My Italian: Chapter 157 Darkness Chencang

Whether Antonio's question has been answered or not, we don't know.

But after visiting the king, Antonio called on the prime minister and several important ministers one after another. Soon his appointment came down, and after saying goodbye to his friends, he boarded the boat to Massawa.

Because he needs to rush to Massawa to make a handover with General Simeone. Due to the war, General Simeone is currently mainly in charge of the Italian colonies in East Africa. Of course, he is basically in charge of the military. After all, General Simeone is a soldier, so how can he manage local affairs.

Moreover, most of the East African Expeditionary Forces have been withdrawn to the country at present. Of the 56,000 people who went on the expedition (the increase is the engineering force), 37,000 people have returned to the country. The remaining troops may be late, and they will be stationed in East Africa for one to two years before being withdrawn.

In other words, it is because of the lack of time for Italy to occupy East Africa. You must know that before 1881, Italy had several port bases in East Africa. It was not until the previous year that it began to expand inland on a large scale. Last year, many tribes in the area were recognized by force. Conqueror of Italy.

Such a conquest time is too short, and it needs enough troops to coerce all parties and ensure the stability of the East African colonies.

Of course, most tribes can see the form, but there are no fools who can't see the form. At this time, the power of a large number of garrisoned troops is revealed, which will make them think twice.

After Antonio takes office, General Simeone can return to Italy, because many people in Italy are waiting for his return.

This also includes Carlo, but while waiting for the upcoming national hero, Carlo also did something else.

For example, consult with the Secretary of the Navy about increasing the size of the Marine Corps.

This well-known force in later generations has not received much attention in this era. Even the British Navy, which is famous for its navy, has a marine corps of less than 10,000 people, let alone other countries.

The Italian Navy, like other countries, has also established a marine corps, but it has only a scale of more than 1,000 people. And the mission of the Italian Marine Corps is the same as that of other countries, divided into fleet detachments and land combat units.

The Marine Corps, which conforms to the definition of later generations, naturally refers to the land combat force, which is only the size of two battalions (four companies with three steps and one artillery), which is not much different from the army battalion.

So when Carlo mentioned the Marine Corps, Admiral Gorek, who is the Minister of the Navy, was a little puzzled. Why is His Majesty interested in this army of about a thousand people?

Facing the doubts of the Admiralty, Carlo of course had his reasons.

"Admiral Gorek, it is not advisable for the Navy to not have its own infantry. If there is a crisis or war, it must be discussed with the Army, which will increase the response time and is a very unfavorable situation."

Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Golek thought for a while and replied. "Your Majesty, our navy has marines."

"With just those two battalions, what can this do."

Carlo's words are a bit absolute, but the truth is the same, two battalions, in the era of great voyages, this may not be bad, but now, this force can't do anything.

In the face of Carlo's rebuttal, Admiral Golek of course also knew that his infantry unit was indeed not on the stage.

"Then according to His Majesty's wishes?"

Seeing that His Majesty was so enthusiastic, Admiral Gorek wanted to hear from the King.

"At least one brigade is needed to enable the navy to have its own ability to fight independently. Of course, this is only the initial stage. To truly fight independently, the navy needs at least one division-level marine corps."

Seeing the young king express his views in a serious manner, Admiral Gorek almost dropped his chin. This brigade-level Marine Corps, I am afraid that His Majesty is not joking.

You must know that the navy is facing enough pressure from France now that he, the Minister of the Admiralty, can't wait to spend the money in two halves. If you want him to raise the currently unimportant Marine Corps to the size of the division and brigade level, it is better to kill him (in this era, few people in the Navy pay attention to the Marine Corps, and more as a vassal).

In the face of Admiral Gorek with a surprised expression, Carlo can of course understand. Because this is the result of the times, before the Italian Marine Corps was useless at all. Because the main task of the Italian Navy is to ensure the safety of the waters and repel the invading enemy, which makes it pay more attention to the role of ships.

The Marine Corps is a ground force, which can only be used when invading enemy countries. Which one can you provoke in this circle around Italy?

Of course, in addition to this, the expansion of the Marine Corps has another factor that makes Admiral Gorek jealous, and that is the attitude of the Army.

Although the relationship between the navy and the army is the same, the navy itself is at a disadvantage compared to the army. (Looking at the distribution ratio of military spending, we know that the navy only gets about 35%. Does this still not reflect its disadvantage?)

Neither the money nor the need to consider the attitude of the Army made Admiral Gorek very uninterested in Carlo's proposal. "Thank you very much for your Majesty's concern for the Navy. I need to go back and discuss the expansion of the Marine Corps."

Obviously, Admiral Gorek is about to leave. He feels that staying in the palace will drag down his work. The new combat regulations are more meaningful than this. But when a word came out of Carlo's mouth, Admiral Gorek stopped.

"Thirty million lire!"

"what?"

Facing the surprised expression on Admiral Goreck's face, Carlo said word by word. "I said, as long as you promise to expand the size of the Marine Corps to the brigade level, I will give the Navy an additional 30 million lire in military spending."

Well, talking about money hurts feelings, so Admiral Gorek, who is from the heart, stayed.

"Your Majesty, 30 million lire is only enough to set up a brigade. Our navy will have to bear the maintenance costs in the future, which is not enough."

Well, when it comes to money this is easy.

"This is enough. You must know that the formation cost of an elite mountain brigade in the army is only 34 million yuan. You can't ask the government to pay the full cost. You have to pay some amount."

Well, Carlo also started from the government's finances. After all, it would be very weird if this money was taken out by himself. Although he had donated two cruise ships to the navy, it was made when Italy suffered a fiasco in the Tunisian crisis, which is very different from the current situation.

"Your Majesty, but in this case, our navy will spend nearly 4 million additional expenses every year, which completely increases our burden."

Admiral Gorek, who looked aggrieved, cried out in pain.

"Well, if you can form a division-level marine corps in three years, I will let the government give you 10 million lire per year in addition to military spending."

On the surface, Carlo made concessions, but in fact, he continued to squeeze the funds of the navy.

As an old navy, how could Admiral Golek not understand, I saw him speak. "This can't be done. At present, the navy only has a lot of funds for a year. If it pays the expenses of more than 10,000 fighters, it will reduce our warship procurement costs. It must be 15 million."

"Eleven million."

"No, it's too little, at least fourteen million."

"Twelve million."

"..."

After some intense bargaining, Carlo finally asked the government to invest 40 million, and then gave 12 million a year to Admiral Gorek to agree that the Navy would form a division-level Marine Corps within three years. . Of course, in this confrontation, Admiral Gorek made a profit, and he earned a division-level Marine Corps for nothing.

Of course, Carlo's intention was more than that. After Admiral Golek agreed, he said, "It's a little difficult for you to form a division's ground troops. It's easy to say anything about ordnance, but the officers are very troublesome. "

Facing Carlo's words, Admiral Golek nodded and answered. "Yes, Your Majesty, we can only recruit officers that the Army does not want. It is indeed a bit difficult."

This is also the current state of affairs in various countries. The ground troops of the navy are basically recruited from the navy only after the army has gone to the military academy to receive them. For a military cadet studying ground combat, going to the army is the only way to go.

But then he changed his voice. "But our navy has the confidence to form a division-level Marine Corps within three years."

However, in the face of the admiralty's assurance, Carlo did not give encouragement. "The lack of officers is indeed a problem. If confidence alone is not enough, I will give you another boost."

In the face of Carlo's words, Admiral Golek was a little puzzled. What kind of help is His Majesty planning to give?

Soon the mystery was revealed.

"The Praetorian Guard has enough officers~www.mtlnovel.com~ I have drawn some officers from the Praetorian Guard and let them help you form the Marine Corps."

Now Admiral Gorek fully understood why he would take advantage of himself. It turned out that His Majesty was using the guise of the Marine Corps to expand the Praetorian Guard. You don't have to think about it, how could the officers and soldiers of the two battalions of Marine Corps not be suppressed by the officers from the Praetorian Guards. If nothing else, the quality of the officers alone, the Marine Corps is a lot worse.

Admiral Gorek was a little anxious now, but he knew that the king and the army had an agreement that the number of the guards should not exceed 10,000. His Majesty is dragging the navy into the water, and he doesn't want to see the navy wading into this murky water.

"His Majesty……"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he started, he was stopped by the king with gestures. Carlo looked at the admiral's eyes and said word by word.

"This is the only little help I can give the Marines, and I hope you won't refuse such help."

Hearing the young king's words, Admiral Gorek fell silent. Although he didn't want to wade into muddy waters, it was obvious that His Majesty's words made him have to make a choice and could not escape. Thinking of the importance this young majesty placed on the navy, Admiral Gorek gritted his teeth and made a decision that he was very grateful for in the future.

"His Majesty's selfless help is greatly appreciated by all the navy. With the help from the Praetorian Guard, the Marine Corps will definitely be a sharp sword in Italy in the future, and will cut through obstacles for His Majesty."

Admiral Gorek's words made Carlo also put his heart in his stomach, which means that the navy was tied to his side.

In the future, I want to take control of the army back, and I have taken a solid step.

Of course, this is only the first step, and there is another step that is extremely important. The key to this step is General Simeone who is about to return home.