"This will be our first confrontation with a common enemy, and from this moment on, China will join Britain, the United States, and France in curbing the expansion ambitions of the Allies. And Huaxia will do its best to prove its position and ability. We must prevent the Italian Navy from falling into the hands of the Allies. And use Italy as a battlefield, consume the forces of the Allied bloc as much as possible, turn it into a quagmire, so that even if they get Italy, they will not be able to use him! In a conference room of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xu Jie personally met with British envoy Winston Churchill and US envoy Major General Marshall (one level higher than in history)

Long before Lin Yongsheng set off, Huaxia had already wanted Britain and the United States to communicate, hoping to concentrate the strength of the three countries to prepare for the future "Italian incident". After some consultations, Britain and the United States believed that if China could participate in this action "sincerely", then cooperation between the Entente and China would also be possible. Of course, what is the criterion of "sincerity" depends on how many fleets and troops Huaxia will send for this operation.

"The key is the size of the navy's fleet...... It must be large, at least it needs to be able to suppress the main force of the German High Seas Fleet on the one hand, and at the same time cooperate with the US Army to suppress Spain, so that Spain will not dare to act rashly on the issue of the Strait of Gibraltar. As long as the German Navy did not have access to the Mediterranean, then the Italian Navy under General Tycho still had an advantage over the Austro-Hungarian and Turkish fleets. So I hope that the three of us can put together a force strong enough to deter the German High Seas Fleet! Xu Jie said..........

Supposedly, if you want to build a fleet. The United States has a lot of tonnage, but why did it send an army officer this time? This is a complicated question, first of all. The Americans cherish and have no confidence in their own navy. It is easy to understand that this is cherished, because the United States has always wanted to project its influence into the world, and the Navy is the pioneer. It is easy to understand that there is no confidence in the words, and it is natural that the performance of the US Navy has not been good. Especially before this meeting. Cunningham once again beat the Americans, and the gap in the quality of the battleship and the commander made the Americans very unconfident. Therefore, after discussions, the US high-level believes that the United States can make full use of the "sufficient army" resources to act. It's better for the Navy to keep it first. And the Americans believed that since the German fleet was going south into the Mediterranean, it would definitely have to cross the North Sea, which was the doorstep of the British. The British will definitely take care of it. Leave the affairs of the sea to Britain and China first!

Unlike history, the size and equipment level of the U.S. Army in this plane is much higher than in history, because the U.S. must be prepared for the reason why the U.S. Army needs to cross the sea to support France in the event of another war between the Allies and the Central Powers. The size of the US army is not much less than that in wartime, and the level of equipment is much stronger than when it was rushed into battle, and the Americans believe that it is unlikely that a large-scale ground war will break out in this encounter, and the probability of a conflict at sea will be higher, so they decided to pick up a bargain and expressed their willingness to provide funds and the army. Of course, the additional condition for providing funds is that Huaxia is willing to purchase a batch of machinery and equipment from the United States..........

"If this is two years later. By then we can dispatch 3 aircraft carriers. 2 armored aircraft carriers and 1 medium aircraft carrier, 2 battleships, 4 cruisers and their destroyers. Xu Jie said the conditions of Huaxia, which is basically half of the sea-based aviation force of Huaxia. This means having at least 300 or more carrier-based aircraft.

"The British Empire's Home Fleet will fully cooperate with China. Two Fury-class aircraft carriers are ready to be on standby. Battleships can have at least 4, and cruisers will not be less than 6. "There has been a long history of cooperation and contact between China and the United Kingdom, and the Fury-class aircraft carrier was designed by China at the beginning, and the British government has praised this battleship. The Royal Navy was even more satisfied, calling it the Great Wall of the Sea to protect the British Empire, of course. The Treasury is perhaps an exception, this battleship is too expensive! So when Huaxia showed enough sincerity. Then Britain, which is located at the doorstep and will seek China's support in South Asia in the future, is naturally not stingy. …。

"I'm sorry, I didn't have a domestic mandate, but the U.S. Navy will definitely say something. In addition, the French should be able to put together a fleet, right? Marshall was puzzled that he had not seen the French representative at this secret meeting, and that as an important member of the Entente and one of the countries closest to Italy, France would be willing to help him on this trip. …。

The probability of success will be higher.

"France needs to put pressure on Spain and defend against a possible German attack on the Western Front, and their land pressure is very high, but in order to cooperate with our actions, France is willing to deploy three air wings and at least 200,000 troops on the Franco-Spanish border to deter Spain, and guarantees that it is willing to open some ports and airports in Algeria and mainland China to facilitate our transportation." Churchill said.

"This is not enough, I hope that France will open their ports to the Italian navy, Italy and Austria-Hungary are too close to each other, and once the war officially starts, the whole country will be within the range of the Allied air force...... So we must provide an excellent safe haven for the Italian Navy. Can this be done? Xu Jie asked.

"I'm afraid that's a bit difficult. Sheltering a country's fleet in a war is already an act of war, and France is obviously not in a position to compete with the Allies in the present situation, we can try, and in addition, I need to remind you that this time we are trying to preserve the Italian Navy as much as possible and consume the strength of the Allies, and not a showdown with the other side at this time, we must choose a situation that is favorable to us. Churchill's understanding of Xu Jie was somewhat skewed, and in his eyes, Huaxia seemed intent on organizing German ambitions by concentrating a force sufficient to destroy the German High Seas Fleet. But in the eyes of the British, this sword is best used when it is not drawn from its scabbard, because Britain cannot go to war with the Allies without the economy fully recovering, in other words, the British are only for deterrence! …。

"Huaxia will not choose this time to go to war. All we did was to deter Germany and at the same time provide a safe route for the eventual withdrawal of the Italian fleet to the west. I don't think the Germans would have chosen this time to go to war either, because they weren't ready for a big war either. They just want to install a puppet government in Italy. Xu Jie explained with a smile. Looking at Churchill, whose face was a little puzzled, Xu Jie continued.

"Don't think that without a navy, the Allies can't take Italy, the Adriatic Sea is too narrow, and the German-Austrian air force can finally overwhelm the opponent and then send an army to land. Although it is not known how many troops of the Italian Army will stand up against the invasion, the result is the same, since the ultimate goal can be achieved, then the Germans will naturally not use their navy to fight with us. To some extent, Huaxia could only accept the result of Italy being controlled by the Central Powers. But this acceptance is premised on the fact that the Italian Navy can leave the Mediterranean Sea safely, and it would be nice if everyone played by the rules of the game. The scale of the war can be limited, but if the Germans do not comply, then the two sides will start a battle on the ocean!

"If the Kaiser is not crazy, he should be able to see our intentions, and the probability of the High Seas Fleet directly attacking us is not high." Marshall thought for a moment and said..........

"But the problem is that William is a conceited guy, he's too arrogant!" Churchill said.

"Then we have to let him know what calmness is! Remember, we must not retreat this time, and if we do, then we will lose all of Europe, except for England and France! Imagine what countries like Belgium and Portugal would think if they saw that we were doing nothing in the face of the aggression of the Central Powers. Isn't it enough to alarm us that the Netherlands has fallen to the Allies? And if done right, we can turn Italy into a quagmire to deplete the power of the Allies! This is very cost-effective, not to mention, as a country far away from Europe, China has paid so much, is it not even a little responsible for the United Kingdom, as a European country? Xu Jie asked with some displeasure. …。

"Imagine that if we abandon this plan, then the best outcome for the Italian Navy will be nothing more than self-sinking, and the self-sinking warships can be salvaged. Without time to delay action, the Allies would have taken over Italy's industrial system in its entirety. The level of shipbuilding in Italy surpassed that of Austria-Hungary. In that case, when the Allies are ready to act, then I would like to know what your country will do to defend the South Asian subcontinent! This time Britain backed down when it came to helping potential allies...... Then next time, no one will help the UK! No country wants to shed blood for others. "Xu Jie didn't have time to talk too much about Churchill, the British Empire, the British Empire is a thing of the past, and before William calms down, Xu Jie needs to let the British realize his position! . …。

Xu Jie almost said something like this: "If Britain doesn't want to help Italy." Then, in the future, if a war breaks out in South Asia, China will also consider the issue of the strength of support for Britain. Of course, Xu Jie believed that such a blatant threat would be enough to make the British change their minds.

"Then I want to ask. If we helped the Italians. When war broke out in South Asia, could the Italian Navy be the first to enter the war? Churchill asked.

"I can't guarantee that, but I don't think it's a big deal." Xu Jie could not answer Churchill's question now, because there were too many factors that interfered with the pace of the Italian Navy's participation in the war.

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and hukaikaka for their tips~~~~, as well as the monthly pass support ~~~~~ of book friends f663026, nameless dragon, and Tianlong 999. (To be continued).