Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1010

1010. The Name of Kindling is an Arms Race (3)

-A large ironclad warship equipped with a steam engine.

Naval experts insisted that it was essential for testing new cannons in the navy, but the higher-ups didn’t immediately approve the expenditure.

No, they couldn’t.

“How much money has been spent on building new warships so far…”

* * *

As the Imperial Navy became fully active in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, and as ‘Terra’ [a newly discovered landmass, analogous to the Americas] was discovered, the European powers also engaged in a full-scale naval arms race. In particular, after witnessing the Imperial Navy dominating the seas, the European powers actively introduced new concepts into their own warships.

-It should be able to utilize the Colonel’s cannon.

-It should secure rapid mobility.

To satisfy these requirements, the attention of European shipbuilding experts was focused on Suez, specifically the shipyard at Prince Henrique Port.

This was because the Imperial Fleet’s ships stationed in the Mediterranean were being built there. The Imperial ships built at Prince Henrique Port lacked core designs such as the Imperial Army’s unique double hull, but their overall performance was still superior to the warships of the European powers.

As a result, the European powers designed and experimented with warships that had similar hull shapes. After several trials and errors, a stable design was completed, and the powers, especially England and France, began to mass-produce new ships competitively in order to seize control of the sea routes bypassing Africa to Terra.

Before long, Portugal and Spain also jumped into this competition in earnest. Thanks to the shared basic design, the powers’ ships, which looked similar but had subtle differences, roamed the eastern Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

As a natural consequence, the ship directory created for identification purposes became increasingly thicker.

* * *

Because of this background, the higher-ups of the European powers were unable to easily give the ‘Go’ sign. This was because they had not yet properly recovered the costs incurred in developing and mass-producing new warships.

This was even more serious for France and Spain. They had lost a large number of ships in the Corsica naval battle and the subsequent Imperial Navy’s hunt, and they were once again entering mass production to recover their losses.

However, the other powers were not properly aware of this. France and Spain were diligently carrying out deception operations to prevent the other powers from recognizing their situation. They changed the nameplates of the ships and replaced the captains and crew to make the damage they suffered appear smaller than it actually was. In addition, they strictly controlled those involved to prevent the truth from leaking out.

In the case of Spain, even while allying with England, they never revealed the extent of the damage they and France had suffered. However, the higher-ups of the powers eventually had no choice but to request the development of new warships from their monarchs.

“If we fall behind here, even more terrible things will happen.”

England couldn’t help but be conscious of France, and France couldn’t help but be conscious of England. The situation was the same for Spain and Portugal.

And on the sea routes passing through the Atlantic to Gloria [likely a reference to a resource-rich territory or colony], everyone except their own ships was an enemy. Because of this mutually entangled relationship, the powers had no choice but to start developing new warships. The monarchs of the powers, after seeing the reports submitted by their prime ministers, let out a long sigh.

“Hoo~. It’s an unavoidable expenditure, but it stings.”

“We will do our best to succeed as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll be expecting it.”

However, among the politicians and intellectuals of the European powers, no one anticipated that this would lead to a quagmire. Only the Imperials, who had already experienced it and were still suffering from it, knew.

Among the Imperial staff who confirmed the intelligence, these words began to circulate.

“When will those guys’ legs be torn apart?”

* * *

“We said it, but…”

The shipbuilding experts of the European powers, who were in charge of developing new warships, also had headaches.

The idea of a ‘large ironclad warship equipped with a steam engine’ was not simply about increasing the size of the ship, adding a steam engine, and covering it with iron armor. They had to rethink the shape of the hull and the skeletal design from the beginning.

“There’s no choice.”

In the end, the shipbuilding experts of the powers had to use the Imperial Assault Warship as a reference. However, the Assault Warships stationed at the Livorno naval port were top secret. The shipbuilding experts of the powers sought out the higher-ups and suggested a workaround.

“Please obtain paintings depicting the Corsica naval battle at the time.”

“Paintings? Why?”

“Because of the Assault Warships.”

“…I understand.”

As a chain reaction, the prices of paintings depicting the time skyrocketed, and some painters became rich overnight. Although the accuracy of the proportions could not be determined, the engineers of the powers, who at least learned what the shape of the hull looked like, began to design the hull skeleton and various other things based on this.

“We’ve overcome the biggest hurdle. We’ve built large ships before, so the rest will be smooth sailing.”

The experts were optimistic about the future, but before long, they faced a huge wall.

-Technological level inferior to the Empire.

A wall that could not be easily overcome stood in their way. The first thing that blocked them was the poor quality of ‘iron’.

This reduced the output and efficiency of the steam engine, and to solve this, the size had to be increased. As the size of the steam engine increased and its efficiency decreased, the size of the hull had to be further increased, and to cope with this hull, the skeletons had to be made stronger. Then the weight of the hull would increase, and a more powerful steam engine would be required. If that happened…

In the end, a never-ending cycle of viciousness was created. After much deliberation, the shipbuilding experts of the powers had no choice but to come up with a compromise. The compromise they came up with was a ‘motor-sail ship’ [a ship that uses both a steam engine and sails for propulsion].

“Let’s put up sails as we’ve always done. Let’s use the steam engine only when a battle breaks out, when we encounter tailwinds, or when we need high speed.”

“That’s the best we can do right now.”

The shipbuilding experts, who were designing with the motor-sail ship as the basis, soon tilted their heads.

“It feels familiar for some reason?”

“I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere… where was it?”

The experts of the powers, who were groping for their memories, soon put their hands on their foreheads.

“Black Whale…..”

“We were supposed to build a battleship, but a transport ship came out…..”

The shipbuilding experts, tormented by self-loathing, soon felt a chill down their spines.

“The Imperial bastards have already gone down this road? How far ahead are they?”

“The Imperial bastards must be designing new warships too……”

“It’s a nightmare.”

The shipbuilding experts, who had grasped the situation up to this point, summarized it and reported it to their superiors. The higher-ups were also serious about this. The monarchs who received their reports also had serious expressions.

* * *

Charles VIII, who received the report through his prime minister, put his hand on his forehead and looked at the prime minister.

“…So what are the shipbuilding officials saying? Do they have an alternative?”

“They have two alternatives. One is to maintain their strength with existing battleships for the time being and continue to focus on research and development. The other is to adopt the motor-sail ship they are currently designing as their main force and gradually improve it.”

“What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two?”

“The former requires enduring the current unstable situation, but if development is successful, they can catch up in one fell swoop. The latter…..”

“Wait a minute.”

Charles VIII, interrupting the prime minister, pointed out the problem.

“When will that research and development be able to see results?”

“Scholars and artisans are doing their best, so we will soon be able to receive good results.”

“So when is that ‘soon’?”

“……”

“So you’re saying we should just endure now, hoping for something that we don’t know when it will end? With England right in front of us?”

“Then, Your Majesty, are you choosing the latter?”

“That’s right. The Empire I know is like a bear sleeping on a full stomach. If you don’t touch it first, nothing will happen, but if you touch it rashly, you’ll invite disaster. When it gets angry, it will bite and tear apart its opponent, even if it’s full.”

“That’s true.”

The prime minister nodded at Charles VIII’s words. When the prime minister agreed, Charles VIII came to a conclusion.

“The situation that has come up now is not only for our France, but also for the other guys, especially England. So what is the best thing to do? It is more important to subdue the other guys nearby than to catch up with the Empire.”

“Other powers may buy warships from the Empire.”

“Why did I call the Empire a ‘bear on a full stomach’? The Empire hates things getting troublesome. If they sell warships, they will sell them to everyone. Isn’t it clear from what the Empire did in Italy?”

The prime minister pondered Charles VIII’s words for a moment and soon nodded.

* * *

In the ‘Italian Unification War’, the Empire moved very actively. However, when the war ended and the situation was settled, the Empire immediately withdrew. After the war, the powers, analyzing the lessons learned, soon came to similar conclusions.

-The Empire was sure that a war would break out in Italy.

-If this was left unchecked, the Empire would certainly suffer great losses in various fields.

-Therefore, the Empire moved in advance to guide the situation in a favorable direction.

-And as soon as it got the desired result, it immediately withdrew.

-Instead, it gave strength to Switzerland, Portugal, and Italy to reduce the probability of troublesome things happening.

Having analyzed this far, the European powers came to the following conclusion about the Empire.

-Smart but lazy bastards.

-If their interests are maintained, they will not move ‘actively’.

Later, when the Imperial officials heard this evaluation, they were furious.

“Lazy? You guys should take charge of the Empire’s administration once! Would you say we’re lazy then!”

“We’re just preventing the work from increasing!”

In the end, Charles VIII chose the ‘motor-sail ship’. And the monarchs of other European powers also chose similar plans. It was more urgent to deal with the competitors right in front of them than the Empire far away. As a result, they fell into an even deeper quagmire.

* * *

The biggest reason why the European powers would fall into a quagmire was ‘mutual distrust’. The European powers had a history of fighting each other once or twice. Therefore, they could not trust each other, and they did not think about stopping the arms race.

If it were the history before Hyang intervened, ‘marriage alliances’ would have started soon, but as Hyang intervened, ‘marriage alliances’ disappeared far away. As countries bordering each other could not trust each other, the arms race continued to be fueled.

The next biggest reason was ‘outdated technology’ and ‘lack of capital’. No, ‘lack of capital’ was the biggest reason of all. The continuous problem with new warships and new cannons was the steel, which was of lower quality compared to the Imperial one. No, not only steel, but all ‘iron materials’ were of lower quality compared to the Empire. It wasn’t just the quality.

The size of the large steel rear plate that would wrap around the hull of the new warship was also much smaller than that of the Empire. This was because the capacity of the steel mill was insufficient. Perhaps the biggest butterfly effect brought about by Hyang’s intervention was this.

The European powers did not have enough capital.