As the sun sets and the sunset is like blood, Rome, the capital of Italy, is bathed in this golden red halo, which looks spectacular and bright. The Milanese-style buildings are dotted around, spread out and stretched, although not as prosperous and rich as London and Paris, but they also have a smooth and fresh feeling that belongs to Italy.

Crowded, trams jingling. Vendors peddle all sorts of items, and pizza and pasta can be found everywhere along the streets. There were no soldiers standing guard on the streets, and important places such as post offices, government buildings, and royal palaces were not erected with machine guns and barbed wire. Only the newspapers in the arms of the newsboys that reported the war in Europe on the whole page reminded the gourmets of the Apennine Peninsula that the tragic and bloody war in Europe was raging right under their noses.

In 1882, Germany, Austria and Italy concluded a treaty of alliance in Vienna, the capital of Austria-Hungary, which was another diplomatic victory for Bismarck to take advantage of the contradictions between Italy and France in the Tunisian colonies with the aim of isolating France. However, what the old prime minister did not expect was that this Mediterranean country was not at all as loyal to Berlin as the Habsburgs, but had always secretly negotiated with the Entente led by France and Russia, and even unilaterally signed a treaty of understanding with France about the colony. Due to the historical feuds, territorial disputes, and Balkan disputes between Italy and Austria, Italy became the most vulnerable link in the Triple Alliance; They concluded a defensive alliance with Germany and Austria, not an offensive and defensive pact of advancing and retreating together. When the war broke out in Europe, Italy unsurprisingly used their defensive alliance with Germany and Austria as an excuse to declare strict neutrality in the war triggered by Germany's own declaration of war. Italians who are uncertain about the prospects of war. I want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. When the outcome of the warring parties becomes clear. Then fall into the hole for the weaker side.

In fact, Italy's declaration of neutrality after the outbreak of the Great War was not entirely motivated by wait-and-see considerations. In fact, this country is not ready to join the great war at all.

In the 20th century, the dark clouds of war hanging over Europe became more and more dense and fierce with the signing of the Anglo-French Entente. Both camps, which have direct conflicts of interest, have begun to intensify their arms build-up, determined to seize the opportunity in future wars. Yet, while the European powers were all in full swing, the Italians were still lazily basking in the warm Mediterranean sun. I don't want to do anything about combat readiness. Although Italy had a rift with France and Austria-Hungary, the Italians knew that the main hatred of these two neighbors was not their own: France hated Germany to the core, and after the war, it would definitely go straight to Berlin, and Austria-Hungary and Russia had long been a pair of undying enemies. In the event of a European war, Italy would be under the least pressure of any European power; What's more, the terrain of the northern Italian Alps is difficult to defend and difficult to attack, which also provides a solid natural barrier to Italy's security.

For these reasons, Italy has little to do with the term armament warfare. For every 1,000 soldiers, 330 were illiterate; This number not only surpassed that of decaying and collapsed Tsarist Russia. It surpassed Austria-Hungary, which was divided in ethnic groups and had many mixed languages, ranking first in Europe. Besides. The training, equipment, tactical command, and combat will of the Italian army are also very different from those of Germany and France, which are top army powers; Even Serbia and Greece, which are small Balkan countries, can boast of their army strength compared to this group of guys who were beaten by the indigenous Ethiopians and begged for mercy!

And in the area of the navy, which is traditionally strong, Italy has also shown signs of weakness in recent years. Italy was the first country to put forward the concept of all-heavy artillery carriers, and the superiority of its ship design level is also the best in the world; However, the various political parties in the country, the sluggish and weak national economy, and the lazy blood flowing in the bones of this nation have all greatly dragged down the Italian navy in this great change.

While Britain and Germany had already started the dreadnought race, the Italian Navy was still unhurriedly building a pre-Elena class dreadnought equipped with only two 305mm guns. The Emanuel was built over a period of seven years. It wasn't until Austria-Hungary started construction of the Radetz-class dreadnoughts in 1907 and put the most powerful weapons of naval warfare on Italy's doorstep that the noodles woke up from a dream and hurriedly pushed their dreadnoughts onto the slipway the following year. By the time of the outbreak of the Great War, the Italian navy had been surpassed in the world rankings by Austria-Hungary, which they had always despised; Had it not been for the fact that the British Navy had not begun to shrink to the mainland, the Italian Navy would have been in an embarrassing position in the Mediterranean.

Italy, however, undoubtedly has great ambitions to dominate the Mediterranean. Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, French West Africa and other places are all overseas colonies coveted by Italians; As soon as they have the opportunity, they will rush forward like vicious dogs pounce on their food. With the continuous development of the European war situation, the Italian hyena, which was watching from afar, gradually showed its fangs.

"News has just come from the French battlefield that the Germans have begun a general assault on the Parisian district. Their first attacking force was one and a half armies, and the number of heavy artillery, combat vehicles, and aircraft it concentrated was incalculable. After less than three days of fighting, the French had almost lost all their fortified positions on the outskirts of Paris; Although the respective casualties of the German and French armies are not known, the fact that a large number of French troops began to retreat into the city of Paris has been confirmed by our correspondents in the Entente army. ”

In the spacious and simple office, the commander-in-chief of the Italian army, Luigi? Admiral Caddorna was standing on a huge hanging map of Europe and talking about the war situation in Western Europe. In front of him, Giovanni, the current prime minister of Italy? Jolleti was sitting in a delicate armchair, frowning; Under the long gray eyebrows, a sharp light flashed from time to time. As the third cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister, and can be called a Taishan Beidou-level figure in Italian political circles, Giolitti also has a certain understanding of the military field; Listening to the army commander's account, the general outline of the French battlefield had already appeared in his mind.

In addition to this, news also came from the Polish battlefield that Yan zhòng was unfavorable to the Entente. The German army on the southern flank, commanded by General Hindenburg, had completely defeated the Russian 9th Army a few days earlier, with the assistance of the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army; The 10 infantry divisions and 4 cavalry divisions of the Russian army collapsed, and less than 60,000 of the 200,000 troops were able to retreat safely to the vicinity of Warsaw. The German army on the northern flank, commanded by Ludendorff, also defeated the Russian 5th Army in front of it; The Russian army also suffered heavy losses, as evidenced by the fact that the Germans had claimed that they had captured more than 30,000 prisoners. ”

Kadolna said in a calm tone and said slowly: "Counting the first phase of the battle that broke out some time ago, the Russian army has lost at least 300,000 troops on the Polish battlefield, and a lot of baggage artillery has been abandoned; The number of casualties of the German-Austrian army was less than 80,000, of which the losses of the Austro-Hungarian troops accounted for nearly half. Since the Germans intervened in the war on the Eastern Front between Russia and Austria, the balance of the war, which had been in favor of the Entente, suddenly tilted sharply in favor of the Central Powers; If a large number of Russian troops had not arrived in Poland in the near future, the fall of Warsaw would have been a foregone conclusion. ”

"Your Excellency, should my Kingdom of Italy be involved in this war?" Foreign Minister Song Nilo, who was standing on the side, lifted the monocle on the bridge of his nose, and his gray eyes showed a hint of expectation, and said, "The situation is becoming more and more obvious now. The British Empire, which had colonies on five continents, was frustrated at every turn, and the Far East, the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, the North Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean were full of hunting grounds for German submarines and warships. The Turks, who had robbed a super-dreadnought, also turned their vengeful guns on these Saxon bandits, who had already concentrated more than 100,000 troops and were trying their best to clear the British of a single force in the Arabian Peninsula. ”

Song Nilo glanced at Giolitti, who was still pondering, and then said: "The Russians lost their troops on the battlefield in Eastern Europe, and lost nearly a million troops in two and a half months after the start of the war; The French have lost large swaths of their land and industrial core, and Paris, its national symbol, is about to be trampled under the feet of Prussian military boots again, as it was in 1870. The Allies were defeated in successive battles, and the Central Powers were becoming more and more victorious, and I heard that the Romanians had begun to show great courtesy to Germany and were preparing to declare war on Russia as soon as the Germans had captured Poland. ”

"Romania can't hold it anymore......" Giolitti muttered, a slightly complicated look in his eyes. Much like Italy, Romania was also a wait-and-see party that favored the Allies at the outbreak of the Great War; It was only because of fears of the might of the Russian giant that the final official statement was not made. This time, seeing that the German army was like a rainbow, and the army of the European steamroller was defeated with less and more one after another, Romania, which had always been afraid and hated of Russia, naturally would not let go of this great opportunity to fall into the ground. And once Romania joins the Allied warband, Germany and Austria will add another 700,000 troops on the Eastern Front, and the war of the Entente will inevitably fall into an even deeper crisis! (To be continued......)

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