Chapter 251: The King and Caesar
Mediterranean Sea.
During the British surprise attack, the Italian fleet launched its own naval offensive against Marseille.
The results were insignificant.
Because the French fleet had received an advance warning, only a portion of its ships remained berthed. The other battleships and cruisers had already spread out across the Mediterranean, engaging the Italian Navy in a series of artillery exchanges.
At first, the battle fell into a stalemate, with both sides suffering damage.
The Italian naval commander believed British support would arrive within twenty minutes.
However, half an hour passed, and the British never appeared.
Instead, the German fleet and the French North African Mediterranean Fleet surrounded them from all directions.
The airstrike launched from the German aircraft carrier directly damaged one battleship and sank two cruisers. The remaining ships could only retreat to port in disgrace.
Although the loss was not enormous in absolute terms, it was almost devastating to Mussolini's authority.
The failures in the Balkans and Greece could still be blamed on the officer corps and the inefficiency of the War Department.
But this time was different.
This operation had been personally decided by Mussolini.
To put it simply, in the eyes of many Italian capitalist oligarchs, Workers' Party members, and naval officers, Mussolini now looked like a senile fool whose blind trust in the British had caused heavy losses to the Italian Navy.
After two weeks of fermentation, the incident spread rapidly to Emmanuel III's ears like a lit fuse.
And with the exposure of Britain's failed Operation Black Lion, the king's resolve hardened even further.
As King of Italy, Emmanuel III had been more like a puppet emperor during Mussolini's rule.
But that did not mean he lacked legal authority.
Rome.
Emmanuel III's private palace.
Former Chief of the General Staff Pietro and representatives from several major pro-German interest groups were all present in the conference room.
As a true Italian officer who had fought against the Germans, Pietro understood very well that the German tanks lined up on the border were not there for decoration.
Although he did not know why they had not attacked yet, he knew it was only a matter of time.
More importantly, he had seen Britain's exhaustion after the failure of its naval plan.
The British Army would absolutely not be able to reinforce Italy in the short term.
If he were the German Chief of the General Staff, he would seize this opportunity without hesitation and order an attack on Italy.
Although the Alps could obstruct the German Army's advance to a certain extent, the situation at sea was far worse.
Without British naval support, Italy's naval power in the Mediterranean was already at a disadvantage.
Once France recovered and joined Germany in organizing a landing operation, Italy would have no chance of resisting.
That was why Pietro had attended this secret meeting.
He could already smell the crisis closing in on Italy.
As for the representatives of the major interest groups, their reasons were not military, but economic.
They feared that a German attack would strip them of all property, seize their factories, and reduce everything they owned to bargaining chips on a victor's table.
If Britain had won the naval battle and truly supported the Mediterranean instead of using deception, they might have leaned toward London.
But the present situation had already proven that Britain was unreliable.
Instead of waiting every day in fear of a German attack, it would be better to organize a coup, remove Mussolini, and negotiate peace with Germany.
Emmanuel III's reasons were political and social.
From the moment Mussolini began persecuting ethnic Germans, the king had never truly supported racial oppression and massacre.
He feared that once Italy was defeated, Germany would unleash a bloodbath in retaliation.
He feared even more that German tanks and aircraft would flatten Italian cities, destroy infrastructure, ruin railways and factories, and drag Italian industry and agriculture back to the level of the previous century.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Emmanuel spoke first.
"Gentlemen, you all know the purpose of this meeting, so I will not waste time explaining it. Tell me your thoughts."
Pietro spoke first.
"Your Majesty, I believe we should arrange a secret meeting with Germany as soon as possible and make it clear that Italy still has other voices."
"At worst, we can return the Austro-Hungarian territories annexed after the Great War. After all, the Austro-Hungarian issue has always been one of Germany's main propaganda justifications for war."
"If we compromise first, we can create considerable room for negotiation."
Emmanuel III frowned when he heard the words ceding territory.
No king wished to lose land during his reign.
That was an indelible stain.
Noticing the king's conflicted expression, Pietro added, "Your Majesty, taking the initiative to reach a peace agreement with them often allows us to receive a better price."
"If war begins, the nature of the matter changes entirely. France is the best example."
"If we sign a peace treaty only after military defeat, then it is very possible that we will lose all of northern Italy, perhaps everything north of Rome."
After hearing this proposal, Emmanuel III did not immediately reveal his stance.
Instead, he turned to the representatives of capital and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
The two businessmen in suits exchanged glances.
Then the taller one spoke first.
"We support General Pietro's view. If war breaks out, the Italian Air Force will most likely be unable to contend with the German Air Force. Furthermore, many countries in the Balkans already have military agreements with Germany."
"If Germany signals an attack, those countries will respond."
"At that time, Italy will face an all-out offensive. Our industry and agriculture will be devastated. Factories, including civilian factories, may all face the fate of becoming ruins."
Emmanuel III took a sip of black tea, using its warmth to dispel the distracting thoughts in his mind.
Then he nodded.
"I will contact the Spanish royal family and ask them to establish a communication bridge with the German royal family. We need to create space and time for negotiation."
"But I have one more request."
His gaze swept across everyone present.
"There must be a detailed plan for dealing with Mussolini."
Seeing that the king's attitude aligned with theirs, Pietro seized the opportunity and made his request.
"Your Majesty, there is one small matter where we need your help."
"We hope you can contact Grandi, the Speaker of the Corporations Council, and have him draft a proposal to convene a Grand Council meeting."
"Under pressure, Mussolini will certainly agree."
"At that time, he will definitely come to Rome."
Pietro's voice became low and cold.
"And we will give him the ending of Caesar."
.....
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