Battle of the Third Reich

"This is really ridiculous. We have the strongest navy in the Mediterranean!" Mussolini swallowed his anger and did not shout out the words. The Italian Prime Minister habitually lifted his chin and looked coldly at Admiral Cavgliani.

"Can the navy make a reasonable explanation for this?" Mussolini asked aloud.

For the construction of the Italian navy, he spent a lot of effort, resources, manpower, and national policies. What the navy needs can almost be obtained from him. At the same time Mussolini also placed great hopes on the navy. He looked forward to the day when the powerful Italian navy could help him achieve his glorious dream of monopolizing the Mediterranean and rebuilding the glorious Roman Empire.

"Most of our transport ships are assembled in eastern ports and are ready to transport Army reinforcements to land in Greece. At present, due to the lack of fuel, they are temporarily unable to sail. If a batch of fuel can be deployed in time," Cavliani replied to So far, did not continue to go deep.

"Then the convoy fleet, you wouldn't tell me that the naval fleet also lacks fuel." Mussolini's face was shrouded in frost. He knew that the navy had always been dissatisfied with the misappropriation of the reserve fuel patching industry at his base, but I didn’t expect that they would use this method to threaten them in a critical moment. It seems that he is still too small to watch the conservative forces in the navy. If he can get through the difficulties this time, he must let this group of maggots wearing navy uniforms look back. good looking.

"The main fleet of the Kingdom Navy has entered the first-level combat readiness and can be dispatched at any time. But we must take it into consideration. Once the fleet departs, it must fight head-on with the Mediterranean task force of the British, French and German navies. Intelligence, the landing fleet is very powerful, so this will not be a small-scale conflict, but a decisive battle at sea. Of course the navy will not be afraid of facing powerful enemies, but if the battle is unfavorable and the fleet loses too much, Italy The local coastal defense will collapse, and the entire sea will be open to the enemy." Cavullani ignored Mussolini's ugly face, and answered calmly.

"The British and French navies suffered heavy losses in the war with Germany, and even with the addition of the Germans, they were not opponents of the Italian navy." Mussolini suddenly felt that he had nothing to do with this stubborn chief of staff. I almost forgot that this guy was a coward himself, and he firmly opposed Italy's participation in the war from the beginning. It seems that the Navy needs a more sturdy person to take up this position, and Mussolini decided to look back at the Navy file to prepare for replacement.

"It is true that as you said, the British and French navies are not as powerful as before, but they still retain an elite force with rich combat experience and well-trained skills. At present, the navy of the three countries has deployed seven battleships in the Mediterranean, with more than 28 light and heavy cruisers. They also have two of the latest aircraft carriers, 60 destroyers of all kinds, and a considerable number of submarines operating in the waters around Italy. Last month we lost 350,000 tons of merchant ships The **** destroyers and cruisers have also suffered serious losses. I believe you should have read the report."

Cavriani talked happily there, but Mussolini's emotions had reached the verge of breaking out.

"Our fleet is invincible!" Mussolini finally couldn't help but growled, his face flushed red, and the green muscles under his forehead skin burst, looking like a bull with a whip on his face.

"But we were not ready for war. I reminded you long ago. I reminded you at the headquarters meeting four months ago that the Royal Navy of Italy was not ready to fight a large-scale war. I haven’t counted the German Navy yet, so the situation is worse than it was four months ago. The new battleship we just served still needs time to run in, and the newly recruited officers and men generally lack training.

Due to the lack of qualified technicians, the conversion of honest warships has progressed very slowly. The naval blockade by the British and French navies has reduced our material reserves to dangerous levels. At present, all of our ongoing shipbuilding projects are completed with the support of the materials stored in these years. Britain and Germany now control the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, and Italian ships can't even leave the Mediterranean. My Prime Minister, your wish has been fulfilled in a certain sense, and the Mediterranean Sea can indeed be called "our sea" now, trapping our sea. Kavliani's emotions also became a little agitated, not only aggressive in his words, but also had a mocking expression on his face.

"Enough! You know who you are talking to. I am the Prime Minister of Italy, the leader of the Fascist National Party!" Mussolini was furious, and the other party broke through his beautiful dream so mercilessly.

"Of course I know, but I also have my duties. I am the chief of staff of the Royal Navy of Italy! Your Excellency!" Cavriani also raised his voice, and the chief of staff of the navy also opened up at this time. Someone has to stand up to tell the truth.

"No, it's not anymore. Admiral Cavgliani. I will dismiss your position as chief of the navy chief of staff in the name of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy." Mussolini almost lost his mind because of his shame, he beat the table hard, The dismissal of the chief of staff of the navy was announced.

"His Prime Minister" Badogrio quickly tried to persuade him. The scene is not what he expected, and he did not expect Cavliani to be so strong.

"Don't talk much, I've decided." Mussolini stared at Badoglio.

"I accept your order and hope to know what your reasons are." Cavliani's eyes were cold, and there was a sneer in the corner of his mouth.

"Timidity, malfeasance!" Mussolini replied with his teeth gritted.

"I will not accept these unfounded accusations."

"Asshole, I don't care whether you accept it or not. You have been sacked. Get out of my office immediately!" Mussolini was almost mad, and he took a metal stamped box on the table, Threw it hard at the admiral.

Cavriani leaned slightly to escape the attack that might cause him injury. At this moment he also knew that it was time to leave, and then continue to stimulate this arrogant dictator, who knows what he will do Crazy thing.

Cavriani put on the military cap again, buttoned the gold-framed unilateral glasses, and then paid an Italian military salute to Mussolini who was being hugged by Ziano and Badogrio. And then turned around and strode out of the office. If someone is standing in the hallway at this moment, he will see a relief expression on the face of the former chief of staff of the Italian navy.

Dominique Cavliani is six years older than Mussolini, participated in the First World War and the Italian-Turkish War, and also served as the dean of the Italian Naval Academy. The Admiral’s resume is perfect, a model of the Italian naval officer, and an absolute giant ship artillery.

After he served as the Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy, the admiral devoted most of his energy to the construction of the naval fleet. The navy-owned battleships were all built with his advice and support, and he was also able to accept the new Things, the famous Italian submarine force was also established with his help.

Cavriani's dream is actually the same as Mussolini's, establishing a naval force that can dominate the Mediterranean. At first, his cooperation with Mussolini was quite tacit, and the relationship between the two sides was once very close, because Mussolini's preference and support for the navy, of course, as a high-level navy, must reciprocate.

Until the day of June this year, Mussolini ignored his strong opposition in the emergency meeting of the headquarters, and forcibly declared war on Britain and France. The image of this new century Caesar collapsed in Cavallani’s heart for the first time. Down.

As the chief of the navy's chief of staff, he was able to read the most classified intelligence collected by Italy. He knew what a powerful force the Italian navy would face. Of course, he is not afraid to fight against strong enemies. In fact, he has been preparing for this war, but the problem is that everything has just started, and the Italian Navy has not been able to face this severe situation.

In the timetable he formulated, preparations for the war will take at least two years. After two years, the Italian Navy will build a powerful fleet with all eight battleships, seven heavy cruisers, and 26 light cruisers, which can crush any one. The Mediterranean squadron of the country, even the main fleet of the other party, might not be able to fight, provided the Italian Air Force must provide full support.

But now is definitely not the time to go to war. At this time, the Italian navy has four old battleships and two new battleships on paper, but two of the former are still being modernized, and the latter have just entered the service. Pile of rookies. Although the eight heavy cruisers and twelve light cruisers have already formed combat power, but when thinking of the larger cruiser groups in Britain and France, Cavriani has no confidence to fight against them.

He began to hate Mussolini’s arrogance and ignorance. He couldn’t accept the fact that he had imposed on the Navy. He couldn’t stand the large fleet that was built with painstaking efforts. It was destroyed just because of the leader’s reckless declaration of war. Once once.

But as a kingdom naval officer, he can only obey orders issued by higher levels. He can't even move in the middle or act in violation of yin and yang, because it is related to the responsibility entrusted to him by the state, and also violates the standards of his life.

After the war, the Italian navy was indeed fighting hard. As Mussolini expected, the British and French navies could not put their main force into the Mediterranean battlefield because of the containment of the German navy in the early stage. The Italian navy did have some advantages.

But when the European war ended, it became Italy alone to endure the anger of the two navies. The performance of the ships on both sides can be compensated by technological transformation, but the gap in personnel quality cannot be caught up in the middle of the night. After several successive small-scale contact battles, the originally confident Italian navy officers and soldiers finally recognized this fact, because each time the small teams of both sides fought, they always failed to occupy the absolute number of advantages of the Italian fleet.

Especially when Germany declared war on Italy, the senior naval officers no longer thought about how to win, but how to survive in a war that seemed completely meaningless to them and fight for a decent for the Italian Navy Some endings.

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