After a close-up tour of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, Kiyoyingna's frustration at the strength of the Austro-Hungarian army finally eased a little.

Unlike the large, bloated, neurological endings of the Army, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, though a mixture of ethnic groups, with Croats making up even a third of the total number of troops, did not suffer from the hopelessly tragic tragedy of the Army. The relatively small size of the carefully selected naval officers and sailors gave them a high level of loyalty to the Habsburg Empire; And the long-term experience of running in the same warship also makes it possible for sailors from different nationalities to communicate normally. The Austro-Hungarian Navy's perfect and sound personnel training system has greatly improved the fighting quality of the officers and men, even compared with traditional maritime hegemons such as Britain!

With well-quality sailors and superior warships, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has become a veritable Mediterranean giant after 8 years of construction. With six cutting-edge Habsburg-class battleships, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's high-end combat power even exceeds that of Italy, a traditional maritime power in the Mediterranean: the latter's current active lineup can only use only 2 Margaret-class and 2 Admiral Di? Saint? Wave-class battleships of the second rank and 3 Garibaldi-class armored cruisers; In front of the capped 305-mm armor-piercing shells, the 152-mm armor of the Margaret and Garibaldi classes was pierced like paper by artillery guns! Although Italy started construction of four more Elena-class battleships in 1901 and 1903, it was up to 1906 because of Italy's weak industrial base, which ranked last among the great powers, and because of their notoriously inert virtues. These ships will have to go through a long period of construction before they can finally be handed over to the military.

Seeing that the Austro-Hungarian Navy had embarked on the royal path of a decisive battle of the fleet. Mediterranean-type dreadnoughts will greatly enhance their combat effectiveness. Qing Ying then set his sights on another ally called Italy on the other side of the Adriatic Sea.

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Since the 70s of the 19th century, serious disputes and conflicts have arisen between Italy and France over the rights and interests in the Mediterranean and the colonies in North Africa. In 1881, France brazenly seized Tunisia, which Italy had long operated and had long regarded as its colony, which caused strong anger on the part of the Italian side. In this case, Italy, which was far inferior to France, chose to turn to Germany, France's feud, for help; A year later, the three powers signed a secret defensive alliance treaty in Vienna.

However, the alliance between Italy and Germany and Austria was not solid. It is similar to the Three Emperors Alliance, which broke down due to the contradictions between Russia and Austria. Italy and Austria-Hungary, two nominal allies, also had a centuries-old feud. During the Austro-Prussian War, Italy, which was an ally of Prussia, was beaten by the Austrian army, and the bones of countless Italian officers and soldiers were buried in the foothills of the Alps and in the sea outside the port of Lilisa; Vienna's inheritance of part of northern Italy's inheritance of the Holy Roman Empire also made Rome haunted and wanted to seize it as soon as possible.

In addition, Italy also felt that the input they had made to join the alliance had not yielded the expected output. The first was the First Ethiopian War, which took place between 1894 and 1896. In that military campaign against Ethiopia, Germany and Austria-Hungary did not give Italy assistance, and the Italian army was defeated by a group of African natives, and the armistice was reparated. Lost face as a European power. To be sure, this is not really a matter of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Who in Europe would have thought that Italy, one of the "civilized powers", would lose to the indigenous Africans? Although the Ethiopian army numbered more than 100,000 men, which was overwhelmingly superior to the Italian expeditionary force of 17,000, which European power had not wiped out a huge colony with a small detachment before? Even in third-rate countries like Belgium and Portugal, others have built a colonial plate in Africa that makes Germany jealous!

On the Balkan issue, Italy's expansion was thwarted by Austria-Hungary, which deepened Italy's dissatisfaction with the Triple Alliance. With the gradual thaw of Franco-Italian relations and the deterioration of relations with Britain and Germany (there was strong pro-British sentiment in the Italian leadership, and 60% of their annual coal needs were imported from the British), Italy gradually moved closer to the side of the Allies, and in 1902 and 1908 concluded separate treaties with France and Russia, and was angrily denounced by German Prime Minister Bilow as an "unchaste slut". At the end of the day, Italy simply turned against Austria-Hungary, its former ally, to the north, lured by the heavy profits promised by the Entente.

Although the Italian army's combat effectiveness was "amazing", often breaking the world record of more than 10 times more prisoners than the number of dead and wounded, so much so that there was a saying in later generations that "3 divisions can defeat Italy, 5 divisions can occupy Italy, but her allies have to spend 40 divisions to protect Italy"; However, it is undeniable that Italy's position as a weight is enough to have a decisive impact on it in the balance of the game in the Mediterranean.

If you look at the map of the Mediterranean, you can see that Italy has a unique geographical situation. The boot-like strip of peninsula land plunged deep into the Mediterranean, and the Italian fleet, based in the southern port of Taranto, could easily threaten any shipping lane within the Mediterranean. And to the east, the "heel" of the Italian boot choked the Strait of Otranto, locking almost the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet in the Adriatic. Because of the strength of the Italian fleet, its position was of paramount importance to Germany and Austria: if Italy could stand firmly on the side of the Allies, the Austro-Hungarian fleet would be able to enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto, which was only 67 km at its narrowest point, and together with the Italian navy, would turn the situation in the Mediterranean of the Allies upside down; However, once Italy defected to the side of the Entente, the Austro-Hungarian navy would have nothing to do in the face of the overwhelmingly superior Franco-Italian fleet, and could only be trapped in a corner of the inland sea as it had done in history, becoming a "presence fleet" moored in the harbor waiting to rust. The Entente, which completely controlled the situation in the Mediterranean, could even transfer part of its elite forces to the North Sea to cooperate with the blockade of the Grand Fleet, after all, it was too easy for Italy to blockade the Austro-Hungarian fleet into the Mediterranean!

Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty's Mediterranean strategy, how to win over Italy, a two-faced wall-rider, was a crucial factor, even more important than the strengthening of the Austro-Hungarian navy.

There were many reasons for Italy's betrayal of the Central Powers in history, such as a good impression of England, resentment of Austria-Hungary, and a dislike of Germany by the king...... However, the main reason is undoubtedly profit. In the early days of the war, when the German army was advancing in Belgium and France and the Allied forces were retreating, Italy directly suspended negotiations with Britain and France, and prepared to enter the war as a member of the Central Powers as soon as Paris fell. After the Battle of the Marne, when the Germans had no hope of a quick victory, Italy resumed communication with the Allies and swayed back and forth between the two camps. Since Austria-Hungary was unwilling to make too many concessions on the territorial question, Britain and France offered Italy a lucrative temptation to seize a large amount of Austro-Hungarian territory after the victory, and provided it with a large loan, which directly contributed to Italy's betrayal. Based on this situation, Qingying, who knew the trend of history, also thought of some countermeasures.

The first was to get Austria-Hungary and Italy to agree on the territorial dispute. In the event of sudden tensions in Europe, Austria-Hungary could stabilize Italy by guaranteeing that the disputed territories between the two countries would be transferred to Italy in whole or in part after the end of the war, so that it would fulfill its obligations under the relevant terms of the Triple Alliance. As long as Germany knew the benefits of Austria-Hungary in advance, Qing Ying believed that the decision-makers in Vienna would not have formed another "strong enemy" in the war for the sake of the ownership of the hand-sized territory on the border, which was dominated by Italians. Taking a step back, if the chauvinistic nationalists and hysterical warmongers of the great Austro-Hungarian group were as unyielding as they were historically, Germany could satisfy the greedy appetites of the Italians by "open source" elsewhere: Tunisia, Algeria and many other French colonies could be transferred to Italian control after the war. And even if they were to attack the Ottoman Empire's Libyan region, as they had done historically, Germany would try to get the Ottoman Empire to compromise with Italy and give it to Italian control in an honorable manner.

In addition to the lure of empty promises realized after the war, the most effective way was to make continuous progress on the battlefield so that the Italian decision-makers believed that the Central Powers, led by Germany, would eventually win the war. As long as Germany can continue to win on the battlefield and show a clear advantage; No matter how much the Italian top brass leaned toward England, and no matter how much the king himself hated Germany, it would be impossible for them to stand on the side of the crumbling Entente.

It is gratifying to note that because the Qing Dynasty had long ago proposed to William the strategic idea of forming a joint fleet of Austria, Italy and Turkey in the Mediterranean and forcing the British Grand Fleet to divide its forces, Germany's co-optation of Italy was far greater than in history. Immediately after his visit to Vienna, Bilow traveled by special train to Rome for a high-level meeting with the agreed side in order to deepen the alliance between Germany and Italy. With the mediation of Germany, Austria and Italy had already started negotiations on the border territorial issue, and a large pie that encompassed almost the entire French colony in North Africa was also painted in front of the Italians by Billo. If nothing else, Italy will catch the German chariot in this plane and truly use the Triple Alliance against the Triple Entente. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the tip of hugetiger~