Whether to let the Italians go or not made Long Yufei a little embarrassed. Although, the size of the army of the Kingdom of Italy has now reached 1.5 million men. Moreover, if the Chinese Empire attacked the Kingdom of Italy, the Italian army would be further expanded, estimated to increase to about 2.5 million men. However, the Italian Army's combat effectiveness was extremely low, and the Empire might only need to use three or four armies to defeat the Kingdom of Italy. However, if the Empire were to use force, would it be able to defeat the Kingdom of Italy, but still be able to get what the Empire wanted? All of these made the Emperor Long Yufei a little embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, the Cabinet thinks that the destruction of the Kingdom of Italy will be very easy for the Empire. However, we must think about the next war. It's already the beginning of July, and we have a formidable enemy to deal with. The British have mobilized more than three million troops, and if we want to attack Britain, we will probably have to use millions of troops, and it will be a long war. In such a situation, there is absolutely no need to waste energy on the Italians. It would be in the interests of the Reich to accept the surrender of the Italians and to receive a great deal of benefit from them! Prime Minister Lin Zihao tried his best to convince Long Yufei.

"Chief of Staff, how long will it take if we are to destroy the Kingdom of Italy?" Long Yufei asked.

"Your Majesty, if we put in 4 group armies, it only takes a month for us to be able to destroy the Kingdom of Italy!" Admiral Sun Hao replied. Italy's terrain was narrow and lacked depth, and the Imperial Army could rely on a powerful attack. The kingdom of Italy was divided into several pieces and then gradually wiped out. In a situation where the combat effectiveness and will to fight of the Italian Army were not strong. It will not be difficult for the empire to destroy them.

Long Yufei nodded: "Then." After defeating the Kingdom of Italy, when will we be able to destroy England? ”

"This ......" Admiral Sun Hao hesitated, because if Britain was to be destroyed, the Imperial Army would have to invest a lot of troops, and the army that attacked the Kingdom of Italy would also have to be invested in Britain. This will take a long time.

"Your Majesty, in this case, I'm afraid the war will drag on until next year!" Admiral Sun Hao replied truthfully. After all. Winter in Europe is completely icy and snowy. In such weather conditions, there is simply no way to fight.

"Next year?" Long Yufei frowned. He hoped that the war would end within this year. It will take a lot of time to carry out the distribution of post-war benefits. When the time comes, it is inevitable that countries will fight each other for the sake of interests. The sooner the war ended, the better it would be for the Chinese Empire.

"If, we don't attack the Kingdom of Italy. Will launching a landing operation directly against Britain end the war within this year? Long Yufei asked. He hoped that the war would end before winter fell, that is. From now on, there are only a few months left for the army. It was a big problem to defeat Britain, which had an army of three million.

"陛xià. If Britain is attacked with all its might, the General Staff is sure to end the war within this year! Admiral Sun Hao said. Compared to the destruction of the British. Against a small trash like Italy, you can completely put it aside. For the generals of the military. The destruction of Britain, the former world hegemon, must have been more interested than the destruction of the Kingdom of Italy.

"Okay. Then we will focus our main energy on the British, and as for the Italians, we will let them live for the time being! Long Yufei said. Although, he knows that this is a tiger for trouble. But are Italians also considered tigers? After crossing over, he naturally knew the Italians in the two world wars. In the First World War, the Italians were equally shameful betrayers. However, their huge army was beaten by Austria-Hungary and Germany in the Alps, and not only did not invade Austria-Hungary, but suffered heavy losses, and even lost their own land. In the Second World War, the Italians became pig teammates, and they pitted the Germans miserably. If it weren't for the help of the Germans, the Italians would have been defeated long ago. Even with the help of the Germans, the Kingdom of Italy became the first Axis power to be destroyed.

Therefore, Long Yufei didn't care about the Italians at all. Even if they develop, the empire will not have to invest much strength to destroy them. It would be very good if the Italians could now take advantage of the opportunity of the Italians to make peace and extort a sum directly from the Italians. Of course, since the Italians demanded peace, then the empire would certainly have opened its mouth.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Admiral Sun Hao nodded.

Prime Minister Lin Zihao and Foreign Minister Wei Yuan also finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, I think the Italians are too light on this condition. They betrayed the Alliance, and even if it were to destroy their country, it would not be too much. The Empire was kind enough to forgive them. Then, they have to pay enough to do it! Long Yufei said.

"Your Majesty, then how much price are we prepared to let the Italians pay?" Foreign Minister Wei Yuan asked.

"First, the war reparations of 100 million Chinese dollars are too little. The Italians had to pay at least 200 million yuan in war reparations. This is already taking into account the financial resources of the Italians, otherwise, the war reparations would be more than that! Long Yufei said

"Your Majesty, although 200 million Chinese dollars is a lot, with the ability of the Savoy royal family, it should still be able to afford it. Especially since they had just driven the Catholic Church to the Vatican, and much of the wealth that had belonged to the Papal States had fallen into the hands of the Italians. Take out 200 million Chinese dollars, this is not a problem at all! Prime Minister Lin Zihao said.

"By the way, I almost forgot about it. The Catholic See is very wealthy. The Italians drove the Catholic See away and took advantage of the chaos to rob the Holy See of its wealth. That is, the Italians now, in fact, are very rich. Then, it seems that the war reparations of 200 million Chinese dollars are too little. This amount will rise directly to one billion Chinese dollars! Long Yufei didn't blink his eyes, and directly increased five times.

The Catholic Church had a great influence in the West, and the Papal States once occupied the entire central part of Italy. Together with the donations of believers from all over the world, the Holy See is very rich, and the lives of the Pope and those clergy are very extravagant. After the Italians invaded Rome, most of the wealth of the Holy See fell into the hands of the Italian crown. Although the exact number is not known, it must be an astronomical number. Therefore, there should be no problem in extorting a billion Chinese dollars from the Italians.

"Yes, Your Majesty! We'll make that when the time comes! Foreign Minister Wei Yuan said. Although the war reparations of one billion Chinese dollars are large, if the Italians had the financial resources to ensure that the country would not perish, they would have agreed to this condition. This is also better than the country being destroyed by the Chinese Empire, and then all the wealth belongs to the Chinese Empire!

"Second, the Italians must cede Sardinia and Sicily to us. Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of the fact that we have made Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica into an overseas department? Long Yufei said suddenly.

Corsica belonged to France, but it has now been occupied by the Empire. Sardinia and Sicily belonged to the Kingdom of Italy. These three islands are among the largest in the Mediterranean. Corsica has an area of more than 8,600 square kilometers, Sardinia has an area of 24,000 square kilometers, and Sicily has an area of 25,000 square kilometers. Combined, these three islands have a total area of 58,000 square kilometers. If you form an overseas province, the area is not small.

"Overseas provinces? Is it so far from the mainland of the empire? Prime Minister Lin Zihao was stunned for a moment, and seemed to be a little uncomfortable with the imaginative thinking of Emperor Long Yufei.

"Although it is far away from the Empire, the Imperial Navy is now the world's maritime hegemon. The world's oceans are under our control, and these islands can be connected by sea. Long Yufei said.

"Your Majesty, the geographical location of these islands is also very important, when they served as bases for the Imperial Navy in the Mediterranean. If the Imperial Navy had stationed a fleet here, it would have been possible to bring the entire western Mediterranean under Imperial rule. In addition, if we could include Crete in the Overseas Provinces, then the whole Mediterranean would be under the control of the Imperial Navy! General Sun Hao, Chief of the General Staff, also said.

"Crete? An island belonging to the Greeks. However, it has now been occupied by the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can try to see if it can buy Crete from the Ottoman Turkish Empire! Long Yufei said. Also, there is the island of Cyprus. However, the island of Cyprus was too close to the Ottoman Empire, and as long as the Ottoman Empire did not have its head caught in the door, they would not have transferred the island to the Empire. But even so, the overseas provinces of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete will be like a chain that separates the countries of Europe from the African continent. Plus the Strait of Gibraltar, which is controlled by the allies of the Empire, and the Suez Canal, which is now controlled by the Empire. The main routes from Asia to Europe were undoubtedly under the control of the Empire. (To be continued......)

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