Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 112: Chapter 101: Buy 1 Get 2 Maxim (Part 2)

Under the generous conditions that Carlo offered him, his gratitude toward Carlo was genuine.

Maxim came from a humble background, and it was through his diligence and willingness to learn that he secured a job. When Carlo was willing to offer him a higher-paying and more preferred job, Maxim naturally didn’t want to miss this opportunity, which was also why he convinced his brother to come with him to Spain.

Compared to staying in the United States, Maxim was more willing to leave and go to a new place.

The reason was simple: by this time, the United States had already formed a huge capitalist force, and capital’s attitude toward inventors like him was not very friendly.

Of course, Maxim wanted to earn an income through his inventions, but the reality was harsh. Companies started by inventors like him would face suppression from other capitalists, which is also the historical reason why Maxim eventually left the United States for the United Kingdom.

Since Carlo personally invited him at this time, Maxim was naturally willing to leave the United States and seek new opportunities.

He was indeed passionate about invention and design, but what he was truly interested in was firearms, particularly the design of automatic weapons.

Although the United States had hand-cranked Gatling guns, in Maxim’s view, such a design was not truly automatic but merely a clever trick.

The hand-cranked Gatling guns also had various problems, which is why, despite their demonstrated effect during the American Civil War, they still hadn’t become widespread in Europe.

Maxim had the idea in his heart to invent his own automatic weapon. The position Carlo offered him, that of a Weapon Design Engineer at the Royal Military Factory, was a perfect match for Maxim’s aspirations.

Both Maxim brothers would serve as Weapon Design Engineers at the Royal Military Factory, aligning perfectly with the brothers’ interests.

The property and the 5,000 Pesseta settlement fund promised by Carlo would enable them to quickly establish themselves in Spain, allowing them to adapt to their new lives there more comfortably.

Carlo placed significant importance on the Maxim brothers. Although they hadn’t had much involvement in weapon development before, Carlo was still willing to offer them an annual salary of 2,000 Pesseta and stated that as long as their designs saw progress, he would raise their salaries and grant them rewards at any time.

The two were naturally very satisfied with this salary, as they weren’t particularly famous inventors in the United States and could not expect to begin with a high salary of thousands or tens of thousands of Pesseta.

Along with the Maxim brothers to Spain was the well-known Gatling, or rather the hand-cranked Gatling gun.

Indeed, Gatling ultimately chose to stay in the United States and did not accept the invitation from the King of Spain.

But for Carlo, it didn’t matter anymore; with the Maxim brothers, the role of Gatling wasn’t as significant.

Due to Carlo’s order, Kadir eventually brought back several hand-cranked Gatling guns for research by the Royal Military Factory.

Historically, the Maxim machine gun emerged around 1883 and passed testing in 1884, officially applying for a patent.

This year was only 1871, leaving at least 12 years to that timeline. However, considering that Maxim had only spent a few years actively researching machine guns, Carlo was optimistic about his chances of developing the Maxim machine gun by 1883.

When discussing Maxim’s history with machine gun development, one must also mention another famous figure, the so-called great inventor Edison.

Yes, during this time, Edison was everywhere in the United States, which is also why his reputation was deteriorating.

While Edison did have certain talents in invention, he was more of a capitalist and a capitalist who relentlessly suppressed other inventors.

Maxim was born in the United States, but due to Edison’s suppression, he had to escape to the United Kingdom, benefiting the UK, as they obtained this incredibly famous weapon design genius.

If Maxim could begin his research on machine guns earlier, coupled with support from Carlo and the Spanish Government, it’s believed that Maxim could achieve results in this area sooner.

If Spain could possess machine guns and more advanced artillery, Carlo would fear no country in land warfare.

No matter the combat power of other countries, in land wars of this era, differences in weaponry and advancements in military doctrine directly influenced the course of war.

The Prussian Army’s ability to defeat the French Army also included the reason that France had many line infantry, and the Krupp Cannon fired farther and more stably than France’s cannon.

If both sides’ military doctrines and weapons technology were at the same level, Prussia certainly couldn’t beat the French Army.

This is why Carlo is intent on developing machine guns and semi-automatic artillery. Once Spain achieves a lead in machine guns and semi-automatic artillery, its army will leap to become a top tier land force in Europe.

After possessing a powerful army, the Spanish Government would have the confidence to control its destiny thoroughly.

Carlo’s plans for the development of Spanish military affairs for the coming years are all focused on army development.

Of course, the overall size of the Spanish army will not undergo significant changes; more attention will be given to updates in weapons technology.

As for the navy, developing it must wait until Spain builds enough industry and economic strength.

It’s not that Carlo doesn’t want to develop the navy, but naval warfare consumes much more money than the army and is more difficult to develop.

Why were there only a few major powers participating in the naval arms race before World War I? Because other countries simply couldn’t afford to build a navy.

The current cost of ironclads could easily reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of Pounds, and future battleships would cost over a million Pounds.

As for the more advanced Super Dreadnoughts, the cost of just one easily runs over a million Pounds, with some even two or three million.

What’s even more daunting is that navy building doesn’t merely involve the apparent costs of shipbuilding; fleet maintenance is also a significant expense.

There’s also the training of navy soldiers and the costs of ship fuel, all adding up to astronomical figures.

The current Spanish government can’t afford to manage a navy, and even if it could, it would only be a few medium or small ships.

If the present Spanish government insisted on building ironclads, it would be utterly unthinkable.

Not only would the financial situation of the Spanish government not support naval maintenance, but even dealing with the British could bring considerable trouble.

With Spain’s inherently crucial geographical location, blindly developing a navy would undoubtedly make the British uneasy.

If the British became uneasy, would Spain’s troubles lessen? The reputation of being a troublemaker isn’t unfounded; if Spain laid out plans for naval development today, the British could support the independence of Cuba and the Philippines tomorrow, fully opposing Spain’s colonial expansion in Africa.

This is why Carlo has devised a plan focused on army development. Spain, constrained by its population size, wouldn’t pose as high a threat no matter how robust its army was.

Unless Spain could crown itself as Europe’s top army power, developing the army wouldn’t cross the British’s threshold and could even potentially lead to a period of peace between the UK and Spain.

It’s no use; it’s still the glorious Victorian Era of the Brits. Even Germany would have to acknowledge the British’s splendor, let alone Spain.

As long as Spain stays low-key for the moment, the Brits won’t proactively provoke Spain.

Because Britain is also a large and complex power with various conflicts with other nations.

After Prussia defeated France, the discord between England and France became less intense. Currently, Britain faces the fiercest competition from Russia, with the two engaged in extremely intense colonial competition in Central Asia.

Compared to the Russians, the Spaniards aren’t even considered by the British. As long as Spain develops quietly, the Brits won’t look for trouble for themselves.