Although Jochen is still only the crown prince, as the real rulers of the German Empire, Emanuele III and Ferdinand I, as kings, also have to deal with it carefully. Italy and Croatia-Slovenia have a very important position in Jochen's plan, and they are also deliberately friendly, so the guests and hosts are happy and quite agreeable.

Italy has a unique geographical advantage in the heart of the Mediterranean. In order to win the First World War, control of the Mediterranean was crucial, and control of the Mediterranean was crucial for Italy.

If the Mediterranean is controlled by Britain and France, it means that the resources of Malaysia, India, Australia, and Egypt can be continuously channeled through the Mediterranean Sea to the British mainland through the Strait of Gibraltar, and even France can obtain resources from North Africa.

In contrast, Germany, which had basically been cut off from its overseas colonies, had little chance of winning a long-term and large-scale all-out war under such circumstances, and even if Jochen believed that Germany would grit its teeth and persist in the past, it might be able to get a chance to sit down at the negotiating table, then Germany, which had been drained of its wealth after the war, would only turn from an ugly dead to an ugly life.

But if the control of the Mediterranean can be obtained, even if it is only the control of the eastern Mediterranean, then it will mean that the Mediterranean route will be cut off, and the British merchant ships can only make a new detour to the Cape of Good Hope.

But in order to do this, it is necessary to have the cooperation of the Italians, and the narrowest point of the Tunis Strait held by Sicily is only 148 kilometers, as long as they have the right to control the sea, then the British and French will not even want to sneak a sampan through.

But if the Italians joined the Entente, then not a single qiē was not to be discussed. The heel of the Italian boot firmly chokes the Strait of Otranto, which is only 67 kilometers at its narrowest point.

Not to mention that the German navy in the Mediterranean could not be stronger than the combined forces of France and Italy, even if it had a strong fleet that surpassed France and Italy, it would not be able to exert itself in the small narrow pond of the Adriatic Sea before breaking through the pass of the Strait of Otranto.

Historically, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was determined to launch a blockade-breaking operation in June 1918. The Austro-Hungarian Navy was determined to use a huge fleet of 4 dreadnoughts, 3 predreadnoughts, 4 light cruisers, and 11 small mine-striking ships.

However, the Second Fleet, consisting of two Combined Forces battleships and six small mine-striking ships, lost the battleship St. István under the night attack of two Italian torpedo boats, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which suffered heavy losses, had to stop its combat operations.

So if you don't want to die in the Adriatic Sea, or stay in the harbor and become rusty scrap metal, it is imperative to rush out of the Strait of Otranto, and this must have the nod of the Italians.

And if the Italians are on the side of the Allies. This not only meant geographical superiority, but also the addition of the Italian naval fleet.

Historically, in order to achieve an overwhelming superiority over the German navy in the North Sea, the British and the French reached a consensus on regional joint defense. The French navy was to defend the Mediterranean, while the British could repatriate the main force of their powerful Mediterranean fleet.

The strength of the French in the Mediterranean was indeed not weak, and from 1910 onwards, four Coubert-class dreadnoughts with a standard displacement of 22,189 tons and equipped with six twin 205 mm main gun turrets were built at the same time at a rate of two ships per year, and in 1912, three Provence-class super-dreadnoughts with a standard displacement of 23,230 tons and five twin 340 mm main gun turrets were built at the same time. But such a powerful fleet did not have absolute superiority in the face of Italy and Austria-Hungary.

In 1909, the Italian Navy began construction of one Dante with a standard displacement of 19,552 tons and four triple 305 mm main gun turrets. The Dreadnought of the Arrigieri. In 1910, the construction of 3 Duke Cavour-class dreadnoughts with a standard displacement of 22,992 tons and equipped with 3 triple-mounted and 2 twin 305-mm main gun turrets began, and in 1912, construction began on 2 improved Andrea of the Duke of Cavour? Doragi dreadnoughts.

In 1910, Austria-Hungary also began construction of four combined-force battleships with a standard displacement of 20,140 tons and four triple 305 mm main gun turrets.

The ratio of the number of dreadnoughts / super dreadnoughts is 7:10, even if the French have 3 super dreadnoughts, the Austro-Italian coalition is still not lagging behind, and if the strength comparison is based on the outbreak of the war in 1914, the Austro-Italian coalition has a 6:4 advantage in the number of dreadnoughts. If the Germans can operate it properly. It is not difficult to continue to expand this advantage.

Even if they could not expand their numerical superiority in capital ships, the Germans still had a trump card that could influence the tide of the war - submarines. In a small Mediterranean pond. Submarines were more powerful than the North Sea and the Atlantic, and when the Austro-Hungarian Navy was trapped in the Adriatic Sea in World War I, only the submarine forces were able to achieve certain results.

At the beginning of the war, Austria-Hungary had only 6 submarines, but it was such a weak force and in such an unfavorable geographical environment. The Austro-Hungarian submarine forces were still impressive in the war, almost killing the French in the early stages of the war. USS Barr dreadnought. Killed the Frenchman Leon again at the beginning of the following year? Gambida armored cruiser.

During the entire First World War, Austria-Hungary had only 27 submarines, but it acquired 117 ships of various types, totaling 220121 registered tons, and cultivated a number of submarine warfare aces. Among them is the male protagonist in "The Sound of Music", George? Feng? Major Trapp. The total tonnage sank was 45,669 tons.

Such a strong contrast of strength and results gave Jochen the confidence that he had a plan for how to control the Mediterranean, and that he could do so.

And once they took control of the Mediterranean, even if it was only the eastern Mediterranean, the British would pay more than just tens of thousands of nautical miles and waste a lot of time.

When Germany took Walvis Bay, built a naval base, and deployed the African Fleet there, this move would have turned into a lethal move.

Historically, two small cruisers of Spee's fleet could turn the Indian Ocean upside down the coast of East Africa, and now there is an entire fleet deployed in Walvis Bay, which is dedicated to blocking and robbing British ships that detour the Cape of Good Hope after the outbreak of war. Then the British will be torn between two sides.

German heavy cruisers were deployed here, and with the performance of German heavy cruisers, the British had to send battle cruisers if they wanted to clean them up, but sending battle cruisers would lead to a decline in the strength of the home fast fleet. Regardless, they can only watch the Germans raid and rob their homes; Tube, be careful that the Germans rush out of the North Sea at any time to make big news. When the time comes, some submarines will be deployed in Walvis Bay, and it may even be possible that the British who come to block the gate will not be able to eat and walk around.

And once the Eastern Mediterranean is in hand, Germany's initiative is much greater, if it can win over Tsarist Russia to join the alliance, then Germany can fight Ottoman Turkey together with Russia, and the Italians will be very interested in this piece of fat in the future, and some other Balkan countries will also be willing to take a piece of the pie.

And the decaying Ottomans were absolutely incapable of dealing with such an attack, and a quick defeat was inevitable, so the Russians would not regard Germany as an enemy, but would inevitably devote all their energies to the Black Sea, and the powerful Black Sea Fleet established would be able to enter the Mediterranean Sea to strengthen the naval power of the Central Powers, and it would be easy to launch an attack on France and the Western Mediterranean at this time.

If Russia can't be co-opted, that's okay, and Ottoman Turkey won't have to be distracted from the British attack.

Although the Battle of the Strait of Dardania proposed by the foolish Qiu Fatzi cost the British dearly, the Ottomans also had to divide their forces to deal with it, which greatly increased the pressure.

If the Ottomans could be able to deal with the Russians without distraction, and even get support from the Allies by land and sea, then the pressure on the Germans on the eastern front would be greatly reduced. If this could be done, Jochen would not mind if the British sent the Allied soldiers who had died in the Battle of the Dardania to the Western Front, so that they could die more efficiently in front of the German lines.

Ideally, if the Allies controlled the entire Eastern Mediterranean, countries that wavered to Greece and Romania and eventually joined the Entente would also fall under pressure to the Alliance.

This, in turn, would further strengthen the Allies' control over the Eastern Mediterranean, creating a virtuous circle. This is the Greater Mediterranean plan that Jochen hopes to achieve.

But the premise of this qiē is, Italian, don't stab me in the back.

In order to achieve this goal, Jochen naturally tried every means to woo Italy. With Jochen's hospitality, Emanuele III and Jochen developed a good personal friendship. Although this friendship is fragile in the face of national interests, in general, the king's likes and dislikes can still affect the bias of his policies.

Moreover, in the formal negotiations, Germany also decided not to talk about demanding that Italy undertake such and such obligations, so as not to prevaricate the Italians under various pretexts, and step by step, boiling frogs in warm water is the best policy......

Therefore, the negotiations first began on the economic aspect, and Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Croatia reached an agreement to increase economic cooperation with each other, deepen technological exchanges, reduce import and export tariffs, and enjoy an equal trade policy.

As for the renewed Secret Defense Alliance, Italy's obligations remain limited.

Italy could remain neutral if the Contracting State first declared war on other countries, and it could remain neutral in the event that the Contracting Parties were attacked by the British. Due to the disintegration of Austria-Hungary, the fact that Italy could remain neutral when Austria-Hungary was attacked by Russia was abolished.

The clause that Italy was obligated to assume obligations when Germany was attacked by France, or if France and Russia attacked together, was amended to mean that Italy had an obligation to fulfill the treaty if Germany was attacked by either France or Russia.

However, since Italy and Russia did not share a border, and there was an Ottoman Turkish gatekeeper on the sea, Emanuele III, who did not see much of a problem with this request, signed his name on the treaty. (To be continued......)