We don’t know whether Antonio’s question has been answered.
However, after visiting the king, Antonio visited the prime minister and several important ministers one after another. Soon his appointment was announced. After bidding farewell to his friends, he boarded the ship to Massawa.
Because he needs to rush to Massawa to make a handover with General Simeone. Due to the war, General Simeone is currently mainly in charge of Italy's colonies in East Africa. Of course, he is basically in charge of the military. After all, General Simeone is a soldier.
How can you manage local affairs?
Moreover, most of the East African Expeditionary Force has now withdrawn from the country. Of the 56,000 people who went on the expedition (the increase was engineering troops), 37,000 have returned home. The remaining troops may have to be delayed, and they will be stationed in East Africa for one to two years.
Time will be withdrawn.
It seems that Italy did not occupy East Africa for long enough. You must know that before 1881, Italy had only a few port strongholds in East Africa. It was not until the year before last that it began to expand into the interior on a large scale. Last year, it used force to make many tribes in the area recognize them.
Italy the conqueror.
Such a conquest lasted too short, and sufficient troops were needed to coerce all parties and ensure the stability of the East African colonies.
Of course, the vast majority of tribes can see the form clearly, but there are no idiots who can't see the form clearly. At this time, the power of a large garrison will be revealed, which will make them think twice before taking action.
After Antonio takes office, General Simeone can return to Italy, because many people in Italy are waiting for his return.
This also included Carlo, but while waiting for the national hero who was about to be launched, Carlo also did something else.
For example, discuss with the Secretary of the Navy the issue of increasing the number of Marine Corps personnel.
This force, which was famous in later generations, did not receive much attention in this era. Even the British Navy, which is famous for its navy, has less than 10,000 marines, let alone other countries.
Although the Italian Navy has followed other countries in establishing a Marine Corps, it only has a size of more than a thousand people. Moreover, the tasks of the Italian Marine Corps are the same as those of other countries, and are divided into fleet detachments and land combat forces.
.
The Marine Corps, which meets the definition of later generations, naturally refers to the land combat force, which is only two battalions in size (four companies with three steps and one artillery), which is not much different from the army's battalions.
So when Carlo mentioned the Marine Corps, Admiral Golek, as the Minister of the Navy, was a little puzzled. Why is His Majesty interested in this army of about a thousand people?
Facing the Admiralty Minister's doubts, Carlo certainly had his reasons.
"Admiral Gorek, it is undesirable for the navy to not have its own infantry unit. If a crisis or war occurs, it must discuss with the army. This will increase the reaction time and is a very unfavorable situation."
Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Golek thought for a while and then replied, "Your Majesty, our navy has marine troops."
"With just those two battalions, what can be accomplished?"
Carlo's words are a bit absolute, but the principle is the same. Two battalions of troops may not have been bad in the Age of Discovery, but now, this amount of troops can't accomplish anything.
Faced with Carlo's rebuttal, Admiral Golek certainly knew that his infantry unit was indeed not up to par.
"Then according to His Majesty's wishes?"
Seeing His Majesty's enthusiasm, Admiral Gorek wanted to hear the King's opinion.
"At least one brigade is needed to enable the Navy to have the ability to operate independently. Of course, this is only the initial stage. To truly operate independently, the Navy needs at least a division-level Marine Corps."
Seeing the young king express his views in a serious manner, Admiral Gorek's jaw almost dropped in shock. This brigade-level Marine Corps, I'm afraid His Majesty was not joking.
You must know that the pressure on the Navy is already strong enough against France. He, the Minister of the Navy, would like to spend a penny in half. If he wants him to increase the currently unimportant Marine Corps to the division and brigade level, it is better to kill him.
Forget it (in this era, few people in the Navy paid much attention to the Marines, and treated them more as vassals).
Facing the surprised expression of Admiral Gorek, Carlo could of course understand it. Because this was the result of the times, the Italian Marine Corps had no use at all before. Because the main task of the Italian Navy was to ensure the security of maritime areas,
Repel the invading enemy, which makes it pay more attention to the role of ships.
The Marine Corps is a ground force and can only be used when invading an enemy country. In the area around Italy, who can afford to offend them?
Of course, in addition to this, there is another factor that makes General Golek wary of the expansion of the Marine Corps, and that is the attitude of the Army.
Although the relationship between the navy and the army is just like that, the navy itself is at a disadvantage compared to the army. (If you look at the military expenditure distribution ratio, you will know that the navy only gets about 35%. Doesn't this reflect its disadvantage?)
Having no money and need to consider the attitude of the Army, General Golek was very uninterested in Carlo's proposal. "Thank you very much for Your Majesty's concern for the Navy. I need to go back and discuss the expansion of the Marine Corps."
It was obvious that Admiral Gorek was ready to leave. He felt that continuing to stay in the palace would hinder his work, and the new combat regulations were more meaningful than this. But when a word came out of Carlo's mouth, Admiral Gorek
He stopped.
"Thirty million lire!"
"What?"
Facing the surprised expression on Admiral Gorek's face, Carlo said word for word. "I said, as long as you agree to expand the size of the Marine Corps to the brigade level, I will let the Navy get an additional 30 million lire in military spending.
"
Well, talking about money hurts feelings, so the sincere Admiral Golek stayed.
"Your Majesty, 30 million lire is only enough to set up a brigade. Our navy will also need to bear maintenance costs in the future, which is not enough at all."
Well, when it comes to money it's easy.
"This is enough. You must know that the establishment cost of an elite mountain brigade of the Army is only 34 million. You can't ask the government to pay for all the expenses. You have to contribute some amount."
Well, Carlo also started from the government's finances. After all, it would be very weird if he took out this money himself. Although he had previously donated two naval patrol ships, that was done when Italy suffered a disastrous failure in the Tunisia crisis.
, which is very different from the current situation.
"Your Majesty, if this is the case, our navy will have an additional expenditure of nearly four million per year, which will completely increase our burden."
Admiral Gorek, who looked aggrieved, began to cry out in pain.
"Let's do this. If you can form a division-level Marine Corps within three years, I will ask the government to give you an additional 10 million lire per year in addition to military expenditures."
On the surface, Carlo made concessions, but in fact he continued to squeeze the navy's funds.
As a veteran of the Navy, how could Admiral Golek not understand? He said, "This is not possible. Currently, the Navy only has a limited amount of funds per year. If we bear the expenses of more than 10,000 combatants, this will reduce our resources."
The cost of purchasing warships must be 15 million."
"Eleven million."
"No, that's too little. It's at least 14 million."
"Twelve million."
"..."
After some fierce bargaining, Carlo finally asked the government to invest 40 million, and then gave him 12 million per year in exchange for Admiral Gorek to agree that the Navy would form a division-level Marine Corps within three years.
.Of course, Admiral Golek made a profit in this confrontation. He earned a division-level Marine Corps for nothing.
Of course, Carlo's intention was more than this. After General Gorek agreed, he said, "It's a bit difficult for you to form a division of ground troops. It's easy to talk about ordnance, but it's very troublesome for the officers.
"
Facing Carlo's words, General Gorek nodded and replied. "Yes, Your Majesty, we can only recruit officers that the army does not want. This is indeed a bit difficult."
This is also the current norm in various countries. The navy's ground force officers are basically recruited from the navy after the army has gone to military academies. For a military academy student studying ground combat, going to the army is the best option, and going to the navy is nothing.
Ah, I will be laughed at by my classmates in the future.
However, he immediately changed his tone. "But our navy is confident that it will form a division-level marine force within three years."
However, in the face of the Admiralty Minister's assurance, Carlo did not give any encouragement. "The lack of officers is indeed a problem. Confidence alone cannot do it, so I will give you another boost."
Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Gorek was a little confused. What kind of help does His Majesty intend to give?
The mystery was soon revealed.
"The Guards has enough officers. I will transfer some officers from the Guards and ask them to help you form a Marine Corps."
Now General Golek understood why he allowed himself to take advantage. It turned out that His Majesty was using the Marine Corps as a guise to expand the Guards. You don’t need to think about it to know that with just two battalions of Marine officers and soldiers, what happened?
Maybe it wasn't suppressed by the officers from the Guards. If nothing else, the Marine Corps was far behind in terms of officer quality alone.
Admiral Golek was a little anxious now. He knew that the king and the army had an agreement that the number of guards could not exceed 10,000. His Majesty was dragging the navy into the water. He did not want to see the navy wade into this muddy water.
.
"His Majesty……"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he started, he was stopped by the king with a gesture. Carlo looked into the admiral's eyes and spoke word by word.
"This is my only small help to the Marines. I hope you won't refuse such help."
After listening to the young king's words, Admiral Gorek fell silent. Although he did not want to wade into the muddy waters, it was obvious that His Majesty's words meant that he had to make a choice and could not escape. Thinking of the importance that the young Majesty placed on the navy, Gorek
The admiral gritted his teeth and made a decision that he would be very happy for in the future.
"Your Majesty's selfless help, everyone in the Navy is very grateful. With the help from the Praetorian Guards, the Marine Corps will definitely be a sharp sword in Italy's future and will overcome all obstacles for Your Majesty."
Admiral Gorek's words made Carlo feel his heart in his stomach, which meant that the navy was tied to his side.
I want to take control of the Army in the future, so I have taken a solid step.
Of course, this is only the first step. There is another step that is also extremely important. The key to this step is General Simeone, who is about to return home.
