On April 26, 1915, in London, Britain, France, Russia and Italy secretly signed a contract under which Italy could acquire southern Tyrol, Trentino, Trieste, Eastria, Dalmatia and part of Asia Minor after the war. So Italy, which was originally in the same group as Germany and Austria, finally came together with the Entente for the sake of interests.

Isn't that the right thing to do? If you look at it from the point of view of Italian interests, this is not only correct, it can be called clever! On the one hand, he got the actual benefits, and at the same time chose the right side to win, although he couldn't get the biggest benefits as a little brother, but he could get a piece of the pie! This is definitely a good way for Italy with limited strength!

However, this victory was a bit in suspense, as Germany was relatively the strongest in World War 1, and Austria-Hungary was inferior to Russia. Turkey, too, is on fire in the battle for the Dardanelles. In fact, it was Britain, France and Italy who beat the German family! In this way, Germany was basically a draw with these countries, and in 1917 senior British government officials even expressed their willingness to return to the pre-war borders as a precondition for peace talks. If it weren't for the super-large colonial support of Britain and France, I am afraid that Germany would have won the most.

Of course, Italy's move to the wall also played a big role in World War II, after the Allies landed in Italy, the Italian government quickly kicked out Mussolini and chose the Germans, and finally ended up with a good ending, so that some people in Xu Jie's plane said that Italy's policy is also a strategy and tactics! Or simply call it the art of surrender!

But what about now? The ship of history is sailing in an unknown direction under the wings of Xu Jie, a butterfly. Strategically. Germany had already decided on a strategy of attacking Tsarist Russia and defending on the Western Front. At the same time, it had armored units. And on the issue of naval construction, a high seas fleet aimed exclusively at the Grand Fleet has begun. And at such a big pace. Let the world be amazed. Both of these points will have a great impact on the course of history, but the biggest one is that Russia is weaker than it was in history!

When a country begins to weaken in all its aspects, it cannot be concealed by any glitz or camouflage, and even the Italians have realized that what was once a European steamroller has become a thing of the past! In the First Sino-Russian War, the Russian Far East Fleet, which had concentrated all its elites, was beaten into an existing fleet by the Chinese Navy, and the fleet, officers and men accumulated over the years suffered heavy losses. And the army is even worse. Not only did they fail to gain an inch of land from China, but they lost millions of square kilometers of land! Know the way. At that time, Huaxia was not a country at all, to be honest, it was just a feudal town dominated by Beiyang!

If the military defeat led to the loss of Russian power, then the resulting economic losses and civil unrest at home fundamentally began to shake the foundations of Russian rule! The attrition of hundreds of thousands of troops and logistical personnel on the labor expedition has wiped out the already not rich treasury of the Russians. And the defeat of the war and the increase in labor because of the war have brought the already intensified social contradictions to the brink of eruption once again! If it weren't for the fact that the loans of the French replenished the Russian treasury at a critical moment, and if it weren't for the fact that the Russians still wanted to save face in the Far East, I am afraid that the Russian tsar would have had a headache for the internal affairs of his country all the time!

The ability to fight a war itself is a problem, but at the same time. You also have to choose good teammates! There was a saying in Xu Jie's era that if you are not afraid of a god-like opponent, you are afraid of a pig-like teammate! Obviously. Italy itself is mediocre, so choosing the winning side is the key. And it was at this time that the German ambassador to Italy revealed the following information to the Italians.

First, in the future Second Sino-Russian War, the Chinese Republic and Germany will do their best to weaken Russia. Hopefully Italy can help. Second, Germany hinted to Italy that the German Empire might pressure Austria-Hungary to accept Italy's territorial claims, and that they would succeed. Italy's colonies in North Africa could have been even bigger! And Germany will also fully support Italy in regaining part of the territory of Abyssinia and the Balkans! And the third point is that Germany has no intention of being at war with Britain and France for a long time, after disposing of Russia. There will be peace talks with Britain and France!

I have to say that these contents are very appetizing to the Italians, the first point is nothing, it is necessary to weaken an important enemy before the big war, there is a saying that if you don't look for death, you won't die, since the Russians have to look for death, then give him a ride! The second point is that I have a very good appetite for Italians, isn't it just for the sake of profit? Since the Germans said they had territory to gain, it would be great. As for the last point, it is a guarantee to the Italians that the war will not last too long, and that it will not be too stiff with Britain and France! The implication was that Italy's weak national power would not fall into the attrition of a protracted war.

Well, this is very good, you don't have to take too many risks, and you won't consume too much national strength, you can get enough benefits, as for whether the Germans are talking and whether they will really implement the above strategy, the Italians were a little skeptical at first, but they soon believed the Germans, and the reason is very simple. First of all, even Germany and Austria-Hungary did not intend to bring down the British Empire and France, which means that if the Germans repented, they could immediately declare war or even defect, and it is conceivable that the French and the British would welcome themselves.

Another reason is that after repeated deductions by the Italian Ministry of Defense, a number of high-level officials in Italy believe that this is also a strategy for Germany to maximize interests, and that the war is for profit, not for killing! It's not about playing with your opponents! So the Italians thought that the Germans had enough interests to do this!

The last point is the confidence of the Italians in their own strength, of course, this self-confidence is not based on the superiority of national strength and the army, Italy's national strength is estimated to be the second among all the participating powers, let alone the army. The only thing that makes Italians feel a little bit of existence, and who can reflect the identity of the Italian powers, is the Royal Italian Navy!

In terms of size, the current Royal Italian Navy is not large, but all the warships are elite choices, and the armored cruisers are mainly 3 armored cruisers of the PISA type and one cruiser of the Garibaldi type. In addition, there are a number of hot (Baidu) Naya dome cruisers. The battleship formation is 4 Dante-class battleships, although the scale is not large, but it can definitely be regarded as an elite force in the Mediterranean!

And this is not the most critical, the most critical thing is that the Italians did not really exert their strength, compared to the history of Xu Jie's plane, Italy sold more warships and munitions, and because of the trade with China, Italy's economic strength is much stronger than the original, and the tonnage of the newly built warships has maintained a slightly lower state than the history, which means that the Italian government has more funds to use for the production of new warships!

And the Italian government did exactly that, and the Italians decided that in the next 4 years, the Italian naval authorities would put into service at least 3-4 dreadnought battleships! In this way, the Italians had 4 quasi-dreadnoughts and 4 dreadnought type battleships, and this is only the first batch! In addition, the warships of the Italian Navy are all designed together with Huaxia, and their performance and quality have been tested in 3 sea battles, which is convincing enough, and their actual combat effectiveness makes no one doubt it!

This fleet may be far inferior to the mighty Grand Fleet of the British Empire and the German High Seas Fleet in history, but don't forget, Italy is a wonderful place, far from the main battlefield in the North Sea, but at the same time it is a vital shipping route in the Mediterranean! In the event that the British Empire's Grand Fleet could not withdraw, the Royal Italian Navy plus the Austro-Hungarian Navy would have an advantage over the French Navy! And because of geography, the Eastern Mediterranean will become the backyard of the Italian Navy, and even if the British control the Suez Canal, what can they do? Huge quantities of supplies and people are still not able to be transported through the Mediterranean!

In other words, it is uncertain whether the Italians can defeat the French navy, but as long as they are guaranteed to be undefeated, the shipping channel in the Mediterranean will not be used by Britain and France! What if you can't use the Mediterranean? Supplies and troops from Southeast Asia and the South Asian subcontinent, as well as East Africa and Oceania, had to cross the entire Indian Ocean and then round the Horn of Africa, and then cross the entire Atlantic Ocean into Europe, a route of several thousand nautical miles! Even if the British Empire and France are in the NB, such a huge consumption will make the two wartime giants prostrate, so it makes sense that Italy attaches great importance to its own status!

So there was a reason why Germany drew Italy together, and the Italian fleet decided not only the situation in the Mediterranean, but also the entire situation of World War 2! Suppressing France meant cutting off an important sea route for the Entente, and at the same time the resources of the German and Italian colonies in Africa could be transported, although it was not much, but it was better than nothing! In order to ensure the security of the French coast in the Mediterranean, the British Grand Fleet had to respond, which meant that the Grand Fleet had to divide its forces, and the advantage of the Great Fleet over the German High Seas Fleet would be weakened! And then the opportunity for the German fleet came! And as soon as Britain and France agree to peace talks, then Germany can safely digest the fruits of victory from the Russians!

So the Italians intend to stand with Germany and Austria at one time! However, the Italians are Italians, and there are few comparisons in the world in terms of wall grass, and the Italian government, while saying that it will join forces with the Germans, also secretly decided to maintain a neutral position at the beginning of the war, on the one hand, to see if the two sides can give greater bargaining chips, and on the other hand, to see if things can really go as smoothly as the German General Staff deduced! (To be continued......)