Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Everyone in the military is happy about the possible savings of such a large sum of money in military expenditures.

William IV asked: "What is the current change in the military's strength?"

His eyes were set on Mark Rudd, Chief of General Staff of the Netherlands.

"At present, the Netherlands is developing rapidly in terms of military strength. The surface tonnage of the navy remains at around 250,000 tons, which is already the same as the French Empire. The British has reached 300,000 tons.

Specifically, seven British steam battleships have been built and five have been produced by the French Empire.

The Netherlands stated that there are 4 ships, of which 2 are deployed locally and 2 are in the Far East. In fact, we have manufactured and deployed more than 10 ships in the Far East.”

"Oh" William IV asked: "How to deploy it?"

The "Jakarta" is deployed in Jakarta, the capital of the Dutch East Indies, and the "Bliss Peninsula" is also located at the largest naval base in the far east of the Bliss Peninsula on the island of New Guinea.

Among the South Pacific Islands east of Australia's main road, we deployed the "Fiji" on Fiji Island.

In the Hawaiian Islands, the USS Pearl Harbor and USS Hawaii were deployed to guard them.

On the Australian continent, the "Sydney" and "Melbourne" are deployed in Sydney Harbor to protect the entire eastern part of the Australian continent, and the "Perth" is also deployed in Perth in the west.

"So, eight steam battleships are deployed in the entire Far East? It's quite a luxury."

William IV sighed. You must know that the British six fleets (the original seven fleets, because Australia is no longer there, so the Australian fleet is missing) have a total of 7 ships. It is said that the entire Indian Ocean Fleet is second only to the homeland Atlantic Fleet, and there are only two steam battleships. , the domestic Atlantic Fleet only has 2 ships, the North Sea Fleet has 1 ship, the Mediterranean Fleet and the Canadian Fleet each have 1 ship, and the South African Fleet has not even one ship.

There are actually 8 ships in the Far East of the Netherlands, including two from the Hawaiian Fleet. This is really powerful.

"What about the army?" The strong development of the navy is naturally in line with William IV's ideas. After all, in the 21st century, the navy is still the most powerful symbol of a big country. The population of the army can be vague, but the tonnage of the navy is real. , otherwise the reason why the United States will be superior in future generations is that its seven aircraft carrier fleets dominate the world.

If something happens, all countries will first think of where the US aircraft carrier is.

This is still true 150 years later, let alone now.

Therefore, the development of the navy is still one of the main directions for the future Dutch military power in the 19th century and even the 20th century.

Minister of War Petr de Jong saw William IV asking and said: "The current regular army of the Netherlands is 168,000, the one-year volunteer army is more than 50,000, and the indigenous army is more than 120,000."

In other words, there are more than 338,000 soldiers in total? Plus the navy nearly 400,000?

Is 400,000 soldiers a lot for a population of 32 million?

In this day and age, not much actually.

Especially when there are frequent wars in Europe and the world is not peaceful at all.

You must know that the French Empire has 500,000 regular troops, other types of conscripts and reserve troops. Remember, if you can mobilize them at will, you can reach millions.

Sweden has a population of 7.5 million and a regular army of more than 200,000. Sweden implements a universal system of compulsory soldiers to defend against the Russian Empire. If a war really breaks out, Karl XV can mobilize more than 1 million troops in an instant, and all of them pass through Training, this is why the Tsarist Russian Empire did not dare to do anything to Sweden for decades when the population of the Tsarist Empire far exceeded that of Sweden, and the land was incomparable. Alexander II and his father Nicholas I They would rather attack the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East than open fire on Sweden. It is really the Swedish people's national militarization that is so awesome. In fact, the country still has a military system for all people until the 21st century.

Coupled with the cold weather and the geographical location that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Sweden's local military defense measures are even more shocking. Therefore, Northern Europe is almost a forbidden area for major military powers.

In this case, the size of the Netherlands' 400,000-strong army is actually not large. After all, this is a country with tens of millions of square kilometers that needs to be defended.

The geographical location of the Netherlands is also destined to require so many troops to protect it.

This is the reason why William IV needs the indigenous army. He can go to the front in the war and use it as a powerful force to defend the country at home. Although the combat strength remains to be seen, the statistic of 100,000 soldiers is a statistic that scares Europe. Compared with At present, the Danish military has a strength of 80,000, which has already reached the point where the total number of soldiers in Denmark has reached the point.

"Your Majesty, currently all the Dutch army has been replaced by Mauser guns, and with the development of the military industry, many of our equipment are state-of-the-art equipment. It can be said that if we look at the rankings of European countries, , We dare to say that we are second in equipment, and no army dares to say that they are number one."

William IV couldn't laugh or cry. The equipment in the Dutch army is the most advanced and can be said to be the most luxurious in Europe.

The Dutch army can be said to be built with money.

No country can be like the Netherlands, which uses defense expenditures not only to arm its head, but also to develop bulletproof equipment for its whole body. Therefore, the equipment of the Netherlands can be said to be lamentable.

"By the way, how about the new military unit that was recently trained by the Army?"

New unit?

Many cabinet members looked at William IV in confusion.

When did the Netherlands get new troops? How come they don't know?

If so, what type is this new unit?

The military's level of confidentiality is getting higher and higher.

"According to His Majesty's instructions, we have currently mobilized more than 3 divisions and 30,000 people to conduct military training there. All three divisions have completed your Majesty's training for this new unit. So far, the results are all good."

William IV seemed to see the doubts of many people in the cabinet, so he explained: "The new military unit currently being implemented in the Netherlands is the Cycling Corps."

Bicycle army?

Everyone was shocked by William IV's words.

"Yes, the bicycle is light and convenient. It can be shrunk into a small steel body and can be carried on people's shoulders up mountains and seas. It can also be opened and ridden on narrow paths. It can even be used for pulling things. As a convoy to help pull ammunition and guns to the front line, there are much fewer things to maintain than a horse team, and there is no need to feed like horses, and there is no need to worry about the bicycle getting sick.

When walking in the tropical rain forest in the Far East, as long as the vanguard opens a small one-meter road in front, it is enough for the bicycle army to move forward.

Therefore, the development of the bicycle army will be enough to change the rules on the battlefields of war in Europe and the world.

Everyone, just watch, the future world will definitely be frightened by the Dutch bicycle army.

Minister of the Interior Joan Leer slapped his thigh hard and suddenly realized: "No wonder His Majesty has been supporting cycling events in the mainland and the Far East for a long time. It turns out that all of this is prepared for the cycling army."

The others reacted after he reminded them.

This is really the case.