Chapter 77 Another Battlefield (1)

"The French promised not to use force, but asked for an additional 3%?" On December 19, hearing the news that the Dutch had recovered, Contini couldn't help but frowned. If it were simply based on the current daily output of 5,000 tons, Look, that 3% is indeed not much, just tens of thousands of tons more per year, but he knows that the Algerian oil field will eventually exceed 10 million tons per year. An increase of one percentage point will mean a decrease of 100,000 tons of crude oil in the future, which is 70 -The US$800,000 is gone. This is not a small amount, and the French say 3% is 3%. This is too easy to deal with. I am a member of both the army and mines, so my expenses are huge...

But since the French promised not to use force, tacitly agreed to combine the oil field mine belts and oil armed forces, and withdrew the Foreign Legion, Contini no longer had to stay in the oil fields and was ready to take Sickert back home.

Although the old man was strongly opposed to this toughness and that toughness at the beginning, now that he heard that the French were submissive and would not use force, his face lit up and he looked proud. Blomberg and others also breathed a sigh of relief, but more importantly, they saw through the French people's evil nature. This was invisibly a good thing that Contini had done for Hitler.

Many years later, when Hitler said that he wanted to regain the Rhineland, the German generals who had never experienced anything like this in North Africa strongly opposed it. However, the generals who served in the oil guard thought it could be done. At the meeting, Blomberg said boldly: "What are you afraid of? We touched the French tiger's butt with the president ten years ago in Algeria, but that's all..." This is a postscript, let's not mention it for now.

When Contini returned to Rome, the Navy found him again with an embarrassed look on his face, saying that he was in trouble with building warships. Contini thought that the other party was here to complain about poverty again, and wanted to kill him casually. Unexpectedly, the problem changed this time. "The French won't let us build new warships!"

"Why?" Contini asked strangely.

"Saying that our tonnage has exceeded the standard... Of course we know that this is just an excuse. In fact, we want to pressure you to make concessions on the oil field issue. Therefore, Your Excellency, Lord Admiralty, asked me to ask you, how to deal with this matter?"

After explanation, Contini understood the whole situation: According to the "Washington Naval Treaty", the capital ship quota allocated to the Italian Navy is 175,000 tons (177,800 metric tons). In fact, the quota reserved is 182,800 metric tons. The excess of more than 7,000 tons The signatories unanimously expressed their acceptance. According to the treaty, Italy can build new capital ships in 1927, 1929, and 1931 respectively.

Since Italy abolished four battleships ahead of schedule and its own warships were relatively old, after mediation, the Allied Powers agreed that Italy could build the first two warships two years in advance. In other words, Italy could build the first two warships in 1925 and 1925. In 1927, construction started on two warships respectively. The construction of the first Caracciolo-class battleship has resumed, and the progress is considered to be in 1925. Then the Italian Navy's wishful thinking is to decommission the Dante in 1926, and then free up tonnage to restore the second Caracciolo-class battleship in 1927. Construction (In fact, Ansaldo has quietly been manufacturing artillery for the Navy, and the external reason is to export to the Soviet Union).

But this time the French protested. The reason for the protest was simple: after Italy scrapped four Queen Elena-class ships, its tonnage was reduced from 182,800 tons to 132,400 tons. With the addition of the 35,000 tons of the Caracciolo-class, now The occupied tonnage is 167,900 tons, and the free tonnage is only 10,000 tons. The abandoned Dante can free up an additional 19,500 tons. After adding it, it will only be 29,500 tons. The Caracciolo class has publicly stated that it has 35,000 tons. There is no place to land the 0.55 million tons that is missing here.

Italy's wishful thinking at the time was that the country's original limit was over 5,000 tons, so now it would not be considered a violation to exceed 5,000 tons. However, the French refused to give in this time and killed them. It was because the majority of Italian ships were old that they agreed to exceed 5,000 tons. , now you not only update in advance, but also exceed the quota, which is unjustifiable.

The French gave three solutions. First, postpone the update for two years; second, cut off 5,000 tons of new warships; third, scrap one additional ship.

But no matter which plan is adopted, the Italians cannot accept it. It is easy to cut off 500 tons of Caracciolo class, but how about cutting 5,000 tons? That's almost going to have to happen all over again; postpone the update for 2 years? The Italian Navy cannot swallow this breath; will one more ship be scrapped? Don't be kidding, after the scrapping of Dante, there are now only 5 battleships available to the navy (including Andrea Doria, Durio, Count of Cavour, Julius Caesar and Leonardo da Vinci ), if one more ship is cut off, there will only be 4 ships. How can the navy survive? ?

Of course, the French also said overtly and secretly: As long as the United Group makes concessions, the 5,000 tons matter is easy to negotiate, but the British don't care about it. Japan and the United States are too lazy to care about this mess. Only the broken ships of the Italian Navy have 5,000 tons more. It doesn't matter if it's 5,000 tons less.

Therefore, the Navy can only count on Contini to find a solution. As long as the President relaxes, the Navy's 5,000-ton problem can be solved. They originally thought that this matter would not be difficult to handle, and they would get over it with just a few greetings, but they never expected that Contini had completely different ideas from them.

Contini knew that according to the historical trajectory, the Italian Navy would next find ways to improve the Count of Cavour, Caesar and Leonardo da Vinci. Historically, the transformation of these three old warships continued until the mid-1930s, and the cost was not small. But the results are actually not as significant as the investment, and it takes up a lot of resources.

He said shockingly: "I think you didn't think this matter carefully..."

"Not thoughtful?" The other party was shocked. The CEO, a layman, actually pointed fingers and said it was not thoughtful? But he didn't dare to openly refute Contini's opinion. This was not only the God of Wealth but also the golden prince consort. He couldn't afford to offend him, so he asked, "What do you think is wrong?"

"The next Caracciolo class!" Contini reminded, "Even if this ship exceeds the standard by 5,000 tons according to your ideas, what about the next Caracciolo class? Does it have to be abolished in one fell swoop? 2 warships? Otherwise, it will not be enough to retire only one Cavour class..."

"Yes, that's what we told the French. We decommissioned two warships in 1931, and then the 5,000 tons could be compressed back, but the French didn't appreciate it."

"I think you should use your brains. What if we retire an additional Cavour-class ship now? Would the situation be much better?"

"You mean?"

"Your original thought must have been to decommission the Dante this year. Then, in 1930, two Cavour-class ships were decommissioned. At this time, the first Caracciolo-class ship was also built. It would have little impact on the combat effectiveness of the army. It can be Building a new Caracciolo class in 1931...is this the idea?”

"Yes, that's right, that's it!"

"My idea is to retire the Dante this year, continue to retire the Leonardo in March next year, and then in exchange for a preferential condition, we will update the Caracciolo class, which was originally scheduled to be updated in 1931, to 1929!"

"But this time, the Navy will only have four battleships available next year, the year after, or even in 1929..."

Contini blinked: "You can't just look at the battleships. If you think about it, there will be several heavy cruisers to be put into service in the next few years. Where will their strength come from? Moreover, I think it is better to bear one less warship than to use it." It would be better if the old ship can be sustained for two more years..."

"But what if..."

"What if there is a war? With whom? The French? The British?" Contini shrugged, "Don't be kidding, at this scale, it doesn't matter if there is one more Leonardo da Vinci or one less Leonardo. Without affecting the results of the battle, the Italian warships are too weak... If you build the third Caracciolo class in advance, I will pay half of the money!"

The other party couldn't help but swallow his saliva: the price of a Caracciolo class has now increased to 14 million U.S. dollars. If the president agrees to pay half of it and sell off the old ship, wouldn't it mean that the Navy does not need to consider new military expenditures at all? He immediately became excited: "The minister and I will go and report."

"Also, don't be fooled by the French's hypocritical hints. The French are now forcing us to make concessions. That concession involves US$500,000 a year, and at least US$15 million in 30 years. We have one Caracciolo class. Do you still want to force the French to give in? "

"No, no, no... you misunderstood. How dare I do this? The president has always been a staunch supporter of the navy. We can't thank you enough. How dare you say such a thing?" The other party waved his hands repeatedly. He did not dare to accept such a big hat. , cooperate with the French to suppress the United Group? Wouldn't that be adultery? To deal with spies, according to the fascist system and propaganda slogan, one must "knock them to the ground, put another foot on them, and tell them to never stand up again!" If they were really beaten as spies, they would be finished.

Contini thought very clearly that by the time of World War II, the unmodified Cavour-class had no combat effectiveness at all. But if it went through a lot of trouble to modify it like in history, it would be better to abandon it directly. As for After giving up, he has found his next home, Marshal Chang in China.

While Contini was making trouble in Africa, Marshal Chang used his troops quickly and had captured most of Hunan, Fujian and Jiangxi. He was continuing to attack north. Thanks to the support of Italian scrap steel, all factions were now fighting fiercely. There were too many, and because Marshal Zhang of the Feng clan was eyeing the iron-clad ship in his hands and threatening Shanghai, the Shanghai uprising failed. Forced Marshal Chang to learn from the pain, he planned to ask the Italians to buy scrap steel for the navy. There was only one requirement that could effectively overwhelm the pile to the north. Scrap steel, the price is negotiable.

Contini originally considered taking action on the Dante, but after much deliberation, he felt that the Dante was faster than the Leonardo da Vinci. It might be more effective to transform it into an ideal warship. It would be better to use a slower but stronger and newer ship. The Da Vinci is taking action, but the commander-in-chief said the price is negotiable, so just sell the good stuff...

It doesn't matter if he really has no money. He is eyeing the tungsten mines in Jiangxi. He can accept half cash and half tungsten ore as payment. He can also pay Chang Dashuai an installment. In the future, he also hopes to sell Chang Dashuai aircraft, tanks and Where are the other messy army scrap steel...