"What are you doing? Why are you provoking the Abyssinians again?"
Holding Major General Bart's report on the loss of Adi Kwara in Eritrea, Carlo thought to himself.
Of course, the report that Carlo read must be that Abyssinia provoked Italy in every possible way, and the Italian army must have performed its duties faithfully, but it suffered a hundredfold siege from the Abyssinians, which led to its failure.
Carlo took a quick look at the report and found that it was pretty much what he thought.
Of course, the actual situation may be the other way around, unless the Abyssinians are crazy and would deliberately provoke Italy.
However, Carlo would not say these thoughts, because the Minister of Navy and Army was right in front of him, and the Prime Minister was also there. How could he dismantle the Army at this time? As a qualified politician, Carlo would not do such an unwise thing.
behavior.
"What is your military's opinion on this?"
Putting down the telegram in his hand, Carlo looked at the two military bosses, mainly at the Secretary of War, General Saraguet.
Facing Carlo's inquiry, General Saraguet, who looked indignant, immediately said in his angry voice. "This is a provocation by the Abyssinians against the Kingdom of Italy. This is an act of war."
, must be dealt with severely."
Regarding Admiral Saraget's words, Carlo then turned his attention to the other two.
"A blow must be given."
These are the words of Admiral Gorek, Minister of the Navy.
"The Abyssinians should be taught a lesson."
This is what Prime Minister Despretis said.
Seeing the surprising unity between the military and the government, Carlo felt entangled in his heart. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for him to oppose the unanimous opinion of the military and the government.
Contrary to the opinions of the military administration, he is actually not willing to take action against the Abyssinians. This is not because he is afraid of these black uncles in East Africa. Although he has won a victory over the Italian army in history, it was only in Italy that he defeated the Italian army.
It was completed without paying enough attention.
200,000 to 17,000, and it was still in an ambush. Such a failure is not that embarrassing. I didn't see that even the British were able to lose their wings at the hands of the Afghans, and twice.
The main reason why Carlo was unwilling was that the Ethiopian plateau was too barren, with neither enough arable land nor any minerals. It was not worthwhile to use force against such a place.
If it were as rich as Sudan and had so many resources, Carlo would definitely push Italy to take action against it, let alone military and political opinions.
However, taking into account the opinions of both the military and the political parties, and the fact that this was the behavior of the army of Emperor Johannes IV of Abyssinia, it meant that it at least had the acquiescence of the black emperor.
In this case, if Italy does not come back with revenge, the people alone will not be able to give an explanation. Moreover, Carlo started his career by anti-France. If he does not express a tough attitude, he will easily lose his prestige. Therefore, he must not
If you don't make a statement, this is considered kidnapping.
When it came to selecting his opponents, Carlo was very cautious, because if Italy wanted to accumulate prestige and show strength, it also needed the support of its opponents.
As for right or wrong and the reason, it no longer matters. In this era, the big fist is the truth.
In this respect, Carlo has perfectly integrated into this era.
"So what are your military plans?"
Carlo's words made the two military bosses feel secretly happy. You must know that the previous order not to cross the border of the Abyssinian Empire was what Carlo strongly requested.
Although they don't know why, both admirals can feel that His Majesty does not want to conflict with them.
And now that His Majesty has personally said that he allows the military to take action against him, how can he not make the two generals happy? Of course, General Saragat is mainly more happy, after all, this will be led by the army.
"Your Majesty, our military's plan is to deploy one brigade each from the 9th Division and the 12th Division, totaling 10,000 people, to reinforce Eritrea. In this way, we will have 14,000 troops in Eritrea, which is enough to fight against Abyssini.
The Asian Empire starts a war. At the same time, we also need to choose a successor within it. After we defeat the army of Johannes IV, we need a new emperor who will fall to us and control Abyssinia for us."
Carlo felt speechless when he heard General Saraguet speak about the military's plan. This was comparing the Abyssinians to the scattered primitive African tribes. Although such an army would be of great help to the rest of Africa.
It's huge enough for a place, but it's not enough to deal with Abyssinia, a brave and warlike East African feudal empire.
So after listening to the Minister of War's plan, Carlo shook his head and said, "This plan does not have enough troops."
"???"
Carlo's words made the two admirals have questions on their faces.
This is the data they obtained by referring to the results of previous battles, as well as the military forces used by Britain and France during their colonization. They also considered the strength of Johannes IV, the Abyssinian emperor. Although the Abyssinian Empire
There are more than 200,000 troops, but the army under the command of the emperor is only about 120,000. The force of one to nine is enough to deal with the emperor of the East African Empire.
Carlo said why he thought it was not enough. "Because we can't just consider the army of Johannes IV. We must know that we are waging a war against Abyssinia. This emperor has enough righteousness, so very soon
It is possible to get support from other forces. So I think such a force is too small and needs at least 40,000 people. In addition, Abyssinia has a conflict with the Mahdi forces in Sudan, so we should also take advantage of it."
Yes, what Carlo wanted was to use a huge force and foreign aid to defeat the Abyssinians with all their might.
He very much agrees with the words of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang: If you don't do it, you must do it absolutely.
"I think it's too labor intensive."
However, as soon as Carlo finished speaking, there was immediate opposition, and everyone saw that it was the Prime Minister who was making a statement.
Faced with everyone's gaze, Prime Minister Despretis stated the reason for his opposition. "It costs too much, and the government simply doesn't have that much money."
After working on it for a long time, I still had trouble due to lack of money.
Facing the Prime Minister's words, Carlo asked, "How much money can the government currently spend on military spending?"
"At present, in addition to the 80 million lire reserve fund, the government can allocate up to 30 million lire."
After hearing the Prime Minister's words, General Saraguet, who is the Minister of War, continued, "If it is based on His Majesty's request for sending troops, then the cost of sending troops to Abyssinia should be around 80 million to 110 million lire.
This is calculated based on limiting the war time to three months. If it is extended by one month, the cost will increase by about 20 million."
It is true that the sound of a cannon is worth ten thousand taels of gold. Once there is a war, this money will be spent like water.
Of course, General Saraget said this to dispel Carlo's idea of mobilizing troops in such a way.
But he didn't know that Carlo was determined to promote this plan.
"Then issue war bonds. The government will immediately issue a special war bond of 200 million liras."
Carlo's words immediately silenced the two military bosses. Since fees were the issue, and now that Carlo was going to issue bonds as an excuse, of course they had nothing to say.
But for the Prime Minister, these words made him feel crazy. His fiscal revenue, which had finally improved a little, would be dragged down by this bond again. But seeing Carlo staring at him, he could not object if he wanted to.
I can't say it out loud, so this is my default.
Now that the military expenditure problem has been solved, the next step will be easier.
Taking into account the actual situation of the army and the terrain of Abyssinia, Bugui Carlo specifically gave instructions to the Minister of War. "The troops to be deployed will mainly be mountain troops. In addition, the Guards will also send two regiments to participate in this event."
A disciplinary war against Abyssinia.”
Yes, Carlo also needs to let the Guards go to the battlefield to practice.
Now that they have decided to send troops, the two military bosses need to rush back to prepare, make plans, mobilize the troops, and transport supplies, etc., all need to be redone. They are busy.
As for the Prime Minister, he also needs to be busy. In addition to issuing war bonds, he also needs to negotiate with other countries to understand Italy's punitive war against Abyssinia. Otherwise, those countries will make small moves in private.
Doesn't it make it more difficult for Italian soldiers to fight?
After Carlo sent away the three military and political leaders, he was just about to continue working when he received a report from the bodyguard.
"Your Majesty, His Excellency Mr. Behrens, the British Ambassador, wishes to see you."
