Whether Antonio's question has been answered or not, we do not know.

However, after meeting with the king, Antonio visited the prime minister and several important ministers one after another. Soon his appointment came down, and after bidding farewell to his friend, he boarded the ship bound for Massawa.

Because he needed to get to Massawa to make a handover with General Simeone. Due to the war, General Simone is currently mainly in charge of Italy's colonies in East Africa, of course, he is basically in charge of the military, after all, General Simone is a soldier, how can he manage local affairs.

Moreover, at present, most of the East African Expeditionary Force has been withdrawn to the country, and 37,000 of the 56,000 people (the increase is in the engineering unit) have returned home. The remaining troops may be delayed, and they will be stationed in East Africa for a year or two before they are withdrawn.

It is said that Italy did not occupy East Africa for enough time, you must know that before 1881, Italy had a few port strongholds in East Africa, and it was not until the year before last that it began to expand inland on a large scale, and last year it was used by force to make many tribes in the region recognize Italy as a conqueror.

Such a conquest was too short-lived, and it required sufficient troops to coerce all sides and ensure the stability of the East African colonies.

Of course, the vast majority of tribes can see the form, but there are fools who can't see the form, and at this time, the power of a large garrison is revealed, which will make them think twice.

And when Antonio took office, General Simeone could return to Italy, because many people in Italy were waiting for his return.

That includes Carlo, but while waiting for the upcoming national hero, Carlo also did something else.

For example, consult with the Secretary of the Navy on the issue of increasing the strength of the Marine Corps.

This unit, which was famous in later generations, did not receive much attention in this era. Even the British Navy, known for its navy, has less than 10,000 marines, let alone other countries.

The Italian Navy, like other countries, has also established a Marine Corps, but it is only a thousand people. Moreover, the tasks of the Italian Marine Corps are also divided into fleet detachments and land combat units, as in other countries.

The Marine Corps, which meets the definition of later generations, naturally refers to the land combat unit, which is only the size of two battalions (four companies with three infantry and one artillery), which is not much different from the battalions of the army.

So when Carlo mentioned the Marine Corps, Admiral Golek, who was the Minister of the Navy, was a little puzzled, why did His Majesty be interested in this force of about 1,000 people?

In the face of the Admiralty's doubts, Carlo certainly had his reasons.

"Admiral Golek, for the Navy, it is not advisable to do without its own infantry units. In the event of a crisis or war, it is necessary to consult with the Army, which will increase the reaction time and is a very disadvantageous situation. ”

Faced with Carlo's words, Admiral Golek thought for a moment and replied. "Your Majesty, we have marines in our navy."

"What can this accomplish with just those two battalions?"

Carlo's words are a bit absolute, but the truth is the same, two battalions of troops, in the Age of Discovery, this may not be bad, but now, this little force can't do anything.

In the face of Carlo's rebuttal, Admiral Golek of course knew that his infantry unit was indeed not on the table.

"And according to Your Majesty's wishes?"

Seeing His Majesty so zealous, Admiral Golek wanted to hear the king's opinion.

"At least one brigade is needed to allow the navy to have its own ability to fight independently, of course, this is only the initial stage, and if you want to really fight independently, the navy needs at least one division-sized marine."

Seeing the young king speak his mind in a serious manner, Admiral Golek almost dropped his jaw. This brigade-division-sized Marine Corps, I'm afraid it's not Your Majesty who is joking.

You must know that the pressure on the navy in the face of France is already great enough, and he, the admiralty, is eager to spend a penny in half. If you want him to raise the currently unimportant Marine Corps to the scale of a division and brigade, it is better to kill him (in this era, few people in the Navy value the Marine Corps, and more of a vassal).

Facing Admiral Golek with a surprised expression, Carlo could certainly understand. Because this is the result of the times, the marines in Italy were not useful at all. Because the main task of the Italian Navy is to ensure the security of the sea and repel the invading enemy, it pays more attention to the role of ships.

The Marine Corps, on the other hand, is a ground force, and it can basically only be used when invading enemy countries. This circle around Italy, which one can afford to provoke.

Of course, in addition to this, there is another factor that Admiral Golek fears when the size of the Marine Corps increases, and that is the attitude of the Army.

Although the relationship between the navy and the army is like that, the navy itself is at a disadvantage compared to the army. (If you look at the proportion of military spending, you can see that the navy only gets about 30% and a half, doesn't this reflect its disadvantage?) ）

There was no money to consider the attitude of the Army, so Admiral Golek was very uninterested in Carlo's proposal. "Thank you very much Your Majesty for your concern for the Navy, and I need to go back and discuss the expansion of the Marine Corps."

It was clear that Admiral Golek was ready to take his leave, and he felt that continuing to stay in the palace would be a drag on his work, and that the new draft combat regulations would make more sense than that. But when a word came out of Carlo's mouth, Admiral Golek stopped him.

"Thirty million lira!"

"What?"

Facing Admiral Golek's surprised expression, Carlo said word by word. "I said, as long as you promise to expand the size of the Marine Corps to the brigade level, I will let the Navy get an extra 30 million lira in military spending."

Well, talking about money hurts feelings, so Admiral Golek from the heart stayed.

"Your Majesty, 30 million lira is only enough to form a brigade, and our navy will need to bear the maintenance costs in the future, which is simply not enough."

Well, when it comes to money, that's easy.

"This is enough, you must know that the formation cost of an elite mountain brigade of the army is only 34 million, you can't let the government pay all the costs, you have to pay a little."

Well, Carlo also started with the government's finances, after all, it would be very weird if he took out the money himself. Although he had donated two ships to the Navy for cruise, it was done in the context of Italy's crushing defeat in the Tunisian crisis, which was very different from the current situation.

"Your Majesty, but in this case, our navy will have an additional cost of nearly four million more every year, which will completely increase our burden."

Admiral Golek, who looked aggrieved, opened his mouth and cried bitterly.

"In this way, if you can form a division-level Marine Corps in three years, I will let the government give you an additional 10 million miles a year in addition to military spending."

On the surface, Carlo made concessions, but in fact he continued to squeeze the Navy's funds.

As an old navy, how could Admiral Golek not understand, I saw him speak. "This is not good, at present, the navy only has a lot of money a year, and if it bears the expenses of more than 10,000 combatants, this will reduce the cost of purchasing our warships, and we must have 15 million."

"Eleven million."

"No, it's too little, at least fourteen million."

"Twelve million."

“……”

After some fierce bargaining, in the end, Carlo agreed that the government would contribute 40 million yuan, and then 12 million a year, so that Admiral Golek agreed that the navy would form a divisional Marine Corps within three years. Of course, in this encounter, Admiral Golek earned, and he earned a division-level Marine for nothing.

Of course, Carlo's intention was more than that, and only after Admiral Golek agreed, did he speak, "It is a little difficult for you to form a division of ground troops. It's easy to talk about ordnance and everything, but it's very troublesome for officers. ”

In response to Carlo's words, Admiral Golek nodded in reply. "Yes, Your Majesty, we can only recruit officers who are not needed by the army, which is indeed a bit difficult."

This is also the norm in various countries at present, and the officers of the ground forces of the navy are basically recruited by the army after the army has gone to the military academy to receive them. For a cadet studying ground warfare, going to the army is the king, and going to the navy is nothing, and he will be ridiculed by his classmates in the future.

But then he changed his voice. "But our Navy is confident that within three years a divisional Marine Corps will be formed."

However, in the face of the Admiralty's assurances, Carlo did not give encouragement. "The lack of officers is indeed a problem, and if faith alone fails, I will give you another boost."

In the face of Carlo's words, Admiral Golek was a little puzzled, what kind of help does Your Majesty plan to give?

Soon the mystery was revealed.

"There are enough officers in the Praetorian Guard, and I will draw some officers from the Praetorian Guard and let them help you form the Marine Corps."

Now Admiral Golek understood why he would take advantage of himself. It turned out that His Majesty was using the guise of the Marine Corps to expand the Praetorian Guard. You don't have to think about it to know that just the officers and men of those two battalions of marines could not be suppressed by the officers from the Praetorian Guard, not to mention anything else, in terms of the quality of the officers alone, the marines are a lot worse.

Admiral Golek was a little anxious at this time, but he knew that the king had an agreement with the army that the Praetorian Guard could not exceed 10,000 personnel. Your Majesty is dragging the navy into the water, and he doesn't want to see the navy wading into this troubled water.

"Your Majesty......"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he started, he was stopped by the king with a gesture. Carlo looked into the admiral's eyes and said word by word.

"This is the only small help I have for the Marines, and I hope you won't turn it down."

Listening to the words of the young king, Admiral Golek fell silent. Although he didn't want to wade into troubled waters, it was clear that His Majesty's words made him have to make a choice and not escape. Thinking of the importance that His Majesty had for the Navy, Admiral Golek gritted his teeth and made a decision that he was very happy for in the future.

"Your Majesty's selfless help is very grateful to the whole navy, and with the help from the Praetorian Guard, the Marine Corps will surely be a sword in the future of Italy, and will cut through all obstacles for Your Majesty."

Admiral Golek's words made Carlo also put his heart in his stomach, which meant that the navy was tied to his side.

In the future, I want to control the army and take a solid step.

Of course, this is only the first step, and it is extremely important to follow another step. The key to this step is General Simeone, who is about to return home.

I'm in a good mood