While the two mountain veterans were feeding themselves, the second lieutenant Piero in their mouths was leading the adjutant of the company headquarters to conduct a routine inventory of the materials on the baggage wagons carried by the troops.

The second lieutenant celebrated his thirtieth birthday two months ago on the Alpine front, while also celebrating his third anniversary of service in the Verona battalion, and since then he has truly become a veteran, integrated into this small collective, and become part of the brave mountain eagles.

It can be said that the grassroots soldiers of the Italian army at that time were very united, and the soldiers watched and helped each other to live and die together, which many German troops could not do.

The Italian Alpine Troops, because of the special type of mission, have long established their own style, and the soldiers in the troops are as close as brothers. Because on those icy peaks, in addition to the ice axe in your hand, you can only rely on your comrades and brothers. It was in this harsh environment that the soldiers forged an unreserved trust and friendship with each other, as well as a spirit of self-sacrifice for the sake of the collective.

The interpersonal relationships forged under such special conditions are exceptionally strong, and at the same time, they bring great fighting power to the group. But correspondingly, this group has become extremely xenophobic, and it is difficult for outsiders to integrate into the group, and they must spend a lot of time proving their worth to veterans and passing severe tests to gain everyone's approval.

The grassroots power of the Italian army is not only in the hands of officers, but also the volunteer veterans and middle- and lower-level non-commissioned officers who really maintain the operation of the Italian army.

Although Mussolini openly objected to the aristocratic treatment of senior officers in the army, the extravagance he enjoyed personally made these orders unconvincing, let alone constrained.

The soldiers will conscientiously obey the orders of their superiors, but privately do not expect them to show the slightest respect for the colonels and generals. This situation is very dangerous, because once the restraint and deterrence given by the military rank is lost, the organization of the army will not be able to withstand much pressure.

Piero's rank was too low, so it was easy for the soldiers to regard him as their own, and after he had a good personality and personality, and at the same time respected the "unwritten rules" of the troops, and showed enough bravery on the battlefield and above the standard command ability, the second lieutenant was finally accepted by all the veterans and became a member of the Alpine Eagle.

Unlike the other officers, he was one of the few members of the Fascist National Party in the Verona Mountain Battalion, and the only officer with real power among them. Of course, this small second lieutenant was not enough for the fascist National Party to pay attention to it, but this identity gave him a lot of voice in the middle command of the army.

No one knew that the second lieutenant had lost trust and hope in the party he was a member of, and it seemed to him that if the organization was not radically changed, sooner or later it would end with the Kingdom of Italy. And what is happening now has apparently confirmed the second lieutenant's prediction.

The battalion commander was a brainless Savoy brute, but this time he was unusually shrewd, and if it wasn't for the major who saw the problem in the High Command's plan, it must have been some inside information he had obtained from those private sources.

Anyway, Piero can't control so much now, as an officer, he can obey the orders of his superiors, but it doesn't mean that he will give away his life in vain like a fool, he is not alone, he also commands a mountain infantry company, which means that he must be responsible for the lives of these seventy-four brothers.

It is the duty of the military to die for the country, but it is definitely not a reason to have the soldiers die for Mussolini and the fascist National Party.

The Germans had openly shouted slogans, the Führer declared that he was not an enemy of the Italian people, that the Third Reich had no territorial claims to the Kingdom of Italy, that they wanted only to overthrow the current Roman government, to liberate the free Italian people from Mussolini's evil dictatorship, to let the light of freedom shine again on the ancient land of the Apennines, and to return power to the Italian royal family, parliament and the free Italian people.

Speaking of these slogans of the Germans, it is very appetizing to some Italians, and it even makes people feel that it is an Italian who writes these propaganda slogans.

In the past ten years, Mussolini has offended a large number of forces from top to bottom, not only the Socialist Party and conservatives who hated him from the beginning, but also those former comrades-in-arms within himself, and Mussolini has no mercy on the old far-right party members who oppose him.

To make matters worse, while Mussolini was still trying to perfect his dictatorship, he did not know that some of his actions had violated the royal family of Savoy, which had been standing behind him.

Mussolini was so envious of the German Führer, although we all know what was going on in Germany at that time, but Mussolini didn't know, he only saw Hitler in power, no one could influence the Führer's thoughts, and no one could contain and limit the Führer's power, in the eyes of this Caesar, this is what a dictator should really look like.

Mussolini tried to emulate Hitler's seizure of power, and during that time his titles grew, and the Italian dictator used all means to concentrate all the scattered power of government on his own.

This change in Mussolini made the Italian royal family feel worried, and even a little apprehensive. The members of the royal family and the royalists began to worry that the prime minister had been influenced too much by the German Führer, so it is difficult to say that he would one day want to become the Hitler of Italy, and then overthrow the royal family and become the leader of the country like Germany, and he has 2.6 million fascist National Party members under his command, and if he is to win over the army, it will not be too difficult to change the dynasty. Since then, the royal family has gradually distanced themselves from Mussolini, and they have maintained a high degree of vigilance against the leader's every move.

"Wait until you get to Aloch Village to replenish some fresh water, don't let the soldiers go down the valley alone to fetch water, the Savina stream is very fast, and accidents are easy to happen." Piero tightened the strings at the mouth of the sack, which was filled with Florence's baked crusty white bread, the main ration of the third company of the Verona battalion on the march.

"Ensign, how long are we going to delay here?" A corporal on the side asked.

"Are you in a hurry?" Piero said with a smile.

"No, I just want to know when I'll be there." The corporal touched the back of his head and said that just now he had slapped his colleague in the head.

"To be honest, I don't know, even if you go and ask the battalion commander for the answer, we can only obey the orders of the Roman command, and we can only go wherever they tell us to go." Piero took out a cigarette case from his pocket and gave it a walk to his men.

"It's not okay to go on like this, we must build a defensive position before the enemy attacks, and the generals above can't even understand this truth." After the veteran finished speaking, he put his arm on the shoulders of his comrades next to him and leaned on the other party's lighter and lit a cigarette.

"Even you know the truth, how can the generals not understand, or I will apply to the above and transfer you to the general as a staff officer." The platoon commander of the second platoon smiled and patted his subordinate on the shoulder.

"Forget it, sergeant, you can't even read the report you wrote."

"Nonsense, I just don't use modifiers very well."

"Alright, there's nothing wrong with what Marlowe just said, get to the line early, we can find time to build a position and familiarize ourselves with the surrounding terrain. But I have news for you now. Piero stopped the soldiers from playing.

"Is that good news? If it's bad news, don't talk about it, we've heard enough in the past two days. ”

"I don't know if it's good news or bad news, but when I went to the camp headquarters just now, Major Robert..."

"It's the bald scoop from Rome." The second lieutenant's words caused a circle of officers and soldiers around him to chuckle into small chuckles.

"The bald scoop told me that the Germans had completely taken Bologna in the morning."

"Why so quickly, didn't it say that we had three infantry divisions in Bologna?" The face of the platoon commander of the second platoon became a little ugly, and the unit of one of his younger brothers was stationed on the outskirts of Bologna at this time.

"The specifics are not very clear, you also know the strength of the German army, and besides, they have air force and armored forces." Piero took a drag on his cigarette.

"Just three days after the start of the war, the Germans took Bologna, and they were advancing too fast." One soldier said, shaking his head.

"Sicily has also fallen, and I can guarantee that the Germans will land in the south." Another soldier said he knew strategy.

"Of course they will, otherwise why spend so much effort to occupy Sicily." Some scoff at this kind of afterthought.

"I heard that the French have taken Genana." One soldier said.

"Where did you hear that, how did I not know the news." The comrades-in-arms on the side expressed their surprise.

"Passing by that village in the morning, I went to buy cigarettes, and the owner of the shop told me, according to him, from the French radio."

"This must be a rumor from the French." Conspiracy theories have always had a market.

"If Genana also falls, aren't they attacking along the coastline?" Concerns were expressed.

"Isn't it pointless for us to hold on to the Apennines?" It's rare to get to the point.

"The line of Genana near the sea is mountainous, and the terrain is very complicated, so it is not so easy for them to break through." This is clearly an expert in geography.

"That's enough, it's okay, let's not talk about this unconfirmed news yet, second lieutenant, I didn't understand what you said earlier, the fall of Bologna is obviously bad news that can't be worse." The platoon commander of the second platoon clapped his hands vigorously to stop the soldiers' discussion, and he turned to Piero to ask.

"Finally someone asked, I thought no one cared about this." Piero took a hard puff of his cigarette.

"Well, it's easy to say, the Germans captured Bologna, confirming the correctness of the judgment of the Roman high command. The course of the German offensive has been determined, and we can now adjust our disposition and concentrate our forces against the enemy forces in this direction. The vanguard of the Germans should have entered the mountains by this time, and we probably did not have to rush to the front line to build positions, which could be considered good news for us. ”

Piero threw the cigarette butt down the mountain road, then stretched out his foot and extinguished it vigorously.

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