Chapter 46: Military cooperation
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard for me to imagine that the Bavarian army had artillery with a rate of fire comparable to a rifle! This artillery turned all old artillery into **** overnight. As long as we can reach an arms cooperation agreement with them, we It's a worthwhile trip." General Offenberg said with some emotion.
"But we already have Skoda." Count Tuft said embarrassedly.
"But Skoda's production capacity is actually very limited. Our military equipment cannot be compared with Germany in terms of quantity or quality. The German hub has not made a choice between Austria and Russia. Now Germany and Russia have a tendency to move closer. We must prepare for the worst." Offenberg said euphemistically.
"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 These weapons will not be outdated even if they are used for ten or fifteen years! Austrian elite troops must have first-class combat effectiveness, at least not worse than the Prussians. Only in this way can we have The courage of the Balkans and the Russians to fight for supremacy, now no one can rely on, we can only rely on ourselves!" Looking at the hesitating count, Offenberg said anxiously.
Although Germany has notified the contents of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s "Reinsurance Treaty" to ease the tensions in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the head of government, Count Taf still felt great pressure. If the struggle between Germany and Austria failed A decent ending, Italy and Austria can only be regarded as a small fight between Italy and Austria, then once the European road roller against Russia, then the price of failure will be too great!
Count Taf has a deep understanding of Austria-Hungary’s weakness and foreign powers. He knows that without Germany’s help, Austria-Hungary will not talk about competing with Russia for the Balkans. Whether it can protect itself is a question. But now, the attitude in Germany is not Under clear circumstances, even if it is difficult, Austria-Hungary must sharpen the saber in his hand!
"We need Skoda's basic technology, and you need the new rapid-fire gun retreat system and the new rifle design. We have something in common on this point, and we can completely unify the equipment of the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Austrian army. If something happens to the empire, we can at least provide equipment support." When Earl Tuft returned to the negotiating table again, Prince Ruprecht directly made the offer.
"We can buy patents." Tuft made a counter-proposal.
"However, the cost of weapons produced in Skoda is relatively high. In the entire European hinterland, coal and iron will not be more dominant than the Ruhr and Alsace-Lorraine regions. Although we are outside these regions, our The cost of raw materials is still lower than your country."
"And if you want to consider accessories, we have an advantage. From an economic point of view, the production of weapons in Bavaria is still better than Skoda even with freight and tariffs." The prince tried to equip parts of the Bavarian and Austro-Hungarian armies. The unification has its purpose. The experience of history tells the prince that in the absence of a miracle, the Western Front has no future. The battle on the Western Front is to consume and consume until one of them completely collapses. The operation space of the Eastern Route is huge.
Bavaria has the right to purchase its own armaments. If the equipment is unified with some of the Austro-Hungarian troops, it is undoubtedly possible to ask the German General Staff to let the Bavarian Army participate in the Eastern Front. 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 from an objective analysis, if the Bavarian and Austrian forces are unified in equipment, it is possible 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 determined.
"The meaning is very limited, really." Count Tuft replied.
"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 industry is very good, and it is easy to obtain subsystems and accessories for new weapons. Trust my sense of smell in this regard. "
"Maybe one day in the future, we can install an engine for the artillery, and then walk on our own without towing. Maybe one day in the future, horses will withdraw from our army, and cars and tractors will become the main force of logistics transportation. Perhaps one day, in addition to airships and balloons, another machine that can hover in the air will determine the outcome of the war." The prince spoke in a very sincere tone of 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 dumbly.
"So I can get hardened armor, but you can't. You don't have enough sensitivity to technology. As a soldier, learning how to command combat is one aspect, but at the same time he must understand the development direction of military technology." Answered with a smile.
"It seems that our negotiations have fallen into disagreement, but even so, we are still willing to buy your country's patents, let us start small things first." Tuft still insisted on his point of view.
"Even from an economic point of view, setting up a factory in Germany is good. Don’t just focus on the army. Since we can replace Krupp artillery with self-produced artillery, we can also squeeze out opponents in the field of large-caliber naval guns. ! I am not satisfied with the 240mm guns and 280mm guns in Germany. The muzzle velocity of the former is too low and the bullet weight of the latter is not ideal.” Prince Leopold said.
Although he is an army general, he is also a commander of artillery background. He is also very concerned about the performance of naval guns. After all, this thing is called a train gun when installed on a train...
Skoda’s heavy artillery did not improve. The fundamental reason is that the Austro-Hungarian Navy is too weak, so weak that there is no need for naval guns! But 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 140KG shells at a muzzle velocity of 690 meters per second, Skoda’s K94 naval gun could fire 215KG shells at the same muzzle velocity!
The performance of later K10 12-inch naval guns and K14 350MM naval guns is also higher than that of Krupp naval guns in the same period. This is true whether it is artillery performance or shells! 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 ~ www.wuxiaspot.com~ either the German Navy’s own warships or export warships can be equipped with Austro-Hungarian artillery. The profit is not smaller than armor!" said the prince.
"This plan is more reliable than the plan you just said at the beginning." Austria produced technology, and Bavaria produced venues and personnel. The two sides re-established a naval gun production plant to take a share in the future shipbuilding plan of the German Navy! I have to say that Earl Tuft is a little excited.
"This investment will be relatively large," Taft said.
"After all, we are the country, and money is not a problem. As long as you can come up with a new 240mm artillery in 4 years and a 12-inch artillery in 6 years, then I can guarantee that at least half of the orders will be taken from Krupp. !" The prince said confidently.
In the prince’s plan, whether it is for his own money or for the future of the German Navy, he has to compete with Krupp in the field of naval guns! Where is the root of the German War 1 ships carrying small artillery? Half the reason lies in Krupp! The German navy’s artillery is only supplied by his family, and there is no pressure at all, so naturally there is no power. So after plagiarizing the Krupp armor, the prince decisively decided to pit him from the naval gun!
The final result of the talks was that the Bavarian royal family agreed to the Austrian-Hungarian 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 sides decided to build a joint venture heavy artillery production plant in Bavaria next year, which is 1891. Ready to seize the German navy market.
Thank you book friend zhouyu1976 for your reward~~~, I have been under great pressure on the new book list recently! The authors behind are chasing very closely, and it seems very difficult to move forward. Can you guys support me?
