My Italian: Chapter 297 emperor\'s ambition

In autumn, the land of East Africa is dry and drier, and a piece of withered yellow looks so decayed.

However, in this dry land, two waves of officers and soldiers are fighting hard. If you pay attention, you will find that the weapons and equipment of the two waves of officers and soldiers are basically the same except for the differences in military uniforms.

That's right, the Italian Army's autumn exercises were moved to East Africa at the suggestion of Carlo.

Currently conducting exercises are the Eighth Army Division and the 1st Guards Division. The Eighth Division is a very effective unit in the Army Standard Division, and needless to say, the First Guards Division, the confrontation between the two division-level troops is very interesting.

It is for this reason that in addition to attracting the Italian military's own viewing, this exercise also has other guests.

Such as the generals of Abyssinia, and the viewing of the emperor Menelik II. Of course, how much they can understand is unknown.

As the top general watching this exercise, the experienced Admiral Simeone didn't finish it, but after watching it for a while, he put down the high-powered telescope in his hand.

"The result of this battle is obvious. The First Division of the Guards performed very well, and the Eighth Division can't hold it anymore."

Simone's words made the face of Major General Pascal, the commander of the Eighth Division, dull. In the face of the accusations of his old superiors, what can he say, he can only increase his training and learn from his failures.

As for the praised First Division of the Guards, Major General Pulev, the division commander, was not overjoyed. He also saw the shortcomings of the First Division in this high-quality exercise.

As for the Abyssinians on the sidelines, many people looked at it blankly. They only knew that both sides of the exercise were well-trained, and both the attackers and the defenders played very well. For the Abyssinian army, no matter whether it is defensive or offensive, it is far from being an opponent.

Many Abyssinian generals privately estimated that if they wanted to defend against the attack of the two Italian armies, at least 60,000 people were needed, and the number of artillery, machine guns and other equipment must reach the same number of the other side. As for the attack, it is impossible for less than 100,000 people.

Of course, this is just a guess. Whether it will work or not can only be known after the actual contest. Of course, with Abyssinia's strength, it is impossible to have such strength, let alone ideas.

And Simeone's prediction was very accurate, and cheers came from the exercise field for a while, and the 1st Guards Division broke through the defensive position of the 8th Division, declaring that the result of the exercise was that the 1st Guards Division won.

Faced with such a result, Major General Pascal, who was the commander of the Eighth Division, turned even darker.

This exercise is divided into two parts, the eighth division will attack, the guard will defend the first division, and then the two divisions will change their identities and do it again. Of course, if you use the offensive side, you will get some beneficial supplements, such as enhancing some support firepower. But this time, the Eighth Division, no matter whether it was attacking or defending, couldn't get a good deal from the First Division of the Guards, why didn't this division commander feel discouraged.

Of course, in front of everyone, he wouldn't show it. I saw Major General Pascal walking up to Major General Pulev with a strong smile.

"In this exercise, our eighth division is convinced that we lost, and we hope that next time we can get another chance to compete with your teacher."

Facing Major General Pascal's unyielding spirit, Major General Pulev replied with a smile. "Your teacher's performance is also very good, but this time it's just bad luck. I hope we can continue to meet in the next contest."

After a brief exchange between the two teachers, the next step was a summary meeting.

The group left the observatory and came to a simple conference room. As the commander-in-chief of this exercise, Admiral Simeone took the lead and pointed out the shortcomings of the two participating troops. In general, however, the victorious 1st Guard Division had fewer deficiencies, while the 8th Division was pointed out more.

And the generals who were watching at the scene even took out small notebooks and kept writing down Simeone's words.

These people are basically the chief officers of the various units, even if they are not the first-in-command, they are the second-in-command. Everyone is a person who understands the military, and naturally they can know the gap between their own troops and the two troops in the exercise. It can be said that apart from the only three standing divisions in Italy at present, no other troops dare to say that they are stronger than the two troops in the exercise. Perhaps the three standing divisions are not as good as the two exercise units in some respects.

Now that you know your inadequacies, what are you waiting for if you are not humble enough to learn?

Could it be that when the army is assessed, give yourself an unqualified evaluation, and then leave the army in despair?

That's right, now the Army needs to conduct assessments on each unit, just to prevent the emergence of unenterprising troop chiefs. Although the result of retiring after failing to reach the assessment once, but failing three times in a row, it is really going to be forced to retire. This was specially marked in red on the assessment standards issued by the Army.

The summary meeting hosted by Admiral Simeone lasted for half an afternoon, and he also gave a lot of suggestions based on practical problems. When he saw these generals who kept taking notes, a smile appeared on his face. Because the regulations for the assessment of the Ministry of the Army were issued under his proposal.

The reason why he did this was that the Italian generals were too busy. That's right, it's too busy. The chief of staff is in charge of training on weekdays, and the division commanders basically don't care enough about the troops except to ask about the situation of the troops.

Of course, a few like him spend most of their time in the army after all. Simeone believes that the reason why many factions in the army were formed before was also because the generals were too leisurely and noisy. When you are free, it is easy to think wildly, and it is easy to make mistakes. Only by keeping him busy will it reduce his chances of making mistakes.

Of course, in this era of rapid technological change, there are so many things to learn. Even the chief of the general staff thinks that time is not enough. Those generals should learn more.

Simeone didn't end the wrap-up meeting until the lights were on.

When he was about to leave, his secretary suddenly came over.

"Admiral, Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia, wants to entertain you."

Menelik II was also an old acquaintance. Hearing that the other party wanted to entertain him, Simeone decided to go and see. The other party is the monarch of the Italian vassal state, and it is impossible to turn against him anyway.

"I see, tell him I'll be there in a while."

"Okay, I'll answer the other party now."

Located three kilometers away from the exercise site, Menelik II built his palace here. Said to be a palace is just a few tents connected together. However, considering that there are many nomadic Abyssinians, there is no need to worry too much.

Today, of course, the big account has been prepared by the servants, and the fine food and the polished silver cutlery are placed at the table, waiting for the arrival of the guests. And there were only two guests of honor at this banquet, besides the master Menelik II, the guest Simeone.

Without letting Menelik II wait long, Simone, who did not change his clothes, quickly arrived on horseback.

"Long time no see, my friend."

"Long time no see, Menelik II."

After a brief greeting between the two, the guest of honor entered the table, and with the sound of beautiful music, a dinner officially began.

After a series of cups and cups, Menelik II waved his servants to step back, and then said the purpose of the banquet.

"General Simeone, let me say it straight, I also have something to ask for this banquet."

As soon as he heard Menelik II's words, Simone raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and he knew that there must be something wrong with the emperor. Of course, whether it can help or not depends on what has happened.

"If your Majesty has something to do, please tell me. If I have the ability to help, I will definitely not refuse."

"The thing is that our country is facing the invasion of Sudan and has fought against it several times. Although Sudan has not been able to seize our land, the successive wars have made our people miserable, so our country hopes to get help from your country."

As a high-ranking Italian military officer, Simeone certainly knew about the battle between Abyssinia and Sudan over Lake Tana. And he not only knew, but also knew how the Italians would respond. That was to keep the Abyssinia-Sultan fight going, giving both sides an occasion for constant bloodshed.

Yes, Italy's strategy for this bipartisan battle is to keep them bleeding. Even though Abyssinia is an Italian vassal, Menelik II has always been respectful to Italy.

The reason is simple, Abyssinia's current situation does not reassure Italy. The cost of comprehensive control is too high, and the unwillingness to let go of Italy is a bit tasteless. Therefore, the weapons that Italy sold to Abyssinia over the years basically guaranteed that he could get a small advantage in the battle with the Sudan, but he couldn't do it if he wanted to hurt the Sudanese.

Some people may say that since Italy does not sell it, it can be purchased from other countries. This is obviously a layman. As a vassal, you can find a channel to buy weapons by yourself. If you find out, it will be a big taboo. Don't forget that there are so many Italian consultants in Abyssinia. And who can guarantee that no one among them will inform.

Arms is something that needs to be used, and there is absolutely no way to keep it secret. Therefore, Abyssinians have no intention of buying from other places at all.

In fact, the shrewd Menelik II also guessed about Italy's practice. But what is the use of guessing only, the interests between countries are more about interests. Italy's interests in Abyssinia are limited, so how can it be possible to fully support itself.

This time Menelik II also made a lot of money, and we must let Italy's full help.

"This time, our country hopes that Italy can get help from your country in legal and government affairs. At the same time, our country is also willing to go further in trade with your country, such as lowering tariffs respectively, and the exploration rights of minerals are also within the scope of negotiation."

Of course, Menelik II was able to come up with such a generous return, and there were conditions, I saw him continue to say. "Our country hopes to get help from Italy to purchase 20,000 m88 Carcano rifles, 60,000 Vitry M1870 rifles, 120 Maxim heavy machine guns, and 60 57 and 75 mm artillery pieces. In addition..."

In Menelik II's narration, Simone immediately calculated that this is the size of the army to be equipped with 100,000, plus some of the weapons originally reserved, the Abyssinians should be equipped with 104,000 or 50,000. army. Although 60,000 Vitry M1870 rifles are out of date in Europe, this is Africa, and they are still powerful equipment.

Hearing this, Simeone couldn't help but point out. "Your Majesty Menelik, I made a rough calculation of the equipment you mentioned. The basic value is about 20 million lire. I wonder if your country can spend so much money?"

That's right, Simeone seriously doubts Abyssinia's financial resources~www.mtlnovel.com~ If you want Italy to give it away for free, it may require Abyssinians to pray to God that all Italian high-level IQs will be negative. Of course, for the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Abyssinians, this may be a bit difficult.

In the face of Simone's question, Menelik II didn't care, only to see him answer. "Thanks to General Simeone's concern, our country has raised tens of millions of liras for this purpose. Of course, if your country is willing to accept installment payments, there is no problem at all. If not, our country hopes to be able to obtain a loan from your country. I believe According to my country's financial resources, your country's banks are also very willing to lend to my country."

Simeone finally knew what the man in front of him meant at this time. He wanted to use the entire Abyssinia as a mortgage to seek help from Italy. Of course, after obtaining a huge amount of arms, the Abyssinian emperor will definitely cut his sword at the Sudanese. Even, no, the land and population will certainly be acquired from the Sudanese.

Now, Simeone has to admit that the Menelik II is making a big gamble. If you win, you will become the king of Abyssinia, and if you lose, you will be ruined.

In this regard, Simeone can only answer. "This matter is at stake and I have to report back to Roma."

"I am waiting for your good news."