My Italy

"Our contacts with the British have been smooth, and London is very supportive of our actions. Prime Minister Gladstone told us that no matter what happens, the United Kingdom is on our side."

In the Prime Minister's Office, Gambetta, who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is reporting the latest developments to Prime Minister Juffelli, and beside him is General Laurent, the Minister of Army representing the military.

"What about the German side?"

Rufeli was not satisfied with the good news and continued to ask about Germany's attitude. At present, only Britain and Germany can have an impact on France's march into Tunisia, and he needs to eliminate these two possible unfavorable factors.

Faced with the Prime Minister's inquiry, Ruferi, who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke. "We have not yet contacted the German side. Special Envoy Lomonk only sent a telegram yesterday. He plans to take a train to Berlin today. But based on our understanding of Prime Minister Bismarck, he should be very happy to support us."

Bismarck's attitude has been understood throughout France over the years, and he pays attention to a balance. Of course, the balance is also based on German interests. This prime minister who has made great contributions to Germany has only done one thing in recent years, and that is to avoid Germany's diplomatic isolation. Therefore, whether it is to win over Austria-Hungary or to stabilize France, Russia and Britain, it will buy Germany time to develop.

Of course, other countries are not fools, but this person is very capable and can always find conditions that satisfy both parties.

Of course, his career was not perfect, and it was not his will that William II later asked him to retire. But after the development of German capital, his method was not popular enough. But now, under its leadership, the big German ship is cutting through the waves and moving forward bravely.

Rufeili is not unclear about this person, but of course there are some things that people have to recognize the facts.

After Germany was unified, its population, territorial resources and other aspects were superior to France. He was not a reckless man like Clemenceau, who only knew how to keep shouting slogans of revenge. If France's national power cannot overwhelm Germany, what will it do to take revenge? Just rely on slogans.

In his opinion, France currently has less potential than Germany in terms of territory, people and economy, so it needs to find another way and find a solution from the colonies. Competing with Germany is not conducive to France at all. Only by relying on colonies can France quickly increase its strength.

And compared with Europe, which can affect the whole body with a single move, Asia, Africa and Latin America are not only weak and conducive to colonization, but also lack those constraints, which is simply the best choice to enhance France's strength. As long as France has enough colonies, even if it can only mobilize one-third, it will be enough to deter Germany.

By that time, it would not be too late to talk about recapturing Alsace and Lorraine. A qualified politician must have enough patience. How could he be so reckless and directly trigger hostility between the two countries like Clemenceau? This is not the behavior of a wise man. Therefore, Rufeili pays attention to planning and then acting, killing with one blow.

Either don't activate it, or you must kill the enemy once it activates. This was the lesson he learned from the Franco-Prussian War. Fortunately, the iron-blooded prime minister at that time miscalculated France's strength and only took away 5 billion francs, which did not cause fundamental losses to France. Otherwise, France would still feel breathless now.

Of course, he couldn't forget such hatred unless Germany offered enough benefits to resolve this grudge. However, as far as he knew, the Germans had been immersed in the pride of defeating France and had no such idea at all, so there was no way he could help it. France is hostile to it.

Since the time of Louis XIV, France has been the number one army in Europe. It has never been afraid of anyone in land warfare. This is recognized by all European countries from Louis XIV to Emperor Napoleon. Therefore, the temporary defeat cannot affect the French people. They will definitely once again prove that France is the best army in Europe.

Of course, it is best to bury this kind of hostility in your heart and stop shouting verbally.

Having said so much, we must focus on the present, and Ruferi now also needs to focus on the action against Tunisia first.

So after Foreign Minister Gambetta finished speaking, he immediately asked the military representative on the side, General Laurent, Minister of War. "How are your military plans prepared?"

"We are already prepared."

Faced with the Prime Minister's inquiry, General Laurent, a military representative, immediately answered. And what he said is true. As early as after the Berlin Conference, the French military had made plans to invade Tunisia. Of course, the plan at that time was not suitable for the current situation. But it still has huge reference value.

After the Prime Minister made it clear that he was preparing to invade Tunisia, the military immediately prepared a battle plan that conformed to his ideas. After the military's tireless work, the plan has been initially completed.

General Laurent took out a combat map marked with various military symbols, spread it out and said. "At present, our country has made a military plan, and this is the operational map of the plan."

"Prime Minister, please take a look. This is a military map with a ratio of 50,000 to 1. Our current plan is to use the terrain of the coastal plain in western Tunisia to gather 30,000 troops in two groups, all the way from the city of Ambala on the Algerian border to attack Tunisia. The other route crosses the Tebesa Mountains from Tersa in the center, seizes the central city Sousse and cuts off Tunisia. In addition, the navy also expressed its willingness to provide 8,000 marines to land in Binzet to prevent the enemy from escaping. ”

Although Ruffelli didn't know much about military affairs, he still understood through General Laurent's explanation that the military's combat plan met his expectations. Surround the enemy on all sides and give them no chance to escape.

Only in this way can the Tunisian problem be solved quickly without giving the Italians a chance to intervene.

"It's good that the people are implementing this plan. By the way, who is leading the charge this time?"

After Rufeili praised the military's good plan, he asked who the general was leading the army.

"It's General Pelissier."

"It turned out to be him."

Rufeili also knew the commander given by the military. Of course, this General Pélissier is not simple at all. He experienced the Franco-Prussian War before and was later transferred to North Africa. He has excellent ability in public security operations and has suppressed many riots and rebellions among Algerian indigenous people. A general who has experienced hundreds of battles. (Algeria’s population decreased by 500,000 to 1 million during this period, but the total population of Algeria was only 3 million)

Of course, this alone is not enough to make Rufeli remember that General Pelissier has also caused a lot of trouble in Paris. He was back in Paris on vacation and got into a fight with a journalist who was dissatisfied with what he had done in Algeria. After this incident was reported in the newspapers, his reputation in France was not good, but this was also appreciated by Juffelli.

In his view, General Pelissier was a general who sought to gain benefits for France and could not be harmed intentionally.

Since the military has given this candidate, it means that it hopes to use his ability to solve Tunisia as soon as possible. Ruferi is quite satisfied with this candidate, and the next step is to wait for the news of the meeting with Germany.

The news from Germany did not keep them waiting, and a telegram was sent from Berlin a few days later. Special Envoy Romonk has already met with Prime Minister Spiesmer. The German Prime Minister expressed support for France's actions in Tunisia. He told Special Envoy Romonk. "France should occupy Tunisia without thinking about Italy!"

Although Bismarck expressed support, Juffelli, as the French Prime Minister, knew that this was just a strategy of the German Prime Minister to promote the "continental policy." But this would be good for France, wouldn’t it?

Moreover, under its leadership, Germany was not interested in developing colonies at all, which was convenient for France. As for who has the right path in the future, let time prove everything.

After receiving support from Britain and France, Juffelli asked the French troops stationed in Alnigeria to begin secret preparations.

Of course, everything requires an excuse. France is a civilized people, so how can it invade other countries at will? It happened that a love killing involving tribes on both sides was exploited by France.