My Italy

We don’t know whether Antonio’s question has been answered.

However, after visiting the king, Antonio visited the prime minister and several important ministers one after another. His appointment soon came, and after bidding farewell to his friends, he boarded a ship for Massawa.

Because he needed to rush to Massawa to make a handover with General Simeone. Due to the war, General Simeone is currently mainly in charge of Italy's colonies in East Africa. Of course, he is basically in charge of the military. After all, General Simeone is a soldier, so how can he manage local affairs.

Moreover, most of the East African Expeditionary Force has now withdrawn from the country. Of the 56,000 people who went on the expedition (an increase of the engineering troops), 37,000 have returned home. The remaining troops will likely be stationed in East Africa for one to two years before being withdrawn.

It is said that Italy did not occupy East Africa for enough time. You must know that before 1881, Italy had only a few port strongholds in East Africa. It was not until the year before last that it began to expand into the interior on a large scale. Last year, it used force to make many tribes in the area recognize them. Italy the conqueror.

Such a conquest lasted too short, and sufficient troops were needed to coerce all parties and ensure the stability of the East African colonies.

Of course, most tribes can see the form clearly, but there are no fools who can't see the form clearly. At this time, the power of a large garrison will be revealed, which will make them think twice before taking action.

After Antonio takes office, General Simeone can return to Italy, because many people in Italy are waiting for his return.

This also included Carlo, but while waiting for the national hero who was about to be launched, Carlo also did something else.

For example, discuss with the Secretary of the Navy the issue of increasing the number of Marine Corps personnel.

This unit, which was famous in later generations, did not receive much attention in this era. Even the British Navy, which is famous for its navy, has less than 10,000 marines, let alone other countries.

Although the Italian Navy followed other countries in establishing a Marine Corps, it only had a size of more than a thousand people. Moreover, the tasks of the Italian Marine Corps are the same as those of other countries, divided into fleet detachments and land combat forces.

The Marine Corps, which meets the definition of later generations, naturally refers to the land combat force, which is only two battalions in size (four companies with three steps and one artillery), which is not much different from the army's battalions.

So when Carlo mentioned the Marine Corps, Admiral Golek, as the Minister of the Navy, was a little puzzled. Why is His Majesty interested in this army of about a thousand people?

Facing the Admiralty's doubts, Carlo certainly had his reasons.

"Admiral Gorek, it is not advisable for the navy to not have its own infantry force. If a crisis or war occurs, it must discuss with the army. This will increase the reaction time and is a very unfavorable situation."

Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Golek thought for a while and then answered. "Your Majesty, our navy has marine troops."

"With just those two battalions, what can be accomplished."

Carlo's words are a bit absolute, but the principle is the same. Two battalions of troops may not be bad in the Age of Discovery, but now, this amount of troops can't do anything.

Facing Carlo's rebuttal, Admiral Golek certainly knew that his infantry unit was indeed not worthy of the spotlight.

"Then according to His Majesty's wishes?"

Seeing His Majesty's enthusiasm, Admiral Gorek wanted to hear the King's opinion.

"At least one brigade of troops is needed to enable the Navy to have the ability to operate independently. Of course, this is only the initial stage. To truly operate independently, the Navy needs at least a division-level Marine Corps."

Seeing the young king speaking his opinion seriously, Admiral Gorek's jaw almost dropped in shock. This brigade-level Marine Corps is probably not a joke on His Majesty's part.

You must know that the pressure on the Navy is already strong enough against France, and he, the Navy Minister, can't wait to spend a penny to break it in half. If you want him to increase the currently unimportant Marine Corps to the level of division and brigade, it is better to kill him (in this era, few people in the Navy value the Marine Corps, and more of them treat it as a vassal).

Facing Admiral Gorek's surprised expression, Carlo could certainly understand. Because this is the result of the times, the Italian Marine Corps had no use at all. Because the main mission of the Italian Navy is to ensure the security of maritime areas and repel invading enemies, this makes it pay more attention to the role of ships.

The Marine Corps is a ground force and can only be used when invading an enemy country. In this circle around Italy, who can I afford to offend?

Of course, in addition to this, there is another factor that makes General Golek wary of the expansion of the Marine Corps, and that is the attitude of the Army.

Although the relationship between the navy and the army is just like that, the navy itself is at a disadvantage compared to the army. (Looking at the distribution ratio of military expenditures, we know that the Navy only gets about 35%. Doesn’t this reflect its disadvantage?)

Having neither the money nor the need to consider the Army's attitude, General Gorek was very uninterested in Carlo's proposal. "Thank you very much for Your Majesty's concern for the Navy. I need to go back and discuss the expansion of the Marine Corps."

It was obvious that Admiral Gorek was ready to leave. He felt that continuing to stay in the palace would hinder his work, and the new combat regulations were more meaningful than this. But when a word came out of Carlo's mouth, Admiral Gorek stopped.

"Thirty million lire!"

"What?"

Facing Admiral Gorek's surprised expression, Carlo spoke word by word. "I said, as long as you agree to expand the size of the Marine Corps to brigade level, I will let the Navy get an additional 30 million lire in military expenditures."

Well, talking about money hurts feelings, so the sincere Admiral Golek stayed.

"Your Majesty, 30 million lire is only enough to set up a brigade. Our navy will also need to bear maintenance costs in the future, which is not enough at all."

Well, that's easy when it comes to money.

"This is enough. You must know that the establishment cost of an elite mountain brigade of the Army is only 34 million. You can't ask the government to pay for all the expenses. You have to contribute some amount."

Well, Carlo also started from the government's finances. After all, it would be very weird if he took out this money himself. Although he had previously donated two navy ships, he did so when Italy suffered a disastrous defeat in the Tunisia crisis, which is very different from the current situation.

"Your Majesty, if this is the case, our navy will have an additional expenditure of nearly four million per year. This will completely increase our burden."

Admiral Gorek, who looked aggrieved, began to cry out in pain.

"Let's do this. If you can form a division-level Marine Corps within three years, I will ask the government to give you an additional 10 million lire per year in addition to military expenditures."

On the surface, Carlo made concessions, but in fact he continued to squeeze the navy's funds.

As an old navy man, how could Admiral Golek not understand? He said. "This won't work. Currently, the navy only has a limited amount of funding per year. If we can afford the expenses of more than 10,000 combatants, this will reduce our warship procurement costs. We must have 15 million."

"Eleven million."

"No, this is too little, at least 14 million."

"Twelve million."

"..."

After some fierce bargaining, Carlo finally asked the government to invest 40 million, and then gave him 12 million per year, so that Admiral Gorek agreed that the Navy would form a division-level Marine Corps within three years. . Of course, Admiral Golek made a profit in this confrontation. He earned a division-level Marine Corps for nothing.

Of course, Carlo's intention was more than this. After General Gorek agreed, he said, "It's a bit difficult for you to form a division of ground troops. It's easy to talk about ordnance, but it's very troublesome for the officers. "

Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Gorek nodded and answered. "Yes, Your Majesty, we can only recruit officers that the Army does not want. This is indeed difficult."

This is also the current norm in various countries. The ground force officers of the navy are basically recruited from the navy after the army has gone to military academies. For a military school student studying ground combat, going to the Army is the best option. Going to the Navy is nothing, as he will be laughed at by his classmates in the future.

But then he changed his tone. "But our navy is confident that we can form a division-level marine force within three years."

However, in the face of the Admiralty's assurance, Carlo did not give any encouragement. "The lack of officers is indeed a problem. Confidence alone cannot help, so I will give you another boost."

Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Gorek was a little confused. What kind of help does His Majesty intend to give?

The mystery was soon revealed.

"The Guards have enough officers. I will transfer some officers from the Guards and ask them to help you form a Marine Corps."

Now Admiral Golek understood why he had taken advantage of him. It turns out that His Majesty is using the Marine Corps as a guise to expand the Praetorian Guards. You don't need to think about it to know how those two battalions of Marine officers and soldiers could not be suppressed by the officers from the Guards. Apart from anything else, the Marine Corps was far behind in terms of officer quality alone.

Admiral Golek was a little anxious now. He knew that the king and the army had an agreement that the number of the Guards could not exceed 10,000. His Majesty is dragging the Navy into the water. He does not want to see the Navy wade into this muddy water.

"His Majesty……"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he started, he was stopped by the king with a gesture. Carlo looked into the admiral's eyes and spoke word by word.

"This is my only small help to the Marines. I hope you won't refuse such help."

Listening to the young king's words, Admiral Golek fell silent. Although he didn't want to wade into muddy waters, it was obvious that His Majesty's words meant that he had to make a choice and could not escape. Thinking of how much the young Majesty valued the navy, Admiral Golek gritted his teeth and made a decision that he would be very lucky to have in the future.

"Your Majesty's selfless help, everyone in the Navy is very grateful. With the help from the Praetorian Guards, the Marine Corps will definitely be a sharp sword in Italy's future and will overcome all obstacles for His Majesty."

Admiral Gorek's words made Carlo feel his heart in his stomach, which meant that the navy was tied to his side.

In the future, I want to take control of the army and take a solid step forward.

Of course this is only the first step, there is another step that is also extremely important. The key to this step is General Simeone, who is about to return home.

There is one more chapter, there are still two chapters today, it may be later