Chapter 340： Yang Mou (1/2)

On October 11, 1862, the first iron armored ship Frederick of the Kingdom of Prussia made a sea trial. William I personally presided over the ceremony to show the determination to develop the navy.

They really made up their minds and saw the Austrian nobles next door making a fortune in the overseas colonial movement, and the Junker nobles couldn't help it.

Many young people, in particular, have long been dissatisfied with the conservative government. You should know that Austria opened its overseas colonies less than ten years ago, and has a land area of ​​five or six times its native land.

Many people are optimistic that only by joining the colonial movement, they will soon be able to make a fortune and seal the title to the peak of their lives.

”The future of the world lies in the ocean.” Whoever said this sentence first cannot be verified, anyway, it has now been widely recognized by European society.

In the beginning of the establishment of overseas colonies, Franz also helped to promote this theory, and now the German region has been widely spread.

Iron armored ships were recognized as the navy's technological revolution. Only a few years after its introduction, the British, French, American, Western, Portuguese and other naval powers built their own iron armored ships.

Now the Kingdom of Prussia finally has its own armored ship, and many people are celebrating. Only high-level government officials know the gap between their armored ships and the naval powers.

After all, it is a dry duck. For a long time, the Prussian navy has been dispensable. More often, it plays the role of a maritime police, not even Denmark next door.

The fervent propaganda of ironclad ships was still inspiring. After all, the development of the Kingdom of Prussia has not been smooth in recent years, and the public needs good news.

William I asked with concern: ”How is the naval training going, when can we open up overseas colonies?”

Ron, the secretary of the army and part-time navy minister, changed his face and replied with a bitter smile: ”Sir, our navy is too thin.

Prior to the expansion, there were only 1,300 officers and men in the Navy, including civilian personnel on and off the Navy.

It takes at least two to three years to develop combat effectiveness. Of course, these are not a problem if the enemy is only indigenous. ”

The Secretary of the Army still serves as Minister of the Navy, which is also the result of compromises. Although the Junker aristocrats coveted the interests of opening up overseas colonies, they were still reluctant to give up their military dominance.

There is nothing wrong with the army's leadership of the navy. Anyway, the officers and men of the navy are directly transferred from the army's active duty. Even the Marine Corps has been saved. They are definitely one of the strongest navies in the land, none of them.

Ron, who had led the Army's reforms, found tragically that he would dominate the construction of the Prussian navy. In other countries, the layman leads the layman at best. Here he directly leads the layman.

Anyway, before the Prussian Navy was the maritime police of the Kingdom of Prussia, the usual business was to crack down on smuggling activities.

The thousands of troops added now are even more amateurish. They are amateurs from top to bottom. Ron is naturally stressful.

The navy is not an army and can be put on the battlefield in just a few months of training. Even ordinary soldiers take years to train.

Obviously, this was discovered only after Ron's in-depth understanding. The upper level of the Prussian government was still the Army's thinking, including William I, who did not distinguish the difference between the Army and the Navy, otherwise it would not have asked that.

William I asked in amazement: ”It took so long. How did the Austrians expand the navy, or did their officers and soldiers fail at all?”

Indeed, the expansion of the Austrian navy in recent years has been a bit fierce. From 1850 to the present, the tonnage of the Austrian navy has increased several times, and it has become the third naval power in the world.

Ron explained: ”His Majesty, the Austrian Navy has been active in the Mediterranean before, and its popularity is somewhat low, but in fact their navy is very solid, and the Venezia region is a traditional naval power.

They have a complete naval technical heritage and personnel training system. In the era of Metternich, naval development was not valued, so that the Austrian navy was downplayed in everyone's impression. Now the Vienna government attaches importance to it and naturally catches up quickly. ”

In fact, the rapid development of the Austrian Navy is also luck. In the era of sailing warships, naval technology has reached a bottleneck, even if the British technology is not advanced to other countries.

After the era of the iron armored ship came, the sail warship was directly eliminated. The previous experience and technology had fallen behind, and it was necessary to start reshuffle.

In a way, this is the era when countries are most likely to catch up with the British. After all, the ironclad ship technology has just been developed, and this gap has not yet reached a point of despair.

After listening to this explanation, William I sighed. He originally thought that the century-old navy was blown out by the British, but he did not expect this to be true.

If there is no background, building a strong navy from scratch will take decades, even if it does not take 100 years.

”Not long ago, the Austrians proposed to us to jointly develop the Nanyang region. This is a rare opportunity.