After several days of debate and compromise, the international conference on the settlement of the remaining problems of the former Yugoslavia and the allocation of Serbian territory held at the headquarters of the Imperial Eagle's Nest officially came to an end. Under the auspices of the German side, all the little brothers of the Axis camp bordering Serbian territory, including Italy, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia, were allocated territories of greater or lesser benefit and size. At the same time, the German side also determined the principle of withdrawing most of the troops of Italy, Romania, and Hungary from the Eastern Front, and they would mainly be responsible for the vigilance and deterrence of Central Europe, while the German armed forces in the area with a total of about 90,000 men would be liberated for the Eastern Front.

In response to Germany's generosity, countries have also ceded considerable benefits:

Italy agreed to transfer to the Germans 50 transport ships and three Greek islands in the Mediterranean that they had previously controlled and which could house air forces;

Romania agreed to give Germany 1 million tons of crude oil free of charge, and promised to increase the quota of crude oil exported to Germany by 1 million tons per year;

Hungary agreed to give Germany 500,000 tons of grain free of charge, and promised to increase the annual quota of 500,000 tons of grain exported to Germany;

The two little brothers, Slovakia and Croatia, also promised to further mobilize domestic forces to implement the production of agricultural and light industrial products that are compatible with German industry.

The meeting also saw a large number of arms and material transactions taking place. After Italy, Romania and Hungary had left most of their heavy equipment for the Eastern Front, their repatriation and remaining troops in Central Europe faced a shortage of arms. The German side took out a large amount of munitions, mainly French planes and tanks, and Dutch and Belgian light infantry weapons. The artillery and other equipment of the Soviet Union and Britain, as well as some equipment that Germany itself felt outdated (such as tanks No. 2 and No. 3 and 37mm anti-tank guns, etc.), although things were uneven and mostly belonged to captured materials, but the victory was large and low (half the purchase price compared with the same purchase price before the war), and the Germans did not ask for hard currency, as long as the other side could exchange materials or resources, so the countries still happily completed the business.

The parties also unanimously decided. At the end of next month, in November, an Eastern Conference on the distribution of territories and a programmatic solution to the former Soviet Union will be held in order to support and establish non-Russian nation-states and strengthen the struggle against the Stalinist regime. On the other hand, according to the contribution of each country in the war against the Soviet Union, the rest of the territory and interests were distributed (the bordering countries allocated the territory, and the non-bordering countries allocated the benefits), and the German side also promised to provide another batch of arms at the next meeting. The condition and value will be better than this time. The atmosphere of the meeting presented a happy situation.

In particular, the Italian dictator, who had been a little disgraced by the North African issue some time ago, became angry again after acquiring the expanded territory, and boasted about the great achievements of the Italians everywhere at the press conference, as if he had brought Yugoslavia down. Other leaders were well aware of this, and even more sneered at the leader's ability to rejoice in his achievements, especially after hearing the story of the "Golden Watch Incident".

After the meeting, all the heads of government – including Italian leader Benito Mussolini, Romanian ruler Marshal Antoniscu, Hungarian regent Admiral Horti, Bulgarian Tsar Boris III, Slovak President Josef Giser and others – were invited by Hoffmann to Berlin to watch a friendly football match between the German and Italian national teams.

Before the start of the game, a solemn memorial ceremony was held to mourn the death of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Ranke (who was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaf and posthumously promoted to the first class), and all the German players came out with black veils in their arms.

Martin Bowman presided over the memorial service and delivered a eulogy. After a brief introduction to Ranke's life and outstanding contributions, he spoke highly of Ranke's spirit. Think:...... Martyr Ranke was a good soldier of the party, a good son and daughter of the people, and a good student of the Führer, and his indomitable fighting spirit and sacrificial spirit are the best embodiment of German values. In just a few years of military career, he was modest and cautious, conscientiously fighting in every post, whether it was meticulous in logistics work or heroic and fearless in special operations, he gave full play to his ability to the limit; At the critical juncture of facing the test of life and death, he chose to cover his teammates and companions and kept the threat of death to himself...... He pierced the sky like a meteor, forever illuminating the steps of the German nation's rise to strength and the pursuit of a common dream, and every German is proud and proud to have a compatriot like Ranke.

He concluded...... Although the martyr Ranke is gone from us, his voice is still there, and his spirit lives on; Although his body has been annihilated, his name is immortal, and his faith is evergreen! He will always be with us!

After the memorial service, the friendly match between Germany and Italy officially began. It was two teams who knew each other well, both sides were more cautious, and the first half was scoreless; At the start of the second half, the Germans launched round after round of attacks, but the Italian defence was very solid and left no chances for the opponents. In the 75th minute of the game, the deadlock was still not broken, and the score remained 0:0. Just when everyone thought that the game would be a draw until the end, an accident happened, only to see the German striker Schuckel receive a long pass from the backfield, he skillfully used the arch of his foot to stop and unload, the ball was stopped steadily and penetrated most of the Italian team's defense, facing the last Italian defender to pounce, he flicked and buttoned, and shook the slightly reckless defender with the ball and dribbled directly to the goalkeeper.

The crowd was overwhelmed by his exquisite footwork and all stood up to see how he scored the goal. I saw him gently pull towards the central zone, deceived the attacking goalkeeper, and calmly pushed the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal. 1：0！ The German team was the first to break the deadlock, and the atmosphere suddenly became enthusiastic, and everyone stood up and applauded and cheered for the goal just now. After the goal, all the German players poured in, but the crowd soon realized that the players did not choose to celebrate, they invariably pulled up the outer jerseys and covered their heads, revealing the white T-shirt that was worn close to the body, with a portrait of Ranke outlined on it, and a line underneath: He is always with us! Obviously, they had agreed before the game that they would dedicate the goal to Rank, the soul of the martyrs!

The referee blew the final whistle and the game was over, and the score of 1:0 was maintained until the end. Players from both countries circled the stadium to greet the crowd, and the audience resounded with a deafening shout: He is always with us!

In the stadium box, Mussolini, the Italian dictator who witnessed all this, listened to Ranke's story and the meaning behind it, and his originally unhappy face slackened, and turned to Count Ziano and said: "In this way, we in Italy also have to accept the love of this warrior, after all, he avenged the ships and sailors that were sunk by the British in recent years, and sent wreaths and condolences in my name after the game." ”

"Understood, I'll take care of this."

"Don't worry about the result of this game, Adolf spent so much money to win us over, we have to make him happy for a few days." Mussolini thought for a moment, "But there is one thing that needs to be grasped. ”

"You mean?"

"In view of our losses in the early stage and the fierce internal opposition, in addition to maintaining the existing paratrooper brigade, I am not ready to invest more troops in the North African direction, and we only undertake the task of transporting relevant war materials and providing air and naval support, but you must remember that we have independent interests in the African issue, and we are not small followers of the Germans." Mussolini paused, "We must find a way to sign a memorandum with the Germans." ”

"What do you want?"

"Libya will keep our colonial status intact – at most give Germany some commercial benefits; After conquering Egypt, give us part of the territory of Sudan and Egypt, and at the same time recover Eritrea and Somalia, which we occupied by the British; In addition, we must also admit that we have ...... occupation of Ethiopia" Mussolini rambled on a lot, and almost took out a map on the spot to compare.

Hearing these words, Count Ziano frowned deeply: the leader's ideas and purposes are good, but this appetite is really bigger, not to mention whether the German Führer can agree to these goals, I think it's a bit fantastical - if the Germans can agree to such conditions, it is equivalent to them contributing money, strength, and troops to win the African war, and then give up most of the benefits to Italy, is it possible? If the Germans were so good at talking, they would not have fought with the British and the French at all.

Perhaps seeing his son-in-law's misgivings, Mussolini smiled and told him: "This is our goal, but whether it can be achieved depends on fighting and negotiating. If we don't seize the opportunity of his confusion, we won't get anything out of it when the war is over. ”

"You're not afraid that he will regret it in the future?"

"Repentance?" Mussolini laughed, "As long as it is written on paper, he will not regret it, and he will not dare to regret it!" Isn't he going to set up the European Union as a leading big brother? If the Germans could not even fulfill their promises to Italy, on what basis did he convince other countries? He didn't want to get credibility anymore - though it had never been worth much in his eyes before. ”

Count Ziano gave a thumbs up, the leader was often not very reliable in doing things, but this judgment captured the key point of the Führer.

"We may not be able to fight a war, but when it comes to playing politics, hum ......," the Italian leader squeezed a few words out of his nostrils, "the Germans are still far behind." (To be continued.) )