Kaiser Wilhelm II's summer residence was intended to commemorate Victory Day and the 18th anniversary of the signing of the London Armistice Treaty. At the invitation of Wilhelm II www.biquge.info all the royal leaders of the German Empire were present, and what is intriguing is that very few of the monarchs and heads of state of the Allied countries came in person, and most of them only sent envoys and representatives to congratulate them.

The Duke of Lefel came to Germany as a personal envoy of King Emanuele III of Italy.

After the end of the last war, with the total decline of France and the strategic contraction of Britain, the pattern of the former four great powers in the Mediterranean changed radically, and the Kingdom of Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, which were also part of the Allied camp, controlled most of the Mediterranean. Ottoman Turkey did not have its own heavy industry, its naval vessels basically relied on foreign purchases, and the quality of its officers and men was unsatisfactory; judging from all the military operations since the Balkan War, the Ottoman army was only an empty shelf for foreign powers to do the middle, and it was okay to bully the Arabs, and it was probably only a matter of suffering from fighting with the European powers. As a result, Italy's number one imaginary enemy remained their archenemy, Austria-Hungary under the Habsburgs.

From a historical point of view, Italy and Austria-Hungary were both an insoluble rivalry and a pair of bitter brothers. When the great powers set off a wave of colonization, Austria-Hungary was trapped in the ******** of its country for a long time, and its main military and diplomatic energy was contained in the Balkans, while Italy was unification too late and missed the golden age of colonial expansion, so the overseas colonies of these two recognized "great powers" were pitiful.

From the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, the number of overseas colonies was significant for the country's economic development, as evidenced by the changes in Britain, France, the United States, and Germany before and after World War I. Britain and France, the two old powers, lost a large number of overseas colonies after the defeat of the war, the industry regressed year after year, the economy collapsed, and the area of Germany's colonies increased more than four times in 1914-1915, and the raw materials and labor from the colonies made the German industry usher in a second leap period, and by 1932, the scale of the German economy increased by 300% compared with 1913, and the ratio of the world's total industrial output increased from 16% to 34%, and the gap with the United States was greatly narrowed.

As victors in World War I, the rulers of Italy and Austria-Hungary wanted to make a difference after the war. At that time, the Italian navy was slightly stronger, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was stronger than Italy, and the young emperor of the Habsburg dynasty was unwilling to let his navy be trapped in the small Adriatic Sea, and with his support and promotion, four Franz-Joseph I-class battleships were successfully built, plus four combined forces-class, the Austro-Hungarian Navy had the most powerful battlefleet in the Mediterranean, and obtained the right to use the port of Mahdiye and the port of Matru from the Germans and the Turks respectively. This gave the Imperial Fleet two important anchorages on the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

Throughout the 20s, the rise of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was undoubtedly a big rock in the hearts of the Italians. By the beginning of the 30s, the Caesar-class super-dreadnoughts "Caesar" and "Empire", which were built at great expense in Italy, were completed one after another, and the Andrea-Doria class and the Count Cavour class were modernized and refurbished, thus giving the Italian Navy the capital to re-compete with the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

The performance of the single ship of the Caesar-class is better than that of the Austro-Hungarian Joseph I class, but due to economic reasons, the construction of the third and fourth ships of the Caesar-class that has been started has been intermittent, and the main construction was not completed until the outbreak of war in 1933. In this way, the Italian navy maintained a balance of power in the face of the main Austro-Hungarian fleet at best. If the Italian fleet were to fight in the Atlantic, would the balance be upset if the main ships were to be lost in battle, and would it rely on the coordination and good offices of other countries to maintain its own safety and reliability?

This hypothesis is a well-known fact for the complex triangular relationship between Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. To the concerns of the Italians, the Germans could give guarantees, but such guarantees were not reliable at the national level.

Bright lights, soothing music, guests dancing or chatting happily in fine costumes, and Duke Leifell in a white gown responded to all kinds of greetings with appropriate language, until Field Marshal von Müller, former head of the Imperial German Navy and now strategic adviser to the German royal family and chairman of the Technical Committee of the German Royal Navy, came to him for the second time, and the topic turned from superficial to substance.

"The biggest feeling? Belch...... The results of the Battle of the Azores fully demonstrated that the pattern of traditional naval warfare has been completely broken, and the fast battleships of the Mackensen type and the large aircraft carriers of the Zeppelin type will replace the pure super battleships as the future maritime hegemon. ”

Duke Leffel let out an "oh" in understanding, but a hint of smugness appeared on his face. The Caesar-class, the core capital ship of the Italian Navy, belongs to the category of fast battleships.29 The maximum speed of 5 knots is better than that of the North Carolina class of the United States and the German German class, and the 16-inch main gun is enough to compete with the first-line capital ships of the naval powers in terms of power and range, and the protection design has been significantly improved compared with the previous Earl of Cavour class and Duirio class, the only fly in the ointment is that the endurance of the Caesar class is only 5000 nautical miles, which is less than one-third of the North Carolina class of the United States, so it is nicknamed the "inland lake warship" of the Mediterranean.

"Based on these new realizations, we are developing technical standards for new fast battleships so that shipyards can roll out their designs. We have basically determined that the maximum speed standard should be more than 30 knots, and it should be able to continue to sail 12,000 nautical miles at a speed of 20 knots; With a new 52x diameter main gun, it is capable of penetrating the horizontal armor of any current battleship at a distance of 30 km, or the vertical armor of any enemy ship at a distance of 20 km. In order to shorten the construction time and reduce the construction cost, we will build 6 to 8 ships in batches, and taking into account the wartime needs, these new battleships will not only be equipped with the German Navy, but will also be supplied to the allies participating in the war at the same time. ”

At this point, Muller deliberately leaned closer and lowered his voice: "If two of Ireland's aircraft carriers are damaged, we will compensate with a new battleship." ”

Duke Leffel has been in the military and political circles for many years, and he immediately understood the meaning of the other party's words. Although it is not yet possible to confirm how advanced the "new battleship" described by the retired German naval marshal is, since it is positioned as the new generation of capital ships of the German Navy, its performance and quality are certainly stronger than those of the Caesar-class designed and built in the 20s. Since the warships equipped with 16-inch naval guns in Britain, the United States and Germany have been put into service one after another, he has always been obsessed with the Caesar-class still using 15-inch naval guns -- compared with the American and German-made naval guns of the same caliber, the 15-inch naval guns manufactured by the Otto Company have technical defects such as shorter barrel life, relatively low rate of fire, and large dispersion area, and they are still acceptable to deal with the Austro-Hungarian Joseph I-class battleships.

"In addition, based on the combat experience of the Mackensen-class and the Earl Tirpitz-class, we will also build 8-10 new battlecruisers with a maximum speed standard of 33 knots to serve as the main force of the reconnaissance fleet or the flagship of the sub-fleet, and these new types of battlecruisers will also apply to the principles I have just mentioned." Mueller revealed.

"That's quite a lot of military spending." Duke Leffel probed, "Presumably more than the war appropriations approved by Congress, right?" ”

The German Empire was a constitutional monarchy with absolute power over the appointment of prime ministers and senior officials, the convening and dissolution of parliaments, the declaration of war, the pacification of peace, and the supreme commander of the army. Budgetary and legislative powers vested in the Reichstag, the Federal Parliament, and after the outbreak of war, the Reichstag would vote to approve the war appropriations, and then adjourn indefinitely until the end of the war. This meant that wartime power was entirely in the hands of the emperor, prime minister, and army generals.

Mueller chuckled, "No, in fact, the current investment is far from reaching the ceiling of the war appropriation. Even if it is exceeded, it is to win the war, so why not? ”

For this answer, the Duke of Leffel was not only envious. In the mid-to-late 20s, the Kingdom of Italy was not spared from the economic crisis that swept the world, with the closure of businesses and the unemployment of workers leading to social unrest, and the militaristic ideology of military force and military expansion was popular not only among young military officers, but also in high society. In 1929, Ivano Bonomy, the leader of the Socialist Party and a nationalist, became the prime minister of Italy, implementing social reforms at home and strengthening economic, trade, political and diplomatic cooperation with the United States and Britain and other countries. In the past four years, Italy's economic situation has improved to a certain extent, but the funds that can be invested in naval construction are still very limited.

Next, Muller began to "attack": "I thought that Italy would join this great war as unwaveringly as Ireland, but I did not expect it...... So what is it that makes your country hesitate? ”

"Your Excellency Marshal's words are incorrect." The Duke of Lyfel replied with a crown, "Italy has faithfully fulfilled its obligations as a member of the Central Powers, and has at least maintained its neutral neutrality in good faith in this war waged by your country. ”

When it comes to the phrase "at least", the Italians slow down slightly, apparently reminding the other side that Italy's entry into the war is not impossible, and that the key is to see if Germany can give satisfactory conditions for entering the war.

The Italians are right to say that the military treaties of the Central Powers are defensive in nature, and that only in the event of an attack on one member state can the other member states be obliged to directly enter the war, otherwise it is only necessary to maintain a neutral conscience. As for the reason for Germany's war, Müller explained very seriously: "The US-UK alliance has twice the naval power of Germany, which poses a very big threat to Germany's national security, and the three successive heads of government of the United States and Britain have tried to blockade Germany and limit Germany's living space, which we cannot bear in any case." Therefore, our expectation of this war is very simple, to break the barriers that besiege Germany and destroy the forces that are hostile to Germany...... For us, this is an unavoidable war, and it is better to fight sooner rather than later. ”

(End of chapter)