The outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War was also a major event for the world, which made the eyes of countries turn to the Far East again.

For the war that broke out between Japan and Russia, various countries have different attitudes, among which Britain and the United States are on the side of Japan, while Germany and France are on the side of Russia.

However, one country is not in the mood to see the excitement, because they are being forced to take a stand and demand that they strictly enforce a policy of neutrality.

"Your Majesty Carlo, Russia has violated the treaty unanimously adopted by all countries to guarantee the territorial integrity of the Qing State, and your country has a lot of interests in the Qing State, so our country believes that in this war between Japan and Russia, you and China should have the same attitude and implement a policy of neutrality, instead of adding variables to this war."

In the palace, the new British ambassador, Phil Coulson, was bitterly advising the Italian monarch in front of him. The new British ambassador to Rome, who had taken over from Mandison, was of course aware of the difficulty of the Italians, but his duty was to carry out London's orders and ensure that Japan was not interfered with from Europe. This was not only the demand of the British Empire, but also the strong demand of the Japanese government.

After the outbreak of the war with Russia, Japan was most worried about the mixing from Italy. Although Italy had also lent them 200 million lira before, Italy had too many criminal records, and neutrality did not exist for Italy at all, and everything had to be mixed together.

The Japanese government has suffered a big loss before, how can it be forgotten about this. Therefore, before the declaration of war, he made this request to the British Empire, the boss behind his scenes, to stabilize Italy and prevent it from being involved.

In the face of this request of the Japanese government, Britain is of course willing to see it, after all, Italy has been mixed everywhere in recent years, which makes people have to guard against it.

It is a pity that Italy did not express neutrality as they wished, but at this tense moment, suddenly released a message that the Italian Navy intends to eliminate a number of warships that do not meet their needs.

Okay, Italy, release this news at this time, keep your mind on it.

And this news alone is not enough, the Italian Navy accidentally said that it leaked. This batch of non-compliant warships included three Genoa-class battleships and three Garibaldi-class cruisers, and fifteen warships that did not meet the requirements, with a total tonnage of up to 120,000 tons.

This Italian is taking everyone for a fool, is this an elimination of battleships, it is completely eliminating a whole main combat warship, and it is also the main Italian fleet. Looking at what warships Italy intends to eliminate, in addition to the above six large capital ships, the rest are basically cruisers with a tonnage of three or four thousand tons.

For example, the Eagle-class reconnaissance cruiser, which had performed well in the Sino-Japanese War and was also the fastest in Italy. As well as a group of battleships of Italian production in the nineties, such as the 3,600-ton Savoa-class protective cruiser. The performance of these warships is not bad, even if it is still a first-line battleship.

With such a large-scale elimination of warships, Italy simply put a note on the door of the head that I want to make trouble. Do you say that Italy is bad, you can still pretend not to see it when you eliminate one or two warships, after all, this cannot affect the overall situation, but such a whole fleet can completely influence the outcome of the naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War. After all, among these warships, most of the main warships of more than 10,000 tons have only been in service

Two years, for example, the Garibaldi-class III Francicos, has been in service for less than three months, and it is estimated that even the smell of paint has not dissipated.

Whoever can get such a brand-new warship will definitely directly lead to the superiority of their own navy.

Of course, the price will certainly not be cheap, if Italy sells it for 1.5 times the normal price, it can be regarded as a conscience.

Of course, now that Italy has only released the news, and nothing else has been said, you see that the British are impatiently rushing to talk about the friendship between the two countries.

And in the face of Ambassador Coulson's so-called friendship and the like, how could Carlo take it seriously. Although Italy also has a very big interest in the Qing Dynasty, Italy in the northeast region has not been involved much, so it is necessary to talk to me about this.

"Ambassador Coulson, I also believe in the friendship between the two countries that your envoy said, but the retirement of the Navy's warships has already been decided. This requires Your Excellency to convince our navy, not to come to me. ”

Carlo's prevarication, Coulson didn't believe a word. When did the Italian Navy become so powerful that it dared not listen to the government and the king.

But even if he doesn't believe it, he must bring back what the other party says, especially when he asks for help, this is diplomacy, this is politics.

"Thank you Your Majesty for informing me, I will talk to your Admiralty next, then I won't disturb Your Majesty, and I will leave."

Coulson left the palace in a hurry, and as he was about to board his carriage, he saw a carriage with a diplomatic badge appear in front of him.

He fixed his eyes and saw that it was the Russian ambassador Tokayev and the French ambassador Sklea who got out of the car.

As soon as he saw the two ambassadors coming together, Coulson basically guessed the other party's intention, so needless to say, it must have been for the news released by Italy.

At this time, he did not plan to leave first, but walked towards the two of them.

"Your Excellency, two ambassadors, have you come so much time to meet the King of Italy?"

"Lord Coulson, aren't you also very idle?"

"I've heard that your country is not going well in the Far East, and if you have any difficulties, you can say it, and I will help you think of a way."

"No thanks."

After a few brief words and a little teasing of the Russians, Coulson boarded his carriage and left.

"This Englishman, who does he think he is."

After Coulson left, Russian Ambassador Tokayev complained to Ambassador Sklea on the side.

In the face of Tokayev's complaints, Sklea could only laugh. Of course, he also knew the purpose of the Russian ambassador who had brought him in, which was for the Italian fleet.

When Italy let out the wind, he knew it was going to happen. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he received an instruction from Paris, asking him to cooperate with the Russians.

You don't have to think about it to know that it must have been the Russians who did the work of Paris, and in order to keep this vital ally, Paris could only be generous in the purchase of ships. What is this called, the Italians sell ships, the Russians want to buy ships, and they are asked to pay for them in France.

But in any case, it can only be like this, the polar bear's nature is like this, and there is no other better way to ask for it.

When the Russian and French ambassadors entered the palace, Coulson, who had just left, said to the coachman. "When I go to the Japanese Embassy, I'm going to talk to Ambassador Tetsuhei Osawa."