NABC Chapter 181 Happy Ziano
Chapter 181 Happy Ziano
Ciano drank the glass of wine reluctantly. If the war had not broken out and the Drake Empire had not suppressed him, the Itli Kingdom would have gone to war with the Ottoman Empire due to conflicts of interest. They would not have eaten from the same pot. He would rather the Ottomans and the Allies would both suffer losses rather than the current situation.
"The combined forces of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria have occupied almost all of Serbia, with only one corner remaining to resist. A large number of troops will soon be withdrawn from the Gallipoli Peninsula to join the North Caucasus battlefield. In fact, the Central Powers have already gained an absolute advantage on the Khaimos Peninsula. The only ones the Allies can count on are Romania and the Kingdom of Greece, which have an ambiguous attitude."
"What if the Allies transfer more than 100,000 troops fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula to Serbia? In that case, we will have to continue to invest huge military forces in the Haimos Peninsula. Those small countries cannot withstand hundreds of thousands of elite troops of the Allies." Ciano squinted his eyes and shook the wine glass in his hand, and asked Leo about his concerns.
"Now that the Allies have deployed heavy troops to the battlefield, it won't be easy to withdraw! It is now impossible to break through the Ottoman defense line in the east. Even if we break through, their situation will not be good. As for the west, we need to transport it by sea through the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea is the inland sea of the Kingdom of Itli. Anyone passing through needs the permission of the Kingdom of Itli, right?" Around Leo, Nicolas, Vasir and others looked at each other in disbelief.
"I told you this, this bastard Leo is not a good person. He lies and pretends to be sincere!" Lieutenant General Malawi said hatefully in a low voice.
"General Leo, you really understand the Kingdom of Itri! The fact is just as you said, the Kingdom of Itri will provide strong support to its allies!" As a radical and supporter of the king, Ziano was obviously very pleased with Leo's compliment, and said complacently: "The Navy of the Kingdom of Itri has two levels of four dreadnoughts, and two more dreadnoughts are about to be put into service. The Navy of the Kingdom of Itri, which has six battleships, will never sit idly by and watch the Allies act freely in the Adriatic Sea!"
Ziano spoke passionately, describing the extraordinary strength of the Kingdom of Iteli, but Leo didn't believe it. He knew the strength of the Kingdom of Iteli's navy. In addition, Leo had heard that Ziano was full of nonsense, so he only believed three points of what he said.
The Iteli Kingdom Navy has four active dreadnoughts, one Dante Aligioeri class, three Count Cavour class dreadnoughts, and the Caio Duilio class is about to be put into service.
The battleship Dante Aligioiri was the first dreadnought built by Iteli. Like the first dreadnought of the Franconian Republic, the construction of this ship began three years after the Drake Empire's dreadnought entered service. The difference was that the Franconians were late to the game strategically, while the Iteli Kingdom simply could not keep up with the shipbuilding technology, but they were better than the Franconian Republic in design.
该舰装备着12门四座三联装305㎜舰炮，四座炮塔分别布置在舰艏、舰舯、舰艉。此战列舰是世界上第一艘采用了三联装炮塔设计的无畏舰。同时也是伊特利王国第一艘装备了四座主炮炮塔的主力舰。次要武器包括四座双联装和十二座单联装共20门120mm 舰炮以及16门76㎜速射炮，该战列舰同时还配备了三具450㎜鱼雷发射管。值得一提的是305㎜舰炮由塔伦王国提供生产。
The Count Cavour class battleship is an improved version of the Dante class and the second type of dreadnought equipped by the Iteli Navy. This ship is definitely an outlier in this era. It is equipped with 13 305mm main guns, distributed in 5 turrets, three of which are equipped with three guns, and the other two are twin-mounted. Compared with the popular main gun configuration at that time, it can be described as whimsical!
The Dante Alighieri battleship has a maximum speed of 23 knots, while the Conde de Cavour-class battleships can run at 28 knots, which makes it difficult for the two to operate in coordination unless the Conde de Cavour-class battleships abandon their speed advantage.
As for the two ships that Ciano mentioned that are about to be launched, they are the Caio Duilio class, which are also quite good, but it is useless to say that until they are launched and form combat effectiveness.
Before and after the outbreak of the war, as the foreign minister of the Kingdom of Iteli, Ciano, who was a radical, had always decisively chosen to stand on the side of the Allies. But when the Draco Empire was in a stalemate with the Tatar and French coalition forces on the western front and could not move forward on the eastern front, the resolute Ciano immediately changed his mind and began to ask the Kingdom of Iteli to reflect on whether it was a mistake to participate in the war and whether it should withdraw from the war and remain neutral again.
When the news of Drake's navy's victory continued to come, the Kingdom of Talen, which could be called the biggest support of the British Empire, suffered the worst defeat in a hundred years. The resolute Ciano defected again. During his visit to Platinum, Ciano repeatedly declared in front of reporters that the Kingdom of Itli was the strongest corner of the allied countries. Some reporters jokingly called him the jumping rabbit from Itli.
Of course, no one would believe it, not even the countries involved in the war, and Leo was no exception.
"General Leo, since you think that the Mediterranean fleet of the Kingdom of Taren will be weakened, can the Kingdom of Itli play a greater role for the Allies in the subsequent situation in the Mediterranean?" Ziano cautiously probed.
"The Tarens can't take care of the Mediterranean. At most, they will only leave a few old battleships in the Mediterranean. The Franks are very likely to take over the empty Mediterranean according to the agreement signed before the war, but their three Brittany-class battleships have not yet been launched and the outfitting has not been completed. Now only four Kolbe-class battleships can be used." Leo's words made Ziano happy. Like many people from the Kingdom of Itli, he hopes to expand his sphere of influence in the Mediterranean.
"Based on the current strength comparison between the enemy and us, the Franco-French Navy is no match for our allies. It is foreseeable that we will win a victory in the Mediterranean like the Battle of the North Sea!"
"General Leo, will the Ocean Fleet march into the Mediterranean?" Ziano had another worry. The Mediterranean was too crowded. If one lion was driven away, another tiger would come. This was not in line with the future interests of the Itli Kingdom.
"The Itli Kingdom, the Osmagali Empire, and the Ottoman Empire are enough! The Mediterranean is like a bathtub, and it can't accommodate the ocean fleet!" Leo gave Ciano a reassurance without hesitation.
"Thanks for the support of the Drake Empire! In fact, our Kingdom of Itli can deal with the Frantic Navy alone in the Mediterranean!" After a few glasses of wine, Ciano kept bragging.