"The French promised not to use force, but demanded an additional 3%?" On December 19, hearing the news of the Dutch's recovery, Contini couldn't help frowning, if you simply look at the current output of 5,000 tons a day, that 3% is really not much, and there are tens of thousands of tons more in a year, but he knows that the Algerian oil field will eventually break through 10 million tons / year, and one percentage point more will be less than 100,000 tons of crude oil in the future, that is, 70-800,000 US dollars are gone, which is not a small amount, and the French say that 3% is 3%, which is too easy to toss. I am both a soldier and a mine, and the expenses are also very large......

But since the French pledged not to use force, tacitly united the oil mine belts and oil armies, and withdrew the Foreign Legion, Contini did not have to stay in the oil fields any longer, and was ready to return home with Sickert.

Don't look at the old man's strong opposition to this toughness and that toughness at the beginning, but now when he hears that the French are soft and do not use force, he is also full of red face, and he looks honored. Blomburg and others also breathed a sigh of relief, but more importantly, they saw through the nature of the French people's inward-looking, which was invisibly Contini did a good thing for Hitler.

Many years later, when Hitler said that he wanted to recover the Rhine area, the German generals who had not experienced the incident in North Africa were strongly opposed, but the generals who served in the oil guard thought that they could do it, and at the meeting Blomburg was ashamed to say: "What are you afraid of? We touched the French tiger's ass in Algeria with the president ten years ago, and that's it......" - this is a later story, so I won't mention it for the time being.

When Contini returned to Rome, the navy found him again with an embarrassed face, saying that the matter of building warships was in trouble, Contini thought that the other party was crying poor again, and wanted to send one or two at will, but he didn't expect the problem to change this time: "We build new warships, and the French refuse to let go!" ”

"Why?" Contini asked curiously.

"Say we're over the tonnage...... Of course, we know that this is just an excuse, and in fact it is an attempt to pressure you to make concessions on the oil field issue, so Your Excellency the Admiralty let me ask you, how to deal with this matter? ”

After explanation, Contini understood the true story: according to the Washington Naval Treaty, the Italian Navy had allocated a quota of 175,000 tons (177,800 metric tons) for capital ships, and in fact reserved 182,800 metric tons, and the more than 7,000 tons of more than 7,000 tons were unanimously accepted by the signatories. According to the treaty, Italy could build new capital ships in 1927, 1929, 1931, respectively.

Due to Italy's early abolition of the four capital ships and the relatively high degree of aging of its own warships, after mediation, the Entente countries agreed that Italy could build the first two warships two years ahead of schedule, in other words, Italy could start construction of two warships in 1925 and 1927 respectively. The construction of the first Caracciolo-class battleship has resumed, and the progress is scheduled in 1925, so the wishful thinking of the Italian Navy is to decommission Dante in 1926 and then free up tonnage to resume the construction of the second Caracciolo-class battleship in 1927 (in fact, Ansaldo has been quietly rushing to produce artillery for the navy, and the external reason is to export to the Soviet Union).

But this time the French protested, and the reason for the protest was very simple: after Italy abandoned the four Queen Elena classes, its tonnage was reduced from 182,800 tons to 132,400 tons, plus 35,000 tons of the Caracciolo class, the existing occupied tonnage is 167,900 tons, and the spare tonnage is only 10,000 tons, and the abandoned Dante can free up an additional 19,500 tons, plus then it will only be 29,500 tons, and the Caracciolo class has publicly stated that there are 35,000, and the difference of 5,500 tons here has nowhere to land.

Italy's wishful thinking at that time was that it was originally more than 5,000 tons, so now it is not a violation to exceed 5,000 tons, but the French refused to give in this time, and they bit to death because the Italian old ships were mostly agreed to exceed 5,000 tons.

The French gave three solutions, first, to postpone the renewal for 2 years, and second, to cut 5000 tons of new warships; Third, one more will be abolished.

But no matter which plan is unacceptable to the Italians, it is easy to cut 500 tons of the Caracciolo class, and 5000 tons? That's almost a restart; Postpone the update for 2 years? The Italian Navy could not swallow this breath either; Abolish 1 more? No kidding, after the abandonment of Dante, there are now only 5 battleships that can be used by the Navy (including Andrea Doria, Durio, Count Cavour, Julio Caesar and Leonardo da Vinci), and if you cut down 1 more than 4 ships, how can you make the Navy mess up??

Of course, the French also said openly and secretly: as long as the United Group gives in, the 5,000-ton matter is easy to discuss, and the British don't care about it, and Japan and the United States don't bother to care about this mess - as far as the few broken ships of the Italian Navy are concerned, it doesn't matter whether it's 5,000 tons more or 5,000 tons less.

Therefore, the Navy can only count on Contini to find a way, as long as His Excellency the President loosens his mouth, the Navy's 5,000-ton problem can be solved. Originally, they thought that this matter would not be difficult to do, and they would be fooled with a little hello, but they never expected that Contini would think completely differently from them.

Contini knew that, according to the trajectory of history, the Italian Navy would next have to find a way to improve the Count of Cavour, Caesar and Leonardo da Vinci, and the renovation of these three old warships continued until the mid-30s, which cost a lot, but the results were not as significant as the investment, and took up a lot of resources.

He said in a surprising voice, "I don't think you've thought about it......

"Inconsiderate?" The other party was taken aback, the president of a layman actually pointed fingers and said that he was not thoughtful? But he did not dare to openly refute Contini's opinion, this man was not only the god of wealth but also the golden horse, he could not afford to offend, so he asked, "What do you think is the problem?" ”

"The next Caracciolo class!" "Even if the ship exceeds the standard by 5,000 tons as you wish, what will happen to the next Caracciolo class?" Do you still have to abolish 2 warships in one go? Otherwise, it is not enough to decommission only 1 Cavour-class......"

"That's right, that's what we told the French, we decommissioned 2 warships in 1931, and then it happened that these 5,000 tons could be compressed back, but the French didn't appreciate it."

"I think you should use your brains, what if we take one more Cavour-class decommissioning now? Will it be much better? ”

"You mean?"

"Your original idea must be that it is enough to retire Dante this year, and then decommission 2 Cavour-class ships in 1930, and at this time the first Caracciolo class was also built, which has little impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops, and a new Caracciolo class can be built in 1931...... That's the idea, right? ”

"Yes, that's right, that's it!"

"My idea is to retire Dante this year, continue to retire Leonardo da Vinci in March next year, and then exchange for a preferential condition, and the Caracciolo class originally scheduled to be renewed in 1931 will be updated in 1929!"

"But this pull, the Navy will only have 4 battleships available next year, the year after next, and even in 1929......"

Contini blinked: "You can't just look at the battleships, you have to think that there are several heavy cruisers to serve in the past few years, where do their forces come from?" Moreover, I think it is better to endure 1 less warship than to use the old ship to support it for 2 more years......"

"But what if it ......"

"In case of war, right? With whom to fight? French? Briton? Contini shrugged, "Don't be kidding, at this scale, one more Da Vinci or one less Da Vinci will not affect the results of the battle, the Italian warships are too weak...... If you build the 3rd Caracciolo class ahead of schedule, I'll pay half the money! ”

The other party couldn't help but swallow his saliva: the price of a Caracciolo-class has now increased to $14 million, if the president agrees to pay half, plus the sale of old ships, then wouldn't the Navy not have to think about new military spending at all? He immediately became excited: "I will report to His Excellency the Minister." ”

"Also, don't be fooled by the French hypocritical hints, the French are now pressuring us to make concessions, that concession involves $500,000 a year, and at least $15 million in 30 years, and a Caracciolo-class is available, do you still want to force the French to make concessions to me?"

"No, no, no...... You misunderstood, how dare I, the president has always been a staunch supporter of the Navy, we can't thank you too late, how dare you say such things? The other party waved his hand again and again, did he dare to take such a big hat and cooperate with the French to press the United Group? Isn't that a treacherous attempt? To deal with the spies, according to the fascist system and propaganda slogan, it is necessary to "knock it to the ground, step on one foot again, and make it never turn over!" If you are really beaten as a spy, it will be over.

Contini thought very clearly, by the time of World War II, the unreformed Cavour class had no combat effectiveness at all, but if it was reformed as in history, it would be better to abandon him directly, and after the abandonment, he had found his next home - China's Chang Dashuai.

At the same time as Contini was tinkering in Africa, Chang Dashuai used troops quickly, had taken most of Hunan, Fujian and Jiangxi, and was continuing to attack northward, thanks to the support of Italian scrap steel, now all factions are fighting much more powerfully, and because the ironclad ship in the hands of Zhang Dashuai is eyeing the tiger, and also deterring Shanghai, resulting in the failure of the Shanghai uprising, forcing Chang Dashuai, who has learned from the pain, to ask the Italians to buy naval scrap steel, and there is only one request, which can effectively overwhelm the pile of scrap steel in the north, and the price is negotiable.

Contini was thinking about selling Dante, but after thinking about it, he felt that Dante was faster than Leonardo da Vinci, and it might be more effective to transform it into an ideal warship......

It doesn't matter if he really has no money, he has set his sights on the tungsten mine in Jiangxi, and can accept half of the cash and half of the tungsten ore payment, and can also give Chang Dashuai an installment, and in the future, he will also count on Chang Dashuai to sell planes, tanks and other messy army scrap steel......