Mussolini frowned, clasped his hands on his chest, and looked down at the map on the table, the leader was a little unsure whether he should support Badoglio's defense plan.

The Po Plain was absolutely untenable, with its empty and flat fields and dense network of roads, and a bunch of bustling but defenseless cities, it was a battlefield tailor-made for the German blitzkrieg.

Last night, he also patted his chest on the radio to the Italian people and promised that the army of the Kingdom of Italy was capable of defending the country's security, and that he and his fascist National Party would completely crush Stadt's aggressive ambitions.

Mussolini also said in his speech: "Italy defeated the Central Powers in the world war, and of course it can do the same this time." These arrogant Germans will soon discover that their Führer is an ignorant fool. What could be more despicable than his shameless tearing up of the alliance with Italy, ignoring the support and help Italy had always given to Germany, and declaring war on friendly Italy?

It is undeniable that the Germans are indeed strong, but this time they clearly picked the wrong opponent, and Italy is also a strong country. They thought that the Italians would fall to their knees like the cowardly French or the British, and we had to make the Germans understand that they were completely wrong, that the Italians were never afraid of sacrifice, and that the violence they inflicted on the Italian people, we would take revenge tenfold and a hundredfold.

Italians need to unite and prove to the world that Italy cannot be intimidated. All invaders who dared to set foot on Italian soil would suffer a sad defeat. The Kingdom of Italy will not succumb to violence, and Italy can fight as long as the Germans want. In the end, there will be only one winner in this war, and that is Italy, which inherited the glory of the Roman Empire, the brave army of the Italian king and the fascist national party, who will dedicate this honor to all the Italian people. ”

This inspiring-sounding speech was scheduled to be reposted on the front pages of the newspapers the following day, demonstrating to the Italian people and the world the confidence and strength of the resistance of the Royal Italian Government. As a result, before the newspaper could be unfolded on the Italian table, the German slapped the leader in the face.

No one knows how frightened and helpless Mussolini was this morning, and it was only then that he finally realized that he might have fallen into a trap designed by the Germans. Judging from the performance of the Germans after the war, it is clear that the blonde boy had been planning for this war for a long time, otherwise the German army and air force would not have been able to launch such a large-scale offensive in such a short period of time.

He really should have tried to ease the relationship between the two sides a long time ago, but because of face, he gave up one opportunity after another, and he was never willing to bow to the "junior with shallow qualifications" from the bottom of his heart. Mussolini was envious of the brilliant victory of this "blond nouveau riche", and at the same time coveted the huge dividends of the war for the Germans, and even more jealous of the fact that the Germans became the hegemon of Europe, of which in his opinion at least half of the credit should belong to Italy.

Without his support, Germany would not have been able to annex Austria, and Italy insisted on Germany's side when Germany occupied the Czech Republic and Poland, but when the war in Europe ended, Germany left its staunchest ally behind. They were not even willing to force France and Britain to surrender to Italy, Mussolini's heart was full of grievances and anger after being betrayed, and Italy's previous backsliding was only a technical problem in his eyes.

If he had known that the cautious German Führer would have taken advantage of the issue, he would not have given the Germans a chance to turn the other cheek this time. Mussolini really regretted it, but no matter how unwilling he was in his heart, but this is war, not a family wine game, and if you lose, you can regret flipping the table and starting over.

"This plan... Is it to abandon the troops on the Alpine border? Mussolini broke the silence in his office.

"Yes, that's all we can do at the moment." Badoglio nodded in reply.

"I know it's psychologically hard to accept this, I used to personally command these soldiers. At present, those who remain on the front line are the most elite units in the army, and the soldiers are fully armed, well-trained, and very combat-effective. But the current situation is that the French Army launched simultaneous attacks on several mountain passes last night, and by this morning our defensive line was no longer there. The French were in a long drive, they were supported by tanks and aircraft, and our infantry simply could not stop an attack of this intensity. Badoglio drew a few arrows on the map where the French army had broken through.

"Where is our Air Force? Why not fight back? Ziano interjected.

"That's a very good question, Mr. Minister." Badoglio finally gave Ziano a smile.

"There is no longer an Air Force of the Kingdom of Italy in this area, and they are being bombed by the French at night." Badoglio pointed to the map.

"This morning, the remaining units were pinned by French and Luftwaffe from two directions, and the airfield near Milan was heavily bombed. The main forces of our Air Force are still in Albania, and they are in a very difficult situation there. ”

"We shouldn't have attacked Greece." As soon as Ziano spoke, he knew that he had lost his words.

"Have you forgotten that you were your biggest supporter at the time, and that it had nothing to do with the plan to attack Greece?" Mussolini said coldly, his knife-sharp eyes scraping across Ciano's hairline.

"The French line of attack was close to the Apennines, and their aim was to cut off the southward passage of the garrison northeastern part of the Po Plain. As you can see, the Germans were attacking from east to west at this time. Their air force was attacking the supply lines in the area, and the High Command agreed that the troops here would not last long. Now we can only hope that these troops in the north can hold back the German army for a day or two, and buy some time for the construction of the [Mussolini] line. Badoglio gestured on the map, and it seemed that in the marshal's eyes, the dozen or so infantry divisions were just numbers written on paper.

"I see, so please tell me about your specific plan, about the [Mussolini] line." Mussolini unbuttoned the collar of his black shirt, knowing that he had no choice but to pin his hopes on Badogrio's vast military experience.

Mussolini had only some basic military training and was almost an outsider to war, but that did not prevent him from pointing fingers at a group of marshals and generals in war, and in any case the heavy losses were the dereliction of duty of the generals, and the victory was due to the guidance of the leader.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, before that, can you allow the summoning of the generals involved in this plan, they have come with me and are now waiting downstairs." Badoglio asked respectfully.

"Is that so?" Mussolini looked Badogglio up and down, and he was a little dissatisfied with this "premeditation" of the marshal.

"They can help you understand the defense plan in more detail." Badoglio replied quietly, still calmly.

"Alright, let them come up, and just hold a combat meeting here. Ziano, let the maps be moved to the conference room. Convening the recorders and photographers again, I believe it will be a meeting that will go down in history. Mussolini didn't see anything unusual in Badoglio's face, and he was relieved.

The meeting room in the Prime Minister's Office is rarely used in normal times, because there are not many people here for meetings, and Mussolini has eight ministerial positions, and he can usually hold a ministerial meeting alone.

In this richly decorated conference room, the Italian army generals in crisp uniforms with medals on their chests were filled.

"The High Command is scheduled to place twenty infantry divisions on this line of defense, and set up the first line of defense on both flanks and outposts, such as these important mountain passes. The Apennines, unlike the Alps, were more familiar with the environment and climate than the Germans. With the support of armored forces and air force, I believe that my mountain division can hold back the German attack on this line. "The commander of the 16th Pistoia Mountain Infantry Division, Giuseppe. Lieutenant General Faruki pointed to the military map in the middle of the table and spoke out loud.

"My infantry division needs to be replenished with some men and ammunition, and it would be better if there were some Blackshirts to cooperate."

"We can strengthen some more defenses in depth in the back, and it's much easier if we have artillery."

"General Zingares, your 10th Motorized Rifle Division is the most mobile, so you are the main force in the outpost defense operation."

"We also need a large number of troops to guard the supply lines and prevent German paratroopers." Then the generals began to make their own proposals.

Looking at these enthusiastic generals, Mussolini finally felt some confidence, these were commanders directly involved in the battle, and he would not joke with his own lives, and he began to believe that Badoglio could really command these men and horses to stop the advance of the Germans.

The new Caesar had a good premonition, and the meeting would go down in Italian history in the future. It's just that he didn't expect at this time that at this meeting that regained his confidence, Badoglio and his henchmen would hide the real situation from him, and most of them were talking nonsense.

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