Italy had a different view on Romania's heavy damage to the Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria.
In the Prime Minister's Palace, Mussolini watched and listened to the news brought by his son-in-law.
He was playing with the pen in his hand and said playfully, "How do you say that Britain and France intend to use Greece in exchange for our continued neutrality?"
"Yes, father-in-law."
After answering his father-in-law, Ciano, who served as Foreign Minister, picked up the water glass and took a sip of water. "It seems that Alexander's loss has made Britain and France anxious."
Hearing his son-in-law's words, Mussolini sneered. "Can't you be anxious? We have lost the British Mediterranean Fleet. How can France alone stop our Italian warships, let alone our ally Romania. In recent years, Romania has been in Egypt.
The development has been rapid enough under Del's leadership. Not only is the army powerful, but the navy is also so powerful."
Yes, Mussolini was jealous. When he came to power, Italy's strength was even higher than that of Romania. And he was also busy with the development of this country, and Italy's development was not bad. But compared with Romania's development,
Compared to that, it immediately seemed like nothing.
In addition to Romania having too many plains, its domestic resources also made Mussolini jealous. It has oil, coal, and iron in the country, and basically has the raw materials needed for industry.
If Italy had as good resources as Romania, Mussolini would have the confidence to develop Italy to that extent. Of course, Italy is not bad now. It has an Italian army that has proven itself through the Spanish Civil War and the Ethiopian War, and a navy that dominates the Mediterranean.
(Both France and Britain do not have as many Mediterranean battleships as Italy). It is time for them to gain enough benefits for Italy.
But when he thought of the Romanian Navy's recent achievements, Mussolini couldn't help but speak again. "By the way, Ciano. Do you think we should build an aircraft carrier?"
As soon as Ciano heard what his father-in-law said, he immediately knew what was going on. "Why, the Navy has issued another report requesting the construction of an aircraft carrier?"
Mussolini did not hide anything about his son-in-law and future successor. "Yes, Admiral Cavallari sent in another request to build an aircraft carrier."
"It seems that the Navy is still obsessed with building aircraft carriers."
Ciano is right. The Italian Navy has proposed building aircraft carriers a long time ago, but the top government officials believe that Italy’s need for multiple aircraft carriers is not urgent. The Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia are all natural aircraft carriers.
It can fully function as an aircraft carrier, but Italy needs to spend more money on the construction of battleships.
In fact, this is comparable to Italy's need for the Mediterranean. The Italian Navy has always been mainly imaginary enemy of the French Navy, and its demand for aircraft carriers is indeed lower than that of battleships. Moreover, the Mediterranean Sea is not large (relatively speaking), so the need for aircraft carriers is urgent.
Really not high.
Of course, the above ideas were all based on the situation in the 1920s and 1930s when aircraft technology was not high and the aircraft carrier's combat capabilities had not yet been demonstrated. But now, after Romania used an aircraft carrier to attack the port of Alexandria, everything has changed.
The Romanian Navy has fully demonstrated the role of the aircraft carrier, which makes the Italian Navy, which does not have an aircraft carrier, very coveted. Therefore, Admiral Cavaliari, who is the Deputy Minister of the Navy and Chief of Staff, will naturally not give up this opportunity. He uses the Romanian Navy to use the aircraft carrier
The use of the aircraft carrier once again proposed the plan to build an Italian aircraft carrier.
One more thing, the current minister of navy and air force is Mussolini.
Obviously, Admiral Cavallari's strategy worked this time. Seeing the role of the aircraft carrier in Alexandria, Mussolini certainly could not ignore it. But now he is still a little undecided, because of the results of the battle in Alexandria.
It really made him greedy, so his attitude toward building aircraft carriers softened somewhat.
As for his father-in-law's attitude, how could Ciano, as his son-in-law, not feel it? When he thought of his family's relationship with the navy (his father is the only senior member of the Communist Party who was born in the navy), Ciano said. "
I personally think that the Navy’s request can be granted, but the quantity needs to be strictly controlled. Because the current financial expenditure is relatively large, there is not much balance allocated to the Navy’s shipbuilding.”
Yes, Ciano intends to show his goodwill to the Navy. Although he is not from the Navy, his father is. Moreover, his father is the link between the Navy and the Party, and Ciano does not intend to give up this advantage.
After hearing what his son-in-law said, Mussolini couldn't help but ask, "Will this cause dissatisfaction in the Army?"
"The cost of building an aircraft carrier is much less than that of a battleship. We can definitely use special appropriations to build it. Besides, the army's funding ratio is already high enough. Military expenditures are more than half. How much more do they want."
Ciano naturally knows the situation of Italy's military expenditure. The proportion of the navy generally only occupies about three levels, and the air force does not exceed 18%. The rest is all army funding. In terms of the situation faced by Italy, this is obviously biased in favor of the army.
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Of course, this is also related to the low proportion of Italy's military expenditure. Although the situation in Europe is rapidly deteriorating, Italy's military expenditure accounts for 14% of GDP, which is lower than the British army's 15%. (It is much better. At this time in history, it was 10%. Now
14% are when Edel makes a fool of himself)
With an obvious shortage of military spending, Italy must prioritize ensuring the security of its homeland, and the army is still the base of the country, so it is obvious who to choose.
After talking about the navy, Mussolini obviously still had something to say. He said hesitantly, "Ciano, do you think now is the time for us to join the war?"
It was obvious that after Mussolini saw the situation in the Mediterranean became clear, he could not sit still.
As for what his father-in-law said, Ciano thought for a while and replied, "I don't know."
That's right, Ciano really doesn't know what to choose in the current situation. Unlike in the past when he strongly opposed it, the Italian navy is now more powerful, and with the cooperation of the Romanian navy, it can easily gain maritime superiority, which is also beneficial to Italian expansion.
Very beneficial.
To the east, you can make territorial claims against Yugoslavia. To the west, you can attack France with Germany (although this is not a good choice). As for your own colony of Libya, this is even simpler. To the east, you can attack Egypt and occupy the Suez Canal. To the west, you can solve the problem.
Tunisia and Algeria are both good choices.
As for the East African colonies, you can also attack Sudan and join the North African army to attack Egypt.
But with such a huge advantage, Ciano is still a little worried, mainly because he is afraid that the result will be like a replica of World War I. But if Italy still hesitates with such a huge advantage, then when the results are finally calculated, Italy will not get much.
What a benefit.
As for his father-in-law's words, it was obvious that he was moved, but he had no sufficient reason to object.
Mussolini was not angry when his son-in-law said he didn't know. He said, "I plan to call the Romanian ambassador to discuss it. For Italy to enter this time, at least the raw materials for the aircraft carrier need to be secured."
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Yes, Mussolini planned to hit Edel again on the spot. This was also Mussolini's helplessness. Although Italy did not need to import armor steel from Britain as it did before World War I, the current production was still not enough. And Romania has been in the past few years.
The production of armor steel gradually increased to a very high figure (under someone's wise leadership), and Italy naturally planned to find a way out of it.
