Ferdinand, the Austrian dreadnought ship will definitely start construction, and it will definitely build 4 ships, and if Not surprisingly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire may also skip the fearless stage and choose to be as fearless as the German Helgeland-class battleship! According to the cost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, four battleships together can cost more than 10 million pounds. At this time, it is meaningless to entangle the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The most important thing is how to make this money worthwhile!

"Obviously, if it is in the Adriatic Sea, the Austro-Hungarian fleet's battleship has no chance to display. A mine blockade and a small number of fleets can prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from coming out. Such a fleet is meaningless." The prince then turned his gaze to the east. "Even if Italy chooses to be neutral, the British can stabilize the situation in the Mediterranean as long as they leave a few warships. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has no way to break the situation alone.

"If nothing goes wrong, Turkey may also purchase dreadnoughts in the near future!" At this time, the prince remembered another historical event, which was the Turkish dreadnought plan in history. To be honest, Turkey is even third-rate. Countries that are not up to date are still struggling with navy in history. In addition to the so-called feelings~www.novelhall.com~Turkey also has a demand, and this demand is because in the Barr war, the Greek fleet relied on an armored ship. The cruiser prevented the Turkish navy from getting out of the door and cut off sea transportation in the Aegean Sea.

It is normal for Turkey to be unable to defeat Britain, France and Italy, but it is a bit unreasonable if it cannot defeat Greece. After the war, Turkey decided to sell blood to build ships, and then there was a very famous multi-turret religious artifact in history, equipped with 7 A turret, Agincourt with 14 artillery, and another super fearless.

On this plane, although Turkey, which has already stood with Germany, is not isolated diplomatically and militarily, Germany is also not obliged to help Turkey defend the Mediterranean and Black Seas, so Turkey still has a demand for capital ships. In particular, many materials shipped from Turkey to Europe need to take the Black Sea route. The senior German navy believes that Turkey should still be equipped with some dreadnought ships.

"If everything goes according to history, Turkey will order two dreadnoughts, so that it can be equal to the Russian Black Sea Fleet. It can help Turkey defend the Dardanelles, but it is still impossible to make a difference in the Mediterranean."

"But if part of the Austro-Hungarian fleet can unite with Turkey, then the situation will be different!" Thinking of this, Ruprecht threw the pencil in his hand! That's right, let the Austro-Hungarian fleet and the Turkish fleet unite, and use Istanbul as the home port!

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