Holy Roman Empire

It's no secret in the industry, and even many buyers know that there may be loopholes in the deal.

However, they have no choice. This is the tuition fee that latecomers have to pay.If you don’t pay now, you will pay more in the future.

If you want to directly obtain the industrial technology of the great powers and quickly climb to the world's advanced level, you should just sleep on it!

The great powers are not doing charity. In order to ensure their own technological leadership, deliberately burying nails is only the most routine operation.

Otherwise, if the country catching up with the industrial powerhouse just copied the other party's technology in its entirety, the gap could be quickly narrowed.

How is such a good thing possible?If it were so easy, it wouldn't have been so many years. France and Austria are both British pursuers.

If it weren't for the outbreak of the second industrial revolution, it is estimated that the advantages of the British could continue for a long time.

Chapter 51 Indispensable Mistakes

Industrial layout, not just the steel industry.With the advent of the second industrial revolution, the use of copper became more extensive.

In 1870, Austrian copper production reached 58 tons, while the market demand was as high as 72 tons, and the gap rate was as high as one-sixth.

The main reason for this situation is the advent of the electric age.As a pioneer in promoting the electric revolution, Austria's demand for copper is naturally increasing day by day.

In order to adjust the relationship between supply and demand in the market, the Vienna government did not hesitate to use administrative orders to increase production of state-owned enterprises. However, this relationship between supply and demand cannot be changed in a short period of time.

There is no way, if there is a shortage of steel, it can still be purchased in the international market, but there is no need to count on copper.

The output of copper mines in Austria exceeds the sum of all European countries. Even for the British, the output of copper in this era is only tens of thousands of tons.

It's not that everyone doesn't want to increase production. The problem is that there are no mines at home, and raw materials need to be imported. If you want to increase copper production, you must first solve the problem of copper ore.

It's a pity that the reserves of this thing in Europe are really not high, otherwise Chile in the original space-time would not be able to get rich by exporting copper ore.

This is very disharmonious to Austria. The local reserves are not enough, and the import of copper ore is too far away. The increased transportation costs make the company's profit statement thin.

The Ministry of Industry is planning to find copper mines in the African colonies to make up for the shortage of raw materials. Now that there are a lot of copper mines, transportation is still a big problem.

……

Franz put down the materials, shook his head and said: "The plan to smelt copper mines in Africa is too radical. It is not the time to develop industries in Africa. At least until the localization is completed, the African continent cannot have industries." .

Besides, will smelting copper ore in Africa definitely reduce costs?I remember that the Ministry of Industry's report on energy reserves not long ago also mentioned the lack of coal mines in the African continent.

At present, the several large coal mines we have discovered are all concentrated in South Africa. If smelting on-site also needs to transport ore, the cost may not be lower than smelting in China. "

There is no doubt that it is political temptation again.In recent years, more and more capitalists have entered the development of African colonies, and many of them are no longer satisfied with providing domestic raw materials and want to develop industries locally.

However, due to congenital deficiencies, the distribution of resources on the African continent is extremely unbalanced, and under the suppression of the Vienna government, there has been no success.

Now these people want to use the power of the Vienna government to develop industries locally and earn greater benefits.

Naturally, this kind of pediatric political means cannot be hidden from Franz's eyes.In areas rich in resources like the United States and Australia, it is still very difficult to suppress the development of local industries.

When it comes to the African continent, the situation is completely different. More than 90.00% of the coal mines are concentrated in South Africa. If the remaining regions want to develop industries, they must first solve the coal supply.

This will require road construction, but currently the Austrian-African railway project is still slowly progressing.The original plan was only from Guinea to the Congo area. Although the planned road section has been added, it cannot be completed in a day or two.

The main roads have not been settled, let alone the branch lines.Without the transportation of raw materials by rail, the industry in Africa would not have developed naturally.

Now taking advantage of the local copper shortage, many people are eager to move again, but they ignore the general distribution of resources in Africa, and Franz is more familiar with it than anyone else.

I don't know exactly which mine it is, but what resources are there in that large area is not a secret at all in later generations. Anyone who is a little interested can search for information on the Internet.

There are not no regions on the African continent that are suitable for industrial development. South Africa is the best choice, and there is almost no shortage of various resources.

However, isn't this still a war?When the war is over, it's time for gold to come out again.Once large gold mines appear, who cares about investing in other industries.

Capital is profit-seeking, and naturally flows to areas with high profits.Once the gold mine is developed, the resources will be robbed, and it is difficult to invest in other industries.

In later generations, South Africa did not develop industry. To some extent, it was too rich in resources. You can make a fortune by selling mines. Who is willing to take risks and invest in industry?

Minister of Industry Kaschin Qubek explained aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, the localization inspection period in Guinea is coming to an end, and we may cause criticism if we continue to suppress the development of local industries.

We all know the issue of resource distribution. These people are on the African continent, so it is impossible for them to be unaware of these issues.They applied anyway, and it was probably a trial.

Even if one or two coal mines are discovered, which are suitable for industry, at most one or two factories will be added.

As long as the government doesn't solve the traffic problem, no matter how hard they try, it's impossible to create an industrial system in the absence of raw materials. Why should we stop it? "

The African continent not only lacks an industrial system, but is completely poor.Not only raw material resources are not in place, but even manpower is lacking.

In the sparsely populated African continent, if you want to find 10,000+ workers and establish a large industrial group integrating mining and smelting, the cost can make any capitalist prohibitive.

Franz asked uncertainly: "You mean to open up the mining industry, but when building the railway, you deliberately set up obstacles.

Make it impossible to directly connect the origin of raw materials with the origin of raw materials, and increase the transportation cost of industrial development? "

If this is really done, it is estimated that the industry in Africa will be over.There is no problem in developing mineral resources. The government will build railways in resource-concentrated areas so that the ore produced can be transported out.

It's just that this kind of railway is mainly single-track, and it is not a perfect railway network.Especially between iron mines and coal mines, there is no direct railway connection, suppressing the development of African local industries from the source.

It has to be admitted that this method is more than just a step higher than directly prohibiting the development of Africa's industry.In the future, excuses can be made, for example: the exploration technology is not in place, and the resource reserves are misestimated.

A huge mine with a reserve of 100 million tons of ore is shown on the report as [-] million tons. Naturally, it is not worthy of the government's attention, and a railway line needs to be planned.

Or: ignoring technological advances.

Due to the limitations of the times, it is understandable to misjudge the development value of the mine and ignore it when repairing the railway.

……

Anyway, it is all caused by special circumstances, and it is definitely not the central government that is suppressing the industrial development of the African continent.In the end, the industry in the African continent has not developed, and that is beyond the reach of human beings.

After several decades, the localization was completed, and Austria's rule on the African continent was deeply rooted.It is not too late to correct these special historical mistakes.

The Minister of Industry, Kaschin Kubek, replied: "Yes, Your Majesty. Now we must concentrate on the development of the homeland, and there is no way to make the colonies make sacrifices."

Kaschin Kubeck emphasized the word "colonial", since it is a colony, it cannot be compared with the native land.It is inevitable that the treatment will be lower.

Austria's economy cannot maintain high growth for a long time without sucking blood from the colonies.Before the advent of the free trade era, colonies were all sacrificed objects.

This time, the "mistake" limited to the era is no longer a mistake, and the mistakes in the construction of the railway network on the African continent have become inevitable.

Franz finally understood why there were so many pits in the original space-time Indian Railway. It turned out that the root of the disaster had been buried as early as the colonial era.

It's not that the designers' planning is unreasonable, but that the reality needs to be unreasonable.The future seems to be an unreasonable plan, but this era is the best choice.

Franz nodded and said: "Speed ​​up the progress of the colonial railway construction, and take advantage of the information asymmetry to create established facts, so as not to attract the attention of the people."

The Vienna government has a resource distribution map in its hands. It is inevitable to be imperfect, but it still knows more than the private government.

Industrial development is inseparable from coal, and the coal mines on the African continent are concentrated in South Africa, which means that the place where design errors are really needed is also in South Africa.

To do this is very simple, just take a gold mine top cylinder.The railway network gives priority to the mining and smelting of gold mines, and it is understandable that other areas are ignored.

……

Naturally, this kind of concealed plan should be kept as secret as possible, and when it was implemented, it naturally fell to the Ministry of Railways.

In the Ministry of Railways, Stein was dumbfounded after receiving this special order.This job is not easy to do, and it is obvious that you have to be prepared to be scolded.

No matter how well-prepared the excuses are, the people in the future will still criticize the railway designers. Who will take the blame has become a difficult problem.

Chapter 52 Packaging Matters

The war is still going on, and Franz has already made a plan for the development of post-war Africa.At this point, the Anglo-Boer War has evolved into a confrontation between Britain and Austria.

In the entire changing international situation, the South African battlefield is only one part of it.Now that the world has been divided up, it is very difficult for everyone to continue to exercise restraint.

It is conceivable that colonial conflicts will continue in the future.This South African war is just a warm-up match, which can be regarded as exploring a new path for resolving international conflicts.

The theme of this world will be the law of the jungle, and the competition between the great powers is becoming increasingly fierce.The strong get more cakes and become stronger; the weak are squeezed, and the living space is further compressed.

South Africa, West Victoria.

The endless supply vehicles raised billowing gray balls, as if covering everything.The vehicle creaked forward, winding for tens of miles on the temporarily opened road.

Bathed in the morning light, throwing quilts on the carriage, shining red; rakes, shovels, and small wooden barrels are all standing upright, like sentry posts...

There are still busy people in the distance, clearing obstacles on the road.In this era, South Africa was vast and sparsely populated. There were only a few indigenous tribes along the way for hundreds of miles, and road traffic was almost non-existent.

The road they are taking now was built by the British to attack the Boer Republic, and many places along the way were destroyed.

For infantry marching, these difficulties can be overcome, but the baggage convoy cannot, and roads must be built first.

The original cannon fodder troops have now turned into laborers and are working hard.From time to time, there are overseers waving whips, urging them to speed up.

Viscount Fickney, who was moving with the large force, looked at the time and asked, "How long will it take for the convoy to arrive?"

Like most wars, the "Army of the Boer Republic" is now waiting for supplies.There is no way to go deep into the enemy's territory to fight, it must be a large army to open the way, followed by a convoy of supplies.

Because the forward advance was too fast, the logistics gradually couldn't keep up.

It was originally planned to transport materials through the river, but unfortunately it is now the summer flood period, and the British destroyed the river during their retreat, making water transportation a dream.

In this war, the greatest enemy is time.Viscount Fickney has already arrived in Worcester with his troops, not far from Cape Town, and he can approach the city in a maximum of two days.

The war has progressed to the present, and the British have abandoned the line of defense along the way and concentrated on the defense of Cape Town.

Cape Town is now heavily populated, and reinforcements from the British are still coming in a steady stream.If the war cannot be ended within a year, it means that this battle plan will go bankrupt.

The advantage of sea power is so great. John Bull relies on sea transportation for supplies, so supplies are not a problem at all.

Austria, on the other hand, relies on horse-drawn carts and ox carts to transport supplies, and the number of troops that can participate in this offensive and defensive battle is extremely limited.

If you can't make a time difference, and the war ends before the main force of the British army is assembled, the offensive and defensive momentum will change.

"The first batch of supplies will arrive tomorrow night; the second batch of supplies is expected to arrive in a week."

The one who answered the question was a young military officer, about twenty years old, with a sonorous and powerful voice, and he looked extraordinarily energetic with the military uniform, as if it was tailor-made for him.

After thinking about it in his heart, Viscount Fickney ordered: "Urge the logistics department again, and deliver the supplies as soon as possible at all costs.

Order the Second Engineer Regiment to dredge the river along the way as soon as possible.Allow them to recruit native laborers on the spot, don't care about the loss, I just want speed! "

Viscount Fickney is no longer a sophomore. The credit for conquering Cape Town is certainly attractive, but this war is not easy to fight.

If the previous war hadn't destroyed the morale of the British army, he would not have launched this summer offensive.

Now the British are concentrating their forces around the city of Cape Town, gathering an army of more than 1000 people on a land of more than [-] square kilometers in this area.

Most of them are white troops, and the cannon fodder troops are basically exhausted in the previous battles, and there is no time to replenish them.

In this respect, Governor Delphi is qualified.Although the city was lost, the main force was kept.

For Viscount Fickney, this is not a good thing.The enemy on the opposite side is a slippery old fritter, so he will not engage in a decisive battle with him at all.

The first to win in a war is not the winner, the last victor is the real winner.In order not to be overturned by the British, Viscount Fickney is also preparing for aftermath measures.

Dredging the river is one of the links, as long as the logistics transportation is guaranteed.Even if the British won the defense of Cape Town, they would at most keep the corner of the Cape of Good Hope.

If you want to counterattack back, first expand the British Army by two or three times!Otherwise, the pocket version of the army is not enough to fill this hole.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander."

As soon as the voice fell, a young officer got up, walked tens of meters away, picked up the phone and delivered the order.

That's right, phones are already in the military.Like many countries, the most advanced technology is usually used in the military first, and then appears in the civilian population.

Because of the war, the telephone was also brought into the army of the "Boer Republic".It's just that it appeared for too short a time, and it was only used as a short-distance information transmission tool, and the telegraph was still used for long-distance.

Communication within the headquarters has now been replaced by telephone.Originally, it was necessary for a messenger to go there, but now they are notified directly by phone.

After the sound of "Didididi...", the phone of the logistics department was connected, the young officer quickly conveyed the order, and then connected to the engineering headquarters...

After a short pause, an army staff officer suggested: "Your Excellency, this Cape Town offensive and defensive battle is not easy to fight. In order to reduce losses, I suggest recruiting as many cannon fodder troops as possible.

If the attack is blocked, just fill it up with human life.We can also learn from the experience of the Russians in attacking Constantinople. "

This is not the best way, but it is the most effective way.The heavy artillery Vienna government has long been prepared and is already on the way.

While using heavy artillery to attack the city, it is natural to take human lives.Don't look at everyone wearing the vest of the "Boer Republic" army, it is actually an Austrian army.

It is definitely impossible to fill up with these troops.Besides, there aren't enough of them.Even now, there are only more than 4 people.

Fortunately, the British army on the opposite side is not much better. It looks like a large number of people, but the actual number of regular troops is only [-] to [-].

The rest are either young men recruited temporarily, or colonial troops from various places, and the situation of making up numbers is very serious.

Coupled with the defeats all the way in the early stage, the consecutive defeats devastated the morale of the army, so they were suppressed by Austria.

Without any hesitation, Viscount Fickney issued an order: "Order the third division to go out and recruit all the young and strong from all the tribes that appear within their sight range, and those who violate it will be killed. Remember to collect another part of the grain, and try to reduce it as much as possible." Logistical pressure."

Ruthless and ruthless, this is a must for a colonist.Viscount Fickney didn't care about the consequences of this order, as long as he could win the war.

……