"The generals of the High Command staged a coup d'état, they killed Mussolini." A senior Italian police officer shouted at his men.

"They wanted to surrender to the Germans, our marshals and generals had already betrayed the Kingdom of Italy."

"Kill those traitors and avenge Mussolini!" A second lieutenant of the National Police stood beside the lieutenant colonel and shouted, raising his Beretta submachine gun in his hand.

"Some veterans who are loyal to the country are fighting the lackeys of the traitors, and we are going to support them now, and if anyone is not willing to go, I hope to stand up now." The police lieutenant colonel pulled out his pistol from his holster and glanced sharply at his subordinates gathered in the courtyard.

"Good, I saw a group of loyal fighters, and I'm proud of your choice. Now, according to their respective squads, all get in the car, and let's go and give the group of traitors a little bit of power. ”

The fighting in Rome was already raging, and the citizens were hiding in their homes in fear, and no sound was heard on the radio after a vaguely worded emergency announcement was issued by the Roman radio station.

In the center of the city, in Piazza Venezia, fierce gunfire rang out, Mussolini's guards and the gendarmes who came to receive the Venetian Palace clashed, the Prime Minister's Guard, equipped with a large number of automatic weapons, and the army gendarmes fired at each other across the Piazza Venezia, the guards occupied the dual advantage of terrain and firepower, more than 20 gendarmes had been killed in the half-hour firefight, and the streets and squares were littered with the remains of soldiers wearing black uniforms and black Napoleon double-horned hats.

Similar battles have taken place in the vicinity of almost every vital unit in the city of Rome, and the coup side has so far failed to control a single government department. Badogglio was disappointed with the performance of the gendarmerie, and sure enough, the military police were still police, and they were no match for the regular forces.

The field marshal had lost control of the situation, the nearest army unit to Rome was still a hundred kilometers away, and he could no longer guarantee that the other side would continue to obey his orders, because most of the people who stood up to fight the gendarmes were veterans of the army.

He didn't know that Rome still had so many soldiers who had left the army, and what worried the marshal even more was that he still didn't know who was commanding these people. The news of Mussolini's disappearance from the palace dungeons made him wonder if the two events were related to each other, and what role the royal family played in them, and he did not believe that the other side could gather and equip such a large number of soldiers in such a short period of time without internal response.

"We caught several rebels, who said they had received a notice from the Fascist National Party at 8 a.m. that after assembling at the designated place, someone had trucked them weapons." A colonel stepped forward to report.

"Eight in the morning? Mussolini was still in the Prime Minister's House at that time, so did he already know about our plans at that time? Badoglio turned his head quickly from the window.

"No, it must be because of something else, otherwise he wouldn't have been so honest with me to the palace. Damn it, I let this guy run away, or I could have confronted him about it. Badoglio slapped the windowsill hard.

"Mussolini probably hasn't returned to his people yet, and the rebels think we killed him."

"Maybe that's what Mussolini wanted to see, he was a man of minds."

"What's the use of saying this now, we need more people. I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that half of the national police in Rome have rebelled, and the good news is that the remaining half have said they will remain neutral. ”

"What kind of good news is this, the promises of these guys at both ends of the rat are simply unreliable."

"We're going to have to use that Marine battalion."

"It's not time to send them out, it's the general reserve, and we must first ensure the safety of the royal family and the high command." Several staff officers had a heated discussion.

"Everyone, be quiet! It's all quiet! Suddenly a staff officer shouted, and everyone closed their mouths and looked at the colonel.

"It was a call from the Air Defense Command, who had spotted a German convoy at an observation post on the outskirts of the city." The colonel clenched the microphone tightly, his face pale, and it was clear that he understood what this news would mean for Rome if it was true.

"This is impossible, the Germans are still confronting our troops in the Apennines."

"Is the observation post mistaken in its view?"

"They probably wouldn't joke about that."

"Give me the phone." Badoglio strode up to the colonel and snatched the receiver from the other's hand.

"I'm Badoglio, yes Chief of the General Staff of the High Command, who are you? ... Okay, Captain Ettore, I'd like to know more details? Ten minutes ago? Why are you only reporting to me now?! Checking it again? I see, go on... Six trucks, with a swastika flag... They were heading down Columbus Avenue toward the city. Okay, Captain, let your men keep watching, and report to me immediately if there is a new situation. Badoglio handed the receiver back to the colonel.

"Probably the paratroopers of the Germans." The colonel hung up.

"Six trucks, the number of people should not be much, it is probably two platoons."

"That's not the point, why they're here, we haven't even heard from them."

Badoglio stood in front of the map table and frowned. Regardless of how the Germans appeared outside the city of Rome, this person could not pose any threat to the city at all, the key is the meaning behind the German army's actions, which has to be carefully considered by Badoglio.

"Report, General Luciano of the Fourth Army sent a telegram that the Germans had launched a surprise attack on his line, which had now been broken by enemy troops, and that he and his command were retreating towards Florence."

"Your Excellency, General Anthony of the 216th Coastal Infantry Division has sent an urgent telegram that the Vila Reggio line has collapsed and the enemy is approaching Pisa." The two staff officers rushed into the command room with a panicked look on their faces, and reported loudly to the field marshal.

"It can't be." Badogglio took two telegrams.

"The Germans tore up the agreement with me, these shameless bastards." Badoglio felt a cramping pain in his heart, and he took a few steps back and sat down at the map table, his face turning blue and a profuse sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He is not a naïve hairy boy, of course he knows that agreements between countries are one of the most fragile things in the world, and he had expected that the blonde boy in Germany would be an accident, and he never thought that this apostle of God in people's mouths would be a political scoundrel like Hitler.

But there was nothing he could do about it at this time, and he doubted that the Germans had figured out their cards, otherwise they would never have launched such a decisive battle at this point in time. The two telegrams that followed in his hand had clearly sent a message to Badoglio that the Germans had fully grasped his follow-up plans, and that the Italian army had no secrets in front of the Germans.

The Kingdom of Italy had been completely defeated, the Germans had not given Badogglio a chance to play with politics, and the heavy army group gathered in Florence was the last trump card in the hands of the field marshal, the problem was that these armies were still lacking in equipment and training, and it was clear that the Germans would not have left them this time.

Badoglio could foresee that the Lower Sicilian Line to the south would not have the slightest chance, and at this moment the Germans might have landed on the Italian coast. Thinking of this, Badoglio stood up sharply, and he held the map table in his hand and looked down at the map.

"The Germans must have landed near Rome, I should have thought they would have made this move, and now it must be their vanguard that appears outside the city." Badoglio said, patting the map.

"If it's true, then Rome," exclaimed a staff officer.

"Rome is bound to fall, and we can't hold the city with the forces we have." His colleague nodded affirmatively.

"It is not yet known how many German units there will be in the back." Questions were raised.

"It is estimated that there will be no less than one division, otherwise this small army would not be so fearless." Someone opened the brain.

"You can organize citizens to fight with them in the streets." Apparently this is a warrior, but unfortunately he has no brains.

"Now there are simply no weapons and ammunition to issue to them." Finally, there is still a clear mind.

"Aren't there some veterans and policemen? They should be willing to fight the Germans for the sake of Italy. "Wise people appeared.

"They may fight for Italy, but definitely not for you and me, Marshal, I propose to evacuate from Rome immediately with the royal family and government personnel." It's smarter.

"The Germans have broken through the Apennines, where can we retreat." Pessimistic rhetoric.

"Then what do you say you should do, stay here and wait to be taken prisoner?" This is a bar raiser.

"Why can't you die bravely on the front line, you coward." Another brave man appeared.

"In the face of its vain death, Italy needs our elites even more to live." Someone immediately stood up and said they wanted to focus on the big picture.

The staff officers revolved around the field marshal, who had a pained face, and began to quarrel fiercely again. (To be continued.) )