Several monarchs had a happy gathering to relax, while the military and political officials of the three countries were not as laid-back as their own monarchs.

In a large conference room at Sanssouci Palace, a meeting of the three countries was also going on.

"Your Excellency Birlow, your country's request to revise the alliance treaty will come at a great cost to our country, so have you considered our actual needs?"

It was Antonio who spoke, and as Prime Minister of Italy, he also needed to defend Italy's interests. And this time the three countries negotiated the renewal of the alliance treaty, which in his opinion was detrimental to Italy's interests.

Originally, the Triple Alliance Treaty was mainly aimed at Russia and France, but when the alliance was about to be extended, Italy was surprised to find that the Germans had actually added the British Empire to the target.

Facing such a situation is something that the Italian side does not want to see at present. The reason is simple: although relations between Italy and the British Empire have not been harmonious in recent years, Italy is reluctant to add the British Empire to the enemy sequence. Because of the long coastline of Italy, the Italian navy was not confident that it would be able to guarantee the safety of the coastline in the event of war with the British Empire.

And this sudden move to target the British was most detrimental to Italy and should have been prevented. That's why Prime Minister Antonio made the attitude of the Italian side clear at the beginning of the meeting.

In the face of Antonio's reaction, Prime Minister Bilow, who is on the German side of the host, was not surprised. I saw him answer. "Your Excellency, I think this is a misunderstanding. We did not intend to target the United Kingdom, but only as a possible precautionary measure, so we added it to the treaty. ”

The German Prime Minister's words made Admiral Yagir, the representative of the Italian side, unbearable. "Do you know that targeting Britain is a threat to our country? At present, the British Navy has 2.1 million tons of gross tonnage warships, while China currently has only 480,000 tons, and your country is only 810,000 tons, and our two countries together are less than two-thirds of each other.

Is there any good way for your country to solve such a gap in naval strength? And it is also possible to add the million-ton navies of France and Russia.

Besides, if there is a real war with Britain, and your navy does not fight, it will not be to put all the pressure on our country at sea. This is simply a treaty that is difficult to accept. ”

In the face of Admiral Yagill's accusations, the Germans turned their attention to Field Marshal Tirpitz, apparently hoping that he would stand up and persuade the other side. However, Tirpitz dodged in the face of everyone's expectant eyes, because he was also a navy, and of course he knew that this was not easy to answer.

After all, in the navy, the combined tonnage of the two countries is only two-thirds that of Britain. This gap in strength on the surface can be changed by two or three words from him.

However, in the face of everyone's threatening eyes, Tirpitz, who felt that he couldn't say a few words, spoke. "Your Excellency Yagill, our country acknowledges the current gap with the British, but this gap will not increase, and the dreadnoughts currently developed by your country have brought naval warships into a new era, and at the same time give us the opportunity to catch up. As long as our three countries can invest sufficient funds, then we can rely on the advantages of new warships to turn the situation around in one fell swoop. ”

Although Tirpitz spoke impassionedly, and even drew praise from the other officers of the Navy, in the eyes of Admiral Yagill, Tirpitz said empty words and were of no use at all.

Gu Yan

Because Tirpitz circumvented one of the most important problems, and that was the issue of government funding for the Navy.

As a technical branch of the military, the navy is the most dependent on funding. Money is needed to build ships, money is needed for training, and money is needed for the research and development of new technologies and equipment, and all this money basically depends on government funding. So this Field Marshal Tirpitz didn't talk about the amount of military spending, what to do with the British Navy.

If the other party doesn't talk about it, then don't blame him, Admiral Yagill will make it clear. "Your Excellency Tirpitz, as far as I know, the cost of building ships in your navy last year was 118 million marks, which is even lower than that of our country (Italy spent 160 million lires ≈128 million marks) in 1906, while Britain spent 18 million pounds sterling (360 million marks). I don't think I need to say more. ”

Admiral Yagill directly pointed out the problem, how could Germany convince Italy that the other side had the strength to compete with the British Imperial Navy with such a low cost of building ships.

In the face of Admiral Yagill's doubts, Tirpitz did not deny it.

"Your Excellency is right, the cost of building ships in China is indeed low at present, but this is only temporary. The main reason is that the Navy bill passed before did not anticipate the high price of building ships. China is preparing to pass a new shipbuilding bill next year, which will greatly increase the cost of building ships in our country, which needs to reach at least half of the level of the United Kingdom. In order to ensure that our country can obtain sixty percent of the strength of the British navy. ”

As soon as Tirpitz brought up this sixty-percent statement again, Yagill felt a bruising of his muscles. "Your Excellency wants to hold back the other side with sixty percent of the strength of the British Navy, which is simply ridiculous."

Yagill didn't give the other a chance to speak, and continued. "Your Excellency's remarks have already exposed the practices of your navy, if your country only thinks about preserving its naval strength and waiting for our country to take fire for you, then your country thinks too much, and our country will not accept such an alliance and alliance treaty."

"Your Excellency Yagir, our country does not have such thoughts......"

The war of words between the two naval ministers was watched by everyone present. For Bilow, one of the decision-makers who proposed a revision of the treaty of alliance, the Italian navy's fierce rebuttal represented the Italian side's fear of adding Britain as one of the targets.

For Italy, an ally, Bilo still values it more. This would not only mean putting more defensive pressure on the old rivals, the French, but would also allow Germany to extend its own power into the Mediterranean with the help of Italy.

In addition, Italy's valiant and well-fought navy, which was expanding greatly, was also a great help to Germany. According to German naval estimates, if the Italian navy is expanded, it will have 16 battleships, 6 cruisers, and hundreds of small and medium-sized warships capable of dominating the Mediterranean.

If this force can be used well, it can contain at least one-third of the energy of its old enemy, France. This is tantamount to a disguised reduction in the investment of the French on land, which is more conducive to the implementation of Schlieffen's plan. And why not help Germany share the pressure from the British?

But it wasn't easy for the Italians to say yes.