My Italian: Chapter 597 Munich Agreement Part 2

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

It was Admiral Mateus Argier, the Italian Navy Minister who spoke at this time.

The pressure on the admiral is not small, because Italy's main combat area is in the Mediterranean Sea, so the requirements for the navy are very high, and it is difficult for Italy alone to complete. 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 will greatly enhance the configuration of our two navies. We have already served your country in Taranto Berths and other facilities have been prepared, which are sufficient to meet the needs of your country's warships and naval officers and soldiers."

As soon as Admiral Yagir opened his mouth, it was about the formation of the Italian-Austrian joint fleet.

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

At present, there are only 14 dreadnought warships in Italy, 1 dreadnought (also counted in the Dante class), 4 Dante class, 4 Cavour class, 3 Taranto class battle cruisers, and 2 Milan class battle cruisers. patrol.

The French dreadnoughts have 4 Guba-class battleships in service. As for more dreadnoughts, there are currently only three Breton-class battleships still in the dock. This is the warship that the French government gritted its teeth and dug out. Seeing that the strength of the Italian navy has seriously affected the safety of France in the Mediterranean, and more than half of France's foreign trade needs to start 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, gritted its teeth and started construction last year. three.

But at present, it is difficult to even enter the water. As for serving, only God knows.

The French navy is not strong, and the Allies can only count on Britain for their maritime strength in the Mediterranean. The British Mediterranean Fleet, which has been entrusted with great responsibilities, is not weak.

At present, the British Mediterranean Fleet has 13 dreadnought ships, including 2 St. Vincent-class battleships (the ship was built urgently after the Italian Dreadnought came out, and the United Kingdom learned about the data of the Dreadnought), 2 Colossus-class ships, 2 Aries ships, 2 King George V class ships, and 2 Invincible class ships (this class was built under the strong promotion of the Secretary of the Sea after the news of the construction of the Taranto class in Italy, which is different from the history , the armor and speed have been strengthened to a certain extent, 4 ships of this class were built), 1 ship of the Indefatigable class, and 2 ships of the Lion class.

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 fact that the UK has built a large number of dreadnoughts in recent years.

Since 1908, Britain has built more than 6 dreadnoughts every year, and in 1910 it reached 8 ships. It is worthy of being a wealthy and powerful world hegemon, and it 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 they compete with them for control of the Mediterranean. Fortunately, the Austro-Hungarian Navy still has four joint force-class ships, which can become Italy's supplementary force.

As long as the four Rome-class ships enter 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 the words of Admiral Yagier, Count Berchtold, the Minister of Foreign Affairs who was the chief negotiator of Austria-Hungary in this negotiation, spoke after discussing with the chief of 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 chief of the army's general staff about the transfer of the navy that the status of the Austro-Hungarian navy in its army has the largest gap among the three countries.

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

"Marshal Tirpitz, our country needs your navy to hold back the British mainland fleet, so as to avoid the huge pressure on our country caused by its reinforcements in the Mediterranean."

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

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

"Admiral Yagier, our navy is of course obliged to meet your country's request. However, if we want to involve the British mainland fleet, the port of Kiel, where our high seas fleet is located, needs to bypass the Jutland Peninsula, which will delay our 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 deal with the British fleet from the North Sea at any time."

The Kiel Canal in the mouth of Tirpitz is an artificial canal dug by Germany in 1887. The main purpose is to allow the German Navy to avoid detouring 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 Brunsbuttelcock at the mouth of the Elbe in the west to the port of Holt in Kielfjord in the northeast. The opening of the Kiel Canal has greatly shortened the voyage between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea by 370 nautical miles compared to the Øresund-Kategat-Skagerrak detour.

However, at the beginning, the navigable capacity of the Kiel Canal was only 20,000 tons, which was enough for German warships at that time. However, in the 20th century, as warships got bigger and bigger, the navigation capacity of the Kiel Canal was obviously insufficient, so Germany began to expand the canal in 1906. So far, the canal has not yet completed the expansion work, and it is estimated that three more month to complete.

Therefore, the port of Kiel, where the German Navy is located, was much slower in responding to threats from the North Sea. After all, it needed to bypass the Jutland Peninsula.

Admiral Yagier frowned at Tirpitz's words.

"Your Excellency Tirpitz, if we 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 handle it."

Obviously, Admiral Yagier was not satisfied with Tirpitz's answer.

In the face of Italy's dissatisfaction, Prime Minister Holweg played a smooth game.

"Admiral Yagier, Your Excellency Tirpitz does not mean that. We also know the importance of the Mediterranean Sea to the three countries. It can be said that more than half of the goods of Britain and France need to go through this sea area, so we certainly believe that the sea power of the Mediterranean Sea is in control. In our hands, it will greatly increase the winning rate of our three countries. And Tirpitz is just telling your country about our difficulties, not to shirk responsibility. I think Marshal Tirpitz agrees with this point of view~ www.mtlnovel.com~ 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 mainland fleet dare not leave its surrounding waters."

Tirpitz's words made Admiral Yagier look much better. After all, what they are challenging is Britain's sea power for hundreds of years. If they don't work together, how can they fight.

With the negotiation on the issue of naval cooperation, the final pre-war meeting of the three countries can be regarded as coming to an end.

Of course, in addition to these collaborations, the three countries also carried out final coordination in terms of intelligence, strategy, materials, and manpower. Generally speaking, this was a successful meeting, and it was also an unusually short one.

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

Well, next, the Three Kingdoms will face a new situation.

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