"This is really ridiculous. We have the most powerful navy in the Mediterranean!" Mussolini suppressed his anger and did not yell out this sentence. The Italian Prime Minister habitually raised his chin and looked coldly at Admiral Kafriyani with a calm face.

"Can the Navy give any reasonable explanation for this?" Mussolini asked loudly.

He spent a lot of effort on the construction of the Italian navy, resources, manpower and national policies, and everything the navy needs can be obtained from him. At the same time, Mussolini also placed great hope in the navy. He hoped that one day the powerful Italian Navy could help him complete the glorious and magnificent dream of dominating the Mediterranean and rebuilding the Roman Empire.

"Most of our transport ships gathered in the eastern ports and were preparing to transport army reinforcements to Greece. At present, due to lack of fuel, we are unable to sail for the time being. If a batch of fuel can be allocated in time," Kafliani's answer was clicked until the time being and did not continue to speak deeper.

"Then the escort fleet, you won't tell me that the naval fleet is also lacking fuel, right?" Mussolini's face was covered with frost. He knew that the navy had been dissatisfied with his misappropriation of the base's reserve fuel subsidies, but he did not expect that they would use this method to threaten it in a critical moment. It seems that he underestimated the conservative forces in the navy. If he could overcome the difficulties this time, he must make these maggots in naval uniforms look good.

"The main fleet of the Kingdom Navy has entered the first-level combat readiness and can be deployed at any time. But we must consider that once the fleet sets off, it will inevitably have a head-on battle with the Mediterranean special fleet of the British, French and German navies. According to the information currently obtained, the landing fleet is very powerful, so this will not be a small-scale conflict, but a decisive battle at sea. Of course, the navy will not be afraid to face powerful enemies, but if the war is unfavorable and the fleet suffers too much, the coastal defense of Italy will collapse and the entire sea border will be opened to the enemy." Kafliani ignored Mussolini's ugly face and still answered calmly.

"The British and French navy suffered heavy losses in the war with Germany. Even if the Germans were added, they were not the opponent of the Italian Navy at all." Mussolini suddenly felt that there was nothing to be angry with this stubborn chief of staff, and almost forgot that this guy was a coward and had firmly opposed Italy's participation in the war from the beginning. It seemed that the navy needed a more backbone person to take on this position. Mussolini decided to look back and check the naval archives to prepare for a replacement.

"It is true that as you said, the strength of the British and French navies is not as strong as before, but they still retain an elite force with rich combat experience and well-trained combat. Currently, the Three Kingdoms Navy has deployed seven battleships in the Mediterranean, with more than twenty-eight light and heavy cruisers. They also have two latest aircraft carriers, 60 of various destroyers, and a considerable number of submarines are active in the waters around Italy. Last month, the number of merchant ships we lost reached 350,000 tons, and the destroyers and cruisers escorted were also seriously damaged. I believe you should have read the report."

Kafriyani was talking there, but Mussolini's emotions were on the verge of an outbreak.

"Our fleet is invincible!" Mussolini finally couldn't help but roar. His face turned red, and the blue veins under his forehead swelled, looking like a bull with a whip on his face.

"But we are not ready for war. I have reminded you a long time ago at the Command Conference four months ago that the Navy of the Kingdom of Italy is not ready for a large-scale war. At that time, I had not calculated the German Navy, so the situation is worse now than four months ago. The new warships we just served still need time to get through, and the newly recruited officers and soldiers generally lack training.

Due to the lack of qualified technicians, the modification of honest warships has progressed extremely slowly. The maritime blockade of the British and French navies has reduced our material reserves to a dangerous level. All our shipbuilding projects that are still underway are supported by the materials reserved in recent years. Now Britain and Germany have controlled the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, and Italian ships cannot even leave the Mediterranean. My Prime Minister, your wish has been realized in a sense. The Mediterranean can indeed be called "our sea" and trap our sea." Kafliani's mood also became a little excited. Not only was he aggressive in his words, but he also had a sarcastic expression on his face.

"Enough! You know who you are talking to. I am the Prime Minister of Italy and the leader of the fascist national party!" Mussolini was so angry that the other party actually exposes his woven dream so mercilessly.

"Of course I know, but I also have my responsibilities. I am the Chief of Staff of the Kingdom of Italy's Navy! Prime Minister!" Kafliani also raised his voice. The Chief of Staff of the Navy also took his leave at this time. For the sake of the Kingdom and the Navy, someone must stand in front and tell the truth.

"No, it's not anymore, General Kafliani, I will remove you from the post of Chief of the Navy in the name of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy." Mussolini almost lost his mind because of shame and announcing the dismissal of the Navy's Chief of Staff.

"Prime Minister" Badol Grio hurriedly wanted to persuade him. The current situation was something he had not expected, and he did not expect that Kafliani would be so strong.

"Don't say too much, I've decided." Mussolini stared at Bardoglio viciously.

"I accept your order and hope to know what your reason is." Kafriyani's eyes were cold and there was a sneer on the corner of her mouth.

"Cowardly fight, dereliction of duty!" Mussolini replied gritting his teeth.

"I will not accept these baseless allegations."

"Bastard, I don't care whether you accept it or not. You have been dismissed now. Get out of my office immediately!" Mussolini was almost madly angry. He picked up a metal seal box on the table and threw it at the Admiral fiercely.

Kafliani tilted slightly and avoided the attack that might cause him to be injured. At this moment, he also knew that it was time to leave. He continued to stimulate this arrogant dictator, but who knew what crazy things he would do.

Cafrigani put on his military cap again, put on one-sided glasses with gold wire frames, then saluted Mussolini, who was being held tightly by Ziano and Badol Grio, and then turned around and strode out of the office. If someone stood in the corridor at this moment, he would see the relief expression on the face of the former chief of staff of the Italian Navy.

Dominic Cafriyani is six years older than Mussolini. He participated in World War I and the Italian War, and served as the dean of the Italian Naval Academy. The admiral's resume is perfect, he is a model of Italian naval officers, and he is an absolute genocide of ships and artillery.

After he served as Chief of Staff of the Kingdom Navy, the general devoted most of his energy to the construction of the naval fleet. At present, all the battleships owned by the navy were started under his suggestion and support. At the same time, he was able to accept new things. The famous Italian submarine force was also established with his help.

Kafliani's dream is actually the same as Mussolini, building a naval force that can dominate the Mediterranean. At first, his cooperation with Mussolini was quite tacit, and the relationship between the two sides was once very close, because Mussolini's preference and support for the navy, and as a senior navy, of course, he had to repay this.

Until that day in June this year, Mussolini ignored his strong opposition at an emergency meeting of the command and forcibly declared war on Britain and France. The image of Caesar in the new century collapsed in Kafriyani's heart for the first time.

As the chief of staff of the Navy, he could read the most confidential intelligence that Italy had collected. He knew what a powerful force the Italian navy would face. Of course, he was not afraid to fight against powerful enemies. In fact, he had been preparing for this war, but the problem was that everything was just beginning, and the Italian navy was not able to face this serious situation.

In the timetable he set, it would take at least two years for war preparation. Two years later, the Italian Navy will build a powerful fleet with all eight battleships, seven heavy patrols and twenty-six light patrols, which can crush the Mediterranean squadron of any country. Even the opponent's main fleet may not be able to fight, provided that it must receive full support from the Italian Air Force.

But now is definitely not the time to start a war. At this time, the Italian Navy has four old battleships and two new battleships on paper, but two of the former are still undergoing modern modifications. The latter has just entered service and is full of rookies from top to bottom. Although the eight heavy patrols and twelve light patrols have formed combat power, thinking of the larger fleet of cruisers between Britain and France, Kafliani has no confidence to confront it.

He began to feel disgusted with Mussolini's arrogance and ignorance, and he could not accept the fact that it was imposed on the navy, and he could not bear the large fleet he had built up, which was destroyed by the reckless declaration of war by the leader.

But as a kingdom naval officer, he could only obey orders issued by higher authorities, and he could not even make any moves or slander in the middle, because it was related to the responsibilities given to him by the state and also violated his standards for dealing with people.

After the war started, the Italian Navy was indeed working hard to fight. As Mussolini expected, in the early days, due to the restraint of the German Navy, the British and French navies were unable to put their main force into the Mediterranean battlefield, and the Italian Navy did gain some advantage.

However, when the European war ended, Italy alone endured the anger of the navy of the two countries. The performance of the ships of both sides could be made up with technical transformation, but the gap in personnel quality could not be caught up in a short while. After several consecutive small-scale contact wars, the Italian naval officers and soldiers, who were originally confident, finally realized this fact, because every time the teams of both sides fought, the Italian fleet that always failed, which always had an absolute advantage in numbers.

Especially after Germany declared war on Italy, the senior naval officers were no longer thinking about how to win, but how to survive this war that they seemed completely meaningless and to fight for a decent ending for the Italian Kingdom Navy.

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Chapter completed!