Mediterranean hegemon

Faced with the aggressive posture of the Italians, the Greeks were not to be outdone and publicly issued an order for partial mobilization of the army. However, Mussolini responded quickly. The day after Greece ordered partial mobilization, which was November 17 , he issued a "general mobilization order", and the red line of the war was getting closer and closer. To show that he was not just talking words but really intending to put them into action, the Italian Railways directly entered military control mode. All members of the armed forces canceled their vacations and ordered them to return to the army immediately. The Air Force A major exercise began on November 18. Hundreds of planes took to the skies for drills, and air defense sirens sounded on the streets of Rome.

Who are these postures for? Of course it was for the British and French diplomats to see.

However, Contini knows that Greece’s partial mobilization order is true, and Italy’s grand and high-profile general mobilization order is fake. The Italian army is currently not full of personnel. Apart from the most basic bottom-line supplies, it does not have any other weapons, ammunition, or material reserves. But Mussolini seized the opportunity and thought it was a good opportunity: he announced a general mobilization order to conduct a surprise inspection of the army, and used the excuse of "low training level and slow response" to inspect those in the army whom he could not see. They got rid of all the old aristocrats and liberal officers they were accustomed to, vigorously promoted the positions of pro-Fascist officers, and then used the excuse of insufficient troops to find ways to increase the number of troops - adding 50,000 black-shirted troops to the team, achieving a perfect turn.

Of course, he would not forget Contini for such a good thing. Citing "tense situation and corporate self-defense" as the reason, the United Group requested that the group's security guards be expanded from 320 to 600, and they recommended themselves to become the "Young Italian League Volunteers". Mussolini immediately agreed, and the War Ministry immediately re-allocated a batch of weapons - now the United Group has promised to provide 200,000 lire (approximately US$10,000) in funding per day, and of course they will reciprocate.

Through the Ministry of War's confusing account, Contini not only closed all the arms gaps that were handed over to Göring last time, but also obtained 8 German-made Maxim MG08 heavy machine guns and more than 3,000 German standard long-handled grenades. With the nondescript designation of "Young Italian League Volunteer Army", not only Contini's original reserve major rank was once again implemented, but the Roman guard force was also grandly expanded into a standard army combat battalion. Dressed in full black uniforms, they looked like regular troops. , even so, the greedy Contini is still talking about how if there are a few more French Miss 75s, they will almost be able to meet the standards of an elite infantry battalion - unfortunately it is not possible yet.

As the news of "partial mobilization" and "general mobilization" spread, dark clouds gathered over the entire Europe - public opinion observers were horrified to believe that this was almost a replica of the opening of the last war. The last war was not fought because the Serbs assassinated Austria-Hungary. Crown Prince Archduke Ferdinand? This time it is almost the same. An Italian army general was assassinated in Greece. Will the war be rekindled just 5 years after the war ended? Britain and France were very nervous. On the surface, they wanted to pressure Italy to make concessions, but in fact, as Contini estimated, they had shed enough blood in World War I and could no longer fight and die fighting Italy for such a trivial matter as Greece. So there is debate internally.

What made the British and French governments even more uneasy was the statement issued by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 19: announcing that Italy and the Republic of Turkey would establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level with each other from now on. Prime Minister Mussolini invited Turkish President Kemal to visit Rome at the end of the month. The reporter happily accepted the invitation.

Many senior diplomats suspect that this is a strategy for Italy to further exert pressure. It has only been 13 years since the Italian-Turkish war. The contradiction between Italy and Turkey is no smaller than that between Italy and Greece, but Contini and Mussolini made it very clear. , no one dares to take risks on this kind of thing. In order to improve his country's embarrassing diplomatic situation after independence, Kemal even seized the opportunity to establish diplomatic relations and mutual recognition with the Soviet Union, which had just completed the communist revolution. After nearly a century and more than a dozen Russo-Turkish wars, Russia and Turkey The conflicts between them have reached the point of feuding, and they can reconcile in this way. Doesn’t it mean that Turkey’s current foreign policy is very positive? We can even be on good terms with Russia, so why is it so strange that we are on good terms with Italy?

Once Italy and Turkey cooperate, the entire situation in the Mediterranean will completely change: Italy does not even need to dispatch too many armies, as long as the navy covers the Turkish troops' attack from land. After the Greco-Turkish War, the Turkish army had a psychological advantage over the Greek army, and the Italian navy also had an absolute advantage over the Greek navy, and there was no need to dispatch an army that the Italians were not good at. To change this situation, the only way is for the British Empire's Mediterranean Squadron to take action personally. But can this save the situation?

Marshal David Beatty, the naval hero of World War I and the British First Lord of the Navy, immediately pointed out: If the Italian Navy and the Mediterranean Fleet were to lose both sides, the French would have no opponent to restrict or contain them in the Mediterranean. The latter was already the number one army in Europe. Coupled with an unchecked and unrestricted navy, how bad will Great Britain's diplomatic situation get?

The more frightening prospect is that if the Italian-Turkish merger is realized, and Italy is not very angry with Germany, the two sides can easily reunite. After all, there is no Austro-Hungarian Empire blocking Germany and Italy, and Austria's strength is not worth mentioning. If Germany, Italy, Turkey and Bulgaria reorganize the Central European Union, the European situation will be completely chaotic. This time there is no Russian steamroller as a human shield, and the Americans have just been pushed back to the other side of the Atlantic by Britain and France. If there is a war, Britain and France will have to bite their teeth and fight - at least another 10 million casualties! This is unimaginable for Britain and France, whose total population is only 80 million.

By late November, the diplomatic wind began to change, and the voices from the British and French media were very clear: Britain and France had quietly retreated from accusing Italy of "impulsiveness", "exacerbating regional tensions" and "immoral use of force", and instead demanded that the League of Nations intervene to mediate the conflict between Italy and Greece.

A few days later, Kemal also arrived in Rome, and the two sides quickly signed the "Memorandum of Economic, Military and Diplomatic Cooperation between Italy and Turkey", which stipulated that Italy could build warships for Turkey and transfer aviation technology, and Turkey would compensate with chromium ore, iron ore and coal - although Turkey's coal and iron resources are not rich, they are still much stronger than Italy, and chromium ore is Turkey's flagship product in Europe.

There was even a rumor from an "informed person" in Italy: Mussolini not only planned to transfer four Queen Elena-class battleships to Turkey, but also promised to repair the battlecruiser Yavos for Turkey.