My Italy

"Everyone, this is a budget meeting, not a quarrel. Please exercise restraint."

Although Carlo spoke softly, the weight of his words immediately silenced the venue.

Carlo waited until the venue quieted down, and then looked at the Admiralty who had been silent. "Admiral Gorek, how do you think the dispute between the two parties should be resolved?"

Carlo's words immediately made Admiral Golek the focus of the meeting. Army colleagues hoped that he would maintain a consistent attitude despite being part of the same military, while the government hoped that the Navy would not be as stubborn as the Army.

Admiral Gorek felt the attention from both sides, so he simply made the navy's attitude public.

"I think both sides are right, but we need to consider the development of the kingdom more and everyone needs to be calm. So I think we all need to calm down and have a good talk. As a member of the national army, the Navy is very willing to serve We are willing to reduce the number of personnel by 13,000 and the tonnage of naval ships by 43,000 tons.”

Admiral Gorek's words immediately aroused a burst of warm applause from the government, while the army looked at the Navy Minister's actions in stunned silence. Isn't this putting the Army on the fire? The Navy must have taken the wrong medicine.

Prime Minister Despretis immediately took over. "Thanks to the efforts of the Navy. We all see the government's efforts in contributing to the national finances."

Admiral Gorek stopped talking, because the navy actually took advantage. It sounds like the Navy is going to reduce the number of personnel and ship tonnage. In fact, the personnel the Navy is going to reduce are the Marine Corps. And where these people come from, no one knows yet. At that time, the Marine Corps will be reduced by one division and the Praetorian Guard will be expanded by one division, and the problem will be solved.

As for reducing the tonnage of warships, that is simple. Currently, the Navy still has many steam warships built in the 1960s and 1970s. These warships that should have been retired long ago have been retained because of the need to maintain the size of the fleet. Now we can take this opportunity to decommission these old warships. The only difficulty is the officers and soldiers, but this is not difficult. The navy always has a place to arrange them, whether it is a transport fleet or other warships. a little.

With the navy's sudden statement, Admiral Saraget and others immediately felt something was wrong. Now that they are being held back, the opposition was so fierce before, and now it is so embarrassing.

As the government's second-ranking official, Foreign Minister Bacona took the opportunity to say. "Since the navy can help relieve the kingdom's debts, I believe that the army, as the pillar of the country, will also be able to understand the kingdom's situation."

Upon hearing the words of the Foreign Minister, General Saraguet knew that it was impossible to escape unscathed, so he had to go against his will. "In fact, the Army also wants to contribute to the Kingdom's debt, but it is really impossible to reduce the size of the Army to 200,000. We think 350,000 is a very reasonable number."

It is obvious that the Minister of War intends to lower his posture and talk about it. According to the scale in his mind, this slowly should be able to retain the size of 300,000 for the Army.

"It is enough for the Army to retain just over 200,000, and we need to prioritize resolving the massive debt problem."

However, General Saraget's gesture did not make the government relent. Instead, Finance Minister Tejela insisted on a scale of just over two hundred thousand, without giving any chance for discussion.

Facing the tough request of the Finance Minister, Admiral Saraguet became angry. He slapped the table and said angrily. "What you are doing is simply bullying the Army, and we will not agree to it."

As the Minister of War fought back, several other generals also stepped forward. "Yes, such a request is too unreasonable."

Just as several generals were reprimanding the government, an inappropriate voice suddenly sounded. "Actually, I think an army of 200,000 soldiers is currently sufficient for national defense needs."

These sudden words shocked several admirals, because they came from behind them. Several people immediately turned around and found that the person who said this was actually the Chief of General Staff, General Cardorna. They were all shocked.

General Saragate, who was the Minister of War, glared at him and couldn't help but speak. "Admiral Cadorna, do you know what you are talking about?"

Facing the army leader's glare, General Cardorna looked at him very calmly. "I know what I'm talking about. I think two hundred thousand troops are enough to meet current national defense needs."

As Admiral Cardorna finished speaking, a group of burly guards walked into the venue holding their waists, looking at the admirals with serious faces. Although they did not take any other actions, the generals knew the meaning very well. As for the government, except for the Prime Minister, everyone else looked at the scene with shocked expressions.

And Kingdom Carlo, who was presiding over the meeting, looked at the several generals and said. "You generals are getting old. I think you should spend more time with your family. What do you think?"

Carlo's words made several generals look very ugly, because they wanted them to retire. And what can they do now, reject it on the spot?

It was originally thought that Carlo's biggest suspect in the Army was Lieutenant General Simeone, but no one expected that it was actually one of them, General Cardorna, Chief of General Staff.

Admiral Cardorna also felt bad inside. They had worked together for so many years, and now there was no way he could stand up and ask his old friend to leave. After all, the army is the armed force of the kingdom, and the king's fear of the army traveling beyond his control is a great harm to the army.

Especially since they are older, and the king is in his prime, and will have at least thirty or forty years of power. Will the army still be able to fly into the sky by then? In addition, the king's political skills have become increasingly stronger over the years, and Italy has grown stronger under his leadership. The army cannot resist at all, this is the general trend.

There is another reason that cannot be said. Admiral Cardorna comes from a military family. Is he really going to hate the king and ruin the future of his family?

Carlo, who was talked about by General Cardorna, was actually not too nervous. Although he used this method to win the army, it was because the army had to rectify its time.

The army was not used before because it was necessary to prepare for war with the Ottomans. Look at the performance of the Italian army in the Balkan battlefield. It was worse than Bulgaria, whose weapons were inferior to its own. If it had not roped in Bulgaria, a powerful thug. The war with the Ottomans was really going to be a bad war.

As for why they didn't take action immediately after the war, it was also because they wanted to paralyze these military leaders. In order to prepare for today's situation, we have been preparing for several years, and we have finally won over General Cadorna, who has been given the position of Minister of War.

After such a big effort and preparation for such a long time, a group of military leaders will not complain if they lose.

Faced with such a scene, General Yiqian's face was uncertain. There was no need to think too much. He had no chance to resist. Because it was a budget meeting, they did not bring weapons at all, and they even had only two or three attachés. As for whether the Army was in turmoil because of their retirement, it was impossible with the traitor Cadorna, the chief of staff.

They haven't spoken for a long time, mostly because they really didn't expect it and haven't been able to accept the reality of retirement.

"Alas~~"

Admiral Saraget let out a long sigh. "I've been busy with military affairs these past few years, and it's been a long time since I've enjoyed family happiness."

This was obviously an acceptance of the request to retire, and Admiral Saraget's words shattered the resistance of others.

"Yes, I haven't seen my little granddaughter for a long time."

“It’s not bad to go back to my hometown and visit.”

Several military leaders were busy looking for excuses for themselves, and at the same time, the atmosphere in the venue was frightened.

No one expected that several military bosses would be dismissed from their posts in this way.

Of course there must be insiders, such as the Prime Minister and the Lord of the Admiralty.

Two days later, Saraget and four other generals announced that they were retiring from active service due to old age. The government and the king expressed regret and gratitude to the retirement of several generals and thanked them for their contributions over the years. For this reason, the government not only gave them generous pensions, but also found several mansions for them to enjoy their retirement years.

Of course, in view of the many years of hard work of the generals for the country, the government is also very concerned about their health problems and thoughtfully prepares doctors, nurses, and coachmen for them so that they can enjoy their old age without being disturbed.

In addition, as a reward for the greatest contribution to the Ottoman Empire's war, General Cardorna was awarded the rank of marshal by Carlo. Let him become the first person in the Italian Army, and Marshal Cadorna's new position is Minister of War. As for Lieutenant General Simeone, who also performed well in this war, he was also promoted to general and took over the post of chief of general staff.