Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 612 Situation Changes and Aircraft Carriers
Although faster trains have been developed, it will take at least six months to replace all trains and subways in Spain with the latest power modules.

Fortunately, this work is not urgent at all, and the transportation department has ample time to complete it, and there is no need to worry about funding issues.

When it comes to funds, the current Spanish government is undoubtedly one of the wealthiest in Europe.

Because the Spanish government has a very good financial situation, it is very generous in terms of budgets for various departments and infrastructure spending, and is willing to invest more funds to achieve rapid national development.

By now, Spain's railway network is nearing saturation. Almost all medium and large cities are now connected by train, and highways link all cities and towns.

Today, the Spanish transportation sector can essentially complete its tasks by simply maintaining existing railways and highways annually and initiating a small number of new railway and highway construction projects.

This kind of work is quite easy, but it doesn't diminish the importance of the transportation sector. This has made the position of Minister of Transport in the cabinet a highly coveted one.

With few troublesome matters and no shortage of merit, and most importantly, a sufficient annual budget for the department, it is still very attractive to Spanish officials.

Of course, as one of the cabinet ministers directly appointed by the Spanish Prime Minister, the Ministry of Transport is often staffed with the Prime Minister's confidants. Officials who gain experience in this important position often have a higher political future.

After entrusting the important task of replacing the train power modules to Spain's Minister of Transport, Carlo no longer paid attention to the development of train power.

Because another matter had caught Carlo's attention, as time moved into 1919, it seemed that the situation in Europe was not as calm as he had imagined.

As one of Spain's allies, Italy, despite its poor performance in the World War, was still a victorious nation and rose to become one of the four permanent members of the League of Nations.

Logically, Italy's development should have been quite rapid. As a victorious nation, Italy could have received substantial war reparations from the defeated powers, which would have accelerated its development.

In addition, Italy could also share a large amount of industrial production materials from Germany and Austria-Hungary, which would also help strengthen Italy's industry.

Under such circumstances, Italy should present a thriving and prosperous image.

However, the reality is that Italy's industrial and economic development has not actually made much progress compared to before the outbreak of the war.

On the one hand, there were limitations inherent in Italy itself, and on the other hand, the reign of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy was not as wise as imagined.

This ambitious Italian king displayed a rather hesitant and indecisive attitude during his reign.

It is precisely because of his indecisiveness that the Italian government finds it difficult to formulate long-term policies, and the country's development often proceeds haphazardly, making it difficult to discern any clear main direction.

If development had simply stagnated, it wouldn't have been such a big problem. However, under the watchful eye of the Royal Security Intelligence Service, Carlo discovered undercurrents within Italy.

Because Vittorio Emanuele III himself did not have much prestige, he largely left the Italian political environment to develop freely.

This led to the emergence of numerous political parties, large and small, in Italy after the end of World War II. These parties had different political ideologies, and some of them clashed significantly with Italy's current political system.

Under normal circumstances, the Italian government should vet these newly formed parties and, if necessary, forcibly destroy some parties that are not beneficial to the country.

But Vittorio Emanuele III did not do so, and the government, naturally, did not interfere without permission.

In the absence of oversight, political parties in Italy experienced a period of rapid growth. Politicians of all ranks were frantically promoting their political platforms, attempting to attract more Italian public support for their ideas.

Among these many political figures, one name caught Carlo's attention: Benito Amircare Andrea Mussolini.

This Italian dictator, who would later become famous, was not actually very well-known at this time. Mussolini was born in 1883, making him only 36 years old at the time.

At the time, 36 years old was no longer young in Europe, given the average life expectancy. But for a politician, 36 was just the beginning of his political career, an age that most people considered quite reckless and impulsive.

Like his age, Mussolini was quite reckless and impulsive in his early years. He was a journalist and a member of the Italian Socialist Party.

Even before the outbreak of World War II, Mussolini supported Italy's entry into the war and went on to list the benefits of Italy joining the war.

This outrageous move provoked the Italian Socialist Party, ultimately leading to Mussolini's expulsion from the party.

These things did not defeat Mussolini; he still joined the Italian army, participated in the World War, and met many junior officers during the war.

During World War I, Mussolini was wounded and left the army, where he resumed his role as editor of the Italian newspaper Il Pope.

After the end of World War II, Italy also faced the challenge of massive demobilization. Of its once millions of troops, less than one-tenth remained after the war.

Many of Mussolini's friends in the army became targets of the demobilization movement. After leaving the army, they returned to society and regrouped around Mussolini.

After gaining considerable power, Mussolini attempted to form a new political party and use it to seize power from the Italian government.

This was Mussolini's ambition, and he never hid it.

After he was discharged from the army due to injury and returned to his editorial position, he published his political views in the Italian newspaper "Il Popolo" on several occasions.

Mussolini first gained the trust of the pro-war faction in Italy by taking a firm pro-war stance, and then gradually won their support by instilling in them the idea that Italy needed a strong government and a strong ruler.

Because Italy had significantly reduced its military, many of these pro-war elements were also purged from the army. Mussolini, who already had the support of these pro-war factions, quickly contacted them within the military and attempted to expand his political influence with the support of retired soldiers and pro-war groups. On March 23, 1919, Mussolini successfully convened a large number of veterans and pro-war groups from World War II. They held a meeting near Piazza della Signoria in Milan, Italy, planning to unite and form a nationwide fascist organization.

This meeting also marked the formal birth of the Italian fascist movement. Participants included many important figures from the history of Italian fascist regimes, such as Roberto Farinacci and Filippo Marinetti.

Carlo was well aware of the origins of the Italian and German fascist organizations, and therefore had long ago instructed the Royal Security Intelligence Service to pay close attention to the situation in Italy.

When the Royal Security Intelligence Service discovered that Mussolini was planning this secret meeting, they immediately gathered information and reported back to Spain.

Upon seeing this report, Carlo immediately realized that Italy's fate might not change much. If Vittorio Emanuele III did not prevent Mussolini's ascension to the throne, the Italian monarchy might, as it has in history, be forgotten after losing its throne.

While somewhat regrettable, Carlo wouldn't interfere too much in Italy's domestic affairs. After all, King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy wasn't exactly obedient, so let him deal with the impending chaos on his own.

For Carlo, as long as the relevant organizations within Germany do not grow stronger, the situation will not get out of his control.

As for Italy, its strength is not enough to cause any trouble, and it is not worth Spain's serious consideration.

When it comes to Germany, the Royal Security Intelligence Service (RSIS) pays a higher level of attention to the situation there than to other European countries.

After all, Germany was the instigator of two world wars, and the situation within Germany is related to the future stability of Europe. It's impossible for Carlo not to pay attention to it.

The good news is that, compared to Italy, which is already showing signs of chaos, Germany's domestic situation is relatively stable.

Carlo also paid attention to the now-famous Mustache, who at that time was just an ordinary German soldier and had not yet achieved what Mussolini had.

This is good news for Carlo. Whether he tacitly approves of Hitler's future development or suppresses him completely sooner to ensure that Germany will not start another World War II, Carlo has enough time to choose and prepare.

Returning our focus to Spain, besides the good news of significantly improved train speeds, Spain actually has other good news as well.

The first and foremost task is the construction of the crucial aircraft carrier.

The importance of aircraft carriers goes without saying; they are not only the nemesis of battleships, but also one of the most important warships for decades to come.

Spain's plans for aircraft carriers can be traced back to before the outbreak of World War II. At that time, Spain was the only country in Europe and even the world with operational fighter jets, so it naturally had a great advantage in developing aircraft carriers.

However, compared to battleships, aircraft carriers present more challenges in their development.

Even if an aircraft carrier is slightly larger than a battleship, it is still just a warship that is a little over a hundred meters long and a few dozen meters wide.

It is extremely difficult for aircraft to take off and land on such warships.

Although Spain's fighter jet technology is among the world's best, this does not mean that Spain can overcome the challenges of aircraft carriers.

The length of an aircraft carrier, which is over 100 meters, means that aircraft must take off within 100 meters, or they will crash into the sea.

Even if the problem of taking off is solved, landing is another major challenge, different from takeoff. Aircraft carriers are only so big, so aircraft must land precisely and with controlled force to ensure they don't slide into the sea.

Simply put, these two major challenges are that the aircraft must go from a standstill to take off and then back to standstill within a range of 100 meters.

Unless these two major problems are solved, aircraft carriers will remain just a concept. After all, you can't design the aircraft on an aircraft carrier to be disposable, can you?
Each aircraft is expensive to build. If aircraft keep crashing during takeoff and landing, even if an aircraft carrier has an extremely powerful function, it would be absolutely not worthwhile to build one.

To overcome the challenges of aircraft takeoff and landing on aircraft carriers, Carlo invested heavily in research and development, inviting numerous experts. After nearly a decade of research and discussion, they finally made some progress.

The aircraft carrier designed by the Spanish shipyard completely overturned the original warship design and can be said to have no resemblance to previous warships.

Such an aircraft carrier mainly consists of a long flight deck, armor protection, air defense weapons, a power system, and aircraft hangars.

The difference becomes apparent when compared to a battleship. Apart from having some anti-aircraft weapons, an aircraft carrier does not carry any weapons of its own and relies entirely on its onboard aircraft to attack enemy warships.

This design is quite risky, because it means that once an aircraft carrier is approached by an enemy warship, it will have no ability to resist the enemy warship's firepower.

There were also arguments within the shipyard regarding the design of this aircraft carrier, but the designers eventually ended the debate with a single sentence: that this design would prevent enemy warships from getting close.

The reason is simple: aircraft carriers typically carry aircraft with a range of hundreds of kilometers. This means that aircraft carriers can detect enemy warships from hundreds of kilometers away, a distance from which enemy submarines would not have time to submerge.

If the Spanish navy could get close to its aircraft carrier while having complete knowledge of the enemy's movements, then the Spanish navy would be doomed.

More importantly, an aircraft carrier designed in this way is destined not to fight alone, but will need multiple warships with different functions as support, especially in terms of submarine defense.

If we're talking about which type of warship can get close to this kind of aircraft carrier, then without a doubt, it's a submarine that can dive underwater.

As long as defenses are adequate against enemy submarines, this design of aircraft carrier is virtually flawless and perfectly solves the problems of aircraft takeoff and landing.

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(End of this chapter)