Italy had a different opinion about the Romanian heavy blow to the Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria.

In the Prime Minister's Office, Mussolini watched and listened to the news brought by his son-in-law.

He played with the pen in his hand and said playfully. How can it be said that Britain and France intend to exchange Greece for our continued neutrality? ”

"Yes, father-in-law."

After answering his father-in-law, Ziano, who was the foreign minister, picked up the water cup and poured a sip of water. "It looks like Alexander's loss has made the British and French anxious."

Hearing his son-in-law's words, Mussolini mocked. "Can you not be in a hurry, the loss of the British Mediterranean fleet. What can France do to stop our Italian warships, not to mention that we still have our ally Romania. In recent years, Romania has developed rapidly under the leadership of Eder, not only in the army, but also in the navy. ”

That's right, Mussolini's eyes were red. When he came to power before, Italy was even stronger than Romania. And after being busy with the development of the country, Italy's development is not bad. But compared to the development of Romania, it immediately looks like nothing.

In addition to the Romanian plains, there are too many domestic resources, which also makes Mussolini jealous. There is oil, coal and iron in the country, and the raw materials needed for industry are basically available.

If Italy had the resources to be as good as Romania's, Mussolini would have the confidence to develop Italy to that extent. Of course, Italy is not bad now, and the Italian army, which has proven itself in the Spanish Civil War and the Ethiopian War, and the navy that dominates the Mediterranean (neither France nor Britain has as many Mediterranean battleships as Italy), it is time for it to seize enough benefits for Italy.

It's just that thinking of the Romanian Navy's just set record, Mussolini couldn't help but speak again. "That's right, Ziano. Do you think we should build aircraft carriers? ”

As soon as Ziano heard what his father-in-law said, he immediately knew what was going on. "What, the Navy has reported again requesting the construction of aircraft carriers?"

Mussolini did not hide anything about his son-in-law and future successor. "Yes, Admiral Cavariari has another request for the construction of an aircraft carrier."

"It seems that the Navy is still obsessed with building aircraft carriers."

Ziano is right, the Italian Navy has long proposed to build aircraft carriers, but the top government believes that the need for multiple aircraft carriers in Italy is not urgent. The Italian peninsula, as well as Sicily and Sardinia, were natural aircraft carriers that could play the role of aircraft carriers, and Italy needed to spend more money on the task of building battleships.

In fact, this is also on a par with Italy's need for the Mediterranean, the Italian navy has always been the main hypothetical enemy of the French navy, which does have a lower need for aircraft carriers than battleships. And the Mediterranean Sea is not large (relatively speaking), and the urgency of the need for aircraft carriers is really not high.

Of course, the above ideas were all in the twenties and thirties when the aircraft technology was not high, and the combat capability of the aircraft carrier was not demonstrated. And now everything has changed after the Romanian air raid on the port of Ali Dashan with aircraft carriers.

The Romanian Navy fully demonstrated the role of aircraft carriers, which made the Italian Navy, which did not have aircraft carriers, very covetous. Therefore, Admiral Cavariari, who is the deputy minister of the Navy and chief of staff, naturally will not give up this opportunity, and he once again proposed the construction of an Italian aircraft carrier plan by taking advantage of the Romanian Navy's use of aircraft carriers.

By the way, the current ministers of the Navy and Air Force are all Mussolini.

It is clear that this time Admiral Cavariari's strategy worked. Seeing the role of aircraft carriers in Alexandria, Mussolini, of course, could not ignore them. It's just that he still can't make up his mind now, because the results of Alexandria this time really made him greedy, so his attitude towards building aircraft carriers has softened a little.

And the attitude of his father-in-law, how could Ziano, who is his son-in-law, not feel it, thinking of his family's relationship with the Navy (his father is the only high-level member of the *** Party who was born in the Navy), Ziano said. "Personally, I think that the Navy's request can be agreed, but the number needs to be strictly controlled. Because of the large financial expenditures at present, there is not much surplus allocated to the navy to build ships. ”

That's right, Ziano intends to show his goodwill to the Navy, although he is not from the Navy, but his father is. Moreover, his father was still the link between the navy and the party, and Ziano did not intend to give up this advantage.

Hearing his son-in-law's words, Mussolini couldn't help but ask. "Will this cause displeasure in the Army?"

"The cost of building an aircraft carrier is much less than that of a battleship, and we can do it with a special grant. Besides, the proportion of army spending is already high enough, and more than half of the military expenditure is over, so how much more do they want. ”

Ziano naturally knew about Italy's military spending, the proportion of the navy generally only accounted for about three layers, and the air force did not exceed 18% at the highest, and the rest was all army spending. This is clearly in favor of the army in the context of the situation facing Italy.

Of course, this is also related to the low proportion of Italy's military spending, although at a time when the situation in Europe is rapidly deteriorating, Italy's military spending accounts for 14% of GDP, which is lower than the 15% of the British army. (It's already much better, it's 10% at this time in history, and now 14% is in the case of Edel painting pies)

In the case of obvious insufficient military spending, Italy must give priority to ensuring the safety of the country, and the army is still the basic plate, so it is obvious who to choose.

After talking about the Navy, Mussolini clearly had something to say. I saw him hesitantly speak. "Ziano, do you think it's time for us to go to war?"

It is clear that Mussolini could not sit still when he saw that the situation in the Mediterranean was clear.

As for his father-in-law's words, Ziano replied after thinking about it. "I don't know."

That's right, Ziano really doesn't know what to do with the current situation. Unlike in the past, when he was vehemently opposed, the Italian navy was now stronger, and with the cooperation of the Romanian navy, it was easy to gain maritime superiority, which was also very beneficial to Italian expansion.

To the east you can make territorial claims to Yugoslavia, and to the west you can flank France with Germany (although this is not a good option). As for its own colony of Libya, it's even simpler. To the east, you can attack Egypt and occupy the Suez Canal, and to the west you can solve Tunisia and Algeria, which are all good options.

As for the East African colonies, it is also possible to attack Sudan and attack Egypt with the North African army.

It's just that with such a big advantage, Ziano still has a little worry in his heart, mainly because he is afraid that the result will be like a copy of the First World War. It's just that if Italy hesitates with such a big advantage, then when the results are finally calculated, Italy will not have much benefit.

And his father-in-law's words were obviously moved, and he had no good reason to object.

Hearing his son-in-law say he didn't know, Mussolini was not angry. I saw him speak. "I'm going to summon the Romanian ambassador to come over and discuss, and this time to let us Italy enter, at least the raw materials for the aircraft carrier need to be secured."

That's right, Mussolini was going to knock Eder on the spot again. This was also Mussolini's frustration, although Italy did not need to import armor steel from Britain before the First World War, but the current production is still insufficient. And the production of armor steel in Romania for several years has gradually grown to a very high figure (under the wise leadership of someone), and Italy naturally intends to find a way out of it.