Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1030: Chapter 44, “Entrepreneur” VS “Parasite
 

Franz did not feel disappointed at failing to disrupt the British pace, as this had been within his expectations.

If the British would follow suit just by being prodded a little, then they wouldn’t be true to John Bull’s character. The navy might be a different story, but concerning army equipment, the British wouldn’t act rashly no matter how much they were stimulated.

It was like taking an exam. If you’re a perennial underachiever, whether the top student scores ninety or a hundred, you won’t feel much of a difference.

On the contrary, if you’re a top student, always leading the pack, and suddenly someone gets ahead of you, even if by just half a point, you would want to overtake them again.

The current situation was quite clear; the British were like the underachievers in terms of their army, but they were top students when it came to their navy.

No matter how impressive Franz’s parade was, as it displayed the might of the army, it would not cause the British Government to have an impulse to engage in an army arms race with the Holy Roman Empire.

Not only did the British lack such an intention, no country in the world had the courage to compete with the Holy Roman Empire in an army arms race at this time.

From the moment France began to decline, there had been a precipitous bifurcation in global army armaments.

The Holy Roman Empire shone unparalleled, far ahead of any would-be pursuers who couldn’t even catch a glimpse of its silhouette.

A competitor?

Unless the British changed their national policy and fully developed their army, perhaps they would be able to exert a smidge of pressure on Franz. As for other countries, every single one of them was inferior.

Just look at the Russians, who were second in rank, equipped entirely with Austria’s old gear, simply adopting whatever the Sacred Shinra Army had used after a few years.

The bureaucrats of the Tsarist Government had plenty of experience in this area. Every major overhaul of the Russian Army took place just as the Austrian army was retiring a lot of its weapons.

They could conveniently purchase second-hand equipment with the budget for new gear, pocketing the difference as profit; in this regard, there was a tacit understanding between the two sides.@@novelbin@@

The Austrian army would retire their weapon equipment a few years before the end of its service life, ensuring these second-hand goods could still be used for some time.

The bureaucrats made a killing, and the Russian soldiers benefited too. They finally got rid of the poorly made domestic products. Though second-hand, the performance of these was more reliable than the brand-new domestic equipment!

On one hand was the bulky and unreliable new equipment that could explode at any moment; on the other were second-hand items, 50 to 60 percent new, with stable performance and high safety. The choice was obvious.

Within the Tsarist Government, this was almost an open secret. Apart from the great His Majesty the Tsarist, everyone else, whether they were supposed to know or not, knew about it.

Even if someone wanted to burst this bubble, after considering the real situation, they ultimately chose to let it go.

It’s not that they were afraid of death, but rather it was out of consideration for the safety of the Russian soldiers. If capitalists and bureaucrats were not allowed to play this game of reselling, they would have to start skimming money directly from the production process.

After the maneuvering by these individuals, the already mediocre Russian military industry’s final products would be left to God’s grace to even function.

Keep in mind that before the reselling began, many of the Russian Army’s artillery shells had to be reworked on site to fit into the guns.

Now, look at the situation: the Russian Army was comprehensively mimicking the Austrian army, even down to the model of equipment. Unless someone was a professional, there would be no visible differences on the surface.

Even if the weapons appeared somewhat outdated, it could be argued it was due to intensified training leading to greater equipment wear and tear.

Whether or not others believed it, the great His Majesty the Tsarist did. He had inspected the barracks numerous times and never detected any issues with the military equipment.

As a result, in recent years, the Russian Army’s logistics department and military enterprises frequently received commendations from His Majesty the Tsarist.

Full nationalization of weapons and equipment was a significant achievement, even if the production lines had to be imported from the Holy Roman Empire.

In the original timeline, for this goal, the Tsarist Government struggled until its downfall without success. It was not until the overpowered Soviet Union came on the scene that this great aim was achieved.

And that was just the second rank; the third in line didn’t bear mentioning. Not to talk about the gap, but currently, the world’s third strongest army power was just not showing up.

And for no other reason than that they simply did not qualify.

Whether it was the declining Spanish Army or the miniature-sized army of Britannia, neither had any real connection to the term “army power”.

If judging purely by combat power, without considering bonus factors such as national strength and numbers, then Switzerland would undoubtedly take the prize.

But to rank Switzerland as the world’s third most potent army force would seem like a joke to most.

Eliminating Switzerland from the list, Belgium next had decent land combat strength. Undoubtedly, it also faced the same issue: “too small in scale” to carry the banner of a “powerful country”.

Looking further down, it seemed the Nordic Federation might have some strength, but there had been no commendable record of military success in recent decades. Their only notable appearance was Denmark’s.

Unfortunately, they had the bad luck of running into Prussia at its peak, and the result was a disastrous defeat. If that’s the level the Nordic Federation was at, clearly, they had no business being labeled a “strong army power”.

After surveying the European Continent, if one turned their gaze overseas, the sight became even less promising.

The United States and Confederate States, though slightly more formidable than the original timeline’s American soldiers due to their opposition to one another, were still limited in this “strength”.

In terms of both weapons and the quality of officers and soldiers, they lagged far behind the average level of the European world.

The rising Japanese Army had commendable fighting spirit, but its training and weapons lagged, and the qualifications of its officers did not make the grade.

“Unqualified” was Franz’s assessment.

For no other reason than the deep influence of Bushido. Such officers had too strong a subjective consciousness and lacked rational thinking skills.

The type of officers present would determine the kind of soldiers they led. Such an army was fine when bullying the weak; facing a formidable foe, however, this weakness became extremely deadly.

Take the European continent’s wars as an example. Due to a misguided belief, a French commander sent tens of thousands of French Soldiers to their graves under machine-gun fire.

“If it had been a divine general like Nogi Maresuke, the issue might not have been the tens of thousands of casualties, but rather whether the French Army would have tens of thousands left at all.”

“Of course, if the French Army was really that willing to sacrifice lives, the Allied Forces’ Rhine Defense line would definitely not have held until reinforcements arrived. Burning the heart of the Germany Region was also not a problem.”

“However, trying to pave a passage with the lives of millions of men would likely result in a mutiny of the French Army before the strategy could be completed.”

“Even without a mutiny, such early heavy casualties would make the rest of the war unmanageable.”

“After all, not every country has an infinite population to expend. With millions of soldiers perishing in a single battle, there would be no way to continue subsequent fights.”

“Such an officer would actually be best suited for the British Army and then take command of the Indian Colonial Army. As long as they could make the Indian Colonial Army fight desperately, they could pile up the vast majority of the enemy dead and become a ‘God of War’—it’s not a dream.”

“After a careful count, one finds that there aren’t enough numbers for a fight; where the numbers suffice, the combat effectiveness does not; those that have both numbers and combat effectiveness not only lack funds but also have hidden dangers in their command systems.”

“After the Russian-Austrian, there really aren’t any strong land powers left.”

“It doesn’t matter if competitors are that ‘considerate,’ or if it stimulates some countries to aspire and strive for strength; they would still need to complete industrialization first.”

“From the advent of airplanes and tanks, the era of military production has already reached version 3.0; without sufficient industrial support, even the best weapon designs cannot be realized.”

“…”

“Just as the political elites of the countries were being stimulated, a shocking scam began to spread from Vienna to all over the world.”

“Mr. Revilla, who had conned his first pot of gold, did not abscond with the funds. Instead, he redoubled his efforts to grow and strengthen his ‘grand strategic plan’.”

“Judging from the current situation, Revilla is an outstanding entrepreneur. His extensive knowledge, impressive speaking skills, high self-confidence, ‘noble’ ideals, down-to-earth approach… these are all excellent qualities.”

“No joke, Revilla, now intoxicated with himself, really has ‘noble ideals’.”

“He wasn’t just thinking about getting rich himself, he also planned to enrich investors with him, and to break the economic monopoly of the consortiums, to build a ‘utopian economic system’.”

“To achieve this goal, Revilla also sought like-minded individuals everywhere, forming a professional investment team while also developing a strict business investment plan.”

“After obtaining the investment, apart from providing loans to the Spanish Government and normal salaries, Revilla did not squander the funds extravagantly.”

“Instead, he went on a buying spree, first bottom-fishing 2.1% stakes in the Austrian power company, then purchasing 3.3% shares of the Austrian Auto Group, and after that acquiring 1.9% shares of the Suez Canal…”

“From an investment perspective, these are all quality assets, companies that can yield handsome returns. The commendation of being ‘down-to-earth’ is well-deserved.”

“As Revilla bought aggressively, he also significantly boosted the stock prices of these companies. From the data on paper, Revilla’s investment group had already realized a profit.”

“Mature business logic, professional financial statements, and most importantly, profitability right from the start.”

“The media had already placed the ‘business genius’ label on Revilla’s head, claiming he was the most gifted investor of the 19th century.”

“Now, to wherever he went, Revilla was the brightest kid. If he keeps succeeding, Revilla is a business genius.”

“Reality is so peculiar; the line between a swindler and a business genius is often a thin one, the difference being only whether one ‘succeeds’.”

“Illegal financing, concealing risks to deceive investors, these are minor issues.”

“Now is the 19th century, the darkest moment in the capital economy. Compared to peers who deliver ‘peanuts’ and ‘clay planes,’ the deceiving Revilla is simply a saint.”

“Just that the ‘saint’ Revilla now faced the biggest trouble since starting his business. When the forest is big, all kinds of birds are found, and the same is true when an investment group grows.”

“Since ancient times, wealth has stirred hearts; Revilla, the founder, didn’t abscond, but some of his underlings ran off first.”

“In these days without online payments, the raised investments were mostly in cash and checks. Few could resist the temptation of vast wealth.”

“Some tempted fellas started to get crooked ideas. They began by withholding a portion of the investment, not recording it in the books.”

“Without the internet, investors couldn’t check their accounts anytime, nor could Revilla establish contact with every investor. The worms’ first maneuvers were a resounding success.”

“However, such matters can be concealed only temporarily and would be exposed when problems with interest payments arose.”

“To avoid the fate of clanging in jail, these ‘worms’ decided to cut their losses and, taking advantage of their positions, absconded with the funds.”

“Once the worms were gone, the devastated investors refused to rest and demanded Revilla’s investment group continue to fulfill the contracts.”

“The contracts were clear on paper, beyond denial. Even if the absconding was individual behavior, it was the investment group that signed the contracts with investors.”

“Revilla, whether he liked it or not, had to shoulder this loss. If it were an isolated case, it might be tolerable, but such incidents of absconding were emerging one after another.”

“Regardless of improving treatment or strengthening supervision, similar incidents kept happening. If this problem couldn’t be solved, Revilla’s investment group would be dragged down sooner or later.”

“Reporting to the police was necessary, but sadly, it was too difficult to find people these days. Once they’ve left the country, the police were powerless.”

“Even though the Continental Alliance countries had signed ‘extradition treaties,’ you still need to find the person first.”

“Revilla: ‘Gentlemen, we have now come to a life-and-death moment for our existence. If we cannot put an end to similar absconding incidents, our investment group will sooner or later be destroyed by these scoundrels.”

“Today we must solve this trouble. For the future of our group, and for our own futures, I hope everyone will not hold back, but speak out their ideas boldly…'”

“…”