The Sun Never Sets In Spain

Time soon came to 2 pm on the 19th, and the Italian side did not unexpectedly make any response.

The Spanish-Italian War broke out immediately.

At this time, there were 50,000 Spanish soldiers and Papal States soldiers in the city of Rome, and there were sufficient reserves, and every one of them could be replaced.

On the other hand, the Italian side, the total number of 110,000 is only twice that in the city, for the attacking side, this manpower advantage is not significant.

But General Enrique Ciardini, the commander in chief of Italy, didn't think so. He felt that the Roman walls were just made of stone and could easily collapse.

And the city of Rome has no strategic depth. It only takes half a day to disintegrate Rome’s defenses and lead the army to drive straight in from the gap. By then, the Spaniards who do not have enough transport ships will have no way to go back, facing twice as many people as him. The Italian army can only bow and surrender.

At that time, Italy will not only return the humiliation suffered by the prisoners of war, but also make a lot of extra money.

He, Enrique Cialdini, will also be remembered by Italy as a hero.

With this kind of thinking, the Italian army quickly mobilized, preparing to launch the first wave of attacks on Rome in one day.

In addition to them, there is an army to the southeast of the city wall. Their number is much smaller than that of the regular Italian army, only about 6,000, but the military discipline is stricter.

It was the Italian Volunteer Army led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, the three great founders of Italy, the defender of the Roman Republic, and the hero of the two worlds. This small army and the Italian side showed an attitude of not breaking the river.

Garibaldi used to be an Italian military officer, with outstanding merit and prestige, but as a staunch freedom fighter, he has always had great ideas for the establishment of the Roman Republic.

Even if the Roman Republic was destroyed by the French army, he still had hostility towards the church and Rome.

However, this hostility is out of place, because Rome is protected by France at this time, and France once threatened the Italian government that if you attempt another Rome, the Italian-French war will begin.

It was only in 1861 that Italy was initially unified. How could it dare to scratch the beard of France? If you can't clean up France, you can only clean up Garibaldi.

In the same year, Garibaldi was captured by Italy. Although he was pardoned two months later, Garibaldi's battle sequence began to separate from the official.

The Kingdom of Italy would summon him urgently when there was an unwinnable war. In normal times, he recruited troops in the name of a volunteer army, and did whatever he wanted—usually to trouble the Papal State whenever he had time.

This time is no exception. The two armies of the same language, the same species, and the same goal have always maintained a slight estrangement.

There is even an implicit competitive relationship between the two-if Garibaldi volunteers take the lead in attacking Rome, then he will have a greater right to speak and is bound to carry out a series of liberalization and transformation of Rome.

This transformation is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was not carried out under official direction.

Cialdini is eagerly preparing to attack, part of the reason for this.

In the city, Primm is having urgent consultations with the commander-in-chief of the Papal State Albert Hoffman about the next war.

They have made plans for various situations before, but the plan is just a plan, and it always feels that there is something wrong with it before it is really implemented.

In particular, there is Garibaldi on the opposite side, one of the famous generals handed down. Although the past several attacks on Rome ended without a problem, it was because he had too few troops, generally only 3000~4000 troops.

This time 6,000 people were assembled, obviously he was serious.

Primm is considered old at 56 years old, but Garibaldi is 7 years older than him, and there is a mythical story of "A Thousand People Expedition", and he feels a little nervous.

When the two were discussing defense matters, Prim's adjutant walked to him and whispered a report: "The Mediterranean Fleet has arrived at the Roman port."

"I'm in Rome, great." Prim nodded, "How many have you come?"

Although the port of Rome is very large, it still needs to undertake the task of a city commercial port.

Especially after the land was blocked, the maritime pressure increased sharply. Naturally, it would not be possible to use all of it as a military port, and it would not be able to accommodate the huge Spanish Mediterranean fleet.

"8 ships," the adjutant replied.

Primm frowned deeply after hearing this: "Why is it so? Do I remember that there are 38 warships in the Mediterranean Fleet?"

"All ironclad ships."

This time it was Primm's turn to be a little surprised. Spain has been struggling economically for the past 10 years, and the construction of ironclad ships has not been so open.

After the reunification, several ships were started step by step, but only three of the smaller frigate-class ironclad ships were delivered.

Eight ships were dispatched at once, fearing that all the belongings of the Mediterranean Fleet would be moved over.

"Go, let's go and have a look together."

This was spoken to Hoffman, and it was also deliberate to let him see the power of Spain, so as not to have a bitter face there.

On the carriage, Primm still did not forget to ask: "Why are they all ironclad ships? What about battleships?"

He was referring to wooden sail battleships. The Spanish Mediterranean Fleet now has about 30 tier 1 to 3 sail battleships.

The number of cruisers and frigates below, as well as small and medium-sized ships such as gunboats, is even greater.

Out of cost considerations, in the past few years, including military operations in Cuba, wooden ships and iron armored ships were mixed. I did not expect that the iron armored ships would go out alone this time.

"It is said that it was the order of His Majesty the King... As for why, I am sorry that I don't know."

The adjutant was asked. He was from the Army and had never cooperated with the Navy. It could be said that he knew nothing about ships.

"..." Primm couldn't say anything critical, because he didn't know much as a field marshal.

The port soon arrived. The length of the city of Rome from east to west is only 8 kilometers, and the distance from the city to the port is not far.

From a distance, Prim saw a lot of people around the port. Fortunately, there were soldiers maintaining order, and they could only stand in place and watch.

After the adjutant showed his head, Prim's carriage drove all the way into the heavily guarded military port.

Here, they met Morales, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, a lieutenant admiral.

After a simple greeting, Morales introduced them to the battleship. He pointed to the battleship floating in the distance, and said as many treasures: "Victoria, Numancia, Aspiles... are all iron-clad ships. ."

It can be seen that there are also great differences between the same armored ships, not only the number of artillery decks, but also the difference between the side string gun and the waist gun room.

8 ironclad ships! In this era, only a few countries can produce it.