Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 310:

Chapter 310: Chapter 59, Gatling

In 1859, the British occupied Queensland, and the entire Australia fell under British colonial rule.

Watching helplessly as the British took over the Gold Coast, Franz could only sigh with longing. For Austria, Australia was simply too far away; they did not have the capability to compete for it.

The only power in the world capable of contending with the British for Australia was France, and clearly Napoleon III had no interest in the penal continent.

The French were not idle, continually intensifying their infiltration of the Kingdom of Sardinia, with most of the regions bordering France already under the control of the French Army.

The number of peacekeeping forces was limited, and the troops promised by the various countries were not delivered on time; they only managed to control the Turin region.

In the face of French infiltration, other than the British leading a group of followers to call for attention, the Russians, who were out of reach, became onlookers, while the Austrians, busy catching criminals, turned a blind eye to the actions of the French Army.

The London Government was livid with anger, but they were unfortunately too preoccupied with suppressing the rebellion in India to intervene further.

True, the French government was pro-British, but that was under the premise of no conflicting interests. The Kingdom of Sardinia was a juicy morsel and with hardly any risk involved.

Opportunities for territorial expansion on the European Continent were too rare, and if missed, Napoleon III might not encounter another in his lifetime.

As for offending the British, with England and France being century-old adversaries, what did they have to fear from adding another tally?

They were only nibbling away for now, not swallowing Sardinia whole, which could be seen as leaving some face for the British.

While expanding in Europe, the French also stepped up their expansion on the African Continent, such as the invasions of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and other regions.

At the end of 1859, Spain, unwilling to decline, sent fifty thousand troops to invade Morocco, advancing near Tangier and coercing its surrender; under British mediation, the two countries signed the Tetouan Treaty.

Compared to others, Austria’s behavior was quite tame that year, though the expansion of its colonies did proceed normally, without any major military actions.

The most notable move was probably the massive emigration to the American countries.

It’s worth mentioning that within that year, Franz held three national funerals, two of which were of the highest order.

First, Marshal Radetzky passed away, followed by Metternich, and then Field Marshal Julius went to meet his maker.

The funeral for Marshal Radetzky caused little issue as he was respected and esteemed, and no one opposed a state funeral for him.

Metternich’s political career was marred by the 1848 Vienna uprising and after many years in power, he had made quite a few enemies.

While he was alive, these people dared not stir trouble, but upon his death, many jumped out, finding a host of reasons why he did not deserve the highest order of a state funeral.

Without a doubt, these minor disturbances had no impact on Franz’s resolution; he sternly quelled the dissenting voices.

No matter how the government publicized, Field Marshal Julius’s reputation as a butcher could not be washed away; his relentless slaughter of the rebels during their suppression made him more enemies.

After the announcement of his state funeral, protests and marches even broke out. Undoubtedly, these people had mistaken the concept and ended up in prison for reflection.

Providing Field Marshal Julius with high honors was a message from Franz to everyone: as long as you work for him, even if you end up notorious, he, the Emperor, would still stand by you.

Under such circumstances, the fools who stepped forward to cause trouble naturally met with misfortune.

Illegal collusion, assembly causing disturbance, disrupting public order, endangering public safety…

The accumulation of these charges was enough to reflect in prison for a dozen years. With current conditions, over ninety percent of people cannot survive ten years in prison.

Those who followed the crowd also faced criticism and education, fines, and for severe cases, imprisonment.

Those who received money or goods from others and were hired to participate in marches faced hefty fines and a prison term of more than a year.

Indeed, even marches involve transactions of interest. Many marches, due to the lack of sufficient participants, result in organizers hiring common people to join.

Franz cracked down harshly on this behavior.

He directly made legal provisions punishing such acts with a fine a thousand times the illicit profit and, depending on the severity, a minimum of one year of labor reform.

Organizations or individuals who paid for participants faced a tenfold increase in penalties on that basis.

In order to combat political manipulation by syndicates, Franz also went to great lengths, adding targeted legislation frequently.

During this crackdown period, criminals of lesser offenses were usually exiled. Serious offenders with sentences of over three years were all sent to join the Road Repair Army to serve their time.

In times of strict enforcement, the penalties were this harsh. If you were caught up in it, it was just your bad luck. Who asked you to cause trouble at this time?

Although the constitution had not yet been promulgated, everyone already knew that any organization or individual with a criminal record was stripped of their political rights.

In fighting his enemies, Franz showed no mercy. In this rapidly changing era, he seriously doubted whether Austria could withstand the shocks without establishing strict order.

…

Maid Jenny spoke softly, “Your Majesty, the armory has sent over another machine gun sample for your review.”

Franz replied calmly, “Very well, arrange a test firing for tomorrow.”

The machine gun had already appeared by 1851; the Belgian engineer Gatling had designed the world’s first machine gun, but unfortunately, it had very limited practical value.

The advent of the Gatling gun immediately caught Franz’s attention, prompting him to order the armory to research and improve it.

After several iterations, they had gone through four or five generations of updates. Designers, with their boundless creativity, came up with over thirty different models of machine guns.

Yet, none of these pleased Franz. It wasn’t that his standards were high; it was simply that these guns were terribly unreliable.

A machine gun that jammed when moved, how could that be used? A machine gun that weighed one and a half tons, who could carry it? A machine gun costing tens of thousands of Divine Shield, who could afford it?

In short, not one met Franz’s expectation of good quality at a low price. These machine guns were barely adequate for defense because they lacked enough maneuverability and could only shoot in a fixed direction.

New technology development is like this, with no benchmarks to follow, one must grope their way forward. The Maxim gun that Franz envisioned was nowhere in sight.

The Gatling gun was nearly fully modified, having undergone practical testing in the African Colony and barely met combat requirements.

It hadn’t been equipped in the army mainly because no countries’ land forces were armed with machine guns, and in these times of peace, there was no rush.

Franz still wanted to wait to see if any better-performing machine guns would surface. As it stood, even the lightest machine gun weighed several hundred pounds and had to be transported by vehicle.

The cost of rearmament for the military is very high; the reason many nations’ weaponry is outdated isn’t due to government officials’ ignorance, but because they simply can’t afford to update.

In this era, the turnover for weapons and equipment was incredibly rapid; newly issued arms could become outdated in just a few years.

If luck was poor, it’s possible that just as new replacement gear was issued, even more advanced equipment would emerge.

So what should be done?

If you don’t upgrade, you fall behind. If you upgrade again, the finances can’t cope.

Besides, even if you do upgrade, who can guarantee that even more advanced weapons won’t appear later?

In such situations, it’s a test of everyone’s judgment.