My Italy

Chapter 28 The Prime Minister’s Response

When news of the French invasion of Tunisia reached Rome, it immediately caused an uproar. There is no need to mention the importance of Tunisia to Italy. Its investment in Tunisia alone in recent years has reached 578 million lire. This amount of money cannot be lost.

As Prime Minister, Cairoli naturally knew this, so as soon as he got the news, he immediately convened a meeting of cabinet ministers to discuss this matter urgently, which was related to Italy's vital interests.

After all the ministers arrived, Cairoli first introduced the purpose of convening this meeting.

"Everyone, the situation is urgent and I will keep my story short. The French army is now invading Tunisia, and His Highness Bey has extended an invitation to us to mediate his fight with France."

Cairoli's words made many people scratch their heads. They were not fine yesterday, so why did this happen suddenly without any sound?

Seeing that many people don't know the whole story, His Excellency the Prime Minister, who just found out the cause, once again told the reason.

After hearing that this happened because of the war between two tribes in Tunisia and Algeria due to love killings, many people smelled something strange.

He directly expressed his response without waiting for other remarks. "Your Excellency Sforza, now we need to know the attitude of Britain and Germany, and we hope that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can obtain its support as soon as possible. In addition, we must summon the French ambassador as soon as possible to express our dissatisfaction."

Prime Minister Cairoli is still very accurate in seeing the problem. He knows that the only countries that have the ability to stop France are Britain and Germany, so he now needs the support of Britain and Germany. I believe Britain and Germany will not let France capture Tunisia.

It must be said that France did an excellent job of keeping this operation confidential. Until now, Italy still does not know that France has obtained the support of Britain and Germany.

Of course, he did not place all his hopes on the support of the two countries.

After giving instructions to the Foreign Secretary, he immediately gave instructions to the military representative, the Minister of War, General Saraguet. "Your Majesty General, now I need to express Italy's attitude, so your military must also respond."

"Prime Minister, please give the order."

Admiral Saraget, who had commanded several battles in the Unification War and fought in every battle, was certainly not an idiot. France's invasion of Tunisia is too harmful to Italy. As Italy's sword, the military will certainly not back down. If there is any hesitation at this time, otherwise if there is any problem in the future, then the board is likely to hit the military.

"Okay, I'll say it directly. I hope your military can gather troops towards the French border to exert pressure and influence. In addition, the navy will mobilize warships and transport ships to make a gesture of supporting Tunisia. Of course, before there is an order, The military must not take the initiative to attack. Even if it is attacked, it must report to Rome as soon as possible."

Although Cairoli's words sounded very discouraging, they received the inner support of everyone present. The people present are all high-level Italians. They are not young and they know the huge gap between Italy and France. Although Italy is known as the new great power, they know exactly what they are.

To put it bluntly, with Italy's current strength, as long as a full-scale war breaks out with France, it will only be beaten. Regardless of population, industry, or national influence, Italy is no match for France, even if it is compared to agricultural Italy, the gap is not small.

Therefore, as Prime Minister, Cairoli has a very clear idea, which is to flex his muscles and let France know that it is not easy to mess with, and then rely on the support of other countries to make France give up its invasion of Tunisia.

Of course, in order for France to retreat before the difficulties, these alone are not enough.

I saw him continue. "Your Excellency Medici, I hope you can mobilize newspapers and other public opinion to report France's invasion of Tunisia, hoping to arouse the resonance of the people."

This time he named Interior Minister Medici. Since France is strong, it must work hard to show off its biggest muscles, otherwise he, the prime minister, will step down by then. Although there is a risk that it will be difficult to step down if public opinion is mobilized, it is impossible to hide this matter from the people. Instead of the government being criticized when the time comes, it is better to spread the news first.

Of course, if he doesn't handle it well then, he will definitely suffer a lot of infamy. But that was that sentence. No matter what, he was forced into a corner by France's move. We cannot let France withdraw from Tunisia, and we have to step down. We can no longer care about the infamy.

In fact, Cairoli didn't say a word. If France really occupied Tunisia, the loss of 578 million lire would be enough to make the creditors who invested in it tear themselves apart. Being able to retreat safely by then is considered the best outcome. Of course, if he wants to do something that no one wants to see, it is also impossible. Don't forget, he is just the prime minister, not the king. It is much easier to change the prime minister than the king.

Of course, he still feels that these alone are not enough, and relying solely on the help of the people, the army, and other countries is still not enough. Thinking that this was a person who suddenly came to his mind, it seemed that he must be invited to come out to let France see Italy's determination.

Without further ado, he continued to name names. "Besides, this is not enough. We need a hero to stand up and lead the fight against the French invasion of Tunisia."

Everyone present is not an idiot. Since he is a hero, he must be convincing. No one present now has this ability, or in other words, none of them can convince the people across the country.

Of course, there are smart people who have already thought of candidates, and Finance Minister Jagali said at this time. "Prime Minister, are you talking about the one on Caprera Island?"

"That's right."

Facing the words of the finance minister, Cairoli did not deny it at all. I saw him continue. "I plan to invite Garibaldi to come out,

Let him lead the people and let the French know our unwillingness to surrender. "

As soon as Garibaldi was asked to come out, the scene immediately fell silent. No one present wanted to go to Caprera Island. Even though they praised Garibaldi so highly, considering his attitude towards the republic, no one was willing to go.

Seeing everyone who was speechless, Cairoli felt a flash of displeasure in his heart. Since no one wanted to see Garibaldi, he could only name them.

"Your Excellency Gulits, this time it is up to you to invite Garibaldi on behalf of the government."

"As you command, Prime Minister."

The Minister of Commerce and Trade who was assigned this task could only admit it, but in his heart he thought it was revenge on himself. Absolutely, this is revenge for my previous excuse for not being able to integrate into their circle.

Later, the Prime Minister discussed some other details and then adjourned the meeting.

Regarding the news of France's invasion of Tunisia, the government was not the only one who received the news. As the king of Italy, Carlo also received the news.

"how so?"

Carlo was equally surprised by the news, and he couldn't help but complain to the captain of the guard who sent the news.

In fact, he knew that Tunisia would be occupied by France, but he had no way to do it before he took power. Italy itself does not have the strength to compete with France, and since he has not done much research on this period of history, he naturally does not know when Tunisia was occupied by France.

But to say that this incident had no impact on him would be just joking. However, he still needs to think hard about how to maximize his own interests.

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