Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 460: The Fall of Rome (End)

"There is no time. Move all the remaining documents to the garden and burn them." The secretary of the palace put some of the documents he considered the most important into a portable filing cabinet, and then threw the key to the confidential room At the desk.

"Please, sir, can you take them with you." The secretary Miss Rosana's voice was crying.

"The car can't hold so many people, don't worry, the Germans won't embarrass them." Count Berlande stretched out his hand and patted his lover's cheek lightly. Several court guards pushed their carts into the confidential room and began to carry documents out in bundles.

The charming and charming female secretaries on weekdays are like a group of frightened deer standing in the corner of the room in a panic. The timidity has begun to sob softly.

"Ladies, don't stand stupidly, you are all fired, let's run for your own lives." After the count said, he picked up the filing cabinet and dragged Rosana out of the room in a hurry.

There has been a chaos in the Quirinale Palace. I don’t know where the problem is. The high command did not inform the king of the German entry into the city. When they discovered the mistake, the German tank troops had already moved in. At the Roman Arena.

The vanguard of Germany was less than two kilometers away from the palace. After learning this news, Emmanuel III almost suffered a heart attack on the spot. The king has no strength to talk nonsense. All he can do now is to escape as soon as possible. As the king of a country, he must not fall into the hands of the enemy. Even if the Germans wouldn't hurt him, he couldn't bear the humiliation of being captured. He didn't want to be treated like circus monkeys by those German barbarians.

"Badoglio is a stupid man, I was taken in by him." Emmanuele III hurriedly ran down the stairs surrounded by his guards, almost stomping on the air when he was desperate. Fortunately, the head of the bodyguard quickly grabbed his arm with his eyesight and hand, so as to avoid the scene of the king rolling the stairs.

"Your Majesty, the car is ready, we can go to a foreign embassy for refuge." Colonel Paul helped the king into the Alfa Romeo 6c convertible.

"No, the road to the embassy area has been sealed, and the Germans are now approaching the altar of the motherland." The guard driving the car reported.

"Damn" Colonel Paul patted the back of his chair.

"Cross the river, across the Tvere River from the Emanuele II Bridge." The king said loudly.

"To the Vatican?" Colonel Paul's eyes lit up.

"Your Majesty is indeed wise, there is no place in the world that is more suitable for the king to refuge than the holy city. Even if the Germans are strong, they will never dare to venture into the Vatican and search forcibly."

"By driving, let's set off first and let others follow."

"The car that picked up the queen has not returned yet."

"It's too late to wait for her. Leave someone here to inform her." The king patted the back of the driver's chair.

"Drive fast, we have run out of time."

"The king has evacuated from the palace, and his whereabouts are unknown. The Quirinal Palace now only left some low-level waiters and court guards. When the sent gendarmes arrived, some of the remaining Take the fire to rob, and move the furniture and accessories in the palace." The military police major general Baron Galinha supported the car door and reported to Badoglio in the car.

"They will be punished, everyone." Badoglio said with a frown.

"Marshal, you go first, I will take care of the things at hand and I will catch up immediately."

"Everything is careful, it is impossible to surrender to the Germans." Badoglio said.

"Don't worry, Marshal, I know what to do." Baron Galinia saluted Badoglio, and then slammed the door shut.

"Driver, drive!" Major General Gendarmerie patted the roof and shouted.

"Is the train station still in our hands?" Bonomi asked the secretary beside the car door.

"No further information, I can't guarantee." The secretary replied respectfully.

"It's only twelve hours. If you give us half a day, it doesn't make any sense to say this." The former Secretary of the Interior watched the driver stuff two heavy suitcases into the trunk.

"Let’s go to the airport, it’s still too late."

"But there are no more planes at the airport."

"I have prepared a small transport aircraft long ago, parked in a civilian hangar, enough to carry six people. I also transferred a battalion of military police to guard the airport, should be able to hold on until we arrive." Bo Nomi got into the car and the secretary closed the door for him.

"I forgot to tell Filio to water my flowers." The former Secretary of the Interior said from the car window.

"I've already notified you, sir." The secretary opened the car door and took the seat of the co-pilot.

"Thank you, Luciano, I don't know what to do without you." Bonomi reached out and patted the secretary on the shoulder.

"This area used to be the center of Rome, and of course it is now. Look at the remains of these temples and imagine that two thousand years ago, perhaps Caesar stood where I stand now, looking at the Roman legions of Mario Walked down this street." The German captain stood on the steps of the ruins, watching the 38t tank of the Second Company creaking over the ancient stone road.

"For an archaeologist, this kind of scene is a crime, but as a soldier, I am proud and honored for the scene before me."

"Company commander, the second platoon encountered some trouble in Piazza Venezia. The commander asked us to rush to support him immediately." The communication soldier interrupted the superior's feelings with the walkie-talkie.

"Tell them to keep their distance and don't rush too fast." The captain took the walkie-talkie.

"Ludvik, did you see the flowerbed? You took the machine gun team to set up the position there. The firepower of the whole platoon will cover you. You must first suppress the firepower point of the third floor window." Commander Lieutenant Ballt yelled in the ear of the machine gun leader.

"Understood, sir."

"Waiting for my order, all fire at the window! Okay, you guys, hurry up, hurry up." The platoon leader patted the back of the machine gun captain, and immediately picked up the mp40 and fired at the window of the Venetian Palace. stand up.

Mussolini's guards and a few supporters are now occupying this ancient fortress, relying on powerful automatic firepower to resist the German attack. Although the Italian Breda m30 machine gun itself has a problem in its design, the fixed magazine can only hold 20 rounds of ammunition. After the bullets are lit, they must be loaded with bare hands. Soldiers ridiculed themselves as a large semi-automatic rifle. But the quantity here offsets the quality defect. Under the cross-fire of eight m30 machine guns, the bullets flying horizontally are as dense as raindrops. The 6.5 mm round-headed bullet fired at this distance is still very lethal. .

Because of the eagerness to win, the German infantry platoon accidentally rushed to the front of the armored unit. Without understanding the layout of the Venice Palace, it almost suffered a big loss. Fortunately, the Italian soldiers were too nervous, and the early firing revealed the point of fire. If they endure until the Germans are close to firing again, the German infantry platoon is likely to be wiped out.

But the war cannot be turned back, the Italian soldiers now have to pay for their recklessness.

"We can only attack buildings with more than three floors. We cannot destroy the Venetian Palace. There are a lot of important documents stored in it." Lieutenant Spalu shouted to the infantry company commander.

"I also understand that the orders we received are the same. Have you seen that tower? The Italians have arranged machine gun firepower points inside. Can your 37mm gun kill them?" Captain Standing in the corner of the motherland's altar with only one communication group beside him.

"We can give it a try, Captain." Spalu crawled back into the command tower, and his two tanks lined up in two rows on the east side of the Altar of the Fatherland.

"Please take your people back a little further, Captain, it's not safe here." Spalu poked out his head carefully and shouted. Now the straight line distance between his tank and the Venetian Palace is less than three hundred. Meters, completely exposed within the range of the Italian shooter.

The appearance of the German tanks caused panic among the Italian defenders. They took up all the weapons in their hands and fired frantically on the German tanks, but they could only arouse shining pieces on the 38t armor plate covered with rivets. Mars, clinking the car body.

"Aim at the perforation on the first floor of the tower." Sparrow ordered, and the gunner signaled that the preparations were complete.

"Fire!" Spalu shouted into the microphone.

In an instant, four cannonballs trailing flashes were shot out of the barrel. The trajectory was completely straight at this distance. In a fraction of a second, the 37mm high-speed projectile crossed a distance of 260 meters. , Severely chiseled on the brick wall of the square tower.

This tower was originally used for military purposes. It is made of the same materials as the main building, so it can be said to be quite strong.

Unfortunately, it is now encountering the latest modern weapons. This wall has almost no resistance in front of 37mm shells. The warhead easily smashed the bricks and ignited the delay fuze in the city. ~IndoMTL.com~ The charge of more than 30 grams does not sound like a lot, but it is enough to set off a rainstorm of steel in a confined space.

"Fight well, continue shooting." Spalu yelled happily.

So the four tanks in the front row fired another round, and the warheads accurately drilled four large holes in the tower again, perhaps hitting the ammunition stored in the tower, so a fire occurred on the second floor of the tower. The scene was quite spectacular, with broken windows and all kinds of messy objects flying all over the side street. This floor was like a huge festive firework spraying flames around.

"It's great, now it's the top level, continue shooting." Lieutenant Spalu exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait sir, look now." Sergeant Rem reminded loudly.

"The window on the third floor corner, they played the white flag, sir, the Italians surrendered." The radio operator cheered loudly.

At 3:47 pm on October 28th, the guards of the Venetian Palace stopped resisting and raised a white flag to surrender to the German Wehrmacht. (To be continued.)

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