Chapter 736 - 340: The Possibility of Surpassing France (No More Leave Requests)_2

After all, during the war stage, the rise in prices of various materials is quite rapid. This is not the usual incremental increase; the price increase of materials during the war stage could possibly double or even multiply, and the price gap here is also quite significant.

Of course, Carlo’s willingness to sell materials to Austria-Hungary at pre-war cost price is not entirely due to the allied relationship with Austria-Hungary.

The main reason is that not many European powers are participating in the war; the two main powers, England and France, have not participated, and they certainly won’t miss the opportunity to make a big profit from the war.

In this way, although prices in the war may rise, the extent of the increase should be limited. Spain maintaining the pre-war market price for selling materials, although it earns a little less, can gain the goodwill of Austria-Hungary and Germany, which is also quite important.

Besides Carlo’s promise to sell materials to Austria-Hungary at pre-war market prices, he also had the Spanish Government reach a military agreement with Austria-Hungary.

The main content of this military agreement is that the Spanish Ministry of Defense will dispatch a military observation team to the main battlefield of the Balkan Peninsula to observe the war from the perspective of an onlooker and to learn from each country’s military actions.

The term military observation team is not unfamiliar, and the Austrian-Hungarian side did not refuse this.

The purpose of Carlo dispatching the military observation team is also very simple, which is to allow the Spanish Army to properly observe this war among European powers and learn the more superior military thoughts and strategic deployments of various countries.

Although Spain demonstrated excellent combat effectiveness in the process of fighting with African natives, the enemy, after all, is the African natives who cannot be put on the stage, which is completely different from the European powers.

The Spanish Army cannot be complacent because of this; such a relatively good learning environment still requires sending an observation team.

Apart from sending the military observation team, Spain also gave Austria-Hungary a batch of rifles and cannons, along with matching ammunition and shells, for free.

The reason for giving away this batch of weapons and equipment is also simple, which is to leverage Austria-Hungary to test the practicality of this equipment. As the saying goes, the environment of the African battlefield and the European battlefield is entirely different; operations against natives can be careless, but operations against European countries must be cautious.

The Austrian-Hungarian side also naturally understands Spain’s idea of gifting these weapons and equipment for free. But for Austria-Hungary, such a batch of free weapons and equipment is something they cannot refuse.

After reaching the relevant cooperation agreement with Austria-Hungary, the Spanish Government also revealed its attitude to the outside world. Similar to the attitude of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Spanish Government also advocates that both sides of the war calm down,

not to add to the casualties.

Countries not participating in the war should maintain a neutral role, avoiding getting involved in the war, thus expanding the war’s scale.

Statements from both the United Kingdom and Spain are effectively setting a tone for this war.

With France and Italy not yet making a statement, it is also challenging for them to join this war, after all, they also lack substantial excuses to do so.

France and Russia currently have no alliance relationship, and if France wants to join this war, it can only temporarily form an alliance with Russia.

But doing so would make the intention too obvious, not only causing France to lose public support during this war, but also making France’s diplomatic situation more embarrassing.

A Franco-Russian alliance would make all European powers wary, and by then, it might be the Franco-Russian alliance getting isolated.

For Italy, as long as they don’t want to make the Treaty of the Triple Alliance public, they also do not have any excuse to join this war.

Moreover, with the United Kingdom and Spain openly expressing their attitudes, Italy has no way to participate in the war even if they want to.

In the Madrid Royal Palace, after confirming that only Germany, Austria, and Russia are involved in this war, Carlo also reduced his focus on this war.

For Carlo, the outcome of this war is no longer relevant. What Carlo truly cares about is how long this war can last and what Spain can gain from this war.

From the current European situation, once Germany and Russia are embroiled in war, Spain will have more opportunities to surpass the four major powers.

Among the remaining European countries, perhaps only the United Kingdom can surpass Spain in terms of development speed and economic prosperity; the development speed of the French has slowed significantly after the Franco-Prussian War.

Currently within the Spanish Government, there is already a slogan to surpass the four major powers, and quite extravagantly, even to surpass England.

However, the slogan most recognized by government officials is "Surpass France in five years, align with Germany in ten."

As for surpassing the British, for the current Spain, that is indeed just a fantasy.

Leaving aside whether aligning with Germany can be achieved, surpassing France is indeed more than just a slogan for the current Spain.

First, let’s look at steel production, an important measure of industrial scale.

Throughout 1888, Spain’s annual steel production could reach about 500,000 tons, a level that is already top-tier in Europe.

In the entire world, only the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom can surpass Spain in steel production; among these, Spain is only significantly outdistanced by the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.