The Italians don't want to fight now, their warships are basically out of shape, but Peert Ivanov has to fight this battle!

It doesn't matter what the outcome of the battle is, at least to force the Italians back, if it doesn't work, it will delay time, and the French reinforcements will arrive soon.

Well, Pelt-Ivanov did not yet know that the vanguard of the French was a group of cruisers, plus two battle cruisers, otherwise he would not have been so confident.

After all, if the main force of the Italian Navy is still there, the chances of victory of the Bulgarian Navy are still not high, even if these French reinforcements are added!

After the distance between the two sides was reduced to three nautical miles (5.5 km), the war began. Although this distance hit rate is still very low, but war, many times there is no way to choose!

Anyway, as long as you hit the enemy, you will earn, and if you don't hit, forget it. In case of bad luck and a shot hits the vital point of the enemy's battleship, it is to win the Mark Six lottery and make a lot of money!

As soon as the war began, Count Abruci felt that something was wrong, the enemy's firepower was obviously the main force of the Entente, but it seemed that the number of warships seemed to be smaller.

However, under the cover of night, except for the artillery spray emitting a bright light, both sides did not know the specific situation of the other party, and it was right to hit in the direction of the enemy!

……

At the outbreak of the naval battle, the Roman government finally received the news of the attack on Taranto, and the prime minister, Antonio Salandra, received the news and thought it was April Fool's Day!

Due to the outbreak of the world war, the natural cabinet of the main peace faction was ousted, and the newly appointed Antonio Sarandra's ass was not yet hot, and this shocking news was ushered in.

"Aircraft raid on Naval Base Tarrant", isn't this a joke? If only the airship were about the same!

Italy is also a great power anyway, how can there be no planes? It's just that they also use it as a reconnaissance aircraft, as for bombers? Sorry, he doesn't have that concept in mind yet!

was originally coerced into the Allies, Antonio Sarandra was already very dissatisfied, he was optimistic about the Entente, but since he was already an enemy, there was nothing to say.

Antonio Sarandra was still very confident in Italy's strength, and he believed that as long as Italy joined either side, it could play a decisive role, and since the Entente did not know the goods, then they should be given a little bit of power!

Historically, if they dared to ask France for the existence of conditions for entering the war, their self-confidence was naturally strong, of course, the price was also very painful, and the Entente did not travel to the agreement.

Now Antonio Sarandra naturally doesn't have so many ideas, the Italian Navy has already suffered heavy losses in the port of Taran, and it is no longer possible for the Allies to want to make a difference in the Mediterranean!

The Italian cabinet is now in shambles, and King Victor Emmanuel III is on the verge of an outburst. For a country like Italy, which is surrounded by the sea on three sides, the heavy losses of the Navy are absolutely catastrophic!

"Say, what's going on?" Victor Emmanuel III asked angrily

In fact, everyone is still in a state of confusion, because of the bombing of the Bulgarian air force, Italian communication in the local area has also been cut off for a time, and when the news reaches Rome, it is already now.

"Your Majesty, we don't know the specific situation very well, we only know that the Bulgarians used planes to sneak attack Taranto, and the navy and port suffered heavy losses, and the specific casualties have not yet been counted!" Prime Minister Antonio Sarandra had to answer with a hard time

Victor Emmanuel III said angrily: "Then let me quickly figure out the situation and come up with a countermeasure!" And Bulgarian planes can attack Taranto, does it mean that the whole of southern Italy is within their bombing range, you must also find out!

At the same time, it is necessary to block this news and let the army prepare for an early attack on France! ”

Obviously, Victor Emmanuel III was really angry, and the bad news came from the war just beginning, which was a very serious blow to the morale of the people.

And, in order to calm the political influence, Italy also had to attack France in advance in exchange for the support of the Germans.

What's more critical is the combat effectiveness of the Italian Army, and he has no bottom in his heart, he can only say that the defeat of Ethiopia has seriously hit his confidence!

……

What is Italy's reaction, Ferdinand is not clear, but it does not hinder his good mood, this afternoon reconnaissance aircraft from the intelligence, the number of warships anchored in Italy has been reduced by more than a dozen, including two dreadnoughts.

This is undoubtedly good news, the seriously injured warship disappeared, and it was sunk without asking!

As for whether it will be taken away by the Italians, Ferdinand said that this is the beginning of the 20th century, not the beginning of the 21st century, and it is impossible for the Italians to have that ability!

As for the ongoing naval battle outside the port of Taranto, Ferdinand was not clear, and the news was not so fast.

Under normal circumstances, it would take at least an hour for him to receive a battle report from the front, and if there was an accident, it would take even longer, and there was no way to do it.

For the sake of security, it was necessary to use strict secrecy, and the signals transmitted by the radio were often intermittent, and when the message was received and then translated, the time naturally passed.

Now Ferdinand is convening a military conference for the attack on Belgrade. In order to be able to successfully take out the Italian Navy, most of the air force was transferred, and the offensive against Belgrade was reduced.

The original plan was to provide fire support from the air force, but now it is naturally gone, and in order to reduce losses, Ferdinand simply ordered to reduce the intensity of the attack.

Since the Bulgarian Army did not play to its full strength, now even the shadow of Belgrade has not yet been touched.

Of course, it is not completely without results, at least Kragujevac has been captured, but the capture of Belgrade will not be possible in a short time.

Therefore, the General Staff decided to change the battle plan, slow down the offensive on Belgrade and switch to the defensive. Then make a breakthrough in the Montenegrin and Romanian directions to avoid a decisive battle with Austria-Hungary in advance!

"How many troops did Austria-Hungary deploy around Belgrade?" Ferdinand asked with concern

The Chief of the General Staff thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, Austria-Hungary has been sending troops to Belgrade since the outbreak of the Franco-German crisis.

Together with the troops who had retreated from the front and the reinforcements they had brought in from all over the country, they had deployed 32 main infantry divisions, 8 artillery regiments, and other subordinate units in the Belgrade area, totaling nearly 600,000 troops.

It may not seem like a lot of troops, but Austria-Hungary is mobilizing the whole country, and new troops are constantly being sent to Belgrade.

If we continue to attack Belgrade, it is very likely that Austria-Hungary will concentrate most of its forces in Belgrade and fight us in a decisive battle! ”

Ferdinand nodded, it was inevitable! Once Bulgaria conquers Belgrade, the entire Hungarian plain will be left to its whim!

Even if the Vienna government had to take care of the overall situation, the Hungarian government would have sent its own troops to reinforce Belgrade. The Kingdom of Hungary, which did not want to fight this war, had to burst its liver and kidney and Bulgaria to the end for the sake of its own national defense and security!

If Belgrade has already been conquered, Ferdinand does not matter, no matter how the Hungarians break out, Bulgaria can defend the danger, and the planes and tanks can be taken out and easily hold the line.

But if Belgrade has not been conquered, it will be a tragedy, and in the face of a steady stream of Austro-Hungarian reinforcements, the Bulgarian army will have to fight them to the end!

Thinking about the historical Versailles meat grinder, Ferdinand felt that it was not a good choice, who knows how much combat power the Hungarians were able to explode when defending their homeland?

"Tell me about your new plan and why you want to carry it out!" Ferdinand said calmly

No matter how the strategy changed, Bulgaria had already taken advantage of it at the beginning of the war. The more than two million troops that have been mobilized are now enough to sweep across the Balkans. The question now is nothing more than the choice of the direction of the breakthrough!

The change in strategy is not only a military issue, but also a political issue, and must be carefully considered.

The Chief of the General Staff explained: "Your Majesty, up to this time Austria-Hungary has mobilized about a million troops, which, together with their standing army, has exceeded one million and a hundred and fifty thousand, and there are about six hundred thousand on the opposite side of us, and they still have more than a hundred thousand troops in their own country, and the rest of the more than nine hundred thousand troops are deployed on the Eastern Front.

Judging by the deployment of forces in Austria-Hungary, they still regard the Russians as their primary enemy, and in this context, there is no need for us to jump out and steal the limelight from the Russians.

On the contrary, it is more in the interests of Bulgaria to occupy the Kingdom of Montenegro and Romania earlier, and to get the spoils that belong to us in advance in advance! ”

From the point of view of national interests, it is clear that the sooner the Balkans are occupied, the better it will be for Bulgaria to rule the region in the future.

After all, in war years, many things can be done, but in peace years, many things are a little timid!

But the political problems affected the whole body, and Bulgaria slowed down its offensive on Belgrade, and it was necessary to take into account the attitude of the entire Entente.

After all, as long as Belgrade was captured, Austria-Hungary would have to deploy heavy troops on the Hungarian plain. The conquest of the Kingdom of Montenegro and Romania, although it also increased the border area between the two countries, but the forces that could contain Austria-Hungary were less!

Unless the attack on Austria-Hungary continues after occupying the two places, it is tantamount to a fool's dream to contain 1.5 million Austro-Hungarian troops!

This is related to the overall strategic deployment of the Entente, and Ferdinand has to think carefully!

The French would do well to settle it, as long as Bulgaria is willing to increase the investment of troops in the Mediterranean, they will not object.

At the same time, in the face of pressure from Germany and Italy, even with the help of the British, they still said Alexander!

If Bulgaria could increase its military investment in the Mediterranean and contain some of the Italians' forces, the French would not bother to care whether Bulgaria attacked Austria-Hungary according to the previous agreement!

And what about the British? After the Ottomans entered the war, their pressure on the Suez Canal increased considerably, and if it were not for the buffer of the Bulgarian colonies, they would have now fought the Ottoman Empire.

It's funny to think that now the British even pay more attention to the security of the Bulgarian colonies than Ferdinand! Now the British in Egypt are not sure to win against the Ottomans!

Ferdinand smiled wryly and agreed. He knew that if he did so, he would probably kill the tsarist government, as history has proven.

Austria-Hungary is naturally no match for the Russians, but if you add the German army on the Eastern Front, the Russians really can't stand it.

However, the national interests are so cruel that if they can weaken the Russians, it is estimated that Britain and France will applaud!

……