My Italy

The outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War was also a major event for the world, which once again turned the attention of all countries to the Far East.

Regarding the war that broke out between Japan and Russia, various countries had different attitudes. Among them, Britain and the United States stood on Japan's side, while Germany and France stood on Russia's side. As for other countries, they were more interested in watching the excitement.

However, one country is not in the mood to watch the excitement, because they are being forced to express their stance and require them to strictly implement the policy of neutrality.

"Your Majesty Carlo, Russia has violated the treaty unanimously adopted by all countries to ensure the territorial integrity of the Qing Dynasty, and your country has great interests in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, our country believes that in this war between Japan and Russia, your two countries should have the same attitude and implement it. A neutral policy rather than adding variables to this war.”

In the palace, the new British Ambassador Phil Coulson was earnestly advising the Italian monarch in front of him. The new British ambassador to Rome, who succeeded Mandison, certainly knew how difficult the Italians were, but his duty was to implement London's orders and ensure that Japan would not be interfered with by Europe. This is not only a requirement of the British Empire, but also a strong requirement of the Japanese government.

After the war with Russia broke out, Japan was most worried about the interference from Italy. Although Italy had lent them 200 million lire before, Italy had too many criminal records. Neutrality simply did not exist for Italy, and everything had to be mixed up.

The Japanese government has suffered huge losses before, how could it possibly forget this? Therefore, before declaring war, he made this request to his boss behind the scenes, the British Empire, to stabilize Italy and prevent it from getting involved.

Faced with this request from the Japanese government, the United Kingdom is of course willing to see it. After all, Italy has been mixed up everywhere in recent years, which makes people have to guard against it.

Unfortunately, Italy did not express neutrality as they wished. Instead, at this tense moment, they suddenly released a message that the Italian Navy planned to eliminate a group of warships that did not meet its needs.

Well, Italy, you must have done it on purpose by releasing this news at this time.

And this news alone was not enough, the Italian Navy accidentally let it slip. This batch of warships that did not meet the requirements included three Genoa-class battleships, three Garibaldi-class cruisers, and fifteen other warships that did not meet the requirements, with a total tonnage of up to 120,000 tons.

The Italians think everyone is a fool. Are they phasing out warships? They are phasing out an entire fleet of main combat warships, and it is also the main Italian fleet. Take a look at the warships that Italy plans to eliminate. Except for the above six large battleships, the rest are basically cruisers with a tonnage of three to four thousand tons.

For example, it performed well in the Sino-Japanese War and was also the fastest Eagle-class reconnaissance cruiser in Italy. As well as a group of Italian warships produced in the 1990s, including the 3,600-ton Savoa-class protected cruiser. The performance of these battleships is pretty good, and they are still considered first-line battleships even now.

To eliminate warships on such a large scale, Italy might as well just put a note on their forehead saying I am going to cause trouble. You think Italy is bad. Everyone can pretend not to see the elimination of one or two battleships. After all, this cannot affect the overall situation, but such an entire fleet can completely influence the outcome of the naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War. After all, among these warships, most of the main warships with a capacity of over 10,000 tons have just been in service.

Two years later. For example, the third Garibaldi-class ship, Franciscos, has been in service for less than three months. It is estimated that even the smell of paint has not dissipated.

Whoever can obtain such a brand-new warship will definitely directly put his own navy at an advantage.

Of course, the price will definitely not be cheap. If Italy sells it for 1.5 times the normal price, it will be considered conscientious.

Of course, now Italy has only released news and nothing else has been said. You can see that the British are eager to come and talk about the friendship between the two countries.

And how could Carlo take Ambassador Colson's so-called friendship seriously? Although Italy also had very large interests in the Qing Dynasty, Italy in the northeastern region did not have much involvement, so it is necessary to talk about this to me.

"Ambassador Colson, I also believe what your ambassador said about the friendship between the two countries, but the decommissioning of the navy's warships has already been decided. This requires you to convince our navy, not to come to me."

Coulson didn't believe a word of Carlo's excuse. When did the Italian Navy become so powerful that it dared not listen to the government and the king?

But even if he doesn't believe it, he must explain what the other party said, especially when he is asking for help. This is diplomacy and this is politics.

"Thank you for your Majesty's information. I will discuss it with the Navy of your country next, so I won't disturb your Majesty and take my leave."

Colson left the palace in a hurry. When he was about to board his carriage, he saw a carriage with a diplomatic badge appearing in front of him.

He took a closer look and saw that the Russian Ambassador Tokayev and the French Ambassador Skleia got out of the car.

As soon as he saw these two ambassadors coming together, Coulson basically guessed the purpose of the other party's visit. Needless to say, he must have come to release news from Italy.

At this time, he did not intend to leave first, but walked towards the two of them.

"Your Excellencies, two ambassadors, are you so free to pay a visit to the King of Italy?"

"Sir Colson, aren't you also very free?"

"I heard that your country is not going well in the Far East. If you have any difficulties, tell me and I will help you think of a solution."

"No thanks."

After a few brief words to tease the Russians, Coulson got into his carriage and left.

"This British guy, who does he think he is?"

After Colson left, Russian Ambassador Tokayev complained to Ambassador Sklaya on the side.

Faced with Tokayev's complaints, Sklea could only smile and give up. Of course, he also knew the purpose of the Russian ambassador in bringing him here, which was for the Italian fleet.

He knew this would happen when Italy let loose. Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to receive instructions from Paris, asking him to cooperate with the Russians.

You don't need to think about it to know that the Russians must have done the work in Paris. In order to maintain this vital ally, Paris can only spend generously on the purchase of ships. What is this? The Italians are selling ships, the Russians want to buy ships, but France has to pay the bill.

But no matter what, this is the only way. The temperament of polar bears is like this, and there is no other better way to ask for help from others.

When the Russian and French ambassadors entered the palace, Colson, who had just left, said to the coachman. "Go to the Japanese Embassy. I want to talk to Ambassador Teppei Osawa."