Chapter 1 Skagerak's Gold (III)

Late at night on March 4, 1915, Rome, the capital of Italy.

On March 5, a vote will be held in the Rome Congress Center. The same scene has been staged more than once in this Mediterranean constitutional monarchy, but this time the situation is a little different.

Since the European War, protests and demonstrations between radicals, right-wing, pro-German and pro-Olyu-Austrian elements at the Roman Queen's Hotel have never ended. Nationalists and bourgeois representatives burned portraits of former prime ministers in public on the street square. A brief alliance of conservatives, liberals, and Catholics have already appeared. Prime Minister Sarandra, Master of Abstract Logic Songnino, Cabinet, Parliament and the King have begun.

In the night of Rome, the wind was shaking, and occasionally policemen were shaking on the streets of Caval. There was no one on this uneven road. Under the dim street lights, the leaves were flying and quiet. Don’t think that Rome has been quiet and resting, under deliberate disguise, a commotion is brewing.

The person who can end all the chaos is in Rome, on this Caval Street, in a villa at No. 71.

No. 71 Caval Street is to Italy just like No. 1 Downing Street is to the British Empire. There lives a big man who will catch a cold even if he just sneezes.

Although the Italians complained about the Simplified Ronnie Treaty, although the relationship between the liberals and radicals represented by the big names broke down, and although he had resigned from the position of prime minister, Cavol's Giomidi will always be Giomidi! If there is a king in the Kingdom of Italy, then Giomidi is the well-deserved supreme emperor of the Kingdom of Italy.

The black car slowly drove on the street. The policeman on duty rushed over, looked at the license plate, and quickly shrank his head back.

"Who is that big shot?"

"I am the leader of the right-wing party, the foreign minister of the kingdom, and the famous master of abstract logic!"

As the police whispered, Italian Foreign Minister Song Nino got out of the car, and a Sardinian maid opened the goal to welcome the well-criticized right-wing leader into the official residence of the leader of the left-wing Socialist Party and former Prime Minister Giomidi.

“Rep. Camiro Pearno told me that the government is not going well now, His Majesty the King does not believe them, and the MPs and the Cabinet are concerned about what His Majesty the King may promise in a private meeting with the British plenipotentiary representative, which Italy cannot afford at this stage…”

Gormiti sat on the sofa, holding a glass of Tuscan wine in his hand, his face full of unconcealed fatigue.

"Mr. Songnino, as the foreign minister of the kingdom, maybe you have a way to get some intelligence from the British. We cannot continue to sit and watch the deterioration of the ruling. We must figure out what agreement the king and the British have reached? Is this agreement verbally or endorsed by the whole of Italy? Will Italy have a war obligation for this?"

After the end of the Dogueres Seashore Naval Battle, the Allies realized that the war in Western Europe and the North Sea would be in a stalemate, so Britain and France launched the Dardanelles war plan, attempting to force the important allies of the Allies to withdraw from the battle by landing on sea. At the same time, representatives of the Allies frequently visited the Kingdom of Italy and held secret meetings with King Vittorio Emmanur. News and many signs from all sides indicate that the king is ready to be involved in the war.

"I'm sorry, Prime Minister, the king doesn't believe in anyone at all."

It was rumored that King Vittorio Emmanur had negotiated with the Allies, but Song Nino, as the Foreign Minister, knew nothing about it. Song Nino, who was bloated, sat on the sofa indignantly, pressed the leather sofa into a deep collapsed concave surface, took out a cigar and became angry:

"Maybe the new Prime Minister Sarandra knows it, but he is not in the same trench as you."

In February 1914, Prime Minister Giori, a great hero of the Italian-Turkish war, keenly realized that King Vittorio Emmanuel had fear of his influence and prestige. In addition, the "Simplified Ronnie Treaty" was attacked by opposition parties. On the premise of firmly grasping the parliament, the experienced Giori decided to retreat to advance and resign as prime minister, and to help Sarandra, who seemed unthreatening to teach at the University of Rome, as the throne of prime minister.

It was obvious that this was a bad move. Sarandra had gradually gotten rid of the constraining of parliament and stood with the king.

"Europe has fallen into a protracted war, bleeding and consuming every day. Italy's national strength is poor, so the war must not burn on the head of the kingdom. Betting on both sides is the most pragmatic choice!"

The former pioneer of invading Libya, Gormiti, has advocated neutrality since the European war, and "vigilant armed neutrality to safeguard Italy's most fundamental interests" has been his bottom line.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the King and Mr. Sarandra seem to have made up their minds..." Songnino took a sip of the cigar and said carelessly: "I know you insist on maintaining the national system, but now only the parliament can stop it, or delay it slightly."

Song Nino continued to suck the clouds and spit out mist. Jiao Midi leaned against the soft sofa, squinted her eyes and shook the red wine in the quilt, and was not in a hurry to speak.

The great Rome figure fell into thinking for a long time, and the spacious study room disappeared for a long time until Giomidi's assistant grabbed a telegram and broke into the study room and said something to Giomidi's ear.

After experiencing countless big scenes, Jiaomidi, who was known as the tumbler of the kingdom's political arena, changed his face. He stood up, and half of the Tuscan red wine in his hand was sprinkled, but he did not realize it, and hurriedly took the telegram with his other hand and hurriedly browsed.

"Prime Minister, is something happening?" Song Nino vaguely guessed something. The fat man stood up with difficulty holding the handrail of the sofa and said with concern.

"According to the Kingdom Intelligence Department, at dusk in March, the German and British navies encountered a northern part of the Gulf of Helgoland. Both sides exchanged fires in the Gulf of Helgoland, Jutland and Skagerak Straits one after another. At 8 am on the 4th, Britain suffered an unprecedented failure. Seven main battleships sank, one main battleship disappeared, and five other main battleships suffered heavy damage and must be overhauled!"

Jiaomidi's face was full of shock, and a cold chill arose, and her eyes unconsciously fell in the direction of Taranto. Jiaomidi was once proud of the four Dante-class dreadnoughts, because they were more advanced than the combined power level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, after the peak battle of the North Sea, Jiaomidi felt that the Italian navy's battle for the ocean was not enough.

In the spacious and clean ward of Berlin Hospital, the strange atmosphere is continuing.

Naval officers such as Schell, Hippel, and Radell stood from a distance near the windowsill of the ward, with panic and worried eyes wandering back and forth on the pair of unspeakable enemies of the Empire. Avril hid in the corner of the ward, the candy and pastries sent by the visitors were her trophy, and Anne was busy patting Avril's greedy hands. The old navy Frasey stood on the edge of Wang Heidi's bed. He seemed to realize something, and two black lines were unconsciously hanging on his face.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I really can't stand up and salute you!" Wang Heidi half-sitted on the bed, smiled and said some respects that were not painful.

"General Sileme, there is no need to apologize. It is the Hohenzollern family who want to thank you. You have brought a hearty victory to Germany and its allies. You are the hero of Germany, so at this moment, you have the privileges that heroes should have." The emperor of the Empire, William, who returned from the Royal Forest of North Germany, stroking the swords passed down from generation to generation. Looking at the young man who dared to bet with his William's fleet, said some beautiful words from the politicians indifferently: "However, Germany is still the disciplined nation after all, and the navy is still a fleet that is loyal to the emperor..."

"So, I will be here to rest and look forward to the occurrence of some force majeure, right?" Wang Heidi's eyes swept across the face of Navy Secretary Edward Von Capelle, and then frozen on William with two beards.

"Maybe, my general!" The emperor tightened the gloves he wore on his left hand.

Since the moment the British fleet went to sea in March, the whole world has smelled the smell of gunpowder in the North Sea. Everyone knows that large-scale maritime wars in the first battle are imperative.

The Great Fleet is the most powerful existence on this planet. It is the mature and persistent Jericho, the pride of heaven David Betty, and the Ocean Fleet is the rising star of the Blue Ocean, with many outstanding commanders like Franz von Hippel and Heidi Sileme. The best main ship and the best commander, in the North Sea in March, everyone is secretly speculating on what kind of passionate collision the two fleets of these two nations will be, and who will win to death.

Italy, which is temporarily neutral, is no exception. The day after the British rapid fleet went out to sea, Giomidi consulted the General Staff of the Navy and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

The General Staff’s prediction that the two fleets are not painful and itchy and keep a tie is vivid. The conservative commander-in-chief of the Navy counts the various unpleasant inside stories between Emperor William, the owner of the Ocean Fleet, and Heidi Silme, the best strategist of the Ocean Fleet, and thus infers that the Ocean Fleet may have suffered a major defeat due to the backlash of pressure.

The swearing and spitting of senior naval officers greatly misled Giomidi's judgment. On the Eastern Front, the Russians were likely to take Prémesir and attack Hungary; the Western Front seemed anxious, but the British and French coalition forces still made certain progress in the Champagne area where Germany was fully defending; although the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey is easy to defend but difficult to attack, the British and French coalition forces seemed to be full of confidence. The Allies had already mastered a certain advantage. Once the British cut off the tentacles extended by the Germans in the North Sea, the failure of the insufficient resources seemed unstoppable.

Since the Pimonte era, Italian elites have had the tradition of maintaining the national system, that is, maintaining the authority of the king. Giomidi inherited this idea. Although he mastered the parliament and could free the government from the obligations it assumed to treaties as long as the parliament opposes, he did not want to undermine the triangular relationship between the government, the parliament and the king. Giomidi even thought that as long as the king persisted, he would not interfere with the parliament's vote.

However, the performance of the Ocean Fleet surprised everyone. Heidi Sileme used himself as bait to entangle David Betty's fast fleet and dragged Jericho's large fleet into an abyss that could never be restored. The young man refused to draw, the Ocean Fleet refused to be mediocre, and the German Navy relied on its own strength to make the British Royal Navy, which had been invincible for hundreds of years in the ocean, lost nearly one-third of its main ships, and more than one-half of its main ships were temporarily unavailable.

"Even if the Royal Navy showed signs of decline in the series of naval battles between Helgolan Bay, Coronel, Falkland, Doguere Sands, and Muderos Bay, the Royal Navy's heritage will not cause such heavy losses to the British!" Song Nino returned the telegram that was about to cause a tsunami in the global media industry tomorrow, and his head was shocked: "This is a decisive naval battle. The British are unable to stop any actions of the German Navy for at least one year!"

"So, Mr. Songnino, it's time to end all adventures and speculation, and Italy must continue to be cautious and armed neutral!"

With his tired expression swept away, Gormiti quickly walked to the desk and stuffed the tray with the business cards of at least 300 Italian MPs into the arms of his assistant.

"I inform them one by one according to the business card that all members of the parliament must vote against tomorrow's bill!"

The guards jumped onto the military horses quickly, and the emperor and his naval ministers sat in exquisitely decorated cars, from the inside out, all of which were royal demeanors.

The small convoy was back on the road, and the destination was the Charlottemberg Palace, which symbolized the supreme authority of the Empire.

"Seventeen years ago, Silame was just a fledgling military academy graduate. I thought I could keep him away from the Navy's Rights Center, but I didn't want that old guy Tilpitz to mess up everything."

The royal breastplate cavalry was guarding both sides, and the bleak night scene in Berlin was still retreating. Emperor William took his sight back and said lightly to his Navy Minister:

"Silem has gained a foothold in naval battles in just one year, and has won one victory after another to make most of the naval commanders his fans and the people his admirers. So, we can't give in. This is William's Germany, isn't it?"

"Yes, your majesty!" The Navy Minister took out a stack of press releases from his briefcase, and a cold and resentment flashed across his fair face: "Everything is ready!"

"Thank you to Mr. Jiaomidi for me, thank you for your warm hospitality..." Song Nino, who had a few drinks with Jiaomidi, sat back in the black car and nodded slightly at Jiaomidi's deputy.

The driver started the car engine and closed the dark windows. Song Nino's approachable smile gradually solidified, turning into a very strange ridicule.

"Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister has left." Jiaomidi was next to the windowsill of the study, thinking intently through the thick curtains. The deputy pushed the door and stood quietly beside Jiaomidi, whispering to remind.

"Oh..." Jiaomidi lifted a corner of the curtain and watched the black sedan disappear at the end of Kavor Street.

"Idiot, do you think I have a feud with the King and Salanders, and you can replace me as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom!" Jiaomidi put down the curtain and snorted coldly, grabbed the telegram and said to himself: "The Allies will encounter difficult times. As for the Allies, I am not optimistic about the lunatic William of the German Emperor, so I should keep waiting and see!"

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Chapter completed!