by Hall, Gerald
“The Americans did offer loans. But a lot of Europe did not want to accept the conditions that the Americans placed upon acceptance of those loans. Still, a lot of American private and corporate investors did put millions of dollars back into our economy. That is the only reason that we have been able to rebuild as much as we have.”
“The Americans own controlling interests in the Italian companies like Fiat that they invested in after the war, however. The post-war Italian government passed legislation that barred nationalization of foreign investments in order to draw in investors like the Americans. That makes us very different from the French since they do not want to allow ownership of their companies by foreigners.”
“Yes. You are correct. But the Americans weren’t they only foreign investors that came in after the war. We also had some English and especially Australian money that also helped keep our economy afloat just as it was about to collapse after the end of the war. If they felt that they could have lost their entire investments because of a chance in the government in Rome, they probably would not have risked their money on us, I would imagine.”
“You’re right, I’m sure. I suppose that we should be grateful for their help. But it still bothers me that we are in that position to be forced to rely upon others to keep us from being homeless, unemployed and starving.”
“That is the past now. It has been about a decade since the end of the war in Europe. Now that we have most of our cities rebuilt, it’s time for us to truly rebuild our national defense. We have been relying for too long upon the good wishes of the British that they would defend us and the Germans that they would not try to annex us.”
“The French are rebuilding as well. They also spent most of the past decade rebuilding their cities after the war. But they also had to rebuild their industries as well. The Germans had stripped many of the French factories before leaving of their heavy machinery. That required purchasing replacement equipment from the Americans before the French could get their factories running again.”
“I expect that the American machines were probably superior to what the French had been accustomed to. We purchased industrial machinery after the end of the war from the Americans also. I have heard that our workers were very pleased with them.
But the French have begun to rebuild their military now that they have the capability to do so. Some of this involved purchasing war surplus aircraft and armored vehicles from several different nations. The French navy has been reconstructed using largely indigenous assets and designs. There is one noteworthy exception that we have learned of.
Apparently, the French captured several German-built jet fighters during the Suez operation from the Egyptians. One of the French aviation companies, possibly Dassault, is supposed to be reverse-engineering these aircraft. That would enable the French to build a modified version for their military. Still, the French Navy is the darling of their nation at this time.”
“I would imagine that the French Navy would get the lion’s share of their military budget. They seemed to be the most successful branch of their military in the eyes of the French people because of the Navy’s exploits during the war. Who would have imagined that they would have defied their leaders in Paris to sail their fleet into the teeth of the Marine Militare in order to break through and join the English Fleet at Alexandria? The sacrifice that those sailors made gave the French back their pride, even if only for a short while. There is also the matter of the French Fleet in the Far East and their operations against the Japanese. Those two areas were probably the only real bright spots in the entire war for France.
So the French Navy has a battleship, a battlecruiser, three aircraft carriers, one heavy cruiser, a few light cruisers and nearly thirty destroyers. Most of those destroyers are now quite modern, having been built after the end of the war. Even though the war is over and we have a peace treaty between us, the French fleet could still be a threat to us if the political situation changes.
“There are other threats around us that we must be concerned with that are far more dangerous than the French, mio amico. Besides Mussolini and his ambitions towards empire are both long dead as is the likelihood that we will be fighting the French in the foreseeable future. We are much more likely to be joining forces with the French to combat threats to our common interests within the Mediterranean. Greece remains impotent militarily, but there are certainly threats to the south and east of us that we must now consider.
“You speak of the Arabs and Turks, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. While the English and French managed to maintain control of the Suez Canal, the Egyptians are still very angry about the situation. They definitely want to take the canal back. At the same time, we lost all of our control over Libya. As a result, virtually the entire coast of North Africa opposite the Mediterranean is hostile to our interests.”
“You worry that the Arabs will return to old habits of attacking merchant shipping in the Mediterranean, I think. I worry about that also. Even if the Arabs are not able to buy a significant number of warships from one of the countries that is selling their surplus vessels, there are so many heavy weapons for sale that someone could easily arm a merchant ship with concealed weapons. The Germans did this very well during the war, even with the Royal Navy actively hunting these floating predators.”
“That is true. The Turks used to have that old German battlecruiser in the navy before we and the French sank her. That took away a lot of raw firepower from the Turkish Navy that stemmed from that battlecruiser’s eleven-inch guns.
Our successful attack may be part of the reason why the secular government that had been established by Mustafa Kemal was being superseded by a much more Islamist political movement. The pride of the Turks had to have been greatly offended. This combined with the success of the new State of Israel probably prompted the rapid growth of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the area.”
“The Yavuz was certainly powerful compared to a heavy cruiser. But the Turks would have had a very difficult time modernizing that old warship to give her adequate antiaircraft defenses, especially in view of modern jet-powered strike aircraft that are joining the ranks of so many air forces. Yavuz’s inadequate air defenses contributed greatly to her loss.”
“Perhaps that is why the Turks are in negotiations with the Germans to have several modern cruisers and destroyers built for the Turkish Navy?”
“The rumors are true, Signore?”
“Yes, mio amico. The worst part is that these new German-built warships could be armed with these new guided missiles. At this point, we have very few warships capable of escorting our capital ships to protect them from such a threat. The war was very destructive to our lighter forces in addition to the toll that it took upon our battleships.”
“So what are we going to do to counter them? If the Turks get these new warships, who else in the Mediterranean will also purchase such advanced vessels? The Egyptians have already purchased jet-propelled warplanes. It is only a matter of time before their navy and the naval forces of other Arab nations will also purchase warships similar in sophistication to those being purchased by the Turks.”
“We do have plans already underway to address this potential threat. But we are seeking to overwhelm enemy forces with large numbers of smaller, but still very capable warships. The companies Ansaldo and Terni are working with a foreign partner currently to design and produce such a vessel. Once the prototype of this warship has been launched, tested and perfected, then we are planning to build them in significant numbers.”
“Do you have any details on what this design will look like yet, Signore?”
“Some, mio amico. Of course, the final details will not be settled for some time still. At this time, this new escort ship is supposed to displace approximately fifteen-hundred metric tons. On the surface, it would appear to the average person that this ship will be very lightly armed. The ship’s main gun armament will be the same 9 centimeter guns that the Littorio-class battleshi
ps use for their primary antiaircraft battery. It is my understanding that these guns are going to be fitted with automatic loaders to significantly increase their rate of fire, however. The Aquila and Impero are each also going to be armed with eight of these modernized guns also.
Getting back to the details of these proposed new escorts. They will initially also be armed with eight torpedo tubes in two traversing quadruple racks. Eventually, the aft bank of torpedoes would be replaced by a traversing triple box launcher for an indigenous Italian anti-ship cruise missile. Campini had been working on such a design during the war. In many ways, it was more advanced than what the Germans had created though there were some issues with fuel storage. The aft bank of torpedo tubes is expected to be used primarily to launch anti-submarine homing torpedoes rather than conventional antiship models.
However, what few people outside of the Italian naval design bureaus know is that these ships are meant to serve in a different role than the destroyers of the past. Their first role is as fast ASW and anti-aircraft escorts. To this end, they are going to carry a heavy array of lighter anti-aircraft guns along with a modern anti-submarine detection and attack suite.
The current design is for the ship to carry a pair of the 65 millimeter antiaircraft gun and several lighter automatic cannons. But with all of the problems that our engineers have been dealing with on this weapon, I have been told that it is highly likely that it will be replaced with the 57 millimeter automatic cannon that the Australian and British navies are currently using. Its performance is certainly more than adequate for the job.
The ship will be propelled primarily by marine diesel engines for cruising. But they will be supplemented by one of those new gas turboshaft engines when high speeds are required. Initially, the design teams at Ansaldo and Terni were going to drive two shafts with electric motors powered by a combination of two diesel engines and the turboshaft. But because of weight and cost problems, the naval architects have simply decided to add a third driveshaft to the ship that is connected to the turboshaft by a reduction gearbox or possibly using what is essentially a large water pumpjet.”
“This new ship sounds very intriguing, I must admit. Is there anything else that you have heard about it, Signore?”
“Only that one or two of the main guns on each ship may be replaced by a launched antiaircraft guided missiles in a future refit if our navy can afford it.
One other thing is that our coastal forces are expected to also be modernized with a new class of small ocean-going escort ships. They displace about five hundred tons and are powered by four large diesel engines. These fast ships are armed with one or two of the same medium automatic cannons that the new destroyers are scheduled to carry, a six-barrel 20mm Breda or one of those new Australian 25mm gatling guns and a pair of new anti-ship guided missiles. The escorts could also carry depth charges or a small antisubmarine rocket launcher. A six hundred and fifty ton variant of this ship will carry one of the 65mm guns, one of the 90mm dual purpose mounts and add another pair of anti-ship missiles.”
“These plans match up well with our existing shipbuilding facilities. We do not have many slips where we can build large warships. But there are many smaller shipbuilders who have the ability to build lighter warships like these coastal escort vessels.”
“The question is then whether or not we can afford these new ships while retaining our two battleships, the carriers Aquila and Imperio, the four modernized Capitani Romani-class light cruisers and the two Garibaldi-class light cruisers.”
“If we can, perhaps we can form a pair of battle groups, each centered around a Littorio and an aircraft carrier, supported by a couple of light cruisers, several destroyers and perhaps a submarine or two. Maybe we can get a little help from an outside group, whether a foreign nation or a large company? There has to be someone else out there who is also interested in keeping the Turks at bay while gaining a new business partner.”
Chapter Six:
The Kremlin
Moscow, Russian Republic
January 6 , 1955
The man who been the President of the Russian Republic after the war, Vladimir Ivanovich Tupolev, had left the office after spending eight years there. But he had been replaced in the following election by his protégé Peter Rossovich Sidorov. The two men shared the same political philosophy and continued to work to regain what they felt was Russia’s proper place in the world.
But while Peter Sidorov was now the President of the Russian Republic, the old bear Andre Novonnoski remained the nation’s defense minister. These two men sat in Peter’s office along with the recently appointed Russian Minister of Industry, Nicholai Lebedev and the head of Russian Intelligence Sergei Yahontov.
The faint smell of cigar smoke hung in the air as the four men talked. When some vodka had been consumed during the meeting, none of the participants had drunk enough to be intoxicated at all.
“Tovarisch, I am very pleased that you were able to survive the debacle of the campaign in Manchuria while retaining your position.” Nicholai told the old defense minister.
“I have many friends here in Moscow fortunately. Who would have thought that the Chinese forces would have been led from the front lines by someone as brave and talented as General George Patton? He had also trained his Chinese subordinate commanders very well. After learning of Patton’s death, they proceeded to redouble their efforts to push our forces completely out of Chinese territory.
It did not help that Marshal Zhukov managed to get himself killed at his command post by Chinese rockets. That caused much confusion within our ranks. Naturally, Zhukov’s failure to ensure that the operational plans were continued even after his death did not help. The late Marshal ended up being assigned with the blame for the defeat as a result.”
“I see. We must assign responsibility for failure where it is due, of course.” Nicholai pointedly remarked with an expression that made Andre bristle.
“We have much to discuss today. That means that we have no time to waste squabbling for any reason, including what happened to your son in Manchuria, Nicholai. Our own nation has to continue to recover from the war, the abuses at the hands of the Bolsheviks and reaffirm itself as a nation whose needs must be respected by the rest of the world.”
“I apologize, Sir. You are correct in that we need to focus on the needs of the Motherland’s future rather than the sorrows of her past.” Nicholai respectfully replied with a nod.
“I agree, Sir.”
“Very good. Now that the Kulak’s are back out at their farms and growing food instead of attempting to fulfill an unrealistic State quota, we are actually growing enough food to feed our own people, I understand.”
“Da, Sir. They are.”
“That is excellent news. We need to continue rebuilding our other parts of our economy, especially our industrial sector. We still have considerable mineral wealth that we have been extensively mining and selling on the world market to earn hard currency. The Italians have helped us considerably with technical support in rebuilding our industry. Our growing hard currency reserves have paid for that support.” Nicholai explained.
“The Italian firms of Ansaldo and Terni have signed a co-production agreement with the Australian conglomerate of Cavill Industries for a variety of different products. There are at least two more Italian firms who have also entered into co-production agreements with Cavill Industries.” Sergei informed the others.
“That is the company that hired the German rocket scientists to help them launch artificial satellites into space, isn’t it?” Andre asked.
“Da, it is. At least according to my sources, they are not building ballistic missiles like they did for the Nazis.” Sergei responded.
“Perhaps we can use this connection to the Italians as an opportunity to obtain samples of the advanced technology that the Australians are selling to the Italians? We could ask to send a technical team of engineers to Italy to assist in other matters, armored vehicle design or artillery fo
r example. It would be a relatively simple matter for our people to expand their areas of interest.”
“An alliance with Italy would serve us well. They fear the Turks just as we do. The battle at the gates of Vienna against the Turkish hordes remains an essential part of Italian history. The Italians are also not particularly fond of the Germans either after what happened at the end of the war in Europe.
An alliance with Italy may not necessarily have be a military one. It could instead be one of shared interests and economic relationships. After all, we have worked with the Italians before regarding Russian military designs. Many of our early battleship designs had a strong Italian influence, in fact.” Peter told the others.
“This is true. But the Italian military still has so many shortcomings from the destruction that it suffered even though it has been about a decade since the end of the war.” The intelligence chief said.
“What can you tell us about the current state of the Italian military, Sergei?” Peter then asked.
“The Italians were never at the leading edge of military technology in any particular category even at the beginning of the war. There were a few exceptions we have learned about including a guided anti-ship missile design that was being worked on during the war. But Italy still has a reputation for excellence in automobile and engine design.
However, Italian industry and critical infrastructure was basically destroyed as a result of the conflict at the same time that their military was defeated by the Allies in North Africa, the Mediterranean and in the air. Most of their navy has been decimated. They still have a pair of the Littorio-class battleships in service, though they spend most of their time in port due to a lack of fuel. The Italians also have the aircraft carrier Aquila and the incomplete hull of the Italia-class fast battleship Impero that is in the process of being converted into a second aircraft carrier. All of the other Italian capital ships were destroyed during the war.