My Italy

The spring of 1887 was still a season of recovery, and the warm weather allowed the Italian people to have a very good New Year.

Well, there is no winter to speak of in the warm Yaping Peninsula. The lowest winter temperature is only 3-10 degrees Celsius, which is not cold at all.

However, Italy has still entered a new year, and there is a new atmosphere in the new year. As a new atmosphere for the navy, three new battleships have been laid down at the Venice Naval Shipyard and the Andosare Shipyard, and construction work has begun. .

The new battleship has been temporarily designated as the internal number H, and the specific ship number still needs to be determined internally by the Navy. However, this class of battleships can be regarded as a huge breakthrough in the history of battleships. Four 356mm 35x first-level main guns and 12 152mm second-level main guns build its unparalleled firepower.

Powered by two 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, it has a maximum output of 17,000 horsepower, which allows it to have a maximum speed of 18.6 knots. At the same time, the huge coal-fired reserve design allows it to have a huge range of 4520 nautical miles/12 knots.

Coupled with a main armor of up to 400 mm made of nickel-chromium steel, it reaches a standard displacement of 14,900 tons and a huge steel beast with a full load of 16,080 tons.

Such a sea beast that can resist, fight and run can be said to be the one that can crush the entire field. Of course, excellent performance also requires funds to back it up. The construction cost is 26.2 million lire, but it is said to be the most expensive warship under construction in the world, and there is nothing higher than it.

These three battleships also emptied the navy's pockets, but Admiral Golec, as the Minister of the Navy, was very satisfied with this because it was the pride of the Italian Navy. He would come to the two major shipyards every now and then to see the construction work of these three steel behemoths, which made the shipbuilders of the two major shipyards familiar with him.

One more thing needs to be said here. For this order of three new warships, the Venice Naval Shipyard will be responsible for one ship, and the Androsal Shipyard will be responsible for two ships.

As the more technologically advanced Venetian naval shipyard, build only one?

Yes, that’s right, that’s it!

So there won’t be any commotion at the Venetian Naval Shipyard?

At any other time, it would have been a riot, but at this time, the Venice Naval Shipyard could only endure it silently, because they hired Vittorio Cuniberti, a talented designer from the Andosare Shipyard, to their shipyard. Naturally, the Venetian Shipyard, which was in the wrong, would not say anything at this time. On the contrary, the entire Andoshar Shipyard was extremely angry.

You must know that when Vittorio Cuniberti told Bryn that he was going to the Venice Shipyard, Bryn was so angry that he picked up his pistol and prepared to fight with Bryn who was poaching him.

Of course, this matter is also an earth-shaking event for Italian ship designers. After Vittorio Cuniberti went to the Venice Shipyard, other shipyards paid close attention to their own designers, especially young and talented designers, who were the key targets of care.

And these are not all things about the Navy. Another thing is that the currently inconspicuous Marine Corps has been organized into a brigade. At that time, it was just barely visible. However, under unknown pressure, the Navy began to eagerly prepare for the second The preparations for the brigade are expected to begin in the second half of the year. The establishment of the second brigade will then only need to add some ancillary units such as artillery, engineers, logistics, cavalry, etc., then a division of Marines can be said to have begun to take shape.

Of course, this is a matter of the next two years. Currently, for the navy, new warships are still the top priority. Of course, in addition to the navy, Italy also has an army. Last year, the army was most concerned about the development of new rifles. Of course, in addition to rifles, after the introduction of artillery technology from Krupp, the army also needed to wait for new artillery. Artillery and rifles, two weapons related to the army's combat effectiveness, are both under development.

Of course, in addition to the navy and army, the Italian industry is also developing very well. Due to the demonstration effect of eating crabs first, Italy's electricity application is currently very tight because there are too many factories that want to switch to electricity. This has forced the State Grid Corporation to make two expansion plans within a year. The most exaggerated one is from Milan. Currently, Milan’s thermal power plant has proposed three expansion plans. It gets more radical each time, all caused by the lack of electricity.

Of course, the lack of electricity can also be seen in the promotion effect of electricity on industry.

One more thing, during the year-end statistics, it was discovered for the first time that Italy’s imports of industrial products from Germany experienced negative growth. This is a miracle!

You must know that since Italy and Germany opened their markets to each other, Italy's domestic industry has been losing ground. If Carlo hadn't opened the markets in the Far East and Southeast Asia to give them a breather, Italy's industrial products would hardly have been able to turn around.

Of course, as Italy begins to use electricity on a large scale, other countries will not turn a blind eye and will inevitably follow suit. This will also be a test for Italian industry.

Of course, if other European countries want to launch electricity, they must use the alternating current system developed by Tesla. Although there are also direct current options, who will build a power station every one kilometer? The cost is too high.

Of course, as the helm of Italy, Carlo also supports the purchase of AC motors and generator sets from other countries. This is not because Carlo is jealous of money, but because Carlo cannot refuse this stuff. Because under the free economic model, basically everything that is not a weapon is sold.

Italy needs various external equipment and facilities more than other countries. If Italy does not sell AC equipment, then other countries can completely follow suit and also not sell the equipment Italy needs, which will harm Italy even more.

Moreover, although the research and development of the AC system is difficult, others can understand it once they see the finished product. Although a patent has been applied for, if Italy sets up obstacles on its own, it cannot blame others for not following the rules.

No one in each country is a fool. If you can do the first grade of junior high school, I can do the fifteenth grade. If there are many rules that do not convince all parties, then it is best not to be careful. This will make you the one who will be hurt the most. As the weakest among the great powers, Italy is of course the beneficiary who needs to maintain this rule.

In addition, the twelve-hour shift system has quietly emerged in various factories that use electricity. Workers are divided into two shifts and take turns to work.

The inventor of this system, Bernic, who came from Palermo, has become famous in the country. Some people call him a very creative manager, while others think it is not worth mentioning. Of course, as a qualified capitalist, the twelve-hour shift system is gradually spreading in Italian factories. Of course, this is also one of the important reasons for Italy's power shortage.

Of course, in addition to the twelve-hour shift system, there are also three eight-hour shifts. However, such factories basically appear in companies such as Italian National Grid Corporation, Westinghouse Electric Company, and other companies invested by the government or Carlo. The number is relatively small.

Of course, no matter what, Italy's industrialization is accelerating.