"How powerful!" After Prim complimented the other party, he turned to the question he was most concerned about: "Can you beat Italy?" ”

"Uh...... No. Morales said honestly.

"Huh?"

Faced with the marshal's questioning gaze, Morales hastened to explain:

"It's not all out of chance, there are currently 13 ironclads in Italy, and here are eight, which seems to be less.

However, in the Battle of Lisa four years ago, 12 Italian ironclad ships were beaten by 7 Austrian ironclad ships with more backward performance (double the firepower advantage, 3 for 0), which is enough to show that the quality of the Italian Navy is extremely poor, and the quantitative gap is not irreparable.

But we don't need to take this risk, the ironclad ships of the Atlantic Fleet are coming, and then we will have the same number of warships as Italy, and we will win! ”

Prim nodded, his face softened slightly, and he accepted the statement.

"There is a gap in numbers, why don't you send sail battleships? Italy does not have much stock on these old ships. ”

Hearing this, Morales looked at Hoffman with some hesitation.

Hoffman was very self-conscious: "I don't know anything about the navy, you talk about me going to visit the battleship." ”

Seeing Hoffman walk away, Morales continued: "This has to start with the Battle of Lisa four years ago, which was the first battle between steam-powered ironclad ships, and the only battle of ironclad ships at sea.

Our men carefully analysed the battle, and after long discussions with His Majesty the King and His Excellency the Prime Minister, it was unanimously agreed that the wooden ships were of little use in the battle of the ironclads.

The artillery can't even penetrate the opponent's ironclad armor, and it can't hit it, and sending it to the battlefield is just a senseless sacrifice, so we decided to only send ironclad ships this time. ”

"Isn't the previous stock useless?" Prim frowned, the situation was different from what he thought, in the eyes of a layman like him, he thought that although the old ship could not beat the new ship, it still had some combat effectiveness, whether it was 2 for 1 or 3 for 1, it would always be able to maintain the absolute superiority of naval power.

I didn't expect the other party to eliminate all the old ships with a word, so that the navies of Spain and Italy would not be able to close the gap.

"It's not completely useless, wooden ships can't be used against ironclad ships, but it's still okay to deal with other wooden ships.

In addition to the head-to-head showdown, the Navy still has a lot of tasks to perform, and we can't always use all ironclad ships, even Britain can't afford such attrition. ”

"Other than that...... Marshal, please keep what I say next a secret. ”

After receiving Prime's affirmative reply, Morales quietly lowered his voice and said: "The overall strategic policy this time is to fight a quick battle and try to avoid a two-front war in France and Rome.

Since the army could only defend, the decisive naval battle had to be fought as soon as possible.

We plan to form a fast decoy fleet with two ironclads and a large number of high-speed cruisers to carry out a series of harassments in the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas, and the presence of the two ironclads is enough to ensure that Italy cannot simply eat him.

At the right time, we will let the main fleet hang 40 kilometers behind them, let the decoy fleet sell a flaw, lead the Italian battleships into the ambush circle, and take the opportunity to annihilate them! ”

Prim was surprised when he heard this: "Is there such a stupidity on the other side?" ”

"......" Morales was very angry, but for the sake of the other party not only a layman, but also a marshal, he decided not to meet the other party:

"The situation at sea is changing rapidly, and every warship is moving at high speed, which dooms many tactics commonly used in the army to not be used at sea.

Let the battleship seduce and ambush in the rear is already a rare good plan in naval warfare, in the past, each tried his luck at sea, and a decisive battle could come when everyone was not ready.

This plan is simple to say, but how to avoid people's eyes, how to skillfully grasp the time and place, how to control the distance between the decoy fleet and the other party...... These are all difficulties that need to be overcome. ”

Prim nodded in understanding.

"Is there anything I need to do?" If he didn't need his own help, Prim estimated that the other party would not tell him about this plan, after all, once this plan was leaked, the fleet would be at risk of being ambushed.

"Of course, the navy is undermanned, and you need to send people to help strictly control the military port, and not allow outsiders, including officials and generals of the Papal States, to check it out, after all, there are many pro-Italian factions.

And, you know, there are not a few moths in the church that can sell anything. Morales said solemnly:

"It is impossible to overestimate the safety of Spain and even the kingdom, so as to create the illusion that the fleet is still in port when it is dispatched, so as not to arouse the alarm of Italy."

"No problem." It's a trifle for Prim.

……

Outside of Rome, the news of the outbreak of the Spanish-Italian war became known throughout Europe.

The royal family of Bonaparte did not want to see this, but they had no choice but to quietly increase the garrison on the Italian-French border.

The whole operation was done with care, so as not to provoke the Italians too much, who really could not afford to open another front.

In the past few days, France has repeatedly taken the initiative to try to spread the flames of war into German territory, so as to avoid fighting in unfavorable terrain all the time.

But all attempts failed, only to add 20,000 more to the casualty list.

The disadvantage of numbers brought about an even greater disadvantage, and the Emperor Napoleon had proposed to mobilize young men into the army throughout the country, but the proposal was so influential that many feared that it would overwhelm the emperor and change the status quo of the current constitutional monarchy, so it was still under urgent consideration in Parliament.

Although it was certainly possible that the bill would have been passed under the unremitting efforts of the Bonapartist faction and the military oppression of the enemy, it could take four or five months before it was officially implemented and the recruits were allowed to complete simple training.

For a short time, France could only count on reinforcements from Spain.

However, as soon as the war between Spain and Italy began, Eugénie received a telegram from Spain, asking for French support.

Spain did not ask France to go to war with Italy immediately, but only expressed its desire to lease several ironclad ships from the French Mediterranean Fleet.

This request was not excessive, and the French navy was more than enough to fight five Prussians, and it did not matter if the Mediterranean fleet was to lend all of it to Spain, but it is not known how Italy would react to this.

The French top brass knew that if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before Italy and Prussia formed an alliance, unless France was willing to turn the other cheek with Spain.

But knowing that doesn't mean they can face it calmly, they just want to prolong Italy's entry into the war – at least until the conscription bill is passed.