Empire Rising: Spain

”Carlo sent a telegram not long ago, stating that Spain is willing to stand by us and support all our decisions.” A smile appeared on Umberto I’s face, perhaps this was the second good news he had heard in days.

As for the other piece of good news, it was Carlo’s first expression of support for the Italian Government.

In other words, Italy’s intervention against France’s invasion of Tunisia did not receive support from other European Powers, which is precisely the current awkward situation for Italy.

Carlo’s actions were a timely help, and they made Umberto I feel even more favorable towards this younger brother.

Upon hearing that Spain was still willing to support Italy, Prime Minister Benedetto Caroli finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This also meant that Italy hadn’t completely failed in this diplomatic conflict. Although France had gained the upper hand, Italy still had a chance to reverse the situation.

”Your Majesty, considering the opinion of our people, I believe we absolutely cannot give up Tunisia; at the very least, we need to reclaim a portion of the land to recover the losses from our investment there.” After a moment of silence, Benedetto Caroli directed an earnest gaze towards Umberto I and proposed.

Umberto I sighed but still expressed his supportive attitude to the Prime Minister: ”I give you full authority to manage this matter; as long as you can recover some losses, at least we can account to the populace.”

Prime Minister Benedetto Caroli nodded, and then his gaze became very determined as he respectfully exited the Royal Palace.

Upon leaving the Royal Palace, Prime Minister Benedetto Caroli reconvened the Italian Cabinet meeting and announced a bold decision—to dispatch troops to Tunisia to occupy places not yet taken by the French, such as the central strongholds Kairouan, Sfax, and the southern city Jergis.

Italy, being the European Country closest to Tunisia, was quite familiar with the situation there.

Italy had even invested in a road directly connecting Tunis City to Ghabs, including connections to Kairouan and Sfax.

Since the French had already occupied Tunis City, Italy could only focus its attention on the central and southern regions of Tunisia.

The good news is that in order to quickly reach a peace agreement with the Tunisian Government, the French did not choose to fully occupy all Tunisian cities, instead prioritizing the attack from Kaf eastward to Tunisia.

It is worth mentioning that to prevent the French from reacting, the Italian Government was only engaging in protests on the surface, seemingly without any other moves, trying to lull the French Government.

Prime Minister Benedetto Caroli secretly dispatched two troops to go separately to the central and southern regions of Tunisia to occupy more land and cities if possible.

After all, the population of Tunisia is only 700,000, the number of people gained is not within the Italian Government’s range of considerations.

As long as a part of the land can be acquired, for the Italian Government, it is not a loss. Having gains can placate the angry Italian populace, and at least won’t lead to the government’s collapse due to public fury.

To preserve his position as Prime Minister, Benedetto Caroli was determined.

Aside from deploying two armies totaling more than thirty thousand soldiers, he also mobilized the Italian Navy to escort these troops.

Even if the Italians were discovered during their landing by the French, there was no worry for these Italian soldiers’ safety with the Navy’s protection.

These armies and naval forces together were sufficient to confront the French forces in Tunisia, buying more time for the Italian Government.

To seize more cities before the French reacted, the Italian Government maintained complete secrecy about its actions, not even notifying Spain.

It was precisely because of this that Carlo found it very curious why the Italian Government did not take any action after learning that France had signed a contract with the Tunisian Government, almost to the point of dispatching intelligence personnel to explore.

However, considering that Tunisia had little relevance to Spain, Carlo dismissed the idea.

Carlo maintained his stance firmly, which was to steadfastly stand behind Italy. If Italy desired to contend with France, Spain would certainly be happy to accompany.

But if Italy wasn’t willing to confront France, Spain couldn’t forcibly pressure Italy into such a confrontation.

Like Carlo, the French Government was also surprised, as they had prepared for the Italian Government to cause a stir, unexpectedly finding Italy’s response to be so calm.

Although the Italian Government had all sorts of protests and even threatened to carry out partial mobilizations in border areas.

But the French Government also understood that such threats from Italy were more like verbal warnings. Unless Italy was conducting comprehensive mobilization domestically, the chances of a war breaking out between them and France were very low.

After all, wars among the Powers require thorough preparation; unless the strength is overwhelmingly superior, whoever is more adequately prepared would have the advantage.

Italy’s overall strength is considerably inferior to France’s, and Italy must be more meticulously prepared to have the qualification to initiate a war with France.

Otherwise, if the Italian Government hastily starts a war, the result waiting for them would just be a one-sided defeat.