Since Carlo has gambled everything, he has to do his best.

Now that the prime minister is no longer holding himself back, preparations must be accelerated.

First of all, the two Venetian-class cruisers were the key to this operation, although it was impossible to compete with the future French fleet, but as long as it was used well, it could be blinded.

In Carlo's view, the biggest role of these two ships is to intercept transportation and supply lines, and even to block their trade in the Far East. If this can be done, then Paris will go crazy.

Therefore, Carlo naturally paid close attention to it, and rushed to Genoa many times to check the two ships that were being tested at sea.

"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Soarez."

"Hello, Your Majesty."

"Hello, Captain Leffel."

"Hello, Your Majesty"

"Hello, Captain Gomez."

Hello, Your Majesty.

At the Genoa naval base, Carlo greeted the commanders of the patrol formation who had just returned from sea trials.

Some people may wonder why the cruiser captain has the rank of captain and should not be a colonel?

Indeed, according to the practice of the Italian Navy, the captain of a cruiser is basically a cadet, let alone a 7,000-ton cruiser.

However, these two battleships are special, first, they were built at the expense of the royal family, and second, these two battleships are unlikely to appear in the battle ship sequence of the Italian Navy.

Because Carlo had already spoken with Admiral Golek, the Lord of the Admiralty, the two ships would be sold in the future. Of course, Carlo will not be at a loss to the navy, and the funds obtained from the sale of warships can be included in the navy's next shipbuilding funds.

Of course, it is impossible for the Navy to get this money in vain, the Navy needs to prepare the staffing for these two warships, and the general is not enough, it must be a strong general.

It was only then that Carlo informed Admiral Golek of his true purpose that the two warships would be sold to the Qing government in the future to fight against the French invasion. Given the modest strength of its navy, it also needs to be considered for its crew.

Admiral Golek didn't know what to say in the face of Carlo's inform, but given the fine traditions of the Navy, he had no choice but to do so.

Fortunately for the selection of the crew, Italy has a large number of experienced veterans, so it is not a big problem to transfer some of them, but he has some difficulties in the selection of captains.

When it comes to candidates for captains with experience in naval warfare, Italy has no shortage at all, and after the previous battle with the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Sea of Saly, the Navy had a large number of them.

However, seventeen or eighteen years have passed since this naval battle, and if those captains of that year had not retired, then at least they were of the rank of rear admiral, and it was obviously not suitable to go to the Far East to participate in the battle. After all, if there is a figure of the rank of general on this ship, then it is difficult to say that Italy is not deeply involved. And it must also be taken into account that there was a risk that the two battleships would be captured by the French, so the risk was too high for the appearance of high-ranking officers.

Not only are senior officers not suitable, but even colonel-level officers must be as few as possible, so the opportunity for naval officers at the rank of captain came, and Gomes and Lefeel, the two lucky captains, were selected to become the captains of the two cruisers.

As for Lieutenant Commander Soarez, he was in charge of commanding the formation, teaching the two captains the use of cruisers and not following the battleships to the Far East.

These two captains are not chosen randomly, they are both rising stars within the navy. Born into an aristocratic family in Turin, Captain Lefell joined the Navy in 1873 and sailed the world as a second officer with the frigate Gallipoli. Subsequently, he served as the captain of the gunboat USS Gladiator, first mate of the cruiser USS Brave, and other positions. During his tenure, he was well received by his superiors and subordinates. His superiors once commented on him as brave, calm, courageous and resourceful, and very assertive, but he was able to listen to the opinions of others.

As for Captain Gomes, he was born in a fishermen's family in Sardinia, and although his background was not good, Gomes was extremely talented in learning, and was once recruited by the Livorno Navy Officer with the third place in the school. During his time at the Military Academy, Gomez excelled in the school, graduating second in his grade, and was subsequently awarded the rank of second lieutenant, and served as an artillery officer on the armored ship Garrosh and second officer and first officer on the cruiser Vic. During this period, his superiors at all levels spoke highly of him, calling him a Pusno-like figure. This was not particularly well-known in the Battle of Saly, but the third formation under his command firmly held the Austro-Hungarian fleet at bay and bought time for the Italian navy to regroup.

It can be said that these two captains and officers are the hope of the next generation of the Navy. The appointment of them as captains shows the degree of care of the Navy.

And Carlo, after greeting the three, continued to ask. "What's this sea trial like?"

"God forbid, this sea trial is not bad, the two captains have a tacit understanding, sometimes, I don't give orders, they can all make the same choice tacitly."

Lieutenant Commander Soarez, as the commander of the fleet, opened his mouth to praise the actions of the two captains.

And his praise made the two thin-skinned captains bow their heads. In front of Carlo, they were still a little uncomfortable with these compliments.

"The abilities of the two captains, Leifeel and Leifeel, I still know very well, it doesn't matter to them."

Carlo hadn't come to Genoa once or twice, so he naturally knew the abilities of these two, so after giving a compliment, he continued to ask. "So what are the shortcomings of this sea trial?"

"If you want to talk about feelings, its turning radius is larger, perhaps because of the long boat, and the power system may be due to the use of a new three-expansion steam engine, and the failure rate is much higher than that of the previous vertical composite steam engine."

"Also, the gunnery officers and soldiers reacted that because the two-stage main gun adopts a fully enclosed turret structure, its internal ventilation is very poor, and staying in it for a long time has a stuffy feeling. In addition, during shooting training, the internal gunsmoke is very heavy, which greatly affects the operation of the personnel. ”

"Another ......"

The three commanders talked about a lot of problems, and Carlo listened patiently to their speeches, but the designer Vittorio Cuniberti on the side was writing a pen and paper, recording the problems that were exposed, and solving those that could be solved immediately, and coming up with improvements in the next construction.

Carlo didn't stay long in the shipyard and then invited the three officers to dinner. In the beautiful Genoese Dove restaurant, the four of them talked and laughed.

But then an attendant walked in with a telegram.

"Your Majesty, this is an urgent telegram from France."

As soon as Carlo heard that it was an urgent telegram, he didn't care about chatting with the three commanders, and took the telegram.

There weren't many words on it, but it was something Carlo had been waiting for. The French parliament had just made a resolution in the afternoon declaring war on the Qing state.

The time he had waited was ripe, and he needed to act now.

After receiving the telegram, Carlo smiled at the three curious officers. "Three, you're running out of time."