In the 17th autumn after the end of the German-Austrian-Italian war, the Apennine Peninsula received a bumper harvest, and although most of the grain was collected in the warehouses of the landlords, capitalists and the government, it was believed that the winter would not be as difficult as usual. The loss and sadness in the hearts of most Italians for that lost war faded with the passage of time, and their lives improved over the years, but food and clothing were still the goal of a considerable part of the common people, and the good times planned by their great Führer were still far away, but the language of complaint and discontent could only be heard in the corners of the tavern, and like the good weather for most of this autumn, the Italian civilians were content with the calm atmosphere at present, They were apathetic to Rome's ambitions to rearm.

However, in the historic city of Rome, a shadowy force is on the rise to take a different path in a football-loving country that seeks romance and fashion.

"The Führer, the envoy is here!"

When the deputy knocked on the door, the Italian head of state, who valued his own image very much, was carefully arranging his clothes.

"Let him in! No one is allowed to disturb our conversation without my orders! ”

"Yes!"

The deputy leans sideways in a pleased pose.

The person who entered the room was dressed in a pure white tuxedo, a man who was not tall, with a typical oriental face, who did not look too old, at most forty-seven or eighteen years old, and a tall white top hat carefully pinched in his hand.

"Oh, Mr. Envoy, here you are! You may be seated! ”

Mussolini stuck his thumbs on the belt around his waist and greeted the other party in a hurry, and motioned for the other party to take a seat in the chair next to him.

"Dear Führer, it is a great honor to see you again!" The visitor bowed deeply and bent his body at an angle of nearly 90 degrees. Looking at the whole world, there is only one country where people are keen on such etiquette, so it is not difficult to guess the identity of the person who came.

"Hmmm! Well! ”

The most prominent men in all Italy, with the exception of King Victor Emmanuel III, were very pleased with this etiquette, and he held his head slightly high and his chest high. Slowly walked to the comer's side, and the height of the other party once again made him feel more confident.

"Mr. Envoy is still used to eating and lodging in Rome!" Mussolini asked with concern.

The visitor bowed again, "Thank you for your concern, your country has been very considerate, and on behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the head of state and the Italian government!" ”

"Hmmm! Well! Here's what we should do! ”

Mussolini walked behind the comer, "How many days has Mr. Envoy been in Rome?" ”

Without hesitation, the envoy replied:

"Your Excellency, I have been here for 30 days under the commission of His Majesty the Emperor!"

"A month! Well! The Italian thought for a moment and deliberately asked him, "How long do you think it will take to complete the task assigned by the Emperor of your country?" ”

"This ......," the envoy thought for a moment. A more appropriate answer is given:

"It depends on the arrangements of the honorable head of state and your government! In fact, the emperor and the government of our country did not set a time limit, but only ...... But the head of state of the war between Japan and Germany also knew that thousands of Japanese nationals were killed in the bombing by the Germans every day! Alas......"

The original atmosphere of harmony suddenly became inexplicably heavy, and Mussolini, who was still triumphant just now, was a little unbearable.

"Yes, the Germans are a bit deceitful! We deeply sympathize and regret the current situation in your country! Fortunately, after the efforts of our Italian government and my personal persuasion, the Berlin side finally ......"

Mussolini stopped at this point, holding his head high and waiting to see the other's surprised expression.

"What? The Führer is saying...... Has Berlin agreed to accept our request for an armistice? ”

The envoy was both surprised and delighted.

Mussolini's chin was raised a little higher, "That's right! Although the specific method, time and place have not yet been determined. But they have already agreed in principle to sit down with your country and talk about how to end this war by peaceful means! ”

"Oh! That's really ...... Thank you so much! Thank you so much! ”

The relieved Japanese envoy bowed repeatedly. He kept saying thanks, as if he was not just the head of state of Italy, but the savior of the whole of Japan.

"Hahaha!" Mussolini smiled with satisfaction, "To commemorate this historic moment." Let's take a group photo! Simon! ”

Pushing the door in response, it was the deputy just now, and as soon as he saw Mussolini's gesture, he knew that the Führer was about to take pictures again, and he hurriedly beckoned outside: "Antonio! ”

A middle-aged man wearing a painter's hat and a large camera on his chest, full of artistic temperament, walked into Mussolini's study generously, and he skillfully found the best angle to shoot Mussolini, who was already posing.

"Führer, here we go!"

Click...... Click......

The bright light of the flash made the Japanese envoy a little dizzy, but the chubby Italian head seemed to be more and more energetic, and his face was always filled with a heartfelt smile. Although the envoy came on a secret mission, the nature was not unspeakable. So Mussolini instructed his deputy to wash an extra copy when he developed the photo, which he would give to the special guest from the East after autographing.

After patiently satisfying the Italian Führer's desire to perform, the Japanese envoy bowed again.

"Your Excellency the Führer, if there are no other orders, I will go back first to restore my life, and the country must be anxiously waiting for our news!"

Mussolini waved the photographer out, and when the door was closed, he walked up to the envoy and said in a low voice:

"I hope your country will not forget what you promised!"

"Your Excellency, please rest assured. As soon as the Germans lift the air and sea blockade of Japan, we will send the gift as soon as possible! Of course, if the Führer wishes, he can send a ship to Japan! ”

Hearing this, Mussolini nodded in satisfaction.

"Well, I believe in the sincerity of your government! As a peace-loving person, I also sincerely hope that your country will usher in peace at an early date! ”

After bending his body into a large shrimp shape again, the Japanese left full of joy. This mutated mentality is not uncommon in previous wars of bullying. This is how Qing officials in the First Sino-Japanese War broke the hearts of the countrymen.

Time has passed, and the victors of the past are now in the same predicament.

"Simon!"

After the Japanese left, Mussolini called his deputy.

"What does the Führer command?"

"Send a report to Count Grandi and tell them they can sign that treaty!"

When he said this, the corners of Mussolini's mouth were filled with a smug smile, and his words were the key point of an important meeting hundreds of kilometers away.

In Athens, Greece, an international arms conference is under way on the theme of the balance of maritime defence forces among the countries of the Mediterranean region. The countries participating in the meeting were all countries bordering the Mediterranean – Greece, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain, France, Algeria and Serbia. It is worth mentioning that Algeria and Serbia, which have regained their independence, do not have their own navies, and their only maritime power is a meagre number of offshore patrol boats, and their coastlines are protected by the German navy according to the German-Argentine and German-Serbian agreements.

Excluding Algeria and Serbia, the remaining six countries are the strongest in Germany and Turkey, and Greece, Italy, and Spain are relatively close in strength.

In the past, it was not a time of war. The number and tonnage of German and Turkish warships in the Mediterranean usually accounted for 80 to 90 percent of the region's maritime power. In this one-sided situation, the Mediterranean Sea has become the calmest sea in the world. However, this has been quietly changing in recent years.

The first factor in the change was the outbreak of the German-Japanese War against the Japanese Empire, which had a powerful navy. The Germans transferred most of their military forces in the Mediterranean region to the Far East and the Indian Ocean, and soon after, Turkey also formed a fleet with the former Mediterranean Fleet as the backbone to send a fleet to the East, and a kind of "naval power vacuum" suddenly appeared in the entire Mediterranean; Secondly, the rearmament of the Italians was also an important reason for the change in the situation in the Mediterranean. After the end of the German-Austrian-Italian War, the Italians lost all their naval capital ships, although after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the provisions of the Austro-Italian agreement restricting the construction and possession of warships by Italians had expired, but due to financial and other reasons, the Italians did not have a decent fleet until the beginning of 1923, when the Italian government announced the construction of the first battleship "Roma" after the war. People only then remembered this once quasi-first-class naval power.

In the summer of 1925, the Roma, with a standard displacement of 33,000 tons and a full load displacement of 35,000 tons, officially joined the Italian naval combat sequence. Equipped with nine 343 mm guns and a top speed of 28 knots, the battleship was highly modernized, and its service made Greece feel a sharp increase in pressure across the sea, although Greece had three battleships at this time, but they were all old dreadnoughts launched before 1914, and although the firepower was considerable, the speed, maneuverability, and performance of the main equipment were far behind the times. Therefore, when the Italians announced the construction of the second "Caesar" of the Roman class, the Greek government could not wait to ask Germany to purchase a new 30,000-ton battleship and a Scharnhorst-class heavy cruiser, and this order was approved by the German government in early 1926.

It was built by the Bremen Germania Naval Shipyard and the Bremen Shipyard in Germany.

The Greeks had hoped to balance the balance of power in the Ionian Sea with these two new ships, but before they could be completed, the Italians began construction of a heavy cruiser and a new batch of submarines, and announced the formation of the Italian Navy's submarine force. Although Germany and Turkey expressed concern about the Italians' move, preparations for the German-Russian War and the War against Japan denied them time to impose further restrictive measures against the Italian government.

In the autumn of 1928, when the Allied forces were in the midst of fierce battles with the Japanese in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the central Pacific Ocean, and Oceania, the sister ship of the "Roma", the "Caesar", completed the final tests and assembly and put it into active service, and with the addition of another battleship "Naples", the first light aircraft carrier built by the Italians after the war, the Italian Navy officially became a powerful force enough to be proud of the Greek and Spanish navies, even Germany. It is also necessary to concentrate its capital ships in the Mediterranean to compete with this new Italian fleet.

In this case, the Italians, to be precise Mussolini and his government, did not slow down the pace of strengthening their maritime armaments. In the 1929 and 1930 fiscal years, the Cabinet approved plans for the construction of two improved Roman-class battleships and a medium aircraft carrier, and once these two plans were completed, the strength of the Italian navy would be multiplied. As a result, the Mediterranean Regional Ministerial Defense Conference, which was proposed by the Greeks and actively responded to by Germany and Turkey, came into being, and among the eight countries bordering the Mediterranean, the Italian government was the last to accept the invitation, and the representatives they sent were the last to arrive in Athens, Greece.

With the same aim in mind, the representatives of the seven countries, with the exception of Italy, quickly agreed that they should sign a letter of intent to limit the number and tonnage of defense forces, in order to avoid a vicious arms race and maintain stability in the Mediterranean, which could be seen as the "Washington Treaty" in the Mediterranean. Although this result did not require the Italians to dismantle any of the warships in service or under construction, the Italian delegates were always reluctant to accept the agreement, proposing today that the size of the Italian navy should be increased, and the next day that the number of capital ships of all countries should be reduced to a reasonable level, and the day after tomorrow it was delayed on the grounds that it was necessary to consult the country, so that the meeting, which was supposed to end in one week, was inconclusive by the third week - since the agreement was originally directed against Italy, Once the Italians withdrew halfway, the conference would be meaningless, and Germany and Turkey would have to make efforts outside the venue.

On this point alone, Mussolini's government was undoubtedly successful, and although it was not the only decisive factor in Germany's acceptance of Italy as a neutral third country to mediate an armistice between Germany and Japan, it did to some extent prompt the Germans to resolve to end the war early. When the secret message from Rome reached Athens, the Italian representative, Count Grundi, happily signed the letter of intent, and the Mediterranean ushered in a new era - naval holidays. (Full Text)