Chapter 296 Taking Venice
"I'm sorry, everyone, we in Mozambique are very sensitive about this matter and will not open the port. This is related to Mozambique's security issues."
"In other words, there is no need to discuss this matter! We just hope that you can provide the port for economic development, and the personnel can operate completely under your supervision, and it will not involve your safety issues."
The receptionist in Mozambique shook his head and said: "You should go back! This is the governor's decision."
The East African diplomats looked at each other. It seemed that the new governor of Mozambique was indeed not easy to deal with, but there was nothing they could do. In this case, they could only go back and report the situation first.
Mozambique did not agree to the port leasing issue, which was not surprising to the East African government. It had not expected Mozambique to agree, and it was entirely with the attitude of giving it a try.
If you think about it from another country's perspective, if a country were to ask East Africa to open its market, East Africa itself would not agree. Of course, leasing a port and opening its market are definitely different, but the principles are similar.
East Africa completely understands the Portuguese. After all, the Portuguese have been treated like this by the British before, and they will definitely not let down their guard.
…
In the blink of an eye, it’s December.
Archduke Albrecht, the supreme commander of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has finally begun the final battle against the Kingdom of Italy. It is definitely not an option to drag it on forever. Venice has been besieged for several months, and more than half of the population has left. Some of them have gone to East Africa. , some went to South America, and some ran to surrounding areas. Now that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's goal has been achieved as a whole, the war cannot be delayed to prevent changes.
"Attack across the board!"
As the order was issued, artillery fire resumed throughout Italy. Heavy artillery mobilized from the rear of the Austro-Hungarian Empire violently bombarded the city defenses of Venice, and the pressure on the Venetian defenders increased sharply.
On the same day, the Austro-Hungarian allied forces in the Lombardy region also launched a large-scale attack on Lombardy. The expeditionary force, which had detoured back to the Papal State for rest, and the Papal State army also steadily advanced towards Florence for the second time.
The Kingdom of Naples did not take large-scale actions, mainly to guard against Sicily in the south. The Sicilian people were not interested in the Kingdom of Naples and did not want to restore the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies and live together.
Due to the internal instability of the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Naples did not join the war, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also agreed.
Although Sicily is still under the rule of the Kingdom of Italy, as long as the Kingdom of Naples and the Papal State exist, their communication can only rely on the Mediterranean. Even if this enclave does not break away from the Kingdom of Italy in the future, it is highly likely to demand autonomy.
In the past few months when the Austro-Hungarian Empire stopped its offensive, the Kingdom of Italy was not unprepared. Apart from the trouble of dealing with the annoying fly of the expeditionary force, the Kingdom of Italy was generally able to maintain order.
Taking advantage of this gap, Emmanuel II once again asked the British for help. This time the British did not refuse. A large amount of military aid was directed to Italy. The British did not want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to easily defeat Italy. The Franco-Prussian War was a foregone conclusion unless A figure like Napoleon appeared again to save France in times of crisis, but the chance was extremely low, so the British began to free up their hands to curb the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Italy.
"The Austro-Hungarian Empire is not as terrible as imagined. The achievements they made before were just a sudden attack after long planning, which caused us heavy losses in the early stage. However, based on the results of the battle between the two sides in the past few months, we can clearly see that the soldiers of the Kingdom Such progress." said the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Italy.
It is an objective fact that the Kingdom of Italy's military strength has improved, but it is also a fact that the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not exert force in the past few months.
This resulted in a very interesting result. Although in the Venice area, the Italian side was losing troops and generals and reducing its land every day, the Italian military did receive good news frequently.
Especially after Venice was besieged, its allies and kingdoms still vowed: "The Austro-Hungarian Empire is at the end of its strength. With Venice's fortifications, it can completely defend Venice as a bridgehead without losing it."
The reason why the Italian military reported this was because they had not been hurt yet. Except for the first moment of the war, the intensity of the Austro-Hungarian offensive quickly dropped, causing the main Italian force to slowly shrink and finally be squeezed into the small city of Venice. .
At the same time, the Kingdom of Italy organized another 100,000 troops in the rear with the assistance of the British. Therefore, in this war, various countries judged that the Austro-Hungarian Empire may not be able to win. Although the overall strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was stronger, with the British Italy, with the support of people, may be able to complete the pushback.
However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire at this time was not the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, and its army and naval generals were not the kind of dim-witted and incompetent people, but two recognized world-famous generals, Archduke Albrecht and von Te Getthoff.
Therefore, the current Austro-Hungarian army is still on the line among the great powers, and it will not be as difficult as in the previous life to defeat Serbia.
Albrecht strengthened the Italian Army on land, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy also began to harass the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia as well as the mainland.
The restoration of the Kingdom of Naples ensured that it had a place to dock for supplies in the waters west of Italy.
Facing Albrecht's final battle, the Kingdom of Italy felt pressure from the beginning. Many fronts began to be in a hurry, and Venice, a solid bridgehead, was not as strong as they imagined.
Under the bombardment of multiple rounds of artillery fire, a gap was quickly opened in the Venetian defense line, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire entered the Venetian area and began street fighting with the Italian Army.
Under normal circumstances, as a local fighting party, Italy should have an advantage in street fighting in Venice.
But this time was different, because the enemies of the Italian Army were not only the Austro-Hungarian Army, but also the local citizens of Venice.
After the Austro-Hungarian army entered Venice, they immediately won the support of the Venetian people, led the way, assisted in the battle, and shot behind the Italian army.
As for why the Venetians did this, it was because the Venetian people had already had enough patience with the so-called Kingdom of Italy.
The dignitaries of Venice took the opportunity to make a fortune from the national crisis in Venice. However, they had been misbehaving in Venice for several months, but they turned the blame on the Italian Army.
The small city of Venice was crowded with nearly 100,000 Italian army troops, which consumed a huge amount of food. Coupled with the government's exploitation, it can be said that the citizens of Venice were gradually collapsing.
It was okay to say that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had not invaded before. The moment the Austro-Hungarian Empire entered Venice, the anger of the people that had been pent up for several months completely exploded.
With the help of Venetian citizens, the Austro-Hungarian Empire gained an advantage in the street fighting. The already low morale of the Italian Army collapsed instantly after being stabbed in the back. Venice was completely captured on the first day.