PS: Yesterday's Update......

Contini's arrival was a very important event in the political life of the Soviet Union, at least Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin thought so - he did not simply invite Contini or the United Group to visit the Soviet Union, he wanted to endorse his theoretical propositions, and Contini was of course aware of this, so he came, because he knew who would be the victor in the end of this series of line struggles, and he hoped that he would be able to get some benefit from it, or...... Plant a couple of time bombs.

The ship to the Soviet Union was sent out on July 24, and instead of taking the rail to Moscow or Leningrad, Contini chose to take the boat through Turkey and through the straits into the Black Sea, ending in Sochi, a city and resort on the Black Sea coast of the Soviet Union.

This time it was different from going to the United States, and it was replaced by a smaller tonnage, but more luxuriously decorated Mediterranean-type cruise ship - because the Mediterranean has always been calm, no different from a large bathtub, so the cruise ship can boldly distribute the tonnage and weight in a relatively luxurious place, but this time it is more majestic than the last time that it is accompanied by warships: the Goeben (renamed Yavos), which Turkey commissioned Italy to repair, has been completely repaired, the holes in the hull have been repaired, the damaged boiler has also been replaced, and the Italians have been very considerate to replace the oil-fired boilerAs a result, the Goburn, which was originally purely coal-fired power, has now become a hybrid boiler power, with a total power of 52,000 horsepower to nearly 60,000 horsepower, and a speed that exceeds the 26.5 knots of the peak era and can run 27.4 knots.

More important is the tactical core, and the fire control system is also complete - in fact, the fire control systems of Italian and German warships are fundamentally two different things, but the existing joint group meddles in German affairs, and it is not a problem to remake the fire control under the guidance of existing information. Taking advantage of the opportunity of repairs, the Italian Navy also basically mastered the technical characteristics of the Goeben, and to be honest, they thought that Goeben was good, even if it was still a good ship from the perspective of 1925.

Don't look at the caliber of the Goeben's gun is only 283mm, which is not as good as the 12-inch guns of the Dante or Count Cavour, but he has achieved a defensive capability slightly inferior to the Count of Cavour with a tonnage of 23,000 tons, and also exceeds the level of the Dante, the fastest speed among the three, and the 283mm naval guns on it also have enough destructive power, these ideas are very enlightening for the Italian Navy to restart and complete the Caracciolo-class fast battleships - in a sense, this class of battleships is equivalent to the more powerful version of the Goeben!

At the moment of departure, he didn't know how to coax Ida - he had clearly agreed to accompany her to the Far East last year, but this year's summer vacation had passed for half a month before she left, and her destination had changed from the Far East to the Soviet Union. However, Ada's expression was normal when he saw him, and he didn't look unhappy at all, which made him suspicious: Did the leader tell Ada? The original shares of 60 million lire are not only the benefits of Libyan oil extraction, but also the intercession fee. If the leader didn't say it and Ida would have started a rampage in the future, he didn't know how to explain it.

This concern disappeared after crossing the Greek Channel, and one night alone, Ida finally took the initiative to mention it, but the first sentence was embarrassed to Contini: "Sister Vivian and the child are alright?" ”

Contini didn't know what to say, so he only replied vaguely: "It's okay!" ”

"I'd be sad if you made her unhappy because you were with me...... To be honest, I didn't know there were so many things going on. ”

Contini stood awkwardly on the deck, leaning against the railing, staring blankly at the pitch-black sea, not knowing what to say.

"My father and mother talked to me once before we left, and I learned a lot about you, and you have a lot more stories than I imagined......," Ida said to herself, "Father said that you are the youngest and most promising person in Italy, in terms of knowledge, ability and means, and you are the best in Italy, and your family background is good...... And I, except for being the prime minister's daughter, can only be said to be average in other aspects. ”

"Ida ......" Contini couldn't listen anymore, how could a father talk to his daughter like this?

He said...... Vivian and Sister Adriana are not stupid, with their conditions, if they don't look for you, they can find a young man who is also first-class - of course, they will definitely be worse than you, but they have made a very courageous choice, so he asked me what my choice is, is it to bravely pursue the best in the face of many competitions and challenges, or are I willing to settle for the next best choice? Either way, he respects my choice, and he doesn't rely on the marriage of his children to secure his political position – never! ”

Contini's face twitched: Okay, Mussolini said so righteously in front of his daughter - I don't know who took the 60 million lira? Is it really good to talk about such a heavy topic to a 15-year-old girl?

"And what about your choice?"

"I'll be brave...... Ida looked at Contini with a strange sparkle in her eyes, "I'll convince him that I have the courage too!" ”

Listening to a 15-year-old girl talk about courage and love in front of him, Contini always feels a little strange, but it's good to talk about it - maybe Ida's idea will change in a few years, although Italian girls mature early, but maybe Ida herself can't tell the fine difference between attachment and love, anyway, he has no feeling of love for Ida so far - purely the feeling of a brother and a sister, his physical age is 7 years older than Ida, but his mental age is 27 years older, and Mussolini is almost the same year, It's a huge chasm altogether.

While the two were talking about these illusory futures, there were also people in Sochi talking about the two of them.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and head of the Soviet delegation to the Genoa Conference, Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin, was reporting to Stalin.

"The Italian side attached great importance to this mission, Ciano Jr. was the son of His Excellency Ziano, Minister of Transport, the Young Leader of Italy and President of the United Group, and Ida was the daughter of Mussolini...... There have been rumors outside that Mussolini is preparing to recruit Ciano Jr. as his son-in-law or even as a political successor, and my opinion is that the attitude of the two of them can basically represent the opinion of Mussolini and the Italian leadership. ”

Stalin nodded: "How are the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Italy going?" ”

"It's relatively smooth, we don't have too many historical entanglements with Italy, there are not many reparations involved, Italy has made a demand, but the attitude is not very tough, I think there is room for relaxation...... We seek to reach a resolution to waive or at least set aside the issue of reparations and establish diplomatic relations. Of course, if Italy had been a little more friendly, we could have ceded some economic benefits to them. ”

Stalin nodded: "The issue of reparations cannot be compromised, this is the bottom line of the Soviets, but other aspects can be discussed in detail, and this is a reliable guarantee for whether the party's line and principles can be implemented......

Chicherin knew what Stalin meant by this, and after Lenin's death, the Communist Party of the United States (CPR) formed a situation of collective leadership, and Trotsky, who had inherited the most vocal voice, wrote "On Lenin" and "The Lessons of October", bluntly criticizing Kamenev, Zinoviev and others for their vacillating performance in the October Revolution.

This aggressive attitude prompted the two men to join forces with Stalin to form a common struggle against Trotsky, and the three published articles stating that "Trotskyism" was not really Leninism, and Stalin also stated that "the task of the party is to bury the Trotskyist current", and the isolated Trotsky was defeated in the political struggle and dismissed from his post as chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council. Since the beginning of this year, the focus of the line struggle has become between Stalin and Kamenev and Zinoviev, but it was Bukharin, who took the lead: the latter believed that it was necessary to continue the NEP, reduce the constraints on the peasantry, and wanted to build socialism in one country first, while Kamenev and Zinoviev took Trotsky's views, opposed the enlargement of the NEP and supported the idea of world revolution, forming a new opposition.

In the face of this offensive situation, Stalin's aim was clear: there was an urgent need to conclude a package of industrial and trade agreements with Italy, so as to prove that peaceful coexistence with the capitalist countries for a period of time would not only be possible but also help in the construction of socialism, and to prove the correctness of the theory of "socialism in one country" in practice!