Chapter 2398: Europe II
"Italy's military strength may indeed be weak compared to other European powers, but the geographical environment of Italy's mainland makes that problem less prominent. In the mountains of northern Italy, the Italians can consolidate their lives with very few troops. Our own line of defense. And the Italian mainland is like a sharp sword that divides the Mediterranean Sea into two halves. If Italy is on our side, with the strength of the Italian fleet plus the Austro-Hungarian fleet, we can control the entire war at the beginning of the war. Eastern Mediterranean, and cut off the Suez Canal."
"As long as we make a little preparation, we can take advantage of the situation and enter the Eastern Mediterranean, and then turn the entire Mediterranean into the inland sea of the Allies. We will no longer face the Balkan defense line, and the Bavarian Legion will not have to fight bloody battles in Turkey, Britain and France. It will be much earlier, but unfortunately, due to some special reasons, Italy did not stand on our side. If we had chosen to lean towards Italy or be neutral, wouldn't we be able to have two allies, Italy and Turkey? After all, Because of the Russians, Turkey will not join the Allied Powers." After Prince Albert finished speaking, he looked at the crown prince on the throne.
"Italy's geographical location is indeed very important, and as you said, because of geographical factors, the whole of Italy is easy to defend and difficult to attack. That's why Italy vigorously develops its navy. If the Italian Navy joins hands with our Mediterranean Fleet, it will indeed be easy Obtain the command of the sea in the Mediterranean Sea. Prince Albert, from a military point of view, what you said makes sense." Ruprecht said slowly.
"However, I want to say that you have too many subjective factors! How can you be sure that Italy will be on our side? You must know that Italy not only has territorial disputes with Turkey, but also has territorial disputes with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Well, isn't it Are we choosing to hurt the interests of two allies in order to possibly have Italy join us? If so? What is the point of such an ally?"
"Italy has been pursuing intrigue since before the founding of the country. They will not be bound by treaties, nor will they completely stand on one side because of morality. The famous Italian Prime Minister Count Cavour is a very good politician. For Italy , friends and enemies are never static, he can cooperate with the French, he can also cooperate with Prussia, his foreign policy is changeable and unpredictable, which is not a problem for a country, but for It sucks to have such an ally for Deo!"
"There is a saying that is true, that is, we must stand on the side of the winner, and the Italians think this way. No matter how we suppress Italy before the war, as long as we can show a huge advantage in the war, then Italy will win We will not easily choose to be our enemy, so instead of doing everything possible to win over all the allies who don’t know whether they are on our side or the enemy’s side during the war, we might as well do our own thing well. Fortunately, , In the months after the start of the war, whether it was the Eastern Front or the Western Front, we have shown a huge advantage." The crown prince said.
"But no one ever feels that they have too many friends in a war. If we can get the support of Italy, our victory will be easier. After all, you just admitted that Italy's geographical location is indeed of great help in the military. And the Italian navy can also play a very important role," said Prince Albert.
So now the two sides in the debate have entered the stage of chatting. The crown prince said that even if Germany was tolerant to Italy, Italy would not easily stand on his side, while Prince Albert insisted that if Italy stood on his side, then the victory would come back faster.... So this matter has entered into a deadlock, both sides are using what if as the premise,
And assumptions are the hardest thing to apply for! The crown prince can never say that he is a time traveler, so you know that in history, Italy finally joined the Allied Powers after 9 months of hesitation?
Such an argument is meaningless, so if the crown prince wants to persuade Prince Albert, he must change his mind. As an excellent mixed military and political talent, the crown prince naturally has other ways to prove his point.
As the highest level in Germany, both the Kaiser and Ruprecht have carefully considered whether Italy is worth wooing. In the end, the root cause of not wooing Italy to join the Allies was not Italy's capriciousness, nor the crown prince's dislike of the Italians, but strategically speaking, Italy's neutrality was better than standing on the side of the Allies! The Kaiser also agreed with this question, but William II did not mention these things to Prince Albert for some purpose.
"Let's rearrange our thinking. First of all, we don't need to assume that Italy is on the side of the Allied Powers. After all, in history, even if our behavior towards Italy was not friendly, the Italians did not choose to join the Allied Powers because of the shock of the Empire. We don't have to think about it." The empire would pay so much to buy Italy, we simply calculate the cost of our war if Italy is on our side," Ruprecht said.
"First of all, we need to make sure that Italy has a population of nearly 40 million, but their food self-sufficiency rate is less than 70%! In other words, if Italy is on our side, then we must be responsible for at least 14 million Italians The problem of eating! Well, now answer me, where do these grains come from?" Ruprecht asked.
"Actually, we need to provide more than just food to the Italians. Iron ore and coal mines in Italy are very scarce. If we choose Italy as an ally, then we have to give Italy at least 8 million tons of coal every year to be able to do so. To smooth out the fuel gap in Italy, and then need to provide Italy with a series of raw materials such as rubber, non-ferrous metals, and manganese ore. Well, have you ever thought about it, if these materials are transported from the German Empire to Italy, we need additional consumption How much material, manpower and material resources? You should know that there is no convenient railway transportation channel between us and Italy."
"This..." When Ruprecht mentioned the food problem, Prince Albert was actually a little confused, because he knew very well that under normal circumstances, only grain can be sold in Germany. A good harvest year can meet demand, and at least one-third of Germany’s wheat needs to be imported from abroad, not to mention that during the war, with various resources being invested in the military and related industries, it is inevitable to reduce food production.
The second one is here~~~! Ask for a subscription and a reward~~~!
Recommend the new book of the urban master Lao Shi: