Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 340: Combat meeting

Mussolini frowned and folded his hands on his chest, bowed his head and looked at the map on the table. The leader was a little uncertain about whether he should support Badoglio's defense plan. ?

The Po River Plain is absolutely unstoppable. The open and flat fields, dense road network, and a bunch of prosperous but defenseless cities are simply a battlefield tailored for the German blitzkrieg.

He patted his chest to the Italian nationals on the radio last night and promised that the Italian Kings are capable of defending the country's security, and that he and the Fascist National Party he leads will completely smash Steder’s aggressive ambitions.

Mussolini also said in his speech: "Italy defeated the Allies in the World War, and of course it can do the same this time. These arrogant Germans will soon discover that their head of state is ignorant. An idiot. He shamelessly tore up the agreement signed with Italy, ignoring the support and help Italy has always given to Germany, and instead declared war on friendly Italy. Is there any more embarrassing act than this.

It is undeniable that the Germans are indeed very strong, but this time they obviously picked the wrong opponent. Italy is also a strong country. They thought that the Italians would kneel and beg down like cowardly French or British. We have to let those Germans understand that they were completely wrong. The Italians never fear sacrifice. The violence they imposed on the Italian people, we will Go back ten times and a hundred times in revenge.

The Italians must unite and use facts to prove to the world that Italy cannot be frightened. All invaders who dare to set foot on Italian soil will suffer a sad failure. The Kingdom of Italy will not succumb to violence. Italy can fight for as long as the Germans want. In the end, there will be only one victor in this war, that is, Italy, which inherited the glory of the Roman Empire. The brave Italian king's army and the Fascist National Party will dedicate this honor to all Italian people. "

This inspiring speech was also forwarded by the headlines of the newspaper scheduled for the next day, demonstrating to the Italian people and the world the confidence and strength of the Italian government to resist. As a result, before the newspaper was unfolded on the Italian table, the German slapped the leader in the face.

No one knows how panic and helpless Mussolini was this morning. He finally realized that he might have fallen into a trap designed by the Germans. Judging from the performance of the Germans after the war, it is obvious that the blond boy had planned the war for a long time, otherwise the German Army and Air Force would not be able to launch such a large-scale offensive in such a short period of time.

He really should have thought of a way to ease the relationship between the two sides, but because of the face, he gave up time and time again. From the bottom of his heart, he was always reluctant to bow to the "little senior". Mussolini envied the brilliant victory of this "blonde nouveau riche", and at the same time he was greedy for the huge dividends the Germans obtained in the war, and he was even more jealous of the fact that the Germans became European hegemons. In his opinion, at least half of the credit should It belongs to Italy.

In those days, without his support, Germany could not even complete the annexation of Austria. When Germany occupied the Czech Republic and Poland, Italy insisted on siding with Germany. However, when the European War ended, Germany had left its most steadfast ally. Aside. They are not even willing to force France and Britain to surrender to Italy. Mussolini's heart is full of grievances and anger after being betrayed. As for Italy's previous back behavior, in his eyes it is just a small technical problem.

If he knew that the careful German head of state would take advantage of the question, he would never give the German a chance to turn his face. Mussolini really regretted it, but even if he was unwilling to do so, but this is war, not a house wine game. If you lose, you can repent and start over.

"This plan...is it to abandon the troops on the Alpine border?" Mussolini broke the silence in the office.

"Yes, we can only do this for now." Badoglio nodded and replied.

"I know that it is difficult to accept this psychologically. I have personally commanded these soldiers. The soldiers who are currently on the front line are the most elite troops in the army. The soldiers are well-equipped and well-trained, and they are very effective. But the current situation is that the French Army launched an attack on several mountain passes at the same time last night. By this morning, our line of defense no longer exists. The French are driving straight in. They are supported by tanks and aircraft, and our infantry simply cannot Stop the attack of this intensity." Badoglio drew a few arrows on the map where the French broke through.

"Where is our air force? Why not counterattack?" Ciano interrupted.

"This question is very good, Mr. Minister." Bagdoglio finally showed Ciano a smile.

"There is no longer the Royal Italian Air Force in this area. They were bombed by the French at night." Bagdoglio pointed to the map.

"This morning, the remaining troops were attacked by French and German air forces from two directions, and the airport near Milan was heavily bombed. The main force of our air force is still in Albania, where they are also in a very difficult situation. "

"We shouldn't attack Greece." Ziano knew he had made a mistake as soon as he spoke.

"Have you forgotten that you were the biggest supporter at the time, and it has nothing to do with the plan to attack Greece." Mussolini said coldly, with a blade-like look on Ziano’s hair. Scrape around the line.

"The French offensive route is close to the Apennines. Their goal is to cut off the passage of the garrison in the northeast of the Po Plain. As you can see, the Germans are attacking from east to west. Their air force is Attacking the supply lines in this area, the command unit agreed that the troops here will not last long. Now we can only hope that these troops can hold the Germans in the north for one to two days and win the construction of the [Mussolini] defense line. Some time." Badoglio gestured on the map, as if in the eyes of the marshal, these more than ten infantry divisions were just numbers written on paper.

"I see, then please tell me your specific plan, about... [Mussolini] defense." Mussolini loosened the button on the collar of his black shirt. He knew that he didn't have any Too many choices, can only pin their hopes on Badoglio's rich military experience.

Mussolini has only received some basic military training. He is almost a layman for war, but it does not prevent him from pointing to a group of marshals and generals in the war. Anyway, the heavy losses are the generals’ negligence and victory. Thanks to the leader’s guidance.

"Prime Minister, before this, can you allow the generals who participated in this project to be summoned, they have come with me, and are waiting downstairs now." Bagdoglio asked respectfully.

"Is that so?" Mussolini looked up and down Bagdoglio, he was a little dissatisfied with the Marshal's "premeditated".

"They can help you understand this defense plan in more detail." Badoglio answered calmly, still calmly.

"Well, let them come up, and just hold a combat meeting here. Ciano, let people move all these maps to the conference room. Then call the recorders and photographers, I believe this will be a A meeting that can be recorded in the annals of history." Mussolini didn't see anything strange from Badoglio's face, so he was relieved.

The meeting room of the Prime Minister’s Office is rarely used because no one will come here for meetings. Mussolini has eight ministerial positions and he can hold ministerial meetings by himself.

In this ornately decorated conference room, at this moment, there are full of Italian army generals in neat uniforms with medals on their chests.

"The command is scheduled to deploy 20 infantry divisions on this line of defense, and set up the first line of defense on the wings and outposts, such as these important mountain passes. The Apennines are different from the Alps. Our soldiers are better than the Germans. I am more familiar with the environment and climate here. If I can get the support of the armored forces and the air force, I believe my mountain division can stop the German attack on this line of defense." Zhu, the commander of the 16th Pistoia Mountain Infantry Division Lieutenant Sepe Farouki pointed to the military map in the middle of the table and loudly expressed his opinion.

"My infantry division needs to add some personnel and ammunition. It would be better if there were some black shirts to cooperate."

"We can strengthen some defenses in depth at the back, it would be much easier if there were artillery."

"General Zingales, your 10th Motorized Infantry Division has the strongest mobility, so you must be the main force of outpost defense operations."

"We also need a large number of troops to guard the supply lines to prevent the German airborne paratroopers from sabotaging." Then the soldiers began to make their own suggestions.

Looking at the generals who spoke enthusiastically, Mussolini finally felt some confidence. These people were commanders who were directly involved in the battle. They would not make fun of their lives. He began to believe in Pakistan. Doglio can really command these people and stop the Germans from advancing.

This new era Caesar’s hunch was indeed correct. This meeting was indeed recorded in the Italian history in the future~IndoMTL.com~ It’s just that he didn’t expect it at this time to regain his confidence. At the meeting, Bagdoglio and his confidant generals even concealed the real situation from him, and most of them were talking nonsense.

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