In March in London, there is still a hint of cold wind, but the breath of spring is already strong. A large number of Londoners go out and enjoy the stunning scenery of spring.

But all this, for Robert Gascoigne-Cecil, who is the British Prime Minister, is too luxurious. He didn't have the time to waste his time on these things.

For Prime Minister Cecil, who is already forming a cabinet for the second time, his complicated government affairs make him have no time, because he has his own big moves both internally and externally. Internally, he pursued a heavy-handed policy towards Ireland and opposed William Yurt Gladstone's policy of Irish self-government. Last year, he reformed the local self-government and established county councils elected by taxpayers.

Externally, he focused on plundering the colonies. in Asia, the seizure of Burma; in West Africa, conquer Nigeria, occupy Kenya, enter Uganda; In South Africa, Rhodesia was occupied.

He was an imperialist who believed that the progress of the backward race must pass through the phase of European domination, especially of the British, and that it must be maintained by force, and that his mission was to expand and defend the British Empire.

In these ways, he is a big chauvinist. However, in European affairs, he adopted a model of moving away from spectators and arbitration, and maintained Britain's independence in Europe.

Located in the middle of the Alps, Trento is the capital of the Italian region of Trentino. Although it is one of the thirteen regions, the population of Trentino is very small, with less than 20 people at the moment. Compared to other large regions with millions of people, it can be described as vast and sparsely populated. And Trentino has always been at the bottom of the economic rankings, and the locals are used to it. However, despite its mountainous location, it is strategically important for Italy. Because it is a barrier to the three major industrial towns in the north, there are not many garrisons here.

Of course, there are also many army training bases here, at least the army's mountain combat training is basically carried out here.

The Valsujana Training Ground, located 15 kilometers east of Trento, is the largest mountain warfare training ground in Italy, covering an area of 38 square kilometers and possessing the most complex mountainous terrain, which is a great test for the officers and men to be trained.

Today, however, the Valsujana training ground is bustling with activity, as two units are conducting a military exercise that simulates an offensive and defensive drill between the mountains.

The Eighth Division of the Third Army was in charge of the attack, and its commander was Major General Pascal, who had made great achievements in the Ethiopian War.

The troops under its command, in addition to the 8th Division, were reinforced with an artillery regiment. And the officers and men of the Eighth Division were storming the mountains at their division commander. Their offensive movements were extremely skillful, and the cooperation between the soldiers was also very tacit, and it can be seen that the division has worked hard under the leadership of its division commander.

As for the defending troops from the 11th Division of the Fourth Army, they were also not weak, and under the leadership of the division commander, Major General Caro, they had been stubbornly resisting the attack of the 8th Division.

The two sides came and went, but Carlo and the military generals at the general headquarters of the exercise used high-powered binoculars to carefully observe the course of the battle between the two sides.

The heralds, on the other hand, kept reporting the situation on the battlefield to the general headquarters of the exercise, reporting the current state of affairs.

"Report that the 1st Brigade and 2nd Regiment of the 8th Division have broken through the 1057 position, and they are making a detour to the right flank of the defenders under the leadership of their regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Haring."

"Casualties on both sides?"

"The attacking 8th Division had 614 killed, and the defending 11th Division had 749 killed."

With the report of the herald, there was a staff officer in front of the sand table, and the 1057 position was replaced with red on behalf of the attacking side, and the casualty figures were registered on the casualty panels of the two sides.

This panel is very user-friendly, marked with red and blue, and the numbers on it are red 4571 versus blue 5843, which can intuitively see which unit is more combative. Of course, this is only the current state of affairs, and no one knows the final result yet.

At the observatory, Carlo took his eyes off the high-powered telescope and patted Lieutenant General Simeone on the shoulder behind him. "The battle was exciting, and you trained well."

Although Carlo is suspected of making up the numbers, after all, he doesn't know much about military matters. But no matter what, there are some things that even ordinary people can feel which of the two sides is stronger.

Although the 8th Division has an additional artillery regiment, it is the attacking side, and the attacker can make the number of casualties less than the defender, which is not telling. Not to mention that this is a mountain offensive and defensive battle, which can deepen the impression even more.

I didn't see Lieutenant General Bazel, the commander of the Fourth Army, who was on the other side, and his face was not very good-looking, which was obvious evidence.

In the face of Carlo's praise, Lieutenant General Simeone smiled slightly and did not speak. At this time, it is best not to speak, otherwise it will make people interpret too much in full view.

Carlo didn't have the idea of making things difficult for Simeone, and after only a word of praise, he looked at Admiral Saragate, who was still observing.

"Admiral Saragate, this kind of exercise needs to be done more."

Carlo's words made His Excellency the Minister of War leave his glasses, he looked at the king in front of him, and said helplessly. "Your Majesty, such a division-level confrontation exercise will cost 2.6 million lire, and the army will be able to hold up to four such exercises in the next year."

Yes, the army has been much more generous this year and has been able to spend 10 million lire for exercises.

Hearing the war minister's complaint, Carlo directly ignored and skipped, the navy and army are not fuel-efficient lamps, and at present, Italy's finances are limited, and it is impossible to give an extra lira to both sides.

"Admiral Saragate, why haven't I seen the grenade being used in this exercise, didn't you say that it has been developed?"

That's right, Carlo is talking about the grenade that will be necessary for future soldiers. This weapon, in fact, is still very common if you push back 80 years. The image of Napoleon's bravery is that of Napoleon marching with tall grenadiers.

Grenadier is the throwing of grenades, and in modern times it gradually faded out of sight until the range of guns became farther in the future. However, with the development of the times, the hand-held grenade, which was originally very large, can now be designed to be very small. AT PRESENT, THE GRENADE DEVELOPED ACCORDING TO CARLO'S REQUIREMENTS IS LESS THAN 1KG, WHICH ALLOWS AN ORDINARY SOLDIER TO THROW IT UP TO 20 METERS AWAY.

Tentatively named the M89 grenade, this is a handle-shaped grenade that consists of a charge body, a detonating device and a wooden handle. Its total weight is 0.78kg, the warhead weighs 0.23kg, the total length: 385mm, the diameter: 75mm, and the detonation time: 5 seconds.

That's right, the familiar long-handled grenade, which has the advantage of being thrown at a long distance and with precision, which is very important for the current Italian army.

In response to Carlo's inquiry, Admiral Saragate replied with a shake of his head. "Your Majesty, this weapon has only been developed for more than a month, and the soldiers are still familiar with it, so in order to avoid accidents, it was not used in this exercise."

Faced with the Secretary of War's explanation, Carlo acquiesced. "Well, I hope that the next exercise, I can see the soldiers skillfully using it."

Unexpectedly, Carlo's words made the Minister of War feel embarrassed.

"It can be a little bit difficult."

"Why?"

Carlo was taken aback by the words of the Minister of War.

"Your Majesty, please listen to me, at present we are still figuring out how to use this grenade, how to use it, whether to concentrate it, or distribute it to every soldier. Also, it's important to see what the pros and cons of this thing are for our tactics. ”

Faced with the words of the Minister of War, Carlo took a deep breath and replied. "The Secretary of War is right, and he does need to be cautious. But I think a year should be enough. ”

"Almost, that's enough."

After talking about this grenade, Carlo's original intention to ask about the mortar also faded. It's just that you're in a hurry, and others aren't in a hurry, so what's the solution.