In Germany, the unscrupulous allies led by Hitler held their breath and waited for Italy to kneel and beg Germany for help. ￥℉，

On the territory of Greece, the Italian army played as usual.

After defeating the Italian Eleventh Army, the Greek army continued to advance closer to the Albanian hinterland, and by early December had penetrated between 60 and 70 kilometers into Albanian territory.

With the arrival of six Italian infantry divisions and the Litorio Panzer Division, the front stabilized on the front line of the Himara, and Pogradec.

Supplies for the Italian army needed to be transported to Albania by sea, and supplies for the Greek army were to be transported to the front through the mountains of northern Greece and southern Albania.

Constrained by logistical support, both sides are temporarily unable to launch a large-scale offensive.

And Christmas is coming, and the two ** teams have a tacit understanding to build their own defense lines, replenish troops and supplies, and wait for the next year to fight again.

Unlike the fighting in Albania, which has entered a phase of friendly and peaceful stalemate, the fighting in Italian Somalia in East Africa presents a one-sided situation.

The British Eighth Army's victory in the first battle and the capture of the port of Kismayo was tantamount to a shot in the arm for Churchill, and also gave the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in East Africa, Auchinleck, and the commander of the Eighth Army, Montgomery, an intuitive understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

The Italian army was vulnerable and had to take advantage of the victory to pursue and extend the victory, and Auchinleck and Montgomery soon came to an agreement.

Churchill was naturally overjoyed when he received the telegram that Auchinleck had decided to launch a new offensive, and for him the more victories the British army had. The greater the scale of the victory. The more secure his shaky prime ministership became.

Churchill was not only strongly in favor of Ochinlake's proposal. He also urged the British War Office and Air Force to send reinforcements to East Africa.

In the early hours of December 3, ten days after the port of Kismayo was occupied by British troops.

The British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet aircraft carrier Radiance, two light cruisers, and four destroyers, led by the flagship battleship Warweary, quietly appeared off the coast of Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somalia.

After a muffled thud, a Swordfish seaplane aboard the battleship Warweary was catapulted into the sky.

After staggering and settling his body, the Swordfish flew straight to Mogadishu, leisurely circled around the positions of the Italian army outside the city, and did the work of artillery school shooters.

Guided by the Swordfish, the battleship Warweary crossed the hull, with a total of eight 15-inch guns in the bow and stern shaking their muzzles pointing towards Mogadishu.

Not far behind, the two cruisers that followed the War Weary approached the coast. Turn the muzzle of the gun and point it to the coast.

Moments later, a thunderous blast of artillery burst into the sky, gray-white smoke and scorching flames erupted from the barrels, and huge shells flew towards Mogadishu with a death roar.

Driven by the huge recoil of the ship's guns, the huge hull of the battleship "War-Wey" trembled slightly, causing ripples on the sea.

The USS Tejas turned around and headed for a northeast-east headwind, and the first batch of twelve Gulls dive bombers skimmed lightly across the deck to take off, rendezvous in the air and pounce on Mogadishu.

The Italian troops outside Mogadishu had already spotted the ill-intentioned enemy aircraft in the sky, and the ping-pong cannon rang out, and tracer shells fired from 37-mm anti-aircraft guns flew towards the enemy aircraft with a bright trail. However, it was too late.

15-inch shells smashed into the positions of the Italian troops with strong winds, and the deafening explosions instantly covered the sparse shelling of the Italian positions.

The earth is shaking. Dirt splattered into the air like fountains, scattered shrapnel mercilessly harvested the lives of Italian soldiers, and every huge crater was littered with human organs and mutilated corpses.

The surviving Italian soldiers were in disarray.

Soldiers farther away from the bomb drop point desperately ran away from the explosion, and soldiers closer to the drop point scattered in various hiding spots, either crouching in the trench with their heads bowed down, or lying on the ground with their heads in their hands, praying that the shells would not fall on their heads.

The group of gulls bombers that followed the shells launched a reckless dive, smashing 500-pound aerial bombs into the ground, and steel and flames soon covered the positions of the Italian army.

The Swordfish, which belonged to the war-weary, did not leave immediately, it hovered leisurely in the air, constantly assisting the fleet by radio to adjust the landing points of the shells, and carefully ploughed the positions of the Italian troops outside Mogadishu, and the original positions with trenches and pillboxes suddenly became as miserable as the surface of the moon.

I don't know how long it took, but the nightmarish shelling and bombardment finally stopped, and the position was silent again, except for the wails of the wounded, telling the world of the tragedy that had happened here.

Tragedy never happens alone, and the cessation of one nightmare is only a herald of the beginning of another.

Before the Italian army could shake off the shadow of the naval guns, a large army appeared in front of them with a murderous spirit.

Two brigades of infantry, led by more than 40 Matilda 2 tanks, launched an attack from south and west of Mogadishu.

The elegantly shaped Matilda 2 slowly ran over the arid ground, over the numerous craters on the periphery of the position, and then slowly ran over the Italian position.

Despite the countless bullets and shells that sparked on itself and the craters of various shades on the steel plates, the Matilda 2 tank still drove slowly in front of the Italian anti-tank guns, crushing them into a pile of parts with tracks covered with shredded flesh and blood.

In the face of the inexplicable monster of the Matilda 2 tank, the morale of the originally depressed defenders was instantly cleared, and both officers and soldiers scattered in a hurry, desperately fleeing towards the city.

Relying on the thick-skinned Matilda 2 tanks to open the way, the British 1st Armoured Brigade and the 5th Indian Division broke through the outlying positions of the Italian army in Mogadishu and drove the defenders into the city.

After a brief and modest street battle, the British Empire's flag was raised in Mogadishu.

In the rear headquarters, a good news was received from the front. Montgomery smiled and said to his staff, "Our Matilda is really good." Each one is worth a battalion. There they are. We will definitely be able to take all of Italian Somalia by Christmas. ”

With a good news from Auchinlake to London, Churchill and his nemesis Aiden and others danced and celebrated as if they had won the war.

The following week, as British troops went on a rampage in Italian Somalia, the Italian army either strewn across the field or fled wherever the Matilda 2 passed, and Matilda quickly became the face of death in the Italian army. And in the British army, the Matilda 2 became a symbol of victory.

The British army was invincible in Italian Somalia, and Ethiopia was not peaceful.

Near the Gundar Plateau in northwestern Ethiopia, King Haier of Ethiopia was brought into exile by a British envoy. After Selassie's personal letter, the chiefs launched an armed uprising, attacking the Italian army's garrisons and lines of communication, and the fighting was again ignited in Ethiopia after less than a month of lull.

After receiving a telegram, Churchill had a happy smile on his face every day.

The British Empire had finally passed its most critical moment, and the counteroffensive had begun. Although victory is still far away. But at least I can spend my first Christmas as prime minister with peace of mind.

In the villa of Karin Manor, the expression on Chen Dao's face was very different from that of Churchill.

Chen Dao sat at the square table. First glanced at Goering sitting on the left, then glanced at Amy on the right, and finally stared nervously at Margaret sitting opposite, and then gritted his teeth violently at the urging of the three, slapped his hand on the table with a snap, and shouted loudly: "Two cakes." ”

"Don't move, what I want is two cakes, Hu, a dragon, money." Goering snatched the two cakes with lightning speed, and then pushed the mahjong in front of him, revealing a dragon.

"What do you see? A real one-stop. Give the money quickly and remember to smile. Goering stretched out his big fat hand to Chen Dao.

Chen Dao reluctantly picked up a stack of marks and put them in Goering's hand, and then said: "Count yourself lucky, even Hu Si." ”

"Luck is only part of the strength, the real strength is here." Goering pointed to his head and said triumphantly.

Goering shuffled the cards and said to Chen Dao with a cigar in his mouth: "Dear Monsieur Mussolini is coming, do you have any ideas?" ”

"Yes, my idea is that when the war is over, you and the Führer, plus Mussolini, plus our dear Mr. Churchill, the four of you will play eight laps and compare who has the higher IQ."

"Do you need to talk about that? Churchill and Mussolini will definitely lose and only a pair of underpants will be left to return home, and the Führer and I will have the last laugh. Goering said.

Amid the rattling of Karin Manor and the laughter of the Goering family, Mussolini's special train drove into the Berlin railway station.

Mussolini staggered off the train, determined to accept Hitler's taunts first.

Without saying a word, Hitler opened his arms and gave Mussolini a hug.

After the hug, Hitler greeted Mussolini with a warm greeting, and then warmly invited Mussolini to ride straight to Wilhelmplatz.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the national anthem and gun salutes, Hitler accompanied Mussolini to inspect the guard of honor and then went straight to the Chancellery for lunch.

At lunch, Hitler never talked about the war in advance, but only chatted all over the world, which finally calmed Mussolini's restless heart.

At 2:30 p.m., in the conference room of the Prime Minister's Office, Chen Dao, who was attending as a special guest, sat beside Goering and watched the fight between the two sides boredly, until he heard Marshal Badoglio mention the British Matilda II tank.

"Your Excellency, Mr. Marshal, I think that no one here knows the power of the Matilda II better than I do, and from what I know of your army, there is only one way for your army to deal with it, and that is to make good use of your anti-aircraft guns. As far as I know, your army has a 90mm 53 x anti-aircraft gun, and you can tell your men when you go back and fire at the Matilda 2 tank, and you can definitely take it out easily.

As for what you said about Hope Herman. The Goering Division went south to assist the Ethiopian garrison against the British, and I personally had no objection as the division commander. Chen Dao said.

Mussolini and Marshal Badogglio smiled together, and before they could speak, a spell sounded in their ears.

"But. Christmas is just around the corner. My men are all in a foreign land. I already feel very sorry for them if I can't go back to my country to reunite with my family, and if I let them go to war with the British during Christmas, I feel very sorry as a division commander, so I suggest that I wait until after Christmas to send troops south to Ethiopia, what do you think of my suggestion? Chen Dao said.

Under strong military pressure, Mussolini's gaze on Chen Dao was not full of electricity. It's full of eagerness.

"The British, having not only occupied all of Italian Somalia, but have now invaded Ethiopian territory and are advancing towards Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and if they wait until after Christmas to move south, it will be too late to cross the Sudanese savannah from Cairo to Ethiopia. There are no decent roads there, and there are no railways, and it will take at least half a month to get through there, I think Hermann. The Goering division immediately went south. As for Christmas, I'll be for Herman. All the officers and soldiers of the Goering division prepared a beautiful Christmas gift to express their gratitude. ”

"Mr. Leader, you are too polite. Gifts don't have to be. Goering said with a smile.

"I personally have a little opinion about the war in your country. I want to share it with Your Excellency. Goering continued.

"Please." Mussolini said.

"Your army is currently scattered across two theaters, Albania and East Africa, and I think it is necessary to distinguish between the two theaters, first to deal with the enemy that is easy to solve, and then to concentrate forces on the other enemy." Goering said.

"You mean we're going to focus on the Greeks first, and then we're going to deal with the British?" Marshal Badoglio asked.

"We have enough strategic depth in East Africa to delay the British offensive, and as for the Matilda tanks, they can be dealt with with 90mm anti-aircraft guns, as Heinz suggested, so we don't have to worry that the British will occupy Ethiopia soon.

Albania, on the other hand, has no strategic depth, and if the Greeks launch another offensive after Christmas and occupy the whole of Albania in one fell swoop, we will not be able to send troops even if we want to, and the consequences will be very serious. Goering said.

"If we had acted faster, we could have dealt with the Greeks before Christmas, wouldn't Your Excellency not want to give the news of victory to the people as a gift before Christmas?" Chen Dao said.

"What do you say? Settle the Greeks before Christmas? It's December 11th, are you sure you can beat the Greeks before Christmas? Mussolini asked in surprise.

"It depends on the cooperation of your ** team, if the cooperation is good, it is completely fine." Chen Dao said.

"What's your plan?" Badoglio asked curiously.

"Secrecy for now." Chen Dao smiled innocently.

When Mussolini saw the smile on Chen Dao's face, he immediately felt an itch at the root of his teeth, and he wanted to rush up and bite Chen Dao.

Unfortunately, this kind of thinking can only be an idea, and the Ethiopian garrison is now losing ground one after another. The Ethiopian governor, Duke Oster, had already sent a telegram claiming that the Matilda 2 tanks were unstoppable and that it was only a matter of time before the Germans could not get aid from the Germans as soon as possible.

The telegram from Field Marshal Graziani, commander-in-chief of the African garrison, was even more direct, claiming that with the armament of the Italian army, no matter how many troops were sent to Ethiopia, there was no point in adding more to the British army.

Since there is now a demand for the Germans, the impudence of the Germans can only be endured, Mussolini thought with hatred.

"In that case, I agree with Marshal Goering's proposal that we first concentrate on the Greeks. It's just that in Ethiopia, are 90-mm anti-aircraft guns really able to deal with the tanks of the British? I think it's better to let Herman. It is better for the Goering division to move south as soon as possible. Mussolini said.

"Since Mr. Leader is so insistent, as an ally, I can't think of any reason to refuse. Heinz you return to Egypt as soon as possible and lead Hermann. The Goering division went south to assist the Duke of Oster in defeating the English there, and then"

Hitler, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, but was unexpectedly interrupted by Chen Dao.

"I refuse to carry out this order." Chen Dao said.

"What do you say? I didn't hear you, you're talking about it once. Hitler raised an eyebrow.

"I said, I refuse to carry out this order." Chen Dao said loudly.

Mussolini couldn't help but widen his eyes at the unexpected scene in front of him.

What is the situation in which he dares to openly disobey orders? (To be continued......) u