In fact, if one were to look at it from the perspective of an onlooker, one would almost feel that Mussolini was simply giving away his head.

It was as if he deliberately wanted not to be one-sided in the French campaign, and Mussolini gave an order to the detriment of himself.

It was this order that gave the defeated French Third Republic a chance to win a big victory, and a new famous general born in World War II appeared, a new general named Henri Béronte.

Like Reinhardt, Mussolini believed that the war would only last a few weeks. So, on a whim, he explicitly ordered the people to live as usual, and not to disturb themselves because of the full-scale war mobilization.

Mussolini's idea was simple: he wanted to create a situation in which the Kingdom of Italy could handle wars with ease and embarrassment.

On the other hand, he also ordered cabinet members and his cronies to leave their offices and immediately go to the front to take up military posts.

Mussolini's reason for doing so was also to give the impression that Italy's cabinet ministers, even without rigorous military training, were born warriors and could immediately command a field battalion.

At the same time, it will also make everyone understand that Mussolini can govern the country independently and is an all-round leader even without the help of his ministers.

In doing so, he did what even the German Reinhardt could do.

You see, no matter how capable the German Führer is, he does not have to rely on the assistance of professionals in various fields to govern the country. But I'm Mussolini, I'm going to be able to do it all by myself!

But in fact, because the ministers and leaders of the Italian government allowed Mussolini to get to the front, the Italian administration was in chaos.

It is precisely because of this that there are cases where Italian merchant ships anchored at sea or abroad are seized by the British in large numbers because they have not been notified in time by the relevant authorities. If there is a special leader in charge of these matters, there will be no such problems.

And Mussolini still has an inexplicable confidence in his own arrangement.

Because of his work as a corporal in World War I, Mussolini once boasted of himself: "Reinhardt was only a non-commissioned officer when he started, and Napoleon was only a small corporal at the beginning, but they both became military geniuses who were better than the generals who came out of the military academy." In the same way, I can be such a wise genius, and I must be better than them! ”

And whenever someone suggested the opposite, asking Mussolini not to send the laymen to the front and command the expert officers, Mussolini would assume the majesty of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome and say, "Are you arguing with the Ethiopian conquerors?" Are you arguing with the victors of the Spanish battlefield? ”

Eventually, a large number of political officials were inexplicably sent to the front to command the army, and then they had to stop the offensive after sending a large number of heads.

Now, anyone with a modicum of military knowledge can see that the Italian offensive against southern France has not made much progress, and except for the offensive led by the 1st Division of the Black Shirts, the other attacking units are surprisingly poor in command and military equipment.

As a result, in the face of the terrible situation at the front, Mussolini ostensibly made a big propaganda to the people, saying that the Italian army had won a great victory at the front and occupied a large area of French land.

On the other hand, he privately shirked the responsibility of his son-in-law Ziano and said: "The failure to achieve sufficient victories is mainly to blame the bourgeoisie, who have failed their leadership and have illusions about a comfortable life." Although they have exhausted their efforts for them, they do not obey the command at all. ”

Eventually, however, Mussolini said that one day he would regain the true face of the Romans, and that he would redouble his efforts to produce a more resilient and indomitable people.

Mussolini even looked to the future, claiming that even if the war ended soon, he would start another war in order to make the Italians more resilient.

Fearing that the French would try to admit only to Germany and thus not regard Italy as the victorious power, Mussolini urged the Blackshirts to intensify their efforts to break through the French lines and thus open up the situation.

"Our offensive on the front line cannot be stopped, we must muster up courage and work harder." Mussolini shouted to the generals who remained with him: "I have written to Reinhardt and asked him to accept the French's request for peace talks a few days later." In order to give our army time to fight a winning battle, so that Italy can join the peace negotiations as a victorious power. ”

When Mussolini said this, his angry voice trembled a little.

Sneaking up on the French troops from behind, the 32 main Italian divisions were actually withstood by the 10 garrison divisions of the French!

What made Mussolini even more angry was that at this critical juncture, French Prime Minister Renaud had stepped down, and the new government established by Petain demanded an immediate truce and expressed France's willingness to surrender to Germany.

Is it enough to surrender only to Germany?

Where does this make the dignified Italian Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini's face?!

You know, Mussolini's original plan was to cede a large amount of French territory, take over the complete fleet of the French, and even get rid of the masterpieces of Italian painting in the French art gallery.

As a result, the French now have no intention of surrendering to Italy at all, how embarrassing it is!

What is even more embarrassing is that Italy has not been able to do anything to the French, and the large-scale military operation has no effect, and the French have completely blocked the main force of the entire Italy with a partial division.

No way! Although we have not yet secured the slightest bit of capital, we cannot give up on our goals.

In Mussolini's eyes, the annexation of the French fleet had a significant impact on his Mediterranean strategy. Even without mentioning the territorial claims to France, Italy had to achieve a decisive victory on the battlefield just to get a strong French fleet!

"Ziano!" Mussolini said to his "reliable" son-in-law with determination: "Hello, I'm going to give a victory speech in advance." ”

Victory speech?!

Ziano clearly didn't keep up with his father-in-law's thinking. Where did Italy win, and how did he not hear about it?

However, before Ziano could wonder, Mussolini revealed his thoughts: "I want to put a little pressure on the front-line troops to let them know that I am going to hold a speech to celebrate the victory tomorrow." In this way, they will muster up their strength to win before I make a speech and live up to my expectations. ”

"This ...... Okay, leader. Although Ziano was not very optimistic about his father-in-law's incentive method, he did not dare to refute it, so he had to agree to it.

Anyway, when it really comes, it's not him who will lose face, isn't Ziano?