Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 438: Venice Palace (middle)

"This is ridiculous, we have the strongest navy in the Mediterranean!" Mussolini resisted his anger and didn't shout this sentence. The Italian Prime Minister habitually lifted his chin and looked coldly at Admiral Cavgliani with a calm face.

"Can the Navy give any reasonable explanation for this?" Mussolini asked loudly.

For the construction of the Italian navy, he has spent a lot of effort, resource manpower and national policy. He can almost ask for whatever the navy needs. At the same time, Mussolini also placed great hopes in the navy. He looked forward to the day when the powerful Italian navy could help him fulfill his grand dream of dominating the Mediterranean and rebuilding the glorious Roman Empire.

"Most of our transport ships are assembled in the eastern port, ready to transport army reinforcements to Greece. At present, due to lack of fuel, it is temporarily unable to sail. If a batch of fuel can be deployed in time..." Cavali Yani's answer ended, and he didn't go any further.

"Then the **** fleet, you wouldn't tell me that the naval fleet also lacks fuel." Mussolini's face was covered with a layer of frost. He knew that the navy had been embezzling the fuel reserves from the base to supplement the industry. Dissatisfied, but did not expect that they would use this method to threaten them in a critical moment. It seems that he still underestimated the conservative forces in the Navy. If he can get through the difficulties this time, he must make this group wear navy uniforms. The maggots are beautiful.

"The main fleet of the Royal Navy has entered the first level of combat readiness and can be dispatched at any time. But we must consider. Once the fleet departs, it must have a head-on battle with the Mediterranean task force of the British, French, and German navies. According to the information currently obtained, the landing fleet is very powerful, so this will not be a small-scale conflict, but a decisive battle at sea. Of course, the navy will not be afraid to face a powerful enemy, but once the war is unfavorable, the fleet will lose too much. If so, the coastal defenses of Italy's mainland will fall apart, and the entire sea frontier will be open to the enemy." Cavgliani ignored Mussolini's ugly face and answered calmly.

"The British and French navies suffered heavy losses in the war with Germany. Even if the Germans were added, they were not the opponents of the Royal Italian Navy." Mussolini suddenly felt that there was nothing to do with this stubborn chief of staff. Angry, I almost forgot that this guy was a coward himself, and he was firmly opposed to Italy's participation in the war from the beginning. It seemed that the navy needed a more spine person to take up this position, and Mussolini decided to look back at the navy file to prepare for a replacement.

"As you said, the strength of the British and French navies is not as good as before, but they still retain an experienced and well-trained elite force. At present, the three navies have deployed seven battleships in the Mediterranean, with light and heavy cruisers surpassing Twenty-eight, they also have two newest aircraft carriers, and sixty destroyers of various types, and a considerable number of submarines are operating in the waters around Italy. The number of merchant ships we lost last month reached 30. At 50,000 tons, the destroyers and cruisers escorted have also suffered serious losses. I believe you should have read the report."

Cabriani was talking there, but Mussolini's emotions were on the verge of breaking out.

"Our fleet is invincible!" Mussolini finally couldn't help snarling, his complexion flushed red, and the veins swelled under his forehead, looking like a bull with a whip on his face. .

"But we are not ready for war. I have reminded you a long time ago. I reminded you at the command meeting four months ago that the Royal Italian Navy is not ready to fight a large-scale war. Preparation. At that time, I had not counted the German navy, so the situation is worse than four months ago. The new warships we have just served still need time to adapt, and the newly recruited officers and soldiers generally lack training.

Because of the lack of qualified technicians, the progress of the modification project of the honest battleship is extremely slow. The maritime blockade of the British and French navies has reduced our material reserves to a dangerous level. All of our ongoing shipbuilding projects have been completed with the support of the materials we have stored over the past few years. Britain and Germany now control the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, and Italian ships cannot even leave the Mediterranean. My Prime Minister, your wish has been fulfilled in a certain sense, and the Mediterranean can indeed be called "our sea", trapping our sea. "Cabriani's emotions also became a little excited, not only was the words aggressive, but there was also a mocking expression on his face.

"Enough! You know who you are talking to, I am the Prime Minister of Italy, the leader of the Fascist National Party!" Mussolini was so angry that the other party had so ruthlessly pierced the dream he had woven.

"Of course I know, but I also have my responsibilities. I am the Chief of Staff of the Navy of the Kingdom of Italy! Your Excellency!" Cavgliani also raised his voice, and the Chief of the Navy's General Staff also went out for the kingdom. With the navy, someone must stand in front and tell the truth.

"No, it's not anymore, Admiral Cavgliani, I am dismissing your Chief of Staff of the Navy in the name of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy." Mussolini almost lost his mind because of shame, and he slapped hard. The table top announced the dismissal of the Chief of Naval Staff.

"Your Excellency..." Badoglio quickly tried to persuade him. The current situation was unexpected, and he didn't expect Cavgliani to be so strong.

"Don't say anything, I have already decided." Mussolini glared at Badoglio fiercely.

"I accept your order, hoping to know what your reasons are." Cavgliani had cold eyes and a sneer at the corner of his mouth.

"Fight, dereliction of duty!" Mussolini replied through gritted teeth.

"I will not accept these baseless accusations."

"Asshole, I don't care whether you accept it or not. You have been fired now. Get out of my office immediately!" Mussolini was almost mad, and he suddenly picked up a metal on the table. The stamp box was thrown at the admiral fiercely.

Cabriani turned slightly to avoid the attack that might cause him injury. At this moment, he also knew that it was time to leave, and then continue to stimulate this arrogant dictator, who knew he would What a crazy thing to do.

Cabriani put on his military cap again, buttoned his gold-framed single-sided glasses, and then respected Mussolini, who was clinging tightly to Ciano and Badoglio An Italian military salute, then turned and strode out of the office. If someone stands in the corridor at this moment, they will see the relieved expression on the face of the former Italian Navy Chief of Staff.

Dominique Cavgliani is six years older than Mussolini. He participated in the First World War and the Italian-Turkish War. He also served as the dean of the Italian Naval Academy. The admiral's resume is perfect, he is a model of the Italian navy officer, and he is also an absolute big gun sect.

After he became the Chief of Staff of the Kingdom’s Navy, the admiral devoted most of his energy to the construction of the naval fleet. At present, all battleships owned by the navy were built under his advice and support. At the same time, he also Being able to accept new things, Italy's famous submarine force was also established with his help.

Cabriani’s dream is actually the same as Mussolini, to build a naval force that can dominate the Mediterranean. At first, his cooperation with Mussolini was quite tacit, and the relationship between the two sides was very close at one time, because Mussolini's preference and support for the navy, as a high-level navy, of course must reciprocate for this.

Until that day in June of this year, Mussolini ignored his strong opposition at the emergency meeting of the high command and forcibly declared war on Britain and France. The image of Caesar in the new century was in Cavriani for the first time. His heart collapsed.

As the chief of the navy's general staff, he can read the most confidential information collected by Italy. He knows what a powerful force the Italian navy will face. Of course, he is not afraid of fighting strong enemies. In fact, he has been preparing for this war, but the problem is that everything has just started, and the Italian Navy has not yet been able to face such a severe situation.

In his timetable, preparations for war will take at least two years. Two years later, the Italian Navy will build a powerful fleet with all eight battleships, seven heavy cruisers, and twenty-six light cruisers. The Mediterranean squadron of any country, even the opposing main fleet, is not impossible to fight, provided that it must be fully supported by the Italian Air Force.

But now is definitely not the time to go to war. At this time, the Italian Navy has four old battleships and two new battleships on paper, but two of the former are still undergoing modernization and the latter has just entered service from top to bottom. They are all rookies. Although the eight heavy cruisers and the twelve light cruisers have formed combat effectiveness, considering the larger cruiser groups in Britain and France, Cavriani has no confidence to fight against them.

He began to feel disgusted by Mussolini’s arrogance and ignorance. He could not accept the fact that was imposed on the navy. He could not bear the large fleet that had been built up with painstaking effort, just before it was about to take shape, just because of the reckless leaders Declared war and ruined.

But as a kingdom navy officer, he can only obey orders from higher levels. He can't even do anything in the middle or violate the rules, because it is related to the responsibilities that the state entrusts to him, and it also violates his standards of life.

After the war, the Italian navy was indeed fighting hard. As Mussolini expected, the British and French navies were unable to put their main forces on the Mediterranean battlefield due to the restraint of the German navy at the beginning. The Italian navy did have some upper hand.

But when the European war ended, it became Italy alone to bear the anger of the two navies. The performance of the ships of the two sides can be made up for with technological transformation, but the gap in personnel quality cannot be caught up overnight. After several small-scale contact battles, the originally confident Italian navy officers and soldiers finally recognized this fact, because every time the two teams' battles ~ IndoMTL.com ~, the Italian fleet that always occupies an absolute advantage in numbers. .

Especially after Germany declared war on Italy, the top navy officers no longer thought about how to win victory, but how to survive this completely meaningless war in their minds and serve for the Royal Italian Navy. Strive for a decent ending.

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