Mediterranean hegemon

Contini made it clear to Mussolini about the nature of the Ida after the keel was officially laid. It was not that he was worried that Mussolini, his future father-in-law, would be unhappy if the cruise ship did not build an aircraft carrier, but that the aircraft carrier was, after all, It is military equipment, and it is extremely large equipment. If this point is not made clear to Mussolini, unnecessary political trouble will occur. Mussolini was stunned at first, but was later persuaded by Contini.

Contini’s reason for persuading him was very interesting: “Leader, among the military services, the Air Force was cultivated by Fascisti, and its loyalty to the party is impeccable; the Army is basically not the focus of Italy, and we still have the Blackshirt Army as a check and balance, so there is no need to Too worried; only the navy is not only a place where various nobles and other celebrities gather, but also has a very prominent position, and has not yet completely obeyed the party and leaders. In addition, there are too few party cadres in the navy, so I think we must strengthen control. Controlling other things is useless. Controlling new warships and controlling military expenditures are the most effective!”

Mussolini nodded in approval.

"So I plan to build an aircraft carrier. Firstly, the country has spare tonnage of aircraft carriers. Secondly, the combat capability of the aircraft carrier mainly depends on aircraft, and the pilots are all reliable members of the Fascist and Youth League. This makes the image of the party and the will of the leader natural. Being able to implement it will be very helpful for us to control the navy in the future.”

Of course Mussolini understood that this would also implement Contini's will, but now that Contini was his right-hand man and the successor to his political career, he was on his side, so not only should he not oppose this, but he should also support it. He was encouraged and applauded, so he immediately agreed, and keeping it in his hand was considered a favor to the navy. Contini didn't care about this - he just wanted the aircraft carrier and he could pay for it. As for what he wanted, it was Mo. Solini means, what does it matter? Whatever works well in the future is yours.

Leifer was also stunned: "30,000 tons? It exceeds the standard... The Washington Treaty stipulates that only 27,000 tons are allowed."

Contini waved his hand nonchalantly: "It does not exceed the standard. There are still 3,000 tons for strengthening the defense structure. Besides, it will be hung under the United Group in the future. It does not count as a navy, and the countries can't say anything."

"This..." Leifer smiled awkwardly. He didn't know how to answer the next half of the sentence. If he said that the Navy didn't want it or wasn't interested, it would definitely be a lie. But if he just accepted it like this, he would be embarrassed to say it. , so he just smiled and said nothing.

"Of course, most of the personnel must be from the navy. Navy experts, designers, and officers can study, research, master, and improve as much as they can, laying the foundation for building better warships next time. After all, you can't build it the first time. "It's familiar..." Contini seemed to have seen through his thoughts, "As for the United Group's strong support and comprehensive cooperation with the navy, do you think there is a significant difference in having it in your hands?"

"Yes, yes, no difference, no difference..."

After this matter was explained, the strategy was decided:

First, decommission another Leonardo da Vinci and buy it from the United Group for 90 million lire;

Second, it requested that the third Caracciolo-class ship be updated in 1929. In exchange, it was agreed that France would also update its equivalent warships in advance;

Third, after the League of Nations withdrew its accusation against France, the United Group gave the French some compensation;

Fourth, the United Group provides loans to the British, and the higher the interest rate, the higher the interest rate, which can be regarded as compensation to the British.

This attitude was very friendly. When the report was given to Briand, he also thought about it seriously. First of all, the Italians agreed that it would be a good thing to decommission one more warship. In this way, the Italian Navy would only have 4 battleships available in the short term, which meant that France The pressure on the Mediterranean will be further reduced; secondly, France can also gain the benefit of renewing a warship in advance; finally, the United Group stated that it can give up 2 points of oil allocation in exchange for France agreeing to take the pipeline from Tripoli.

Regarding the last item, Brian felt he was still unsatisfied, but the difference between 2% and 3% was not too big. If he was too preoccupied, he could only watch a steady stream of oil flowing to Italy, so he agreed to this request - after all, the British said that using The memory of squeezing out the United Group through economic means was still fresh in his mind.

On January 9, 1927, France-Italy relations, which had always been tense, suddenly made peace. Both sides expressed their intention to resolve economic and political disputes through peaceful means. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also unexpectedly commented on Briand's "non-war" proposal. "Convention" is a good example of peace. Italy expressed its full support. In addition, the United Group agreed to compensate another 2%. This allowed Briand to gain face in French public opinion. He confidently stated that he would restore Algeria and Morocco as soon as possible. of calm order.

Although the United Kingdom did not reap obvious benefits, it did gain economic value because United Petroleum announced that its oil output would increase to 5,000 tons/day. This is equivalent to making money from the newly purchased shares. At the same time, United Group also paid three The Great British Bank syndicate loaned 50 million pounds with an interest rate of 6.5% and a term of 9 years, which made the British side very happy. Because apart from borrowing from China in the Far East and being able to get such high-quality and long-term loans, there are few other places where such high-quality lenders can lend so much money and be willing to pay higher interest rates.

So the three countries soon became one again. The Italian Navy's scrapping application and France's early renewal application were both approved. In the end, it was agreed that France and Italy could start building a new warship in 1929. France had been considering designing a fast battlecruiser since the beginning of the year. Now that the time was advanced to 1929, the demand was more urgent (later became the Dunkirk-class battlecruiser). It planned to abolish one of the Courbet-class ships at an appropriate time, so that there would be more room for maneuver.

In fact, the navies of Italy and France did not pose a threat to the United States and Japan. The only thing to consider was the attitude of Britain. Britain was not willing to have two opponents who replaced warships at the same time in the Mediterranean direction, but now France and Italy have reached an agreement. If they insist on obstructing it, it would be forcing France and Italy together, so Baldwin could only endure it. He now regretted why he did not accept Italy's complaint and first humiliate the French in the League of Nations, so that the relationship between France and Italy would be difficult to resolve instead of the current situation where they have already made peace, but Britain is still playing the villain. This is of course unacceptable. Besides, the United Group has already borrowed money, sold its oil shares, and made a lot of money. It seems unnecessary to insist on it.

So Baldwin blamed Chamberlain: Didn't you say that the United Group would not give in?

Chamberlain also shrugged helplessly. Who knew Contini would give in so quickly? This is not like the usual style of the domineering president.

But did Contini really give in? On the surface, it seems that they paid 2% more crude oil, which is a lot of money. In fact, the United Group has gained a lot of benefits. On the one hand, they forced the French government to acquiesce to the existence and force of the oil guards, and successfully deployed minefields. Now the minefields seem to be only able to defend against tribal armed forces, and in the future everyone will understand who this territory can defend against; on the other hand, they made the French agree to the oil pipeline to Tripoli. If Italy and France break up in the future, the French will not be able to produce oil in a short time even if they get the oil fields.

More importantly, even if the French get 2% more, it may not really increase production. The president has made a plan to increase the port charges in the future, and then use his own fleet to transport oil. Moreover, the capacity from transportation to storage is false, and small actions such as a 5% discount cannot be seen at all. Besides, the French will station people at the port in the future. How can they not get their shoes wet if they often stand by the river? The Italians are better than the French in this regard!

As the dust settled here, Contini had time to discuss the price of the Da Vinci with Marshal Chang of Huangpu. In fact, he also contacted Marshal Zhang, but unfortunately Marshal Zhang, who was born a bandit, was conservative and thought that he already had an ironclad ship. After all, it was too expensive. One more ship would have the same effect. He might as well buy more scrap steel for the army with the money - this thing is in short supply now.

He didn't understand that he didn't want the Italians but could sell it to his opponents...

PS: I had planned to update it again, but I felt a headache. I took a break first and will talk about it next time...