In Rome, while the naval battle at Soulte was still breaking out, Carlo had already arrived at the Admiralty.
At this moment, in the Navy Department, there were not only people from the Navy Department, but also people from the Army Department and the government. Everyone was sitting together, anxiously waiting for the news.
The wait was long, and the ministers waited from afternoon until the sun set.
No one wanted to leave at this time, because Italy could not afford to lose this naval battle. If it lost, all the strategic measures originally formulated would need to be changed, which would cost too much manpower and material resources. Italy
I can't bear it a few times.
"Father, why is there no news yet?"
Crown Prince Vittorio, who was waiting a little anxiously, looked at Carlo and asked in a low voice.
"As the future king, why are you so impatient? Do you know how long the naval battle will last? Just wait and see."
The words from his stern father made Crown Prince Vittorio, who was sitting on pins and needles waiting, calm 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, his son Vittorio has been very happy with his wife, the Kaiser's youngest daughter Louise, since they got married. The media in Germany and Italy have always praised this as a match made in heaven, and they are a union of two countries.
model.
The photos of the two have always been frequent in newspapers, because they are very popular with the public. Think about it, the man is handsome and the woman is beautiful, how can no one like it, let alone two people who are from the famous Savoy family.
With the Hohenzollern family, that is even more enviable.
But in Carlo's opinion, he needs some experience as a child. 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 so far, 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 the Tegelhof and the heavy damage to the Stevan, Intrepid, and Dante.
Sink the enemy ship Tagu
HMS Collingwood, HMS Centurion, HMS Vanguard, HMS Invincible, HMS Indomitable, severely damaged enemy ships such as St. Vincent, Neptune, Hercules and other warships. Now the enemy ships have evacuated hastily under the cover of the reinforcement fleet..."
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 officers who were cheering wantonly at the scene. Instead, he walked towards Admiral Yagir and said, "Admiral, the navy did a good job in this victory."
"It was only with the help of the government and the army that we were able to achieve this glorious victory."
Admiral Yagier's cheeks were as red as if he was drunk at this moment. This was caused by excitement. The Italian Navy has become more and more powerful under his leadership in recent years. Now it has fought against the world's number one British Navy and won. How can we not be excited?
.
"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."
Facing the king's instructions, Admiral Yagir immediately replied. "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 three warships."
Battle of Tunisia 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, Egypt, the Balkans, the Middle East, East Africa, and even Gibraltar had operational plans. But the plans required 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 in terms of its location and rich natural resources. Not to mention, Italy will directly gain access to the complete Tunis Strait, plus Malta, when the time comes
Birds flying from the eastern Mediterranean to the western Mediterranean require approval from 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 the army had drawn up a battle plan for Tunisia, and were ready to implement it as soon as the navy won.
In addition, the commander of this attack on Tunisia is Crown Prince Vittorio. Of course, this is in name only. As for the reason, there is no need to say the reason. As the future king of the kingdom, how can he do this if he does not understand military affairs? This is European
Old tradition. Look at the countries currently participating in the war. Which country's adult prince does not go to the battlefield. Carlo is also paving 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 warship by the navy, the Roma class has attracted the attention of the whole of Italy. The outbreak of the war did not affect the construction 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 prioritized
To ensure the construction of various accessories for the battleship, we did not recruit conscripts at the various parts factories of the battleship, but asked them to work overtime to produce equipment.
Therefore, this has also led to a general increase in the speed of Rome-class battleships, allowing them to 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 Argier's style not to take advantage of the advantage to expand its results.
In fact, the Navy Department has already formulated a lot of various combat plans after the Rome class enters service. Of course, it is still a bit early to say, and they 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 has performed 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, Foreign Minister Bacona, 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 hoped that Italy could send no less than 180,000 people.
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 overly intervening 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 wanted these die-hard Serbs wanted them, but Italy didn't have the energy. So Carlo went along with the flow and didn't get involved.
Go in, just send tens of thousands of troops in Kosovo to contain it in a moral way.
However, the Austro-Hungarians were short-sighted and failed in two consecutive battles against Serbia, so they hoped that Italy would help. However, although they asked Italy for help, it was just help and no benefit at all. Isn't this disrespectful?
Carlo's refusal was justified.
"etc."
Carlo suddenly stopped the old man Bacona.
"Your Majesty, does anything else happen?"
"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 Bacona's slightly cloudy eyes light up. This is a good idea. The half of Macedonia that Bulgaria lost is in the hands of Serbia. If Vienna is more generous, the brave and capable Bulgarian barbarians will be very willing to fight against Serbia's enemies.
Beat.
After giving the advice to the Austro-Hungarians, Carlo ignored it. Whether he listened or not depended on what Vienna thought. Next, he had to 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.
