How terrible is a thousand-plane bombing?
Warsaw was already considered one of the largest cities in Europe, but after being bombed by thousands of planes, it turned into a ruin in less than a week.
It can be said that the Ming Empire Air Force was directly wiped off the map. The opponent did not even need to dispatch its army to achieve its tactical purpose.
Paris will definitely not be able to withstand the same encounter. Unless it sends thousands of high-performance fighter jets to intercept at one time, it will still not be able to escape the end of destruction.
It was not that Louis XIV had not considered establishing a bomber force with strategic bombing capabilities, but after hearing the related costs, he had no choice but to give up.
Even at the wholesale price, the purchase cost of a heavy bomber will not be less than 500,000 silver coins. Five hundred aircraft is equivalent to 250 million silver coins. With this money, you can purchase a battleship for the navy.
Battleships can serve for fifty years or even longer, but heavy bombers will certainly not serve that long.
According to the replacement rate of the Ming Empire's air force, a new aircraft would have to be replaced every ten years at most.
Doesn’t this mean that the average annual usage fee is as high as 25 million silver coins?
After calculating this cost, Louis XIV felt that he was suffering from high blood pressure...
France's annual military expenditure is only a small amount. Wouldn't it be crazy to spend so much money to support its bomber force?
The Thousand Planes Bombing was beautiful, spectacular, and extremely powerful, but it had to be exchanged for boxes of silver coins.
No money?
Then we can only stay at the idea stage!
So far, the only other air force in the world with strategic bombing capabilities is the Ottoman Air Force.
However, the size of its bomber force is far smaller than that of the Ming Empire, estimated to be only about 500.
The actual dispatch capacity will not exceed 300 aircraft, because it involves the issue of readiness rate.
Even so, the combat capability of the Ottoman Air Force has been ranked among the best.
Because of geographical features, for the Ottoman Empire, the role of forming a strategic air force was far greater than that of an aircraft carrier battle group.
The bomber force not only responds faster, but also can transport supplies to the target area in emergencies other than war.
Aircraft carriers can also do this job, but this thing can't go ashore. Bombers don't have this problem, even if
Another point is that there are many oil fields in the Ottoman Empire, and refineries are also blooming everywhere, making it very convenient and cheap for the Air Force to replenish fuel.
Excluding the factors of parts and components, fuel accounts for the majority of expenditures. This problem does not exist at all for the Ottoman Air Force.
When the pilot presses the accelerator, he just makes the kowtow machine on the ground kowtow twice...
If you have fuel, you will have confidence. According to relevant statistics, the flight time of Ottoman Air Force pilots has always ranked among the top three in the world.
The situation in the Inca Empire was just the opposite. However, many places in its inland areas had inconvenient transportation. Considering this problem, Emperor Poirot had also begun to form a strategic bomber force.
As long as there is no shortage of money, no matter how high the price of the toy is, the seller will be happy to purchase it, as long as it does not turn it into a fast-moving consumer goods.
France's financial income itself was lower than that of the Inca and Ottomans. Louis XIV also required the comprehensive development of the navy, land and air force.
This resulted in the three armed forces being unable to achieve their small and perfect goals. The Navy was unable to continue to purchase large aircraft carriers, the Air Force was unable to purchase additional bombers on a large scale, and the Army was unable to replace heavy tanks in large numbers.
The commanders-in-chief of the three armed forces may quarrel over how to allocate military expenditures, but their attitudes towards the purchase of high-tech weapons, especially expensive items, are surprisingly consistent.
Obviously, the higher the price of weapons, the more powerful they are, so much so that Kolbe gave the increasing military expenditures a nickname, "the disaster of the Ministry of Finance"!
According to Colbert, if France was not involved in a large-scale war, the military would not need to purchase so many new weapons. It would only need to maintain its leading position in weapons research and development.
Instead of increasing military spending, it is better to use this part of the funds to develop the economy and increase financial revenue during peacetime. The best way is to have a surplus in the national treasury.
Even now, with the surplus in the French treasury, it is unable to participate in a large-scale war, let alone face an armed conflict with the Ming Empire.
Going to war with your biggest creditor…
Kolbe didn’t even want to make any comments about this!
In front of His Majesty the European Emperor, Kolbe has stated that if such a day comes, he will choose to resign directly from his current position.
The reason is that his ability is limited and he really cannot raise the funds to make France invincible.
If the war France participated in was a loser because of funding problems, why get involved?
The larger the scale of the war, the less money. Even when Richelieu was Prime Minister, he was cautious about participating in the European War.
Both Richelieu and his successor Mazarin knew very well that if France really wanted to enter the war, it had to be the victor.
They have no interest in becoming losers, let alone paying for this war!
How to become a winner?
Very simple yet very difficult!
The premise is that the strength of the enemy's main force has been severely weakened, and the strength of its allies is simply unable to reverse the situation of the war.
A hundred years ago, this was the situation between the two major camps in Europe, so France entered the war.
Nowadays, the strength of the Ming Empire is increasing day by day, although it has experienced wars with Tsarist Russia, Poland, Denmark, and the Holy Roman Empire.
However, the strength has not been significantly compromised, and the strength of its allies is also extraordinary, and it is definitely a military force that cannot be ignored.
Colbert believed that the Ming Empire's advantage over France today was much greater than France's advantage over the Holy Roman Empire a hundred years ago.
At that time, France was equivalent to the Holy Roman Empire. The latter was a European war caused by civil strife, and France was reaping the benefits.
The comprehensive national power of the Ming Empire is now more than six times that of France, and approximately equal to the power of two European countries.
If the two sides fight head-to-head, France has no chance of winning.
If both sides add allies, the French camp's chances of winning are still very slim.
Unless the Ming Empire is willing to challenge European countries alone, this possibility is slim.
The Ming Emperor's best trick is to use his allies to consume the enemy's strength, and then let himself grab the fruits of victory...
Although the gameplay is a bit rogue, this trick is really easy to use, and it has been tried and tested repeatedly. It has reaped huge benefits for the Ming Empire and made even His Majesty the European Emperor envious.
Regarding the relationship between the two countries, Kolbe was not considered pro-Ming, but he was willing to continue to maintain friendly exchanges with the Ming Empire based on the premise of mutual benefit.
Even if the relationship between the two countries turned cold, it would not lead to a war with the Ming Empire because Rome occupied the territory of the Kingdom of Naples. This was almost the worst option.
The penultimate choice is France to challenge the Ming Empire and its allies. His Majesty the European Emperor should not be too old to do so.
The best option is for the Ming Empire to challenge European countries, but the emperor of the Ming Empire will definitely not agree.
The most likely thing to happen is that the two camps go to war. This is the most powerful situation for France in the event of a war.
At this moment, shocking news came from the Eastern world...
In 1739, that is, next year, the Ming Empire will launch at least eighteen battleships, eight large aircraft carriers, ten amphibious assault ships, and several other ships.
For His Majesty the Ou Emperor, this is like a bolt from the blue. Even if half of it is taken away by the allies of the Ming Empire, the remaining half will greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming Empire's navy after entering service.
According to the procedures of the Ming Empire Shipyard, after the hull is partially completed, the remaining installation work will also be completed in the dock. In other words, once the warship is launched, it can be ready for sea trials.
According to time estimates, these battleships could officially join the Ming Empire's navy before 1740. If the situation was urgent, the sea trial time could be shortened.
Now the balance of power between the two sides has changed again. It turns out that the European combined fleet is fighting on the mainland and can barely match the Ming Empire's navy.
After these warships enter service, I'm afraid "reluctantly" will become "very reluctantly"!
During the same period, the French Navy and the Dutch Navy could only serve one battleship and one aircraft carrier. The Swedish Navy had no plans to build capital ships at all, and the Prussian Navy's capital ships relied entirely on gifts from the Ming Empire...
Around 1740, the number of battleships between the Ming Empire and the European Combined Fleet was 29-17, and the number of aircraft carriers was 25-6!
From the battleship perspective, the number of aircraft carriers was unbearable.
This is just a conservative estimate. It would not be surprising if the number of battleships maintained by the Ming Empire Navy reached twice that of the European Combined Fleet.
Moreover, the opponent also has a quality advantage. Its battleships are younger, have larger main guns, faster speeds, higher endurance, and their overall performance is much higher than that of European battleships.
Taking into account quality factors, the Naval Staff estimates that the total combat strength comparison between the two sides can be widened to 50-17, which is almost three times that of our own side. Unfortunately, no one is willing to admit this fact...
Who would have thought that this would happen because of Rome?
Now even if the previous shipbuilding and purchase plan is implemented, it is impossible to complete something like a battleship within one or two years.
The problem is that the Ming Empire's latest batch of battleships will really be completed within a year or two, which will catch the French Navy off guard.
Louis X was not prepared to go to war with the Ming Empire for Rome, and the French navy was even less prepared.
The fruits of decades of hard work were wiped out by former allies in just a few months or even weeks.
There is no doubt that this is equivalent to the French Navy's Judgment Day!
The French Navy has also designated a grand shipbuilding plan. The ideal plan is similar to the Ming Empire. The construction time of each batch is eight years, which is used to build eight capital ships, which is equivalent to one ship per year.
However, the actual financial situation makes it impossible for this shipbuilding plan to be implemented forever. Procuring a battleship every three years is already a mercy from His Majesty the European Emperor...
Of course Louis XIV was willing to purchase giant ships for the navy. Such weapons would give him a special sense of accomplishment and reflect France's strong national power.
However, as the tonnage of new battleships has skyrocketed, their construction costs have become higher and higher. The preferential price for purchasing seventh-level battleships is as high as 350 million silver coins.
Even if the same type of battleship is built in a local shipyard and the expenditures in all aspects are greatly reduced, the cost will not be less than 200 million silver coins.
Being able to add one capital ship to the navy every five years is considered the limit of financial capabilities.
When he thought about this matter, Louis XIV envied the Ming Empire's financial resources and shipbuilding capabilities.
Now there is an opportunity to obtain the natural resources of the Ming Empire and more than half of the shipyards by exchanging land, which of course makes Louis XIV very happy.
However, due to the problems in Rome and the conflict with the Ming Empire, the land exchange could not proceed smoothly, which made Louis XIV very unhappy.
The old friend's attitude towards himself is clear and tactful. No matter which country participates in the land exchange, as long as the interests of the Ming Empire are harmed because of this matter, the land exchange can only be suspended.
It saved face for Louis XIV and did not name him by name, but it was obvious that he was talking about France. A country like Prussia, which was almost on the edge, would not offend the Ming Empire for the sake of Rome.
On the one hand, there is Rome, and on the other hand, it is land exchange. The latter can bring huge benefits to France, and it can also increase France's national power to an unprecedented level.
Louis XIV could still tell what was light and what was serious.
In response to Rome's request for continued support, Louis XIV, like other European countries, provided free assistance to a batch of second-hand weapons.
If you want love, don’t pull it down!
It doesn’t make sense to be picky about what is free.
It was impossible to send troops to support, not even French mercenaries.
Once captured by the Ming army on the battlefield, it would be equivalent to giving the old friend an excuse to suspend the land exchange.
What's more, the Ming army has always had strong firepower. Whether it was a regular army or a mercenary, fighting in the past was like going to death.
It doesn't matter if you die, why don't you let me pay you the pension?
Since his financial situation had never been comfortable, Louis XIV had always been cautious about anything involving spending money.
If pensions had to be paid to tens of thousands of military dependents, Louis XIV would simply not agree to such a thing.
He can be sure that as long as his old friend is willing, his army can cause him millions of silver coins in losses in one day!
Aren't millions of silver coins money?
With this money, you can purchase a bunch of heavy tanks!
What Rome is doing now is more and more like Leopold and his sons back then.
You know you can't do something, but you insist on doing it. Is the land of the Kingdom of Naples rich in gold?
On the contrary, when my own army was stationed there, I didn't notice such a good thing at all!
If Rome really went to war with the Ming Empire, it would mean there was another madman in Europe!
First it was Tsar Alexei I, then Sobieski, Augusta, Leopold, Christian VI!
I really don’t know when Europe started to be full of fools?
If these people were not stupid, today's European countries would be able to compete with the Ming Empire if they unite.
It's a pity that they followed each other one after another, and it was the most retarded fueling tactic, so they didn't do it all together.
Thinking of this, Louis XIV felt both regretful and helpless...
Without the help of allies, he would not fight with his old friends for Rome.
Louis XIV wanted to seize world hegemony more than once, but he certainly would not use this method that was similar to dying together.
Perhaps France has been destroyed, but the Ming Empire has not yet been damaged!
