"Xu, decades have passed, and the days when we designed warships together and made money together in Italy seem as clear as yesterday, and I have always missed the more than a year when we were together, it was the fastest time of my life." Vittorio Cuniberti looked at Xu Jie on the opposite side and said calmly, after the war, the Italian Duke Vittorio Cuniberti came to China as a private tourist, and as a friend and current partner, Xu Jie has to find time to meet this old friend even if he is busy, Xu Jie is still very nostalgic, for friends, especially friends who have helped him achieve his own achievements in his most difficult time, Xu Jie is quite grateful, on a sunny afternoon, Xu Jie and Vittorio sit together in a pavilion in Beihai, reminiscing about their past and discussing things of mutual interest.

"The happiest time? Aren't you happy right now? The honored and honored duke of the Italian royal family, and the teacher of the commander of the Royal Italian Navy, do not these glories and positions please you? Xu Jie said jokingly.

"To be honest, I'm in a bit of pain right now, I've had enough glory, I'm a bit of a burden now, and I've had a lot of invitations, maybe I'll be in Rome this morning, and I'll be on the plane to Taranto in the afternoon. And you know, how cold it is to fly right now. I also have to socialize directly with dignitaries, I am a designer, a technician, and I don't like these things. As for the money? I made enough money 20 years ago to squander a few lifetimes, and now the bank balance is just a number for me. And when I'm older. I found that I had a lot more on my shoulders now, some of which I shouldn't have done in the first place. And for the sake of my country, I have to do it. I don't think I came to China this time to catch up with my friends, right? Vittorio said, looking at the lake in the distance.

"Isn't Italy still not satisfied? You have acquired the colony of your dreams and a place in the Balkans. The Italian occupation of Ethiopia was also recognized by various countries. Xu Jie thought for a while and said. Xu Jie can feel a little bit about what Italy is worried about at the moment, but how specifically, Xu Jie still wants to hear what this Italian nobleman has to say.

"On the face of it, we've really gotten a lot of benefits. Our efforts, especially those of the Navy, have paid off, but our strategic environment has not changed much. Even if there is a deterioration of the trend, before the war, we can still play a right and left within the Allies and the Entente, of course. In the end, we were on the side of the Allies. But now. Europe was left with no strength to confront the Allies, the Russians were finished, Britain and France were battered, and the powerful United States was far away in the Atlantic. Don't confuse Italy with other allies of the Central Powers, we still have a difference, Germany and Austria are the axis of the Allies, Turkey and Spain are vassals, and what does Italy say? It is what Germany considers to be exploitable. They use our power to fight for them, but they are wary of us and even calculating. The armistice talks are already telling. We are not allies, but more like a group of thieves, temporarily standing together for the common good, and now, when one of us wants to quit, it is being coerced by the stronger side to advance with a certain goal in mind, and the other side is asking us for something very important under various pretexts. Vittorio sighed, his eyes full of helplessness and worry.

"Germany's new goal? Now that the war has just ended, they have a new goal? It's really worry-free. Will it dig into the corners of the Americans in South America or continue to operate in Africa? Or are you looking for trouble with Persia? Xu Jie is not interested in what the Germans are asking for from the Italians, this is a matter between the two of them, but he is very concerned about the next strategic direction of the Germans, if it is aimed at South America or Africa, it is nothing. But if to the east.

"India, the whole of British India, even Burma could be included in their target, you know, India has a lot of labor and a lot of arable land, it's a very good source of raw materials and a dumping ground for goods, and they intend to take the whole of the subcontinent under their control, maybe even push into the Strait of Malacca!" Vittorio said with a sigh.

"Are the Germans crazy? If one Persia alone is not enough to satisfy them, will they have to eat the entire South Asian subcontinent? That's more than 4 million square kilometers of land, nearly half of which is arable land! They want to replace Britain in Asia? Xu Jie said with some shock.

"I don't know if I'm crazy or not, but I know that the Germans are definitely preparing for this, you know? The Germans began to build naval bases in the Balkans and Crete, of which I have been to the base on the Cretan Peninsula, and judging from the docks and canals built, in the future, this base can be used to moor and repair warships of more than 40,000 tons! That is, almost all German capital ships could be repaired and moored here. In terms of berths, this base can also accommodate at least 10 capital ships of more than 35,000 tons. I know better than I do what this means, after all, you are from the Navy. Vittorio did not contradict Xu Jie, but said some of his observations.

"Not only in the Mediterranean, but also in the Middle East, the German Navy began to build bases, and the original base of the German-Turkish fleet in the Persian Gulf will be further expanded, and the scale will be smaller than the base in Crete. It's a natural harbor. Moreover, it was the terminus of the Eastern Railway, and the Germans could reach the Middle East by a steady stream of supplies and troops through the Guò Railway. Vittorio thought for a moment and added.

"The main force of the German navy is about to enter the Mediterranean, and it seems that they really have a lot of ideas about Asia." Xu Jie shook his head helplessly. When what he was worried about was confirmed by Vittorio, Xu Jie was still surprised in his heart, because the ambitions of the Germans were too great, and even Cheng Dù, who threatened the interests of China, and Britain, which also owned India and Burma and had a large number of colonies in South and Southeast Asia, could be tolerated by Huaxia, because Britain's national strength was no longer good, and no matter how much they jumped, they would definitely not pose any threat to Huaxia. But the same place falling into the hands of the Germans is intolerable to the Chinese! The reason is very simple, Germany is too strong, so strong that Britain and France together cannot fight against Germany!

Sooner or later, Huaxia will rush out of the Strait of Malacca and enter the Indian Ocean, and now the Strait of Malacca is a breakthrough in the hands of the British, and Huaxia will kick it away if it wants to. Moreover, Huaxia actually didn't want to directly control India, because Xu Jie knew how many people there were in India on the South Asian subcontinent in the future, not to mention that just raising these people was a huge challenge! And the internal caste system and ethno-religious conflicts are even more troublesome. What's more, Huaxia's existing territory is already large enough, even with Huaxia's rich human resources, it is a little stretched, so Huaxia can do business with India under the control of the British, but it really has no idea of taking over India.

But if the Germans take over, it will be different, first of all, the Strait of Malacca will become an iron gate! If we wait until the Germans take control of the entire South Asian subcontinent and enter the Malay Peninsula. That is equivalent to directly locking the road of China's westward expansion, and can Huaxia give up westward expansion? Apparently impossible! In the future, the oil fields in the Middle East are the world's oil depots, how can China give up? At present, China is intervening by economic means, but in the eyes of the great powers, if there is no strong military strength to back it up, all interests are just pavilions on the beach.

"If Germany is willing to limit its sphere of influence in the Middle East to the two rivers and to Persia, then we can tolerate it, we can start with the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, but if Germany wants to bring the whole of the Middle East under its control, we will not allow it." At an internal high-level meeting, Yang Yonglin once asked about the bottom line of Huaxia's Middle East issue, and Xu Jie replied like this. The future oil fields of the Middle East are divided into half by everyone. But from the current point of view, Germany wants not only to get rid of Persia, but also to bring the whole of South Asia under its control, which is a bit too much!

Relations between two large countries bordering each other can never be called harmonious. This is true both in history and in reality. For example, France and Germany in Europe, as well as Germany and Russia. In World War I, in order to avoid this problem, Xu Jie specially left Russia, which was supported by Germany, as a buffer between the two great powers. But who would have thought that the problem in the north was solved, and there was an accident in the south, and Germany actually wanted to eat the whole of India, and even take over all the British colonies in Asia, which was absolutely unbearable! Not to mention controlling the Strait of Malacca, even controlling the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is not acceptable to China, their hand is stretched too long! Sooner or later, there will be all sorts of friction between the two great powers!

"The Germans and Austrians were very ambitious, they wanted more territory from the East, but we were unwilling, Italy could not support such a vast expedition, and it was to be expected that even if we were victorious, we would be able to get a share of what little German and Austrian had left behind. This is in conflict with our interests, and we were not going to participate in it, but now what do we say? To use an ancient Chinese saying, it is difficult to ride a tiger! Yes, that's the word, and there aren't many options available to us. Vittorio smiled wryly. In fact, he still didn't say a word, that is, if he developed further east, it would be a head-on conflict with Huaxia, and he didn't think that the Allies would have a high chance of winning in this conflict. Because this is the enemy of the world!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, hukaikaka, and Dahan grass people for their tips~~~, as well as book friends jack21yjz, dsbghost, big Han grass people, fatchi1979's monthly pass support ~~~, recommended for the first day, the side is here to subscribe for support~~~. (To be continued......)