My Italy

"Everyone, our country currently needs the help of two allies in the navy."

The person speaking at this time was Admiral Mateusz Agier, the Italian Navy Minister.

The admiral is under a lot of pressure, because Italy's main combat area is in the Mediterranean, so the requirements for the navy are very high, and it is difficult for Italy alone to complete it. Therefore, Italy needs the cooperation between the navies of the three countries to make a difference in the Mediterranean.

"First of all, regarding the formation of the Mediterranean fleet, our Italian Navy hopes that the Austro-Hungarian navy can transfer from Trieste to Taranto. This can greatly enhance the deployment of our two navies. We have already provided services for your country in Taranto. Berths and other facilities have been prepared to meet the needs of your country’s warships and naval officers.”

When Admiral Yagier opened his mouth, he was talking about the formation of a joint fleet between Italy and Austria.

Because of the strength of the Italian navy, it is okay to fight against either Britain or France alone, but if the two teams join forces, Italy may not be able to resist it in terms of strength.

At present, Italy only has 14 dreadnought battleships, 1 Dreadnought (also included in the Dante class), 4 Dante class, 4 Cavour class, 3 Taranto class battle cruisers, and 2 Milan class battleships. patrol.

There are four French Dreadnought-class battleships in service. As for more Dreadnoughts, there are currently only three Breton-class battleships still in the dock. This is a battleship that the French government gritted its teeth and dug out. Seeing that the powerful strength of the Italian navy has seriously affected France's safety in the Mediterranean, and more than half of France's foreign trade needs to depart from the Mediterranean, so in the face of public opinion from all walks of life, the French government, which had originally planned to focus on land, only gritted its teeth and started work last year. Three ships.

However, it is currently difficult to even launch it into the water. As for its service, only God knows.

The French navy was not powerful, and the Allied powers could only count on Britain for their maritime strength in the Mediterranean. And the British Mediterranean Fleet, which has been entrusted with great responsibilities, is not weak.

The British Mediterranean Fleet currently has 13 dreadnoughts, including 2 St. Vincent-class battleships (the ships were urgently built by the British based on the data of the Italian Dreadnought after the launch of the Italian Dreadnought), 2 Colossus-class battleships, 2 Aries ships, 2 King George V class ships, and 2 Invincible class ships (this class was built under the strong promotion of Sea Secretary Fisher after the news of the construction of the Italian Taranto class came out. This class is different from the history) , with certain enhancements in armor and speed, 4 ships of this class were built), 1 Tireless class ship, and 2 Lion class ships.

In terms of strength, the British Empire

As for why the strength of the British Mediterranean fleet has grown so fast, it has a lot to do with the large number of dreadnoughts built by the British in recent years.

Since 1908, Britain has built more than 6 dreadnoughts every year, and in 1910 it reached 8. As worthy of being a world hegemon with deep pockets, he is quite willing to invest in the navy.

Since Britain and France have more warships than Italy in number, Italy must be supplemented, otherwise how can it compete with them for control of the Mediterranean. Fortunately, the Austro-Hungarian Navy still has four combined force-class ships, which can become Italy's supplementary force.

As long as the four Rome-class ships are put into service next year, Italy will surpass the maritime strength of Britain and France in the Mediterranean in terms of the number and quality of warships.

As for what Admiral Yagier said, Foreign Minister Count Bechtold, who was the chief negotiator of Austria-Hungary in this negotiation, spoke after discussing with the Chief of General Staff, Admiral Herzendorf. "Yes, our navy accepts your country's conditions and transfers the main force of the navy to Taranto."

Well, it can be seen from Berchtold's discussion with the Army Chief of Staff on the deployment of the navy that the gap between the Austro-Hungarian navy's status in its army is the largest among the three countries.

Now that the Austro-Hungarian Navy has reached an agreement, the next step is to talk to the German Navy.

"Marshal Tirpitz, our country needs your navy to hold back the British Home Fleet and prevent its reinforcements in the Mediterranean from causing huge pressure on our country."

Admiral Yagier talked about the previous agreement with the German Navy.

This is part of a mutual cooperation package agreed between the two countries two years ago during the second Moroccan crisis.

"Admiral Yagier, our navy is of course obliged to respond to your country's request. However, if we want to involve the British Home Fleet, the Port of Kiel, where our High Seas Fleet is located, needs to detour around the Jutland Peninsula, which will delay our country's high seas. The response speed of the fleet. It will only take three months for the widening project of the Kiel Canal to be completed, and then our High Seas Fleet will be able to respond to the British fleet from the North Sea at any time."

The Kiel Canal that Tirpitz refers to is an artificial canal dug by Germany in 1887. The main purpose is to allow the German Navy to avoid detouring around the Jutland Peninsula and shorten the navy's response to threats between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It stretches from the port of Brunsbittelkok at the mouth of the Elbe River in the west to the port of Holt in the Kiel Bay in the northeast. The opening of the Kiel Canal has greatly shortened the voyage between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, reducing it by 370 nautical miles compared to the bypass of the Oresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak Strait.

However, the navigation capacity of the Kiel Canal was only 20,000 tons at the beginning, which was enough for German warships at the time. However, in the 20th century, as warships became larger and larger, the navigation capacity of the Kiel Canal was obviously insufficient, so Germany began to expand the canal in 1906. So far, the expansion of the canal has not been completed, and it is expected that it will take three more It will take months to complete.

Therefore, the Port of Kiel, where the German Navy is located, has been much slower to respond to threats from the North Sea. After all, it needs to bypass the Jutland Peninsula.

Admiral Argyle frowned at Tirpitz's words.

"Your Excellency Tirpitz, if you want our country to open up the situation in the Mediterranean, the navy is the top priority. If Britain continues to send warships to the Mediterranean, the fleet jointly formed by our country and Austria-Hungary will not be able to cope with it."

It was obvious that Admiral Yagier was not satisfied with Tirpitz's answer.

Faced with Italy's dissatisfaction, Prime Minister Holweg tried to smooth things over.

"Admiral Yagier, Lord Tirpitz does not mean this. We also know the importance of the Mediterranean to the three countries. It can be said that more than half of the goods of Britain and France need to pass through this sea area, so of course we also believe that the sea power of the Mediterranean is controlled In our hands, it will greatly improve the winning rate of our three countries. And Tirpitz is just informing your country of our difficulties, not shirk responsibility. I think Marshal Tirpitz also agrees with this view. "

Faced with the Prime Minister's rescue, Tirpitz certainly knew what to say.

"Yes, I am not trying to shirk the responsibility of our navy, but to state an objective fact. Of course, our High Seas Fleet will continue to send warships to harass, so that the British Home Fleet will not dare to leave its surrounding waters."

Tirpitz's words made Admiral Yagir look much better. After all, what they are challenging is the British maritime power that has existed for hundreds of years. Without concerted efforts, how can they fight?

With the issue of naval cooperation reached, the final pre-war meeting between the three countries has entered its final stage.

Of course, in addition to these collaborations, the three countries also conducted final coordination in intelligence, strategy, materials, manpower, etc. Generally speaking, this was a successful meeting and an extremely short meeting.

In just three days, the three countries reached agreement on so many aspects.

Okay, next, the three countries will face a new situation.