1890 King of Southeast Asia

Fished with Francesco for a day, but because neither of them was interested in fishing, only Lin Anmin caught one. Francesco went to the beach and picked up a few crabs.

After saying goodbye to Francesco, Lin Anmin went straight to Liu Yiming's office.

"Your Majesty, Francesco has gone back to send a telegram."

"Sit down and tell him, what was his reaction when you told him that we support them?" Liu Yiming said while reading the documents.

"He was shocked, especially when I said it was for friendship. He sprained his neck, but he just didn't go to the hospital. He should have to live with a crooked neck for a while." Lin Anmin laughed.

"Italy has always had strong ideas about North Africa, but it is difficult to do it because of the opposition of Britain and France."

"In order to seek supporters and support his colonial plan, he even came together with the Germans."

Liu Yiming shook his head. Italy's talent for standing up is maxed out, otherwise it would be difficult to become a second-rate power.

Before the Kingdom of Sardinia unified the Apennine Peninsula, Britain and France were preparing to suppress the Habsburg family and the Germans. The Kingdom of Sardinia stood on the side of France and expelled the Austrian Empire from the Apennine Peninsula.

It was also because of this victory that the Central Italian United Provinces voted to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, and Garibaldi launched another "Thousand Man Expedition" to conquer the Kingdom of Sicily, and Italy was unified.

Not to mention the later standing.

"Your Majesty, do you think Italy will fall into the trap?" Lin Anmin asked.

"Italy has always longed for colonies that are equivalent to its influence, which is inevitable.

However, Italy's national strength is not strong, so there are not many options. At least it is unrealistic to want to seize colonies from the old colonial empire like us."

Liu Yiming thought about this problem and got the answer that unless Italy did not want colonies, Italy would not miss this opportunity.

"Then Italy can only focus on Africa." Lin Anmin nodded.

Asia? Most of Asia has been divided up, and Italy doesn't have the ability to take the rest, regardless of whether it cares about them or not.

North and South America are also owned territories. Even if the North and South American countries do not intervene, Italy may not be able to cross the Atlantic to defeat those independent countries, such as Brazil, which has four new battleships.

Australia and Europe are not worth mentioning, which are not within Italy's reach.

All he can think of are the unowned lands in Africa, or... the territories of the Ottoman Empire, the sick man of Europe.

The Ottoman Empire has been expanding its armaments very quickly in recent years. If it waits any longer, it may not have a chance.

Therefore, Italy will react quickly.

"How can we ensure that they can start a war at the right time? After all, we hope to attract the attention of the British a little bit." Lin Anmin asked.

"Well... how to answer this question? The Ottoman Empire will not give up a province easily, otherwise it will lose all its territories. For example, Egypt, the British will swallow it all without hesitation."

"So, this war will be fierce. When the Italians win a short victory, the Ottomans will mobilize their troops and launch a crazy counterattack.

But the Ottomans are relatively scattered, and it takes time to mobilize the army, so the war will last for more than half a year." Lin Anmin nodded.

"Definitely more than half a year, I can bet with you." Liu Yiming said confidently.

"The Italians are not ready. They can win on the coast in the early stage, but this victory will not last too long. When the Ottomans send a large army to arrive...

In short, in such an important war, the Ottomans will definitely do their best. I think the Ottomans will mobilize at least one-third of their troops to participate in the war.

And Italy will not give up, it will become a war of attrition, and finally Italy will drag down the Ottomans."

Lin Anmin nodded as if he understood, and then looked at Liu Yiming in confusion.

Liu Yiming understood Lin Anmin's eyes:

"The level of the South China Army, at least in terms of core and strategic and tactical levels, has formed a generation gap with the Ottomans.

I dare say that any country's army will suffer a big loss when it fights with us for the first time.

And Italy does not have these conditions, and their army's combat effectiveness may not be as good as the Qing Empire's new army, so I say this."

...

On January 6, Francesco walked into Lin Anmin's house with a box of twelve bottles of red wine.

"These are the red wines produced by my farm in Sicily. This is the best batch. I have stored it for eight years and have never been willing to drink it." Francesco looked at the box of red wine with a painful face.

"Thank you so much, my friend. So, in addition to the red wine, do you have any good news?" Lin Anmin smiled and patted Francesco on the shoulder.

"Lin, we have to say that you have impressed us. No matter what you think, the Kingdom of Italy cannot bear this temptation. The king and the prime minister have agreed to this matter."

"However, there is a condition. Nanhua's support for Italy must be recorded in writing. Only then will we feel relieved."

Francesco said seriously.

After all, there is no exchange of interests. It is just Lin Anmin's verbal support. What if he regrets it at that time?

"Although it is a bit sad, it is what should be done. On behalf of Nanhua, I agree to this request. The document will appear in the hands of your secretary this afternoon." Lin Anmin pretended to be sad.

"I'm very sorry, Lin, but I have to do this for the sake of the country." Francesco looked uncomfortable.

"So, when are you going to start the war? Where is the target? You know, it's better to write these in the document."

"The tentative target is the territories under the Ottoman Empire, the Libyan province, Tripoli and Cyrenaica. As for when to start the war... this should not be very specific." Francesco looked at Lin Anmin.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to find out your country's military intelligence, but we also need to make some preparations. After all, our country is an Asian country, and it is meaningless to just give verbal support." Lin Anmin shrugged.

"Is your country going to send troops? Excuse me, this may irritate the British and French." Francesco said in surprise.

"No, no, no, sending troops to Europe or Africa will stimulate them. If they only operate on our land, they will have nothing to say.

Your target is the Ottoman Empire. Coincidentally, we have some conflicts with the Ottoman Empire. Recently, as the military strength of the Ottoman Empire has expanded, they are somewhat restless.

Our country has a port in the Mediterranean. Our emperor means to send one or two battleships to show the existence to the Ottoman Empire." Lin Anmin said.

Francesco's eyes changed when he looked at Lin Anmin, becoming more friendly, just like looking at a brother.

Sending a fleet to stay for a short time may make some European countries dissatisfied, but as long as it is not permanent, no one will take action, at most say a few words.

And these two words represent the right to speak.

"The specific time is unclear, but it will probably be before your New Year, and the war will be launched during this interval." Francesco did not say the reason for the war. When he wanted to fight, a cross-border wind was also a reason.

"Oh! Is this time too hasty?" Lin Anmin stood up and took out a piece of paper from the drawer.

February 6th, New Year's Day, that is, Italy is ready to start a war within a month, without any preparation!

"The Kingdom of Italy has not experienced a large-scale war for a long time. Of course, I am not doubting the courage of Italian soldiers, but their experience." Lin Anmin gave Francesco some intelligence about the Ottoman Army.

"In the past forty years, the world has undergone earth-shaking changes. Forty years ago, France was still using muzzle-loading artillery, and the firing rate of breech-loading guns was only one or two rounds per minute.

The best and most advanced firearms are only needle-percussion rifles, which have a slow firing rate and a short range."

"Now, countries are paying more and more attention to machine guns. The firepower of a machine gun is more powerful than that of a platoon.

A new artillery equipped with a hydraulic pneumatic recoil device can fire the firepower of a platoon in one minute."

"Francesco, times have changed!" Lin Anmin patted Francesco on the shoulder.

"This? Is the Ottoman Army equipped with so many cannons?" Francesco looked at Lin Anmin in surprise and suspicion.

"Why would I lie to you? You can check the military sales records of various countries. This is public data. I don't know how many are not public yet?" Lin Anmin pretended to be angry.

"No, I'm not doubting you. I'm just surprised that the corrupt nobles of the Ottoman Empire would buy so many cannons." Francesco said anxiously.

"So, you should practice large-scale combat first. The Ottoman Empire, which is expanding its military power, will not give up its land easily." Lin Anmin shrugged.

"Yes, we need time to organize and transport more and larger-caliber cannons. It will be troublesome to transport these big guys.

Maybe we need to order a batch of machine guns? But the time will be delayed too long. Maybe we should purchase them?"

Francesco looked at Lin Anmin when he talked about military purchases.

"If machine guns are needed, we will provide Italy with 100 brand new machine guns within two months. If it is four months, the number can be 300." Lin Anmin rolled his eyes.

Nanhua has a lot of inventory, and hundreds of them can be easily taken out, but why? Nanhua originally hoped to delay the start of the war.

"Maybe there are artillery pieces." Francesco said.

"Uh... this is a bit difficult. You know, the production cycle of a cannon is calculated on a monthly basis, but the army should have some strategic reserves. I can go and ask." Lin Anmin said.

"I'll ask the king first, but there's no rush. There's no time in three or two months." Francesco shrugged.

...

After some communication, Italy placed an order for 500 machine guns and a production line, as well as 5 million rounds of ammunition.

It was agreed that the delivery would take three months, and Italy also revealed the time, asking Nanhua to send warships in early May.

Liu Yiming also sent a telegram to Sun Zaizhi, asking him to launch the warships between the end of May and the beginning of June.

Time, there are still five months left.

.