My Italy

When Europe was plunged into strife, time entered the end of 1912. During this year, many things happened in the world, but the most important thing is that the major European countries have formed two camps to collectively prepare for war.

Before this, it was possible for the smoke to dissipate, but after the Moroccan crisis, it has turned into a dynamite barrel with sparks. The only question now is when this dynamite barrel will explode.

When it will explode, no one knows now. But for Italy, strengthening the military strength of its kingdom is the most important thing.

In this year, the Italian Army increased its strength by more than 80,000 people, forming 6 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry brigade, and 1 heavy artillery regiment. In addition, the reform of the Army's three-regiment division system has also accelerated. Originally, one-third of the divisions remained unchanged. After this year's efforts, only two divisions have not yet completed the restructuring.

In addition, the Army is also strengthening its firepower for battalions and companies. Thanks to sufficient funds, the Army purchased 2,000 Maxims, 4,000 Revery light machine guns, 1,200 mortars of various types, and corresponding ammunition.

This large order was a surprise to several arsenals, and it even expanded the scale to provide them with the weapons on the order. Because the Army was in urgent need and the time was very tight. It had to complete the order within a year, so the arsenal had to expand production capacity.

Some people may ask, what should I do after this order is completed?

Someone will definitely knock you on the head. Didn’t you see that Europe is going to war? Are you afraid that the weapons you produce will not be available?

Anyone with any brains can see that a war is about to break out in Europe, but everyone is still addicted to past experience. Everyone gathers the army, and the winner can be determined in a few months, or even in a day, and then the victorious country is defeated. If the country takes away enough benefits, then the world will be peaceful again.

In addition to Italy's army expanding its strength, the navy is also not lagging behind. Currently, the Navy has accepted three super-dreadnoughts this year: Count of Cavour, Giulio, and Duilio. At present, the total number of new dreadnoughts in the Italian Navy has increased from 8 to 11 now, which is definitely a big improvement.

Not only that, this year the Navy also ordered a total of 87 destroyers, cruisers, torpedo boats, submarines and other ships, with a total tonnage of more than 70,000 tons. Two-thirds of the tonnage is for new cruisers and destroyers, because they have the most tasks whether on weekdays or in war.

As for why the Italian Navy has ordered so many warships, it seems that this is still making up lessons for the navy. In the past, due to insufficient funds, the navy chose to build large warships first. As for small and medium-sized warships, it is necessary to reduce their number and make up for it when funds are sufficient or when large warships are almost completed.

As we all know, a navy must have various warships, because their roles are irreplaceable. The lack of small and medium-sized warships has resulted in a large number of old-fashioned small warships in Italy being unable to be decommissioned, and they are still carrying out naval tasks at an aging pace.

Fortunately, no naval war has broken out in the past few years. Otherwise, after the Italian Navy has built an excellent main fleet, the ones guarding the rear or performing other tasks are all old-fashioned warships, which would be embarrassing.

So now that there is sufficient funding, this shortcoming must be addressed. Therefore, the navy received a large amount of funds this year to make up for this shortcoming.

As we all know, the cost per ton of small and medium-sized warships is much higher than that of large warships (the lower the tonnage, the higher the construction cost per ton), so these small warships can be built at the same price. Three Cavour class ships.

The construction of these small and medium-sized warships is also necessary, because the Navy will take over the service of the Cavour IV ship Doria and two Milan-class battle cruisers next year. As for the year after next, four powerful Roman-class ships will also enter the navy.

What next?

Gone.

This is a bit unacceptable to the current Italian Navy.

Therefore, the Navy has begun to think about designing new warships. The Navy has secretly promoted the research and development of 410 mm naval guns. However, in view of the slow development of 410 mm naval guns, some people have proposed improving the 380 mm naval guns, as well as shells, propellants, etc., in order to Looking for a more powerful main gun.

Of course, artillery is only one aspect. In addition, power, armor, communications, unified shooters, etc., all the equipment required by a warship need to be considered.

This is not about whether it is the latest technology, but about ensuring the latest technology with reliability.

The navy dares to start considering new ships now. On the one hand, it is affected by the situation. The Italian Navy's main rivals in the Mediterranean, Britain and France, have started construction of multiple super-dreadnought ships. It would be unreasonable for the Italian Navy not to follow up.

Secondly, it's because the Navy has money in its pocket. As a qualified military branch, if you don't use the money in your pocket to build ships, do you want to keep it for future generations?

Why does the Navy have money in its pocket? That's because the Navy has received accurate news that their funding will increase next year, and the same goes for the Army.

As for the one who gave them this news, it was our wise and mighty His Majesty Carlo.

For the current Italy, preparations for war cannot be stopped, so military expenditures should be increased. Military spending will be increased from the current 1.37 billion lire to 1.89 billion lire.

You read that right, this is the one time improvement.

Of course, this military expenditure has once again increased significantly, and the government's complaints have become even more serious. But it's a pity that Carlo can no longer care about the government's complaints. If history is anything to go by, this was the last full fiscal year before the war. Therefore, Italy must make good use of this financial year and do more things.

Of course, if the little history girl doesn't follow the script, it's easy. Carlo will do it by himself. At worst, he will fire the first shot.

Because the Italian economy cannot afford to drag on, the kingdom has been turned into a military camp, and the Italian family cannot sustain it for long. If war had not broken out in 1916, the Italian government could have declared financial bankruptcy.

Although Italy’s economy is currently doing well, this is a large number of orders from the military industry. If you put aside these military industry orders and then put aside the state-owned enterprises, you will find that except for a few key industries, other industries in Italy’s private economy have already Entering an era of declining profits.

The reason for this is that the Italian industrial market is saturated, yes it is saturated. Affected by the political turmoil in the Far East, the sales of Italian products in the region have plummeted. This is actually the case not only in Italy but also in other countries.

The sharp drop in market sales will naturally make it difficult for factories that sell goods, and then the factories will lay off employees. The next thing everyone knew, the economic crisis was coming.

For a country that is expanding its military aggressively, the economic crisis can only divert conflicts, and war is the best diversion target.

So at this time, if Italy doesn't quickly expand itself, how long will it wait?