"Ghalry, I am ready to give my full support to the Finnish resistance. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

Mussolini stood up from his seat and said to the young heir in front of him with a blatant gaze: "This time the Soviet Union has blatantly provoked a war against Finland, which is an unforgivable violation of the sanity of civilization by barbarism and madness; I can assert that the entire Western world will be filled with anger and hatred of the USSR. However, whether it is Britain, France, Germany, or the United States, they will be tied hand and foot for various reasons, and they will not be able to really intervene in this war. The only country that could support Finland without any worries was glorious Italy. This is a rare opportunity for us. ”

Little Ziano raised his eyebrows slightly, but he had expected his father-in-law's attitude. Since the signing of the Munich Agreement in October 1938, Mussolini, who had successfully brokered and avoided a war between the great powers, presented himself as the arbiter of Europe. Although the conflict between Germany and Britain and France was still due to the Polish question, Mussolini's good sense of self did not fade as the warring sides vied with Italy, and he was always looking to further increase his political influence.

This time, if Italy can hold up the moral banner of resisting the Soviet Union and aiding Finland with a posture of pulling the sky alone without the intervention of Britain, the United States, Germany, France and other major powers, then Italy will undoubtedly become the world's leading international political center and gain great honor and reputation in the entire Western world. And Mussolini himself will replace Hitler, who has been shining in recent years, and reappear in front of the world as the leader of the fascist movement!

However, the plump and gorgeous ideal will always be destroyed and shattered by the bony gray reality......

"Leader, I don't think it's going to be the way you want it to be. Finland was so weak that its military strength could not be compared to that of the Soviet behemoth; The current war will last at most two weeks and will surely end with the scythe, hammer and red flag flying high at the presidential residence in Helsinki. Even if we start collecting volunteers and arms in the country today, by the time they arrive in Finland, the war will already be over. In other words, it is difficult for us to provide timely and effective assistance to Finland; And if you don't, Italy doesn't have the capital to get the position you want politically. Little Ziano said slowly.

Mussolini's face changed, and he took two steps to the map, but it only took less than half a minute for him to put down the tools in his hand, and most of the excitement in his heart was extinguished in an instant. For Mussolini sadly discovered that the voyage from Italy to Finland was 4,000 nautical miles, a great distance longer than the transatlantic from France; By the time his own assistance had passed, Comrade Stalin would have long since entered his faithful Helsinki.

What's more, this year, the Baltic Sea is so heavily frozen that ships are impassable, which means that aid workers and supplies have to disembark at the Norwegian port of Narvik and walk more than 1,000 kilometers to the Soviet-Finnish front. Among them, the latter is still a straight-line distance on the map, and if you really have to travel through the winding icebergs and snow ridges, I am afraid that you will not be able to beat it for 2,000 kilometers!

"Damn it!" Mussolini slammed his fist into the map, his face full of frustration and chagrin. This was supposed to be a perfect opportunity for him to show his strength and voice on the international stage, but this terrible congenital geographical environment directly stifled his desire in infancy. After all, Italy was only a regional power, and it could show its face in peripheral affairs such as interfering in the Spanish Civil War or bullying the indigenous Ethiopians, and the Soviet-Finnish war in northern Europe was really far away.

"Ghalry, do you think we can use German territory to airlift aid to Finland?" Mussolini stared at the map in front of him, and suddenly his pupils contracted, and he spoke. Germany was much closer than the long sea voyage around the continent from the Mediterranean: Königsberg in East Prussia would be the only 650 kilometres to Finland. This meant that even if the Italian transporters had to take a long detour to avoid interception by Soviet fighters taking off from the three Baltic states, it would be enough to run a one-way flight with a full load of cargo. Although this volume of transport could not be compared with that of sea transport, it was no less able to demonstrate to the world Italy's determination to defend capitalism against the Red Bolsheviks.

Little Ziano shook his head slowly and said, "Leader, I'm afraid that the German Führer will not allow our aid to Finland to enter their territory." At present, Germany has close ties of interest with the Soviet Union: Germany not only needs to import large quantities of raw materials from the Soviet Union, but also relies on the friendship of the Soviet Union in exchange for peace on the eastern borders. If the German Führer had agreed to open its territory to us, it would be tantamount to openly hostile to the Soviet Union. Today, when the situation on the Western Front is still unclear, he will not take the initiative to offend the Soviets and add a strong enemy to himself. ”

Mussolini's face froze, and then his eyes showed strong resentment, and he said angrily: "Hitler, this humble Austrian corporal, he shamefully betrayed the sacred anti-Bolshevik mission, and actually made a deal with the brutal gorilla of the Soviet Union!" The Soviets annexed almost half of Poland without firing a single shot, and at the same time included all the three Baltic states in their sphere of influence, all of which were disastrous patterns created by Hitler! ”

"Even the current Balkans are in full collapse because of the German-Soviet alliance. Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece were all courting the Soviet Union to make a good deal with Moscow without losing money; Seeing that the red plague is about to spread from Ukraine to the Mediterranean, to our eyes! If there is anyone in the Western world who has contributed the most to the Soviet Union, I am afraid that no one can surpass him, a liar who claims to be an anti-Soviet fighter. If I were Stalin, I would not be able to express my gratitude for awarding Hitler the Order of Lenin! The more Mussolini spoke, the angrier he became, and he couldn't help but kick the chair in front of him to the ground in anger.

Little Ziano stood respectfully beside him, but he was secretly happy in his heart. Over the past few years, Mussolini has been almost always on the side of Germany diplomatically, pushing Italy closer to Berlin; This has made Italy's standing space more and more narrow, and obviously affected Italy's confidence in waiting for a price and reaping profits between the two camps of Britain, France and Germany. In this regard, Ciano Jr. had tried to persuade Mussolini several times but failed, and his heart was already worried.

Unlike Mussolini, who was keen on "politics", Ciano Jr. was not so rigidly ideologically constrained. He was thinking more from the point of view of Italy's own pure interests. For Germany, the younger Ziano did not have the slightest favor: because he felt that Hitler was too eager for quick success, and always did impulsive and radical things, which caused great headaches for Italy.

The Sudetenland crisis triggered by Hitler last year left Italy in a state of flux; The Roman authorities managed to calm the situation down with all their might. But before it could stop for a year, Hitler first dismembered the Czechs and then invaded Poland, dragging Europe into a new great power war. Little Ziano didn't understand why Hitler couldn't be silent for a while, waiting for 5 years before going to war?

You must know that Mussolini had stated to Hitler countless times that Italy would not be able to complete its preparations for war until at least 1943. Hitler knew this, but he insisted on attacking the identity-sensitive Poland, and did not hesitate to form an alliance with the Soviet Union, a communist country, to strengthen his own momentum; Did this incident take into account Italy's interests and face in the slightest?

This time, Mussolini's dissatisfaction finally erupted because of the Soviet Union's aggression against Finland. While the younger Ziano was pleased, he also began to think about how to give Hitler a little color in return. It's time for Italy to show its toughness, or else the world will think that Mussolini has become a docile henchman of Hitler - when the former became prime minister, the latter was just a demobilized army corporal!

"You're absolutely right, Leader. On the anti-Bolshevik side, we must draw a line of demarcation with Germany and let the world see our righteous performance in Finland. Even if we can't provide real and timely support to Finland. Ciano Jr. gathered his thoughts and proposed to Mussolini, who was still angry in front of him. As usual, the younger Ziano's words were only half of the story: his father-in-law was also a veteran of international politics for many years, and Mussolini could easily understand what was going on without him.

The anger on Mussolini's face gradually subsided, and he frowned: "You mean to let us further distance ourselves from Germany and move towards a true neutral attitude, so as to gain more benefits from the warring parties?" Little Ziano nodded and said, "That's right." At present, our country has become a key force that can fundamentally change the situation in Europe: if we join Britain and France, the latter will immediately stabilize the crumbling maritime situation and deprive Germany of more than 300,000 tons of crude oil supply per month; And if we turn to Germany, the situation in the Mediterranean between Britain and France will be completely eroded, and at the same time, this water area will no longer be able to support British hegemony. ”

"In this case, both sides will co-opt Italy, and the way to win over will be only a tasty carrot and never any big stick with a threat of irritation. At that time, we will be able to eat Germany and then England and France, and take all that we currently lack from the hands of these three industrial powers. Ziano Jr. added.

"Wait Gali, I remember you said something similar to me three months ago about benefiting from both sides." Mussolini frowned and said, "Is this any different from what we're already doing?" (To be continued.) )