Even though Reinhardt was busy with the war on the Western Front, he still took the leisure time to write to Mussolini one after another, telling him the news of Germany's successive victories.

That's right, it's pure show-off.

Reinhardt was using Germany's successive victories to stimulate the leader's nerves and let him know how terrifying the strength of the Third Reich was, so as to correct his attitude.

Prior to this, because of Reinhardt's intervention, Mussolini's army used poison gas in advance to avoid the embarrassing situation of being beaten by European countries by African countries.

In other words, Italy in this time and space has not actually had a disgraced record.

If there is no disgrace, there is naturally no lesson. Although with Mussolini's character, even if he loses the battle, he can continue to die. Besides, now that he hadn't lost the battle after all, it was easier for him to swell.

Of course, it was not without the Italian leader's advice. However, the person who advised him was neither an Italian nor a German who was an ally of Italy, but the president of the United States, Mr. Roosevelt, who was far away on the other side of the Atlantic.

Roosevelt is relatively easy to talk compared to the stubbornness of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the tough man of Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin, or the neurotic German Führer Reinhardt.

The leader of a country rarely spoken during World War II first contacted Britain and France to determine that they could cede some of Italy's interests in the Mediterranean. He then expressed his support for Italy's participation in the peace conference as a belligerent. Finally, the euphemistic exhortation, stating that the United States has traditional interests in the Mediterranean, politely threatened that if Italy entered the war to support Germany, the United States would also increase aid deals with Britain and France.

As a result, what was Mussolini's reaction?

The bald Italian man pointed to the letter sent by Roosevelt with contempt and said to his subordinates: "Don't show me the consequences of paralysis in the future." ”

As a result, Roosevelt, the only person who seriously advised Mussolini, was humiliated and contemptuous by Mussolini for having polio and paralyzing his lower limbs.

In Mussolini's view, the 200,000 elite British expeditionary force on the Dunkirk side was wiped out. On the Maginot Line, hundreds of thousands of French troops were useless. Recently, the Weygand line was broken through by the German army, and the French capital Paris was in danger.

Mussolini believed that this was the best time for him to pick up the slack.

What is to pick up leaks, that is, to wait until the war is about to come to an end, attack strongly, and cooperate with the strong side to beat the weak side.

Mussolini pursued this kind of profitable deal. Now that this deal has appeared, why not join in.

Is it really necessary to watch the Germans take advantage of it?

Britain, which is shrouded in the glory of a superpower, and France, which claims to have the world's largest army, have been recognized by Mussolini as the two excellent transport captains.

The Germans were short of equipment to expand their army, so they left behind thousands of new cannons, tens of thousands of vehicles, nearly 1,000 tanks, and countless guns and ammunition on the Dunkirk beachhead.

The Germans did not have enough labor for production and construction, so they provided Germany with hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war to fill the gap in Germany's labor force.

Recently, the German army has penetrated into the French territory, and many French factories have also been expropriated by Germany, which has become the wealth of the Third Reich and strengthened Germany's industrial strength.

Mussolini couldn't wait, the Germans were eating meat, why should the Italians stare at it?

He had apparently forgotten that at the beginning of the war it was he who personally rejected the German offer of cooperation.

From the Polish campaign to the French campaign, it was all his own opportunity to refrain from fighting alongside the German army because of the fear of losing. At that time, he didn't have the momentum he has today.

However, since Britain and France have become reservoir dogs, Mussolini naturally does not mind beating up.

"Soldiers of the land, sea and air, comrades of the revolutionary Black Woods, soldiers of other lands, princes of Italy and the Kingdom of Abyssinia, please listen!" Mussolini chose to begin his declaration of entry into the war on the third day of June.

"The fateful moment has come!" Mussolini confidently shouted with open arms from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia.

"As early as the commemorative meeting in Berlin, I repeatedly stressed that since the treaty of friendship with Germany has been concluded, we will advance and retreat together with our friends until the last moment."

Mussolini's proposal to advance and retreat together on the occasion of the great victory of the German army was obviously not prepared to share the woes with the Third Reich. His intentions can be seen as long as he is a normal person, and it is obvious that he is going to enjoy happiness together.

It's just that sharing weal and woe and sharing happiness can be expressed by the neutral word of advancing and retreating together.

"Citizens of Italy, take up arms." Mussolini self-righteously agitated: "Use your courage and indomitable spirit to join in the conquest!" ”

Although the Italian people themselves did not know that they still had such a strong courage and indomitable spirit. However, since the leader said so, they also symbolically cooperated.

"Conquest! Subjugate! Subjugate! A crowd of Italians shouted, though they had no intention of paying any price for the conquest.

Mussolini was very intoxicated at this moment, and he enjoyed this moment of participating in the process of writing history.

Mussolini even had a feeling that it was a shame to sit on the sidelines while others were writing history, that it was all about participation, and that it didn't matter who won.

Of course, Mussolini at this time was convinced that he would win. He was convinced that the time had come for him to intervene in the war, and now that he had declared war on Britain and France, he had bought a stock that would not lose money.

Since the German army has already defeated the Anglo-French army, what danger is there in Italy to go up and make up for it?

Still, in Italy, Mussolini was offered advice against his ears.

An army lieutenant general said to Mussolini, who had just finished his speech, and said: "Leader, we are not ready to go to war at all. As far as the material reserves are concerned, we are actually in a worse position than we were last September, and the existing supplies are only enough to fight for a few months. Moreover, of our total 74 divisions, only 19 divisions are fully staffed and fully armed. The rest of the troops are not strong enough. ”

Actually, the lieutenant general's words are absolutely correct. The armament of the Italian Army is already very frighteningly backward.

Most of their soldiers were armed with Type 91 rifles used in the First World War. Automatic rifles have begun to be produced, but in extremely limited quantities.

At the same time, the backwardness of the infantry was manifested in the lack of motor vehicles.

Italian soldiers were required to carry a 35-kilogram backpack per person, and as a result, they traveled very slowly, averaging only 30 kilometres a day.

Although Grazzini, the so-called famous Italian general, implemented the so-called "small mechanization" in the infantry divisions, that is, each division was equipped with a small number of cars and bicycles as "supplementary equipment". Bicycles were used to transport backpacks, and soldiers took turns marching in cars, which solved the problem of the marching speed of the Italian army.

However, in this way, although the speed of the Italian army's march increased slightly, it weakened the discipline of the troops, and the combat effectiveness of the army was further reduced.

The lieutenant general in front of him is very self-aware, how can he fight against the French army, which was once the first army in Europe, at the level of the Italian army?!