Without any politeness, Mussolini read out the dismissal order on the spot at the station, and from the carriages poured out of the heavily armed gendarmes, and the command of the Italian royal navy was wiped out.

Trucks full of Italian Army soldiers drove into the Taranto naval base, and in the midst of the doubts of the sailors, the colonel who led the team conveyed an order from the prime minister, in view of the large number of unfaithful lurking in the naval ranks, the Taranto base was temporarily under the control of the army, and all the naval personnel were to be sent to the Martina Franca army base twenty kilometers away, where they were screened and identified by the national intelligence services, and Prime Minister Mussolini promised that he would not wronged any innocent person, nor would he spare any enemy of the country.

If the officers and men of the Navy think that they have a clear conscience, then they should obey the orders of the Prime Minister, and this investigation is only a process for patriots, and only traitors with demons in their hearts will oppose this decision.

At this time, Taranto gathered almost 40,000 naval officers and men, sailors accounted for about three-quarters of the total, and the rest of the 3,000 officers of all ranks and many base service and support personnel without regular military ranks.

By two o'clock in the afternoon, the army had arrived at Taranto from the surrounding area to two regular regiments, and it was said that there were still more blackshirts massing here, and the navy that had come ashore was like a tiger with its minions removed, and the army was disheartened and the officers and men did not trust each other, and at this moment the last chance to fight had been lost.

Mussolini completely disarmed the main fleet of the Royal Italian Navy without firing a single shot, and this once extremely deterrent fleet was now reduced to a pile of giant toys, quietly moored in the harbor of Taranto.

The Italian naval officers and sailors were put on the transport buses bound for the railway station, where they were to stay for a long time at the Martina Franca base, perhaps because of their deep love, betraying their own kingdom's navy at a critical moment, and having completely lost the trust of the Italian Prime Minister, who was willing to destroy the fleet with which he had spent so much effort, and would not tolerate the continued existence of these traitors in his army.

Mussolini was a smart man who knew the times very well, otherwise he would not have achieved historical success, he had a deep understanding of what the loss of power meant to him, and in just half a day, he really tasted the bitterness.

The Italian prime minister did not want another coup d'état, and in order to retain his position and power, he happily chose to bow to the powerful German dictator.

At this time, it is not a matter of face, unless he really does not care about his own life, he has seen too much ugliness in just four days, and the dictator finally realizes that he has so many potential enemies in Italy.

Even if some of the low-level soldiers and people are still firmly on his side, but in the upper class he has already been the enemy, and the prime minister of the empire has almost become a loner for a while.

His comrades-in-arms saw him as an obstacle to his upward climb, while the royal family, who had once reused him, saw him as a threat to the state system, the radicals opposed his provocation of Germany, the conservatives were dissatisfied with his declaration of war on Britain and France, the left was hostile to his political ideas and opposed to his personal dictatorship, while the right wing thought that he had compromised with the elite and did not insist on the implementation of fascist ideas.

In this case, the Italian dictator simply tore his face and made up his mind to fight against those bastards. Now he has the Germans behind him, and in the face of absolutely powerful force, the only thing the conspirators can do is to cry and wait for the final reckoning.

In order to comfort Mussolini and strengthen his resolve, the Germans did not hesitate to betray the socialists and revolutionaries who wanted to take advantage of them, and the German Army handed over the politicians and partisans who had been leading them yesterday to the Black Shirts, and then watched as the poor fellows were tortured and killed outside the barracks walls one by one.

The Italian Blackshirts, with the cooperation of German soldiers, cleaned the cities in the occupied zone, sending batches of Italians who had jumped out against Mussolini to concentration camps converted from prisoner of war camps.

North Italy was already in a state of black terror, with Mussolini supporters in black shirts, carrying rifles with bayonets and whizzing through the streets in trucks with open containers, smashing open the doors of their apartments and taking away the head of the family who they thought was suspected of "treason" amid the cries and pleadings of women and children. Some are quietly released after a few days, but many more disappear without a trace. Those who returned refused to tell anyone what had happened to them, but everyone knew in their hearts that they must have betrayed something in order to be released safely.

Italy's elite and rich people found themselves in a cage, and the British, French and German forces were still strictly blocking the Italian border and the surrounding airspace, and no one could leave the country without a permit issued by Rome, even if they got a visa issued by a foreign government, but they couldn't get out of the country, everything could only be empty talk.

Mussolini was ready to settle accounts with the forces that had betrayed him, and he no longer believed in the oaths of any nobles, especially his son-in-law, who almost blew up the veins in his head when he learned that Ziano had a private deal with Badoglio.

Fortunately, on the day of the coup, Ziano saw that the opportunity was bad and ran fast enough, otherwise he would not even live the next day, Mussolini was ready to hang this traitor who was ambushed at home, thanks to the fact that he had put all his hopes in the hands of this son-in-law.

However, what he didn't expect was that the foreign minister did not hesitate to throw himself into the arms of the Germans in order to save his own life, so a member of the cabal turned into a hero who exposed the conspiracy to his friends.

With the Germans as a guarantor, Mussolini really couldn't do anything with this guy, because he still had to rely on him to deal with the Germans, so he could only pinch his nose and let this thing continue to be his foreign minister.

It is said that after returning home that day, the foreign minister's grape trellis collapsed, but this was a private family matter, and the German side expressed only some concern, but Ribbentrop was happy in the foreign ministry for a long time.

"All of you get on the bus, each person can only carry one satchel, and the rest of your personal belongings will be left in the base, and the Marines will be in charge of guarding the camp, and no one will steal your things." An officer in the uniform of an army captain stood on a makeshift platform at the edge of the square, holding a tin horn and shouting loudly.

"The screening process is easy, you can get back to base in no time, Martina Franca has everything ready for you, so you don't have to carry too much. Major, please take care of your officers, all of them must line up, and those who disrupt order will be punished. A lieutenant with a short staff in his hand paced up and down the ranks of naval officers, as if to show off his crisp blue-gray uniform and shiny riding boots on his feet.

"This is the order of Prime Minister Mussolini, we are also carrying out the task, do not embarrass us, anyone who disturbs the order will be regarded as disobeying the order of the Prime Minister, disobeying the order of the Prime Minister is betraying the country, I have the right to use force to correct this behavior." An army sergeant commanded two army soldiers to push a strong Navy private back into the ranks.

"You don't have to talk to me so much, when you get to Martina Franca, you have time to talk slowly. Maybe you're a loyal navyman, but so what, you're not the only one, everyone here is suspicious, and if you want to blame, blame your commander for the shameless plot to carry out a coup d'état. "A corporal pushed a chattering guy onto the side of the truck.

This was the last group of naval personnel to be sent off that day, and then there was only a group of auxiliaries and some of the low-ranking sailors on the ships left in the base, the total number was about five hundred, and if anyone looked at the list, they would find that these people had positions in every department of the fleet and the base, and they were all some timid and honest guys in the past, without a single ruffian and thorn.

As the last truck left the base gate, two massive battleships, surrounded by a group of smaller ships, slowly drove into the port of Taranto amid a loud whistle.

The Italian naval personnel waiting on the dock watched in amazement as the two majestic ships slowly approached the battleship berth, towed by a group of harbor tugboats.

Someone immediately recognized the model of these two ships, one was a Richelieu-class battleship of the French Navy, and the other was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the British Navy.

Immediately, a scene that surprised them even more appeared, just now the officers and soldiers of the army who were still chatting with them in fluent Italian actually raised their right arms and shouted slogans in German, and for a moment neatly "Hi! Reinhart! "It reverberates over the pier.

PS: Finally caught up, let everyone wait for a long time, thank you for your understanding.

In addition, I want to inform you that the author will go to the field for a few days from tomorrow, and the update may not be very stable, but as long as I have time, I will find a way to write, but the update time will be very late, I hope you have a psychological preparation. If I really don't have time to update, I'll find a way to let you know in advance.

Thank you all for your support. (To be continued.) )