"Having been in contact with the Italians, Mussolini was very frank, he did not want to conquer Greece, nor did he want to seize the Greek lands, but it was not possible to give him an explanation for this matter. I think it's not unreasonable: Italy is, after all, a permanent member of the Great Powers and the League of Nations, and this position cannot be maintained, and its dictatorship in Italy has come to an end, not to mention that the incident was first provoked by the Greeks, and of course Italy's overreaction has also exacerbated regional contradictions. The Foreign Secretary, Georges Curzon (known for the Curzon Line), explained, "I am inclined to give a reasonable account, and certainly not at the Italian price." ”

"What does he want?"

"Punish the culprit, apologize, and pay reparations."

"Is Italy going to interfere in Greek justice?" Baldwin frowned, after Serbia assassinated the Austro-Hungarian crown prince, Austria's demands were basically these three, but Austria-Hungary not only had to send officials to try terrorists, but also Serbia promised to ban all anti-Austro-Hungarian organizations and many other acts of interference in sovereignty, which made Serbia unbearable, coupled with Russia's instigation behind the scenes, the negotiations finally broke down, and a tragic war broke out.

"No, he's not interested in this, and he can just say that he can apologize verbally, but the compensation demand is not low."

"How much?"

"$50 million!"

"Is Mussolini crazy? How dare a mere lieutenant general claim $50 million? At this price, you can build 3-4 very good capital ships. ”

"The sky-high price is to pay back on the spot, the Italians are this virtue, and he dispatched the navy, mobilized tens of thousands of troops, and also carried out a general mobilization in the country, and carried out exercises with great fanfare, the cost is estimated to be a lot, and he must ask for compensation, I think 50 million US dollars is too much, 10 million US dollars is almost." Curzon said, "The key question is do we need to come forward and communicate with the Greeks?" ”

"Communicate, but not through the good offices of the nations, but through the League of Nations to pass resolutions – this will effectively enhance the authority." Baldwin analyzed, "And this way of dealing with it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the Greeks, if Britain simply puts pressure on us, it is easy to backfire us, and it will appear to be the mainstream opinion of the international community through international organizations, and the sentiment of the Greek people can be appropriately alleviated." ”

"Okay." Curzon nodded, "What do you think about the German problem?" ”

When it comes to Germany, there is a general consensus of opinion – resolute opposition to a government that came to power through a violent coup. However, they seem to have forgotten the fact that the Italian government came to power through threats of violence, and that the British government did nothing.

Curzon apparently looked a little further, saying: "The German question is ostensibly the work of a handful of extremists, but in the final analysis it is the Ruhr crisis – a crisis that has exacerbated internal chaos in Germany, caused the collapse of the German economy, and caused the Weimar government to lose its prestige, and there are hardly many Germans willing to support it." ”

"The irony is that the Franco-Belgian countries that sent troops to the Ruhr area and carried out the occupation mission did not reap any benefits, but continued to pay for their military ......expenses," someone scoffed. ”

"In any case, the dispute between Italy and Greece must be resolved as soon as possible, and the question of the German rebellion must be urged to be resolved by the German government as soon as possible, and they still have 100,000 Wehrmacht. How come it is that even this extremist cannot be dealt with? "As for the Ruhr issue, sooner or later it will be resolved, but the French will be glad to see that they can cause so much chaos in Germany." ”

Baldwin's speculation was correct, and French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré also received the news of the coming to power of the National Socialist Party, but he was not as worried as the British, but observed the matter with a happy attitude, and said to his cabinet staff with a smile: "Fight, just break the damned Germany to pieces!" The more tragic their civil war, the better! ”

"There is information that the coup forces are using French machine guns, and some people suspect that we are behind the scenes."

"With a French machine gun, it can be inferred that we are manipulating?" Poincaré laughed, "Hatch Chase was used by no less than 20 countries in the last war, and the devil knows where it came from, and if the French machine gun is used by France, then the matter is too simple, we can donate a batch of American machine guns and British machine guns to the putschists - what does this mean, it is obviously the British and American manipulation......

A circle of people burst into laughter.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have just received information that the Turks and Italians have signed a package of military agreements, for which the Turks will pay 3 million dollars."

"What's the content?"

"1. Purchase the battleship Queen Elena; 2. Repair of the battlecruiser Goburn; 3. Purchase 60 aircraft...... In addition...... "the secretary added another one," there is also a grapevine that if Turkey can pay 5.8 million US dollars in 3 years, Italy can hand over the remaining 3 Queen Elena-class battleships and supporting artillery technology to Turkey, but this is just a rumor, and it has not been confirmed! ”

Poincaré disagreed: "It's just a few third-rate warships, and it's the British who should really have a headache, right?" You can send a message to the Turks, if you need warships and other military supplies, you can also come to France and see that our things are better than the Italians. ”

"Are you ready to recognize the new Turkish government?"

"Sooner or later, it will have to be recognized, as long as the Turks do not hinder our control over Syria." Poincaré smiled, "But don't be in such a hurry, the British will do it for us." ”

Of course, the same news was also put in the British cabinet meeting, everyone talked about the military cooperation between Italy and Turkey, Curzon's heart sank suddenly, the confluence of Italy and Turkey seems to be playing real rather than talking, although Turkey is not rich, but 3 million US dollars can always be taken out, after the transaction, Turkey has 1 Queen Elena and 1 Goeburn is not a concern, with the strength of the Greek navy can deal with it, but if the Queen Elena class reaches 4, coupled with Italy's intentional or unintentional support, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is much worse.

He couldn't help but shout: "We must do everything to stop the second step of the transaction, I want to talk to the Greek ambassador immediately!" ”

On December 14, two days after the beer hall riots, Mussolini and others came with good news: the British ambassador verbally expressed his willingness to support Italy's demands, but the amount of reparations must be reduced, and he immediately reduced 10 million to 40 million, and the British ambassador countered with 10 million US dollars, and Mussolini refused without thinking about it.

After difficult talks, the two sides finally agreed on $30 million and presented the terms to the Greek side, of course, the British side did not think that Greece would accept the offer of $30 million, and it would inevitably be reduced.

Mussolini also admitted this possibility, so he insisted on setting 30 million, what if 10 million was cut by the Greeks?

On 15 December, a note from London and an ambassadorial telegram were placed on the table of the Greek Government......