The Ottoman army finally arrived at Zabadani, but by the time they arrived, the church had become a piece of scorched earth, which was the mark of being burned by fire.
After some searching, they only found a few burnt corpses, and it was impossible to identify who they were. Faced with this situation, the Ottoman officer leading the team knew the seriousness of the problem, and lesson plans were not unique to the Far East.
He immediately reported the incident to Damascus, and detained Imam Agali, the culprit who caused the church to be destroyed, and more than a dozen key figures captured after interrogation.
However, although he handled the action well, the matter could not be concealed at all. A few days later, Italy's Florence Evening News first published this report,
In the newspaper's report, two innocent Italian priests were persecuted by Ottoman religious forces, and their ghosts have been lingering in Syria. At the end of the newspaper, it was written that this does not rule out the possibility of local religious forces gaining the government's acquiescence.
, otherwise how could such a tragedy happen in a small town only 60 kilometers away from Damascus.
Even though the Florence Evening News was quite subtle, the report still caused an uproar. The media that followed up the report later became even more outspoken, saying that this tragedy was the Ottoman government's tacit consent.
Some newspapers even wrote that the whole thing was planned by the Ottoman government. They did not want their people to see the light of the Lord shining on the land. (This was a bit excessive. They completely ignored the large number of Christians in the Ottoman country.
)
The massive media publicity was naturally inseparable from the backstage promoters’ efforts to fuel the flames.
As the main driving force behind the scenes, it is our respected King Carlo. Of course, when he first learned of the tragedy in Syria, Carlo’s first reaction was that this was an opportunity, and his second reaction was that the timing was not too bad.
good.
Because Italy was not completely ready, but considering that this opportunity was good, Carlo summoned his ministers to discuss it after receiving the news.
The result of the discussion was that the government believed that it could wait because Italy had not yet completed its preparations, and it was best to wait until it was completely ready before declaring war on the Ottoman Empire.
The military's attitude is that although the preparations have not been completed yet, this opportunity is too rare and the military believes that it can declare war on the Ottomans.
Especially General Saragat, who is the Minister of War, said plausibly. "Although the army's change of uniform has not yet been completed, our army is confident of launching a winning attack against the Ottoman army."
What gives General Saraguet such confidence is mainly due to the gap in weapons between the two armies. Although the Italian Army has fewer people than the Ottoman Empire, most of the army officers and soldiers have been equipped with new standard rifles. Compared with those who are still using them,
The old breech-loading guns and even some single-loading rifles were much better for the Ottoman army.
Not to mention in terms of army support firepower? The Italian Army can defeat the Ottoman army. At present, Italian artillery is basically advanced rear-mounted retractable guns. It is not comparable to the Ottoman army, which has not even retired its front-mounted Napoleon cannon.
For this reason, General Saraguet also promised Carlo that the Italian Army will be fully equipped in just one month. In two months, the Italian Army will expand to 700,000, and in three months it will reach 85,000.
Thousands of people.
After the Franco-Prussian War, all countries strengthened their mobilization capabilities, and although Italy's mobilization speed cannot be said to be fast, it is not slow at all.
One more thing? The current full strength of an Italian Army division is more than 15,600 people, but in peacetime, its strength fluctuates between 8,400 and 12,100 people. An Italian army has two divisions, plus one or two brigades.
At full strength, mountain or cavalry, artillery and other attached troops can reach about 45,000-52,000.
So the Italian Army currently has ten corps, which is not low at all? It still maintains a strength of 280,000 to 300,000 people on weekdays.
Of course, in addition to Admiral Saragat, Admiral Golek of the Navy is even more confident? Because the Ottoman Empire’s navy is not worth mentioning.
Since the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, the Ottoman Navy has been locked in the bay of Istanbul by its Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In the past five years, the Ottoman Navy has not added a ship with a tonnage of more than 1,000 tons.
The main force of the fleet is still the old guys who have experienced the Turkish-Russian war. Apart from being able to cooperate with the forts to guard the Black Sea Strait, what else can such a navy be used for? If encountered in the sea, the two Venice-modified ships
You can defeat them by patrolling.
So compared to the army, the navy has no suspense at all.
When the two admirals representing the navy and army said there was no problem, Carlo felt that this opportunity could not wait any longer.
You must know that situations like the murder of a priest are most likely to trigger public anger. Because people in all European countries basically go to church, no matter who they are, this is inevitable.
The killing of innocent priests by heretics can arouse people's emotions even more.
So after careful consideration, Carlo resolutely agreed to the military's request. After Carlo agreed, the government no longer insisted. After all, when a war breaks out, it is still up to the military to speak, although the preparations are not perfect.
, but nothing ever goes as planned.
With the promotion of all parties, the murder of two priests in Syria caused such a big sensation in Italy. Otherwise, the murder of two priests would have caused such a big stir.
Regarding the current outbreak of public opinion, the current intensity is not enough. He and the government need to wait until public sentiment is at its highest before taking advantage of the situation to announce actions against the Ottoman Empire.
But before that, people’s emotions also need to be guided.
So Carlo has been in the palace these days, paying attention to the fermentation of public opinion.
But today, there was a little accident. The captain of the guard, Felici Mitch, walked in with a telegram and a strange look on his face.
"What's the matter, captain of the guard?"
Looking at Felicius Mickey's expression, Carlo couldn't help but ask.
"Your Majesty, this is a telegram from the Vatican."
Carlo was also surprised by the words of the captain of the guard. Then he thought, those old antiques are really real, they are only two or three kilometers away, and they actually need to send telegrams?
"Pull over here and let me see."
Out of curiosity, Carlo wanted to see what the Vatican telegram said and what kind of trouble Leo XIII wanted to do.
As a result, when he read the contents of the telegram, Carlo also had a strange expression. No way, anyone who sees someone who has always been against him suddenly changes his attitude by 180 degrees will have such an expression.
"Are you sure it's from the Vatican?"
"Okay, I've called to confirm."
Carlo was a little puzzled by the answer from the captain of the bodyguard. The content of the telegram was very ordinary. It was to thank the Italian government for supporting the servant of God and to hope that the Holy See and the Italian government could have good neighborly relations.
The content of this telegram is very simple and ordinary. In other countries, it would be considered nonsense at most. After this telegram came from the Vatican at that time, this treasure was extraordinary. You must know that the telegrams sent by the Vatican before had nothing but protests. A protest, or a warning, is nothing good anyway.
So the slightly normal telegram was actually quite surprising.
"I understand. Let the Prime Minister contact the Vatican to see what their thoughts are."
Although Carlo didn't know what the Vatican was thinking, he tried to get in touch to see if the attitude was good, and he wouldn't lose money anyway.
So while arousing public opinion, the Italian government tried to contact the Vatican, which has always been hostile to it.
