The battles in Corsica and Tunisia not only satisfied Italy's own needs, but also served the purpose of containing France for its ally Germany.
However, in these two battles, the French army did not provide reinforcements, but was determined to recapture Paris.
This put great pressure on the defending German army. Although the German army invested 920,000 troops in the Paris area, its front line was slowly forced back. Let Germany invest far more troops than expected. On the one hand, it was difficult for the German army to resist
Next, the duration of the entire campaign was extended. It has been more than three months now. Mobilized troops in Germany have participated in the battle in waves.
On the other hand, Germany mobilized troops from the Eastern Front. Thanks to Russia's hasty attack, although it aimed at the weak Austro-Hungarian army, the other side stabilized the defense line with the help of the German army, causing the attack to end in vain.
With the idle German troops on the Eastern Front, they would naturally not be forgotten by Chief of General Staff Moltke. He transferred two corps of six divisions from Eastern Germany, totaling 100,000 troops, to reinforce the Paris area.
Germany received far more troops than expected to participate in the Battle of Paris, so its opponents, Britain and France, would naturally not fall behind. By putting their reserves outside the battlefield, Britain and France would put troops drawn from their colonies into the battlefield. In addition, they also put their own
New troops were formed and constantly fed into the meat grinder of Paris.
That's right, it's a meat grinder. According to statistics from Britain and France, the average survival time of each British and French soldier is only 24 hours, and that of an officer is three days. As for the attackers, Britain and France have invested 1.37 million people so far.
of troops.
The current situation in the Battle of Paris is like goring a bull. No one dares to take a step back for fear of losing the battle.
In this battle, Germany felt the greatest pressure, so in addition to tapping its own potential, it was appropriate to seek foreign aid.
"Your Majesty Carlo, our country is in urgent need of your country's help. We hope that your country can provide sufficient support from the flanks. This is a personal letter from our Majesty William."
After taking the letter from the guard, Carlo said to the German Ambassador Vangelis. "Ambassador, please rest assured that our army is almost ready. Within a week, we will launch an attack on the French army from the Alps."
Faced with Carlo's personal assurance, Ambassador Vangelis also breathed a sigh of relief. You must know that Berlin sent him telegrams almost every day asking about the progress, so one can imagine the pressure on him.
After Ambassador Vangelis left, Carlo got up and headed to the large conference room. Senior military and political officials from Italy had already gathered here, but the majority were mainly from the military.
As soon as Carlo entered the door, the noisy sound immediately stopped.
"Let's start now." As soon as Carlo took his seat, he announced the convening of this imperial meeting. This meeting is held every ten days, mainly to let the ministers understand the current situation.
As soon as Carlo made the announcement, the first person to speak was Director Kroger of the Intelligence Bureau. The Bureau was established in 1910. At that time, in view of the possible outbreak of war in Morocco, Carlo was asked to merge the intelligence agencies of the government and the army.
, pursuing the result of strong alliance.
In fact, this is a very wise decision. After merging the intelligence departments of the government and the military, its intelligence collection capabilities and domestic counterintelligence and other effects have increased by about 20%. As a result, Director Kroger has
The director of military intelligence, who was affiliated with the military, suddenly became a member of the cabinet. Although he was ranked at the bottom, he was also a cabinet minister, which was much better than being a major general.
"Your Majesty, colleagues, let me first tell you about the situation of all parties during this period. The first is the most critical battle in the Paris area. The battle between Britain and France and our ally Germany is still fierce in this area. But on the front, we
The allies have already lost the Bonteru and Seri lines, and the current battle between the two sides has reached the Gisol and Sersi lines.
Based on the battle lines, we can see that Britain and France have semi-encircled the Paris area. In addition, we have received intelligence that the British and French have set their final target from Pontypuan to Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris."
"This is normal. Both sides lost millions of people and were seriously injured. The surrounding areas of Paris were beaten to pieces. I heard that there were cases where soldiers on both sides refused to carry out orders and even targeted Pontepuian. This is quite
Unwise.”
These words can be regarded as the Minister of War, General Simeone, clarified everyone's doubts and let everyone understand the tragedy on both sides in the Paris area.
Of course, many people present also learned about the current unfavorable situation of their ally Germany in the Paris area from Director Kroger.
"So, we can no longer prepare for the battle in the Nice area?"
"Yes, I have promised Germany that the Battle of Nice will begin within a week."
At this time Carlo expressed his promise to the German ambassador.
Faced with the king's words, outside of everyone present, the preparations for the Battle of Nice can only end here, and the next battle will surely begin within a week.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured that our army's preparations for the Battle of Nice are almost complete and will surely begin within a week."
As the absolute main force in the Battle of Nice at this time, the Minister of War was the first to make the guarantee.
"Our navy will also send warships to provide maritime fire support to the army."
Admiral Yagier, Minister of the Navy, also gave assurances.
Now that the two military bosses have given their guarantees, the topic of the Battle of Nice comes to an end here.
Director Kroger continued. "In addition to the Battle of Paris, the negotiations between our allies Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria are also coming to an end. I heard that Vienna has made a lot of concessions. In addition to agreeing to give Serbian Macedonia to Bulgaria
In addition, they are also willing to give the southern Niš area to the other side, and Bulgaria has agreed to participate in the war.
In addition, we have also received intelligence that Greece has shown signs of turning to the Allies. According to the information we received from Athens, Greek Prime Minister Venizelos has received support from the military and parliament, and they are preparing to replace King Constant, who does not agree to participate in the war.
Ding, plans to let the king’s second son, Prince Alexander, succeed him.”
“Are the Greeks crazy?”
At this time, Interior Minister Brugge exclaimed. In his opinion, the current situation in the Mediterranean is so clear, and even the Balkan countries are so bold.
"The pro-British forces in Greece are huge, and the British situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is not good, so it is normal for a country to be backed up."
At this time, the Foreign Secretary Bacona, who also knew Greece relatively well, analyzed to him the situation of Greece's upcoming entry into the Entente camp.
Bacona's analysis is quite thorough, and it is indeed true that Britain wanted Greece to join the Entente camp.
At this time, Admiral Yagier, the Minister of the Navy, said, "It seems that the Bulgarians are very lucky. They can get back North Macedonia occupied by Serbia and South Macedonia occupied by Greece. But since Greece dares to join the Entente, then we
He will be informed of the consequences.”
"I very much agree with what you said."
Admiral Simeone, on behalf of the Army, agreed with the Minister of the Navy.
After the ministers expressed their views on Greece, Kroger continued. "One hundred thousand Japanese troops have arrived in Egypt, and their commander is General Kuroki Moraki. This has resulted in the number of Allied troops in Egypt
Climbed to 370,000."
"It's not like we haven't encountered Japanese soldiers before. Their tactics are not much better than those of the Russians."
Regarding the Japanese army, Simonyi did not believe that it did not have high combat effectiveness. Although the Japanese army proved itself through the Russo-Japanese War, it was a situation where all countries worked together to deceive Russia. Although Japan defeated Russia, it was lagging behind.
Simeone really couldn't get interested in tactics. He had to wait for the Battle of Egypt and the drastically changed Japanese army to surprise him.
"According to our intelligence, after the Japanese dispatched troops arrived in Egypt, they received equipment such as machine guns and mortars from the British army."
At this time, Director Kroger also came to add another blow.
Okay, now all the ministers present have an impression of the Japanese army.
Although Carlo felt something was wrong, his Italian army was stronger. At this time, he asked the military to pay attention to the Japanese army. Wasn't this a blow to the military, which had high morale and had always won?
So Carlo didn't say anything. Besides, there were only 100,000 people, and these troops could be wiped out in one battle.
Then Kroger continued. "In East Africa, Britain and France transported more than 60,000 people to Kenya. Currently, there are 290,000 British and French troops in Kenya, half of which are British and Indian divisions, and four
One is the African colonial troops, followed by the Australian and New Zealand troops, and the least is the British and French local troops. In addition, in Sudan, Britain and France have gathered 180,000 people here. Now the enemies faced by our East African colonies have grown to 470,000
, This is a big test for our East African Colonial Division."
"East Africa and Egypt are one. After we finish the Battle of Nice, we should prepare for the Battle of Egypt."
"Greece's shift to the entente camp has a great impact on our preparations."
At this time, the two ministers of navy and army saw the danger faced by the East African colonies. However, they also knew that if the Egyptian campaign was launched now, it must be established after the capture of Tunisia and Corsica-Nice.
After talking about the situation in East Africa, Kroger talked about some situations in Asia and the Americas. He focused on the intelligence in Southeast Asia and the United States.
Regarding the United States, the most important neutral country in the world, the two camps are trying to win over each other. However, the two camps have different purposes. The Entente camp wants the other side to join, while the Allied camp wants the other side not to join the Entente.
In addition to listening to foreign intelligence, cabinet meetings are also a summary of domestic situations and work. For example, which department has difficulties, who has not completed the task, disputes between two or more departments, etc. These issues need to be resolved one by one.
Of course, as king and supreme ruler, Carlo also needed to adjudicate some issues.
But no matter what, the Kingdom of Italy has made a decision and is about to start its third battle in the near future, which is also the most important battle of Nice.
