My Italy

Although the marriage of the royal families of Germany and Italy was blessed by all the guests at the time, it inevitably had an impact on the situation in Europe.

First of all, on the French side, although it is still expressing goodwill to Italy, the magnitude and level have been reduced.

In addition, the British government also announced that it will temporarily add a battleship construction plan this year.

You see, although the King of England attended the wedding and blessed the couple, the royal family is the royal family and the country is the country, so what should be done is still done.

Germany and Italy ignored the reactions of Britain and France. Everyone continued to do what they were supposed to do.

For example, the Italian Army is still expanding its army, and the Navy is still building warships that should be built. Everyone is working hard to enhance their military strength and make adequate preparations for the possible war that may follow.

Of course, the Navy is not just building ships, it also has some other work to do, such as building some naval bases and so on.

According to the navy's plan, the Italian Navy will have three naval bases in East Africa, Massawa Naval Base, Djibouti Naval Base and Mogadishu Naval Base.

In fact, Italy's naval strength in the East African colonies is not strong, and it mainly consists of small and medium-sized warships. As for why three naval bases were established?

Simply because of the importance of its location.

As long as you open the map, you can see that it controls the Red Sea, the chokepoint. As long as ships from Asia want to pass through the Suez Canal, they must pass through the Red Sea.

The East African colonies are on the Red Sea, so they have become a means for Italy to counter certain countries.

Given that the Red Sea is relatively long and narrow, the Italian Navy has deployed many small warships in East Africa, the largest number of which are various torpedo boats.

Of course, these small and medium-sized warships are basically deployed in the ports of Massawa and Djibouti.

As for the Port of Mogadishu, the purpose of this port is also different from the previous two ports.

Because the port is used as a logistics base for Italian Navy warships to intervene in the Indian Ocean. Therefore, unlike the previous two ports where small warships mainly docked, this port is used as a port of call for medium-sized warships. Therefore, cruisers with stronger self-sustainability will use this port as their main anchorage.

Today, the Mogadishu Military Port welcomed a new batch of warships, but these warships looked a little strange.

That's right, these strange warships are Italian C-type submarines.

Speaking of which, the development of Italian submarines in recent years has not been slow at all. Currently, four models of C-type submarines have been developed. From the earliest C-1 submarine that could be used in actual combat, it has developed to the current C-5 submarine. In addition to Italy's own submarine designers, this huge development also needs the help of one person, that is John Holland, who built the first modern submarine.

This Irish submarine scientist, who was ridiculed by the U.S. Navy, was about to leave his beloved submarine manufacturing job in despair when an invitation from Italy brought his work back to life.

And unlike the ignorant Americans, the Italian Navy treated him quite courteously. In addition to sufficient research funds, the Italian Navy also provided sufficient conveniences in life, such as private villas, family nannies, etc. Anyway, Holland The whole family has made arrangements clearly. This made Holland, who had never received enough attention, feel grateful and vowed to burn the last light for the Italian submarine industry.

However, the Italian Navy is not all that good. The various requirements it places on submarines make even Holland, a veteran with rich experience in building submarines, feel quite pressured.

Fortunately, the Italian Navy did not set a time limit for the request, otherwise he and a large group of Italian colleagues would not be able to complete it even if they worked overtime.

With the efforts of Holland and his Italian colleagues, and with the guarantee of sufficient funds, Italian submarine manufacturing technology has become increasingly sophisticated. The performance and tonnage of manufactured submarines are also getting larger and larger.

The latest C-5 submarine has a total length of 71.55 meters, a width of 7.6 meters, a surface displacement of 1,230 tons, and an underwater displacement of 1,510 tons. Equipped with a 76mm deck gun, 4 torpedo tubes (three in the front and one in the back) and 16 torpedoes.

The maximum diving depth is 65 meters, equipped with two 400-horsepower diesel engines, with a maximum speed of 14 knots on the water and 5 knots underwater. The maximum endurance is 7,500 nautical miles/10 knots, and the crew strength is 27 people.

In terms of performance, it is already at the top level in the world.

This submarine also meets the navy's needs for the Indian Ocean, so four of the first batch of six modified submarines built were directly dispatched to the Indian Ocean Fleet stationed in East Africa.

It is these four C-5 submarines that are currently appearing in front of Rear Admiral Pez, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet.

Speaking of Major General Pez, he also has rich experience. He first served as the chief mate of the gunboat USS Shanbao, and then became the captain of the boat. He then served as the cruiser's first mate, captain, squadron chief of staff, commander, and finally to his current position. Commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet.

One more thing, this Pez once made great contributions in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. He led the Eagle reconnaissance cruiser and discovered the Japanese combined fleet first. It provided favorable conditions for the Italian task force at that time to severely damage the opponent.

"Reporting to the general, I have been ordered to lead four submarines to the Indian Ocean Fleet. I also ask the general to give you a lecture."

Major Barrera, who reported loudly to Major General Pez, was also the commander of this small submarine formation. Behind him, more than a hundred submarine officers and soldiers from four submarines stood here, waiting for the commander's instructions.

"Take a break."

Following Rear Admiral Pez's order, the submarine officers and soldiers stepped out with their left foot in unison.

"You submarine officers and soldiers, you are very welcome to join the Indian Ocean Fleet. There are no entertainment facilities here, and there are no charming scenery. There are only dust in the sky and arid desert land. Here you can't eat the food of your hometown, nor can you drink. If you don’t have the familiar red wine, and you even need to take a prescribed number of baths, are you still willing to stay here?”

Facing the major general's words, the submarine officers and soldiers responded loudly. "willing."

"What?"

"willing."

"I didn't hear it."

"willing."

The sound that resounded throughout the earth came from the mouths of more than a hundred submarine officers and soldiers.

"Very good, I like this kind of fools who don't want to enjoy themselves. Because we are soldiers, we should not be greedy for pleasure. If you want to leave the Indian Ocean Fleet, because we only have fools here and don't need those smart people. We are just a bunch of fools. You fools guarding the waters of the kingdom, because we may be surrounded by enemies at any time, and there are no reinforcements to save us, so we can only rely on ourselves. "

"willing."

The uniform roar once again resounded across the land.

"Very good, remember your words, this is also your oath. Now I declare the Indian Ocean Fleet, the submarine formation is officially established. Now I present the formation flag to you."

A flag of the Indian Ocean Fleet with a submarine and anchor was handed over to Major Barrera by Major General Pez.

Seeing that the atmosphere was almost calm, Major General Pez continued to preach. "Okay, next is the dinner to celebrate the establishment of your submarine formation. There will be roast lamb and all kinds of food, and there will be enough wine."

Well, after showing enough majesty, Major General Pez also showed his benevolent side.

It was obvious that the major general understood the needs of the officers and soldiers very well. Some people were already swallowing their saliva when they heard him talking about food and wine.

So a dinner began with the cheers of submarine officers and soldiers.

And Chapter 3