The National Socialist Party's vigorous struggle against the Mafia in the south is a major event worthy of attention for the political party and the government. After all, it is related to their interests.
But for General Simeone, this matter is not worth paying attention to, because he can't pay attention to the army's affairs, so he has no time to care about other things.
General Simeone, who had just arrived at the General Staff Headquarters, began a busy day of work.
"Chief of General Staff, this is the list for the assessment of the 21st Division."
"Okay, I understand, put it on the table."
Simeone, who was immersed in work, continued to work without raising his head.
"Chief of the General Staff, this is the plan drawn up by the Combat Training Department for the division-level confrontation exercise between the 5th Division and the 13th Division."
"Okay, put it there and I'll take a look."
"Chief of General Staff, you need to have a meeting with Marshal Cadorna in the afternoon to discuss adjustments to the size of the army battalion and company level."
"Okay, I understand."
After the adjutant left, Simone was the only one left in the room immersed in work. Simone's office was quite simple. Apart from his own office chair, there was only a sofa, a clothes hanger and a filing cabinet on one side.
, that’s not right, there is also a map of Italy on the wall.
Half an hour later, Simone finally finished the work at hand and picked up the assessment book for the 21st Division.
If there is one thing that currently scares the Italian Army officers and soldiers the most, it is the assessment.
In recent years, what Simeone has pushed the most during his tenure is the strict implementation of the assessment system. Before he took office, the Army also had an assessment system, but this system was more like a formality and not authoritative enough.
After he took office, he was deeply aware of the low combat effectiveness of the Italian Army, so he reported an attitude of reorganizing the combat effectiveness of the Italian Army and strictly suppressed the assessment system. Every officer needs to be assessed, and it is not enough to be assessed only once. It took less than two years.
There will be an assessment, and the difficulty of each assessment increases year by year. If you fail the assessment twice in a row, then I'm sorry, you may not be suitable to stay in the army, apply for retirement. No one can be an exception, even if you are from a military officer family or a noble family
Disciples must also pass the assessment.
For this reason, many military officers called Simeone the toughest chief of staff in the history of the army.
Of course, this alone is not enough, nor is forceful pressure alone, there is also a need for rewards, and the reward Simone gives is promotion. Officers who excel in each assessment will have an advantage in promotion and job promotion. For example, for vacant officer positions,
Priority will be given to these officers who have excellent assessment results, and the same will be true for promotions.
In these years, Simeone has promoted the strict implementation of the assessment system, and the combat effectiveness of the Italian Army has also continued to improve. In the military exercise between Germany and Italy last year, the 9th Division defeated the 14th Division of the German Army in a division-level exercise.
This is the first time that the Italian Army has defeated Germany in a division-level confrontation with non-Guards troops (equal number of troops and equal equipment). This impressed the German colleagues and affirmed the results of General Simeone's re-examination.
Of course, these years of assessment have also brought about an effect, that is, Italian officers have become more reasonable, and a large number of incompetent officers have retired, making the Italian Army more combat effective.
Here is a statistic: before Simeone took office, the Italian Army had more than 500 senior general-level officers on active duty. It is not unusual for the Italian Army to have so many generals when the size of the Italian Army is only 200,000.
A good thing. Having so many generals is not a good thing for the Army. After all, a division-level unit generally only has three chief officers: generals (chief, deputy division commander, chief of staff). With so many generals in the Army, many positions are highly qualified.
, which is not conducive to the construction of the army.
After Simeone's reorganization over the years, there are now only more than 200 active generals in Italy.
As for the officers at the academy level, a large number of them retired as a result. As for the officers at the lieutenant level, fewer officers failed the examination. Perhaps it is because most lieutenant-level officers graduated from military academies. As long as they are not lazy and goofing around, they can pass with hard work.
Assessment.
After Simeone's reorganization, although the Italian Army cannot be said to be able to compete with the German army with the same number of people and equipment, at least it will not be too different. Its quality is qualified to be ranked in the middle range among the armies of the great powers.
Of course Simeone is also worthy of this honor. If you compare it with a photo of Simeone before he became chief of staff, you will find that his black hair has turned white. He looks like he is only in his fifties.
Over sixty.
Simone picked up the assessment report on the 21st Division and read it carefully.
General Simeone attaches great importance to assessment reports, and will review the contents of each report with the most serious attitude.
"Very good. The assessment results of the 21st Division are very good, much improved compared to the last time. The coordination of infantry and artillery is particularly good. Commander Mesut seems to have worked hard."
Judging from Simeone's attitude, he was very impressed with the 21st Division.
Of course, this has a lot to do with the small number of divisions currently owned by the Italian Army. Currently, the Italian Army only has a total of 17 divisions. After deducting five independent artillery regiments and three cavalry brigades, each division has a company of 10,000 people.
It’s really miserable when there are not enough people. The reason why the Army saves so many people is also due to the Army’s insufficient funds.
At present, the Italian Army has annual funding of 203 million lire. Although this funding is not too much, it is not too small. But unfortunately, this funding is not enough for the army. You must know that the emergence of various new technologies has made the army's equipment more efficient.
The speed of upgrading is very fast. For example, Italy was equipped with the 1897 75mm field gun, which was only recently equipped. It has fallen behind in less than two years. Will the 128 guns purchased by the Italian Army be distributed to the troops?
The replacement of new weapons and equipment is so fast that the Army must invest more funds in catching up. Therefore, in order to save money, the total strength of the Italian Army has been cut again and again. Originally, it was guaranteed to have three fully equipped and fully trained division-level units.
Now all of them have been converted into one of the shelf regiments. As for other units, they have also been cut down. The most exaggerated example is that the 7th Division has two shelf regiments, two infantry regiments that are not full, plus artillery regiments and other ancillary troops, one division only has six.
About a thousand people.
Of course, this kind of reduction in troop strength and still retaining the establishment is not bad, but it would be really tragic to abolish the troop establishment.
And the reduction of its own forces in this way is not only to save money, but also to upgrade weapons and equipment, it is inevitable for the army to cut back on food and clothing.
Of course, this state of the army has a lot to do with the current Italian strategy. Currently, as the relationship with France is not good, the Italian Army only needs to consider land defense against France.
With less pressure on the Army, there will naturally be less funding.
Look at the prosperous navy next door. In recent years, the proportion of military expenditures has almost caught up with the army. However, this is also the result of the navy's efforts. The benefits that Italy has gained in recent years have basically relied on the navy. In this case
Next, you ask the government not to divert military spending to the navy. How is this possible?
Therefore, if you want the Army to improve, in addition to the relief of Italy's finances, you can only do it if Italy faces land pressure. Of course, the Army does not want to see this problem. After all, when war comes, no one will be easy, and other
Neither of the two neighboring big countries is easy to deal with.
