The eyes of everyone in the conference hall instantly burned with intensity.
It was as if they could all see that the era belonging to the French Navy was not far away.
Joseph merely announced the total number of warships to be built here. Once the Toulon Shipyard calculates the budget for the expansion of the dock and the cost of shipbuilding, the Navy Department will sign a formal agreement with the shipyard based on this.
The construction costs at Toulon might be slightly higher than Brest, but to achieve strategic surprise, this additional expenditure is entirely acceptable.
Joseph estimated that the total investment for building 25 fourth-level steam battleships would be around 35 million francs. To reach 40 ships, only an additional 13 million francs is needed—the shipyard construction is already complete, so building costs will subsequently decrease.
