Breaking free from Badoglio and Ziano, Mussolini tried his best to calm his emotions. In the twenty-four hours after the declaration of war with Germany, no one could understand the heavy pressure on him.

Mussolini was proud, he believed that he had a gifted mission, that he would save Italy, which had sunk in ignorance and chaos, that he was destined to be the savior of the country, that he was Caesar, that he was Augustus, that he was a great man who should go down in history and be sung by his descendants for thousands of years.

But the reality was extremely cruel, and the Italy he led simply could not withstand the test of war. The country is resource-poor and does not have any conditions to exist independently of European society. In the past three centuries, Italy has exhausted the character accumulated by its ancestors, the once great city-states have all become a thing of the past, and the last glory of the Roman Empire has been buried in the dust of history.

"Inform the gendarmes, arrest Kavliani!" Mussolini pointed to Niano and said.

Then the Imperial Leader turned his gaze to the face of the Chief of Staff, and he covered his ribs with his hands and frowned and asked, "If I give you the ships and escort fleets you need, will the army be able to guarantee the recapture of Sicily!" ”

"Can't!" Badoglio replied unusually crisply, shaking his head vigorously to change his steady.

"Why! We have fifteen infantry divisions there..."Mussolini's eyes became dangerous and sharp.

"I told you, it's not just a matter of numbers. The nearest infantry divisions lacked ammunition and supplies, and the shortage of weapons was acute. If we decide to support Sicily.. It will take about three to four days, and it is estimated that a force of five infantry regiments can be assembled. And as I pointed out earlier, without the support of the Navy, we simply could not send them to the island. Badoglio said as he walked over to the long table.

"The Navy will be dispatched, after dealing with the current problem... It won't take too long, I can guarantee it. Mussolini intervened, but there was some hesitation in his words.

"If there is support from the Navy, the Army should be able to solve this ...... Yes, that's the Army's responsibility. Mussolini gestured to the map.

"Theoretically, it is, Your Excellency, but in reality, whatever we come up with now, it is already too late, and the Germans will not give us time to rest." Badoglio picked up a red pencil from the table and drew a few lines in Sicily.

"At the moment they have broken through to the beachhead, I don't know how they did it, but given the combat effectiveness of the German Army, well... Let's not talk about that. Looking at Mussolini's ugly face, Badogglio decided not to provoke the Caesar too much before ending the talks.

"This is the defense line of the Aosta Infantry Division, and this is the defense line of the Neapolitan Infantry Division, and you can see that this place should be connected." Badoglio drew an arc behind the southern coastline of Sicily.

"But we don't know what's going on, the connection between the two divisions has been broken. The German Army was very good at breaking through the weak points of the position, and then advancing to the depth and both flanks, destroying the supply points and command centers of the troops attacking in depth, and then cooperating with the forces of the two flanks to annihilate the troops in the encirclement in one fell swoop. And the weak position of the handover of the positions of the two armies was the favorite breakthrough point of the Germans. Badoglio threw the red pencil onto the map.

"The training of several other infantry divisions in the south is no different from these two infantry divisions, and if we send them to that island now, it will be tantamount to sending these soldiers to death."

"Italians are not afraid of sacrifice, we have strong conviction and determination." Mussolini lowered his head and stroked the map as he spoke, his mood finally calming down, and the intense euphoria was followed by exponential frustration.

"Your Excellency, with all due respect, I am afraid that we will now have to give up Sicily, which is the wisest option for now." Badoglio placed his hat on the table.

"No, we can't give up Sicily, and as long as I'm the Prime Minister of Italy, I'm definitely not going to make the decision to give up my country." Mussolini's eyes were fixed on Badoglio, and the field marshal could clearly see the reddened bloodshot around his pupils.

"The retreat now is temporary, otherwise we will lose even more, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Badoglio picked up the red pencil and drew a large circle on the tip of his boot on the map of Italy.

"We have only two poorly equipped coastal divisions here, like the four coastal divisions in Sicily, which allegedly collapsed at the first moment. So if the Germans were going to land on Italian soil from here at this moment, there would be no way for us to stop it. ”

"So what's your plan?" Mussolini looked down at the map and was silent for a moment, apparently convinced by the facts Badogglio.

"My... The plan proposed by the High Command was to immediately assemble the forces of the major southern provinces and build a defensive line between Salerno and Mesaponte, which was expected to take about five days. We estimate that the Germans will not be able to launch a second landing operation for the time being, and it will take time to deploy materials and organize the fleet.

We can strengthen the defensive lines of the southern provinces in the gap left to us by the Germans. Moreover, a single line of defense could not hold back the Germans, and we would need to establish a second and third line of defense in the rear, which would require the mobilization of all the units of the Italian Army in the south, which we calculated to be roughly thirty-two infantry divisions...".

"God, that's almost half of the total number of the Army." Ziano exclaimed.

"There aren't that many troops, and we need to recruit more Italian men of the right age to join the army, and although we don't have much time to train them, we can at least teach them to pull the trigger." Badoglio drew the location of the next two lines of defense on the map.

"It's a good plan, I'm very satisfied." Mussolini glanced at Ziano, then nodded approvingly to the Chief of Staff.

"I'm glad you'll agree with this plan, but if it's to be completed, I'll need your written authorization, because we're going to mobilize the strategic material reserves of the five major southern provinces, requisition the needed civilian transport, and a sum of money to pay the recruiters." Badoglio said with some embarrassment.

"No problem, you will get my power of attorney, supplies, provisions, personnel, ammunition, vehicles, funds, everything you can think of, I will give it to you, as long as you can guarantee that you can stop the Germans from advancing." Looking at the sincere expression on Mussolini's face, if he hadn't figured out the details of this leader a long time ago, Badogglio would have almost been moved by him.

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will give you a written application when I get back, as well as a list of items that are needed." Badoglio bowed slightly.

"But what about the enemy in the north, have you forgotten the enemy army in the north?" Ziano was a little unable to see this kind of small theater of harmony between kings and ministers, and he interjected again.

"Of course I have not forgotten, Your Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs!" Badoglio replied loudly. The Field Marshal glanced at the Foreign Minister, this is indeed a little bastard, and he deserves to be cleaned up by his father-in-law.

"With the strength at hand, we have assembled four infantry divisions on the Apennine defensive line, and right in Florence, our Fourth Army is ready to go." Badogglio used a red pencil to draw a horizontal line north of Italy's central mountains.

"From Pisa, through Florence, Arezzo, Castillo to the Adriatic, we will build a strong defence. The Roman high command unanimously decided to call it the Mussolini Line as a sign of the determination of the Italian people to resist and to support and respect the leader of the country. Badogglio was in debt again, and Mussolini's face looked a little better.

"How many troops is the High Command going to put here." Mussolini asked, touching his chin.

"Twenty-two infantry divisions, we need to gather all the forces around central and western Italy and Rome... Including the Blackshirts. Badoglio replied respectfully.

"You mean to mobilize the Roman garrison? The 10th Motorized Rifle Division? Plus all the Blackshirts? Mussolini hesitated, these troops were the last national reserves he had prepared.

"We have not been able to withdraw the troops on the French border, Your Excellency Prime Minister, the French have broken through the line of defense on the border." After saying that, Badoglio glanced at Ziano again, and the foreign minister was half a cut short on the spot.

"These damned Gauls." Mussolini also turned his face and kicked Ziano, as if the other party was the culprit who caused all this.

"If you follow your plan, how long will it take to build this line of defense?" Mussolini asked.

"About four to five days, before we can mobilize some troops in front of the [Mussolini] line, build a slightly more rudimentary line, only need to delay the Germans for four or five days, I believe we can still do this." Badoglio replied.

PS: Sorry, this chapter is late today, thank you for your understanding.

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