Chapter 767 - 351: Monarch-class Battleship (3)

Currently, the Spanish Government’s annual total revenue is only 1.3211 billion Pessetas, roughly equivalent to 52.84 million Pounds.

This also means that the United Kingdom’s investment in the Boer War is equivalent to about five years of Spain’s total fiscal revenue.

At present, the Pesseta and the franc are equivalent. In other words, the British military expenditure for the Boer War exceeds the 5 billion franc indemnity France paid after losing the Franco-Prussian War.

This is also why Carlo believes the Boer War is a good opportunity for Spain to annex Portugal and Morocco, because the British are entirely focused on Southern Africa, and they are powerless to act on what happens on the Iberian Peninsula and in Northern Africa.

At the peak stage of the war, the British Government’s monthly military expenditure reached as high as 16 million Pounds. Besides the ammunition supply consumption on the front lines, the primary reason for such a huge military expenditure was the production and transportation of materials and maintenance of the army.

According to some records from that time, just to transport weapons to the British forces at the front lines, Britain used at least 350,000 horses, 100,000 mules, and 1,027 ships, with a total transport volume reaching 1.34 million tons.

The United Kingdom mobilized over 450,000 troops for this war, with the total number of troops surpassing the entire Boer population.

The total number of Boers participating in the war was less than 90,000, including militia and foreign volunteers.

Despite having over five times the military strength, the British still fought this war for two and a half years and suffered over 70,000 casualties.

In contrast, Boer casualties were only around 5,000, and adding the 15,000 civilians who died at the hands of the British troops, the total casualties were just 20,000.

From these figures and records, one can see a significant issue, which is the extremely poor performance of the British in the Boer War.

The British Army had not experienced a large-scale conventional war for a long time, and their tactical thinking was extremely rigid, with frequent issues in colonial management.

If it weren’t for the wealthy Indian Colony providing vast riches to the British Empire, just the military expenditure of 200 million Pounds would have been enough to cripple the British Government’s finances.

It is precisely because of the poor performance of the United Kingdom in the Boer War that Carlo is confident in opposing the British.

As long as the Boer War erupts, Spain will inevitably launch a war against Morocco. By then, even if the United Kingdom declares war on Spain for Morocco, Carlo would remain uneffaced.

The initial poor performance of the United Kingdom in the Boer War suggests that if they engage in a two-front war, they will eventually suffer the bitter fruits of defeat.

The resilience of the Boers in the war was not only due to the crucial role of their guerrilla tactics but also because of the support from other European countries.

Even though the United Kingdom is the most powerful country in the world, it has also made innumerable enemies due to its strength.

France, Russia, and even Germany might make trouble for the British during the Boer War. To Spain, a United Kingdom entangled and encumbered is not much trouble.

Concerning the design of the warship, although thicker armor could significantly enhance a warship’s defensive capabilities, it would also increase the construction costs of the warship.

After a long discussion of half a month, the warship design committee eventually followed the Navy’s requirements, reducing the thickness of the main armored belt from 460mm to 457mm, the thickness of the upward extended parts from 137mm to 102mm, and the thickness of the citadel armor from 356mm to 305mm.

Even though the armor thickness was reduced, the overall armor defensive capability is still significantly ahead of Spain’s two-class Ironclads.

The entire battleship has a final length of 123 meters, a width of 22.4 meters, an average draft of 8.2 meters, and a maximum draft reaching 8.95 meters.

The estimated standard displacement is 12,300 tons, and the full load displacement is 13,500 tons, making it the largest tonnage warship designed by Spain.

When the warship design committee submitted the revised warship design to the Navy, after a meeting discussion, the Navy finally confirmed that the warship met its requirements.

Although it did not meet the speed requirements, considering the current technological limitations, the level achieved was already quite good.

Spain is unlikely to only have this one battleship design in the future, and there is no need to pursue perfection at the early stages of battleship development.

Almost all countries’ battleship designs progress incrementally, and it is not too late to pursue an 18-knot speed in the next generation of battleships.

After the warship design met the Navy’s requirements, the new battleship design was soon given a name.

The "Monarch-class" battleship is the official name of this warship design, and the five Monarch-class battleships to be constructed over the next five years will be named after the greatest five monarchs in Spanish history.

The naming of these five latest battleships is as follows: Ferdinand II, Isabella I, Carlos I, Philip II, and Carlos I.

Yes, Carlo is also honored to be ranked among them, becoming one of the greatest five monarchs in Spanish history.

The other four are also famous figures. Ferdinand II and Isabella I are known as the Iberian dual monarchs. Their marriage united the Kingdom of Castile and the Aragon Kingdom, ushering in the history of Spanish unification.

Carlos I, or Charles V, was the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. During his reign, Spain’s domain spanned Europe and America, successfully establishing the world’s first Sun Never Sets Empire.

As for Philip II, he was the son of Carlos I, and his reign, along with his father’s, was the most prosperous period of Spain, also the era of the Invincible Fleet ruling the Atlantic Ocean.

Furthermore, during Philip II’s reign, he annexed Portugal, making Spain the only country on the Iberian Peninsula at that time.

As for Carlo ranking fifth, it was somewhat due to the military’s flattery factor.

However, speaking of it, Spanish history indeed lacks many monarchs with great talent and strategy. Spain has only existed for over 400 years, and aside from the Iberian dual monarchs as the founders of the kingdom, only the early Habsburg Dynasty and Bourbon Dynasty can be discussed.

However, the Bourbon Dynasty in Spain is now akin to a rat crossing the street. Even though the Bourbon Dynasty had a few somewhat commendable kings, they would not be considered in a top five monarch ranking.

At most, they could aim for the top ten rankings. After all, the Bourbon Dynasty had Ferdinand VII and Isabella II, two dim-witted monarchs.

They not only lost the throne but also threw the country into decay and chaos, so naturally, the Spaniards could not have a favorable view of the Bourbon Dynasty.

Once the naming of the five Monarch-class battleships was decided, the next step was to arrange the construction of the warships.

The construction of the warships will take place primarily at the two major shipyards, the Royal Guanizuo Shipyard and the Valencia United Shipyard.

The reason for using only these two major shipyards for the construction of battleships is that the remaining two shipyards need to be used to construct 7,000-ton class cruisers.

Building 15 warships in five years, even if 10 of them are 7,000-ton class medium warships, is quite a challenging task for Spain.

But as long as this five-year shipbuilding plan is completed, Spain’s naval power will firmly stabilize among the top four in the world. The era of battleships is the critical period for Spain’s naval strength to catch up with the other great powers, and Carlo certainly will not be stingy with the naval expenditure.

The reason for only issuing a five-year shipbuilding plan is that, after five years, the design level of warships in various countries will almost need to be updated and replaced.

By then, when Spain designs its next generation of battleships, it won’t be too late to plan a further shipbuilding program.