I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

"You know, we are winning!" General Winter said, but his voice sounded somewhat hollow.

From the beginning, General Winter had prepared to persuade Italy to join the Allies from three directions:

First, Italy had conflicts of interest with Austria-Hungary, such as Austria-Hungary's occupation of Italy's Trentino Province.

Second, the Allies would recognize all the territories Italy captured from Germany or Austria-Hungary during the battle.

Third, the Central Powers were fighting on multiple fronts - the Western Front, the Eastern Front, at sea, and in Gelibolu - making them appear disheveled and defeated.

The first two points were no problem; San Lino generously expressed agreement.

But the third point...

"We still have our doubts about this, General Winter." San Lino did not conceal his concerns: "The Central Powers indeed are fighting on multiple fronts, but they have stabilized the Western Front and are gaining the upper hand on the Eastern Front. As for the Gelibolu front..."

San Lino closed his mouth, knowing that General Winter was the frontline commander of the Gelibolu campaign, and it was currently in turmoil.

"Once your country joins the war, the situation will immediately change." General Winter said confidently, "These fronts have already exhausted the Central Powers' forces. According to our intelligence, Austria-Hungary has deployed less than 100,000 troops on the border with your country. You can easily crush them and bring about their collapse."

Italy could mobilize at least a million troops. A million against 100,000 - how could there be any reason not to win?

General Winter thought this would be the first domino to topple the Central Powers!

But San Lino was still hesitant. It wasn't that he lacked confidence in the Italian army.

Even with no confidence, a tenfold advantage in troops would pose no problem.

The issue was, if Italy won here but Gelibolu or the Eastern Front lost, Italy would face a frenzied backlash from Germany and Austria-Hungary for joining the Allies, which Italy did not wish to see.

After much deliberation, San Lino responded, "I agree with you, but we need to consider many issues, General. I will do my best to persuade them."

Typical diplomatic rhetoric, General Winter sighed inwardly, meaning there was still no substantive progress. They had still decided to wait and see.

...

Back on the "Queen Elizabeth," General Winter truthfully reported the course of the negotiations to the Minister of the Navy.

He couldn't help but complain in the telegram: "I don't understand what they are waiting for. Join the war and then win; it's so simple, but they just don't want to."

"Precisely because they're worried they can't win, General," the Minister of the Navy replied, "They want to know they are on the right side."

The Minister of the Navy understood this political relationship of interests well.

"Of course, they're on the right side." General Winter replied, "Isn't that obvious?"

The Minister of the Navy did not answer.

General Winter's words were subjective. From an objective perspective, the outcome was still uncertain at this time.

In the end, General Winter sighed helplessly and asked, "What should we do next? Continue negotiating with them?"

The Minister of the Navy considered for a moment and replied, "No, negotiations will be useless. We must show them the hope of victory. Only by doing so can we make them abandon their hesitation and decide to join us!"

"But..." General Winter said with difficulty, "We are in a stalemate on all fronts."

General Winter had to admit this, and the Gelibolu battlefield was no exception.

The Minister of the Navy quickly reviewed all the fronts in his mind:

Expecting Russia to break the deadlock was impossible. As long as they could protect themselves before the Dardanelles Strait was opened, it would be good enough.

Gelibolu had been trying but to little effect.

Decisive victory at sea was also unachievable. The Royal Navy's strategy was still to blockade, and active attacks could lead to heavy losses.

That left only one option: the Western Front.

A brilliant idea struck the Minister of the Navy, and he immediately sent a telegram to General Winter: "We need Shire, General. We need him to secure a high-profile, attention-grabbing victory!"

General Winter instantly understood; even a victory lasting just a few days could potentially win Italy over to the Allies.

...

On Berlin Wilhelm Street, Fajin Han, located at the General Staff Headquarters, also received some information about Italy.

"Their intentions are clear," Colonel Moritz said, holding a document that recorded a secret investigation of Italy: "They have secretly contacted Allied military personnel and repeatedly demanded that Austria-Hungary return Trentino."

Fajin Han coldly "hmmed."

Although Italy did not explicitly say so, their demand to return Trentino at this time implicitly meant: If you do not give me some benefits, don't blame me for joining the Allies!

This was a tricky problem.

If Trentino was in Germany's hands, Fajin Han might choose to use it to stabilize this "fake ally."

The problem was it was in Austria-Hungary's hands, and Austria-Hungary was unwilling.

If forced to make Austria-Hungary hand it over, the result would be attracting Italy but hurting Austria-Hungary's feelings, which was no different from abandoning the greater for the lesser.

"We can't do that," Fajin Han murmured.

Once this precedent was set, Italy would make excessive demands time and time again until the Central Powers fragmented.

However, what to do now?

Although Italy had not played a role, at least it had not joined the Allies!

After considering for a while, Fajin Han made a judgment: "We need a victory, a high-profile victory."

Colonel Moritz "hmmmed"; he initially did not understand the connection between victory and this matter.

But after a brief consideration, he understood. Italy would not be foolish enough to join the losing Allies, and this could stabilize them.

"Yes, General." Colonel Moritz agreed, but then asked with difficulty, "But how can we achieve a high-profile victory?"

Fajin Han pondered for a moment and asked, "How is the training of our new aircraft going?"

Colonel Moritz replied anxiously, "The pilots have only undergone two weeks of training, which may not be enough to participate in the battle..."

"Have them ready for combat," Fajin Han interrupted him, "We have no time, nor the conditions to wait!"

This was a political and strategic necessity, and tactics must unconditionally obey, no matter how difficult.

"And 'Upper Silesia'," Fajin Han said.

"But General, it hasn't had any testing done..."

"Let the battlefield test it!" Fajin Han interrupted Colonel Moritz again, "That is its destiny!"

(The image above shows the "Upper Silesia," a light tank designed by Germany at the end of World War I. Unfortunately, Germany took the wrong direction with tanks in history, focusing on producing super heavy tanks, so this tank never saw the battlefield by the end of the war.)