My Italy

In Rome, while the naval battle at Soulte was still raging, Carlo had already arrived at the Admiralty.

At this moment, in the Navy Department, there are not only people from the Navy Department, but also people from the Army Department and the government. Everyone sat together, anxiously waiting for the news.

The wait was long, and all the ministers waited from the afternoon until the sun went down.

No one wanted to leave at this time, because Italy simply could not afford to lose this naval battle. If it loses, all the strategic measures originally formulated will need to be changed, and the manpower and material resources spent will be too great, and Italy cannot afford to do so several times.

"Father, why is there no news yet?"

Crown Prince Vittorio, who was waiting a little anxiously, looked at Carlo and asked softly.

"As the future king, why are you so impatient? Do you know how long the naval battle will take? Just wait and see."

The words from his stern father made Prince Vittorio, who was sitting on pins and needles waiting, quiet down again.

Of course Carlo knew what his children were thinking, he must be thinking about his wife and children. Yes, Vittorio also had a son, and Carlo’s grandson was named Umberto Amedeo Savoy. He is less than two years old now and is a very healthy and active little baby.

Speaking of which, since his son Vittorio got married, he has been very close to his wife, the Kaiser's youngest daughter Louise, and they have lived a very happy life. The media in Germany and Italy have always praised this as a match made in heaven, and they are a model of the combination of the two countries.

The photos of the two people have always been frequent in newspapers because they are very popular with the public. Thinking about it, how could no one like the handsome man and the beautiful woman? Not to mention that they were both from the famous Savoy family and the Hohenzollern family, which was even more enviable.

But in Carlo's view, this child needs experience. How can he be a good king if he stays in Gentle Village every day?

So after the war broke out, Carlo arranged various things for him and vowed to change it.

However, it seems that the effect is there, but there is still a gap. It doesn't matter that Carlo has time and methods.

But soon Carlo could no longer think about his son's problems, because a communications officer rushed in with a telegram.

"Vice Admiral Leifer telegraphed that we have won the victory, and Vice Admiral is returning with the fleet."

The communications officer's words immediately made the originally quiet Admiralty Building lively. At this moment, everyone wanted to know the specific news.

Admiral Yagier, the Minister of the Navy, understood their thoughts very well and immediately had people read it out loud after receiving the telegram.

"As ordered, Admiral Yagier, our combined fleet engaged the enemy's Mediterranean fleet on January 7, 1914. At the cost of the sinking of Teghov and heavy damage to Stevan, Intrepid, and Dante, The enemy ships Tagoo, Collingwood, Centurion, Vanguard, Invincible, and Indomitable were sunk, and the enemy ships St. Vincent, Neptune, Hercules and other battleships were severely damaged. The enemy ships are now reinforcing the fleet to cover it. Evacuate hastily..."

When the specific news was announced, six of the opponent's battleships and battle cruisers were sunk at the cost of one battleship. This achievement immediately triggered a bigger wave, and many officers present cheered directly.

Carlo did not blame the officer who was cheering wantonly at the scene, but instead walked towards Admiral Yagir and said. "Admiral, the Navy did a great job with this victory."

"It was only with the help of the government and the army that we were able to achieve this glorious victory."

Admiral Yagir's cheeks were as red as if he was drunk at this moment, which was caused by excitement. The Italian Navy has become stronger and stronger under his leadership over the years. How can we not be excited now that it is fighting against the world's number one British Navy and winning.

"Admiral, the casualties of the navy are not small. When they come back, I will personally award medals to the meritorious personnel. In addition, your navy also needs to pay attention to the repair work of the damaged warships and restore the strength of the combined fleet as soon as possible."

Faced with the king's instructions, Admiral Agil responded immediately. "Your Majesty, please rest assured that when the combined fleet returns to port, our Navy Department will arrange for the damaged warships to be repaired as soon as possible, and will also replenish its personnel to ensure that it will not affect the Tunisian campaign three months later."

Battle of Tunisia?

How did it involve a war in Tunisia?

Even before the war broke out, the army and navy had operational plans to occupy Tunisia. In fact, not only Tunisia, but also Egypt, the Balkans, the Middle East, East Africa, and even Gibraltar have combat plans. But plans require sufficient conditions to be implemented.

This victory in the naval battle, coupled with the impending capture of the island of Malta, brought the Tunisian campaign to an implementable stage.

Needless to say, Tunisia is indispensable to Italy, both for its location and its rich natural resources. Not to mention, if Italy takes over, it will directly gain access to the entire Tunis Strait. Plus Malta, a bird flying from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Western Mediterranean will need the approval of the Italian Navy.

It can be said that the Mediterranean Sea is completely cut off by Italy, which will sufficiently promote the direction of the war.

Therefore, long before the naval battle broke out, the navy and army had drawn up a battle plan for Tunisia, and were ready to implement it as soon as the navy won.

One more thing, the commander of this attack on Tunisia is Crown Prince Vittorio, of course this is nominal. As for the reason, needless to say, as the future king of the kingdom, he doesn't know how to do military things. This is an old European tradition. Look at the countries currently participating in the war. Which country's adult prince does not go to the battlefield? Carlo also paved the way for his son to gradually come into contact with the military.

Although they talked about Tunisia, Carlo was more concerned about the navy's next actions.

"Admiral Yagir, all four Rome-class battleships should be in service this year, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the first Rome will be commissioned in March, and the latest Octavian will be commissioned in December. By then, with four Rome-class ships, our navy will join the army to drive the British warships out of the East Mediterranean.”

The most urgently needed battleship by the navy, the Roma class has gathered the attention of the whole of Italy. The outbreak of the war did not affect the construction work of this class of warships. It can even be said that the arrival of the war accelerated its construction speed. Because the Italian government and navy gave priority to the construction of various accessories for the warships, they did not recruit conscripts at the various parts factories of the warships, but asked them to work overtime to produce equipment.

Therefore, this has also led to a general increase in speed of Rome-class battleships, making them enter service faster.

As the first battleship with a 380mm main gun in service, the entry of the Roma class into service will inevitably lead to the Italian Navy expanding its advantages in the Mediterranean. It is not in line with Admiral Yagier's style not to take advantage of the advantage to expand the results.

In fact, the Navy Department has formulated many various combat plans after the Roman class enters service. Of course, it is still a bit early to say, and it will not be implemented until at least the second half of the year.

"I will personally participate in the commissioning of the Roma when the time comes."

Carlo showed his love for the Navy in one sentence and personally stood up for the Navy. This is also because the Navy is playing well, so in order to encourage it to continue its efforts, he does not mind showing this.

After chatting with Admiral Yagir for a few more words, Carlo was about to leave with his son, but at this time, the old man Bacona, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, stopped him.

"Your Majesty, Vienna sent a telegram, hoping that we can help it attack Serbia."

"we are not……"

Carlo didn't understand it at first. It wasn't until Bacona handed him a telegram that he realized that this was not a feint attack before, but one of the main attacks. Because Vienna hopes that Italy can send no less than 180,000 troops to attack Serbia from the south.

"What do the Austro-Hungarians think? Tell them that we can't mobilize troops and supplies now, and we can only guarantee the existing 70,000 people at most."

Carlo did not have the idea of ​​​​intervening too much in the Serbian battlefield, because Italy could not gain benefits.

Vienna was very wary of Italy in the Balkans, so after taking the initiative in the war against Serbia, it was very resistant to Italy's involvement.

In fact, Carlo didn't want Italy to get involved in Serbian land at all. The Yugoslav guerrillas in World War II were famous. Whoever wants these die-hard Serbs wants it, but Italy doesn't have the energy. Therefore, Carlo followed the trend and did not get involved. He just sent tens of thousands of troops in Kosovo to contain it morally.

However, the Austro-Hungarians had too much foresight and failed to defeat Serbia twice in a row, so they hoped for help from Italy. However, although they asked Italy for help, it was purely help and no benefits were given. Isn't this disrespectful? Carlo's refusal was just as it should be.

"etc."

Carlo suddenly stopped the old man Bacona.

"Your Majesty, is there anything else?"

"You don't need to be so blunt when sending a telegram to Vienna. In addition to saying that we can't mobilize troops, you can also suggest that they look for Bulgarians."

Carlo's words made Bakona's slightly cloudy eyes light up. This was a good idea. The half of Macedonia lost by Bulgaria was in the hands of Serbia. If Vienna were more generous, the brave and fighting Bulgarian barbarians would be very willing to give Serbian enemies a head-on blow.

After giving the advice to the Austro-Hungarians, Carlo ignored it. Whether or not he listened would depend on what Vienna thought. Next, he will participate in a parade to let the people feel the joy of victory in the naval battle.

There may be another chapter. If I get enough monthly votes, I will definitely stay up all night to write another chapter.