Edel, who had just returned to Bucharest, was surprised by the news brought by the Prime Minister and a group of ministers.
There is no way, Romania is not a charity, and it just supports Italy. Besides, Romania is still at war, so there is no time to support neutral Italy.
Just when Edel was about to refuse, he suddenly stopped.
"Is Italy planning to join the war when it asks for supplies?"
"Sure enough, we can't hide it from His Majesty. Indeed, Italy intends to join us, but Prime Minister Mussolini requires that a batch of supplies be provided to them before we can do it. Because Italy was not well prepared before, and there were gaps in many supplies."
The Prime Minister's words made Eder finally let go of his worried heart. Mussolini finally planned to end. As long as Italy ends, Romania and Germany will get a good helper.
Yes, this is not only what Edel thought, but also what Hitler thought. It's just that compared to Germany, Romania has a higher demand for Italy, so the cunning Hitler will mainly do the work of wooing Italy, which is done by Romania.
It is called, in order to better coordinate the interests of the two countries in the Mediterranean.
As for Romania's closeness to Italy, Hitler doesn't care now, because Germany's strength is naturally higher than that of the two countries, but what he does will definitely make the relationship between the two countries better. And Germany's archenemy France is on his side, so he has no redundancy.
focus on these things.
Edel, who wanted to understand this, immediately said, "How much supplies do our Italian friends want this time?"
There was no response to Edel's question, which made him feel a little strange.
"Your Majesty, you'd better see for yourself."
Prime Minister Mihalaka took out a list and placed it in front of Eder.
Edel stepped forward and saw. "310 tanks of various types, 40,000 tons of artillery shells of various types, a total of 312 artillery pieces of various calibers, 841 anti-aircraft guns, 1,000 engines of various types. Various chemical products such as hydrochloric acid, potassium, sulfuric acid, etc.
A total of 3,000 tons, including 200,000 tons of ordinary steel, 15,000 tons of high-quality armor steel, and 2,000 machines of various types."
This comprehensive list left Edel at a loss as to what to say, feeling that Mussolini was here to take advantage of a big player. Don't underestimate these lists of supplies, they are worth more than 300 million US dollars.
No wonder the Prime Minister and others dare not speak out. Such a list must be spoken out by oneself.
Edel's first thought was to negotiate with Italy to reduce the number on the list. But as soon as this idea came to his mind, he was dismissed. There was no way that others didn't know the strength of the Italian Army, so how could he not know it?
.
This army, which looked good, was exposed as soon as it encountered the British army. It was beaten violently by the British army and restored the morale of the British army. This was not what Edel wanted to see. He needed to be able to temporarily contain the army.
The British and Italian troops would be better off even if they were only able to contain Romania and prepare for the landing.
So after thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Agree to Italy's request, and we can give these supplies."
Edel's words immediately shocked the Prime Minister and others. Foreign Minister Coster couldn't help but said, "Your Majesty, I just agree."
Edel nodded and replied, "Yes, that's it."
Edel saw that it was better to agree now than to bargain. This allowed Romania to shorten the preparation time, because Edel planned to take advantage of the lack of British navy in the Eastern Mediterranean to cause Romania's landing in the Middle East as soon as possible. Then Italy needed
The navy's help contained the French navy.
Despite the historical silence of the French Navy in World War II, it still has a navy with a total tonnage of more than 700,000, including 1 aircraft carrier, 5 battleships, and 7 heavy cruisers. Its Richelieu-class battleships (2)
Together with the Alsace-class battleships (2 ships), it is the backbone of the Italian Navy.
Among them, the premature Richelieu-class battleships were two 380mm-caliber battleships built to start a naval competition with Italy. As for the Alsace-class battleships, they were prepared to deal with it. Later, Italy built three 406mm-caliber Emperor-class battleships.
This warship is equipped with 3 3-mounted 406 mm main guns, with a standard weight of 44,000 tons and a full load of 53,125 tons. The class has a total length of 251 meters, a width of 35.5 meters, and a speed of 30 knots.
This is why Edel needs to bring Italy into the camp. Because the increase in Romania's naval strength will naturally affect his country's shipbuilding. Not to mention that Italy is eager to build ships after obtaining Libyan oil.
It gave birth to a different Richelieu class. As for the Alsace class, it was also because of France's response after Italy obtained the 406-caliber main gun.
Therefore, facing the British and French navies whose strength has increased, the Romanian navy must have allies. There is no better ally than Italy, and Edel must drag Italy into the water before it can conquer the Middle East. The two complement each other. For the future industrial blood,
It doesn't matter if Edel is a little more generous now. Anyway, by then Italy will know that the benefits of Romania are not so easy to get, and they are very hot.
It's just that Edel knows this, but the government doesn't. After hearing Edel's words, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister thought that their king was from Italy if they didn't know that their king was from Germany. His Majesty is too kind to Italy. This is all
This is the first time I have given supplies.
However, it was Edel who made the decision, and they could not object even if they objected, so they could only acquiesce in Edel's decision. Although they could not object, they still wanted His Majesty to know their attitude.
Seeing that his prime minister and others were silent, Eder thought it would be better to clear the way for them. After all, they are the backbone of the government.
"Prime Minister, are you confused about my decision?"
Edel was nominally talking about the Prime Minister, but whoever was present knew that this also included himself.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Italians are too greedy. They always ask for more and never fulfill their responsibilities as an alliance."
Facing Eder's inquiry, Mihalakai bluntly pointed out his dissatisfaction.
"Yes, Italians are not trustworthy."
At this time, Deputy Prime Minister Kerstev also spoke in agreement.
The words of the two prime ministers made everyone else nod secretly.
Seeing the situation in front of him, Edel knew that not convincing them would have a bad impact on the subsequent work, so he immediately spoke. "I know that everyone is dissatisfied with Italy's repeated requests for supplies. In fact, I don't feel the same in my heart either."
satisfy."
Edel's words made everyone present feel incredible. Didn't His Majesty nod in agreement with the aid supplies?
Edel was very satisfied with the performance of the top management, but he continued. "But dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction. Now is the war period. We must put all these emotions away. In order to defeat Britain and France and gain enough benefits, we cannot push Italy to the forefront."
Go to the British and French sides. Everyone knows the course of the last war, and naturally knows the importance of Italy to us."
Although Edel's words did not dispel their dissatisfaction, at least they would not affect the subsequent work.
After Edel agreed to provide material assistance to Italy, Mussolini's preparations accelerated. Now, in addition to collecting various materials, the Italian government is also conducting military mobilization.
Britain and France were alarmed by Italy's mobilization moves, and more than once asked their ambassadors to test the Italian government's tone. The excuse given by the Italian government was that in response to the current tense situation in Europe, Italy must have a military force sufficient to deter the enemy.
Although Britain and France have not said it, it is an indisputable fact that France is adding troops to the border between the two countries. Not only that, Britain and France are also accelerating the deployment of troops to Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania and other places.
But none of this could stop Italy's determination. By October 30, Italy officially announced that it would join the Axis camp and declare war on Britain and France.
From now on, the European battlefield will become even more confusing.
