Rome, Italy

"General de Bono." Rossi, who was about to travel to Ethiopia with de Bono, spoke to his future colleague behind the balcony of the Venetian Palace: "The leader has made up his mind to declare war on Ethiopia immediately. ”

De Bono, who was standing next to Rossi, glanced at Mussolini, who was standing on the balcony to give a speech on mobilization, nodded and said: "Yes, for more than half a year, we have established 6 military airports in Eritrea and Italian Somalia, and mobilized more than 300,000 troops. It would be strange if the leader had not yet ordered a general attack. ”

"A solemn and sacred moment in the history of our Motherland is coming! Throughout Italy, 20 million people gathered in squares across the country to declare their determination and will. Mussolini, on the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia, inflamed his mobilization: "The wheels of fate are well on their way. Now, it's getting faster and faster, all the way forward, unstoppable! It is a symbol of the expulsion of the 44 million people of Italy with the shadow of injustice that hangs over our heads! ”

Looking at Mussolini, who was full of passion and confidence, De Bono whispered to Rossi beside him: "The leader did not give any military instructions, he just stubbornly ordered us to defeat the Ethiopian army within a month and occupy its capital, Yasbeba." According to information, Ethiopia has entered into an agreement with France to purchase arms from France and to train its troops with French officers. But the leaders turn a blind eye to this, and only know to ask us, make demands, and make demands. ”

De Bono's implication is clear: no matter how much Mussolini asks, it must be fulfilled. And the Italian army, apparently, does not have the ability to fulfill these requirements.

Rosie smiled faintly and comforted his future colleague and said: "It is not impossible for the general to achieve the leader's strategic goal, and when the time comes, I only need to bring 5 divisions of the black shirts to play the vanguard." ”

"You just play as a striker....... Are you so sure? De Bono frowned and said, "This is not a joke, I don't think your team is completely sure." While the Blackshirts are generally more willing to fight, this is only relative. Once the tide of war declines, the morale of our troops will be low and their combat effectiveness will decline. I have no doubt about that. ”

Clapping his hands, Rossi applauded, "That's right, your analysis is completely correct. That's why we have to come up with a secret weapon to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army. ”

De Bono reacted very quickly, and was instantly surprised: "God, do you want to use poison gas?!" ”

"Of course," said Rosie, who had received Reinhardt's reminder, "rather than waiting for our army to be resisted by the so-called indigenous army, and then having to use poison gas as a last resort to open the way, it is better to use poison gas in the first place." At the very least, this will guarantee our victory and avoid possible humiliation. ”

On the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia, Mussolini was still excitedly shouting: "We have endured for 13 years the situation in which Italy does not have enough say because of the lack of colonies." We have endured Ethiopia's provocations for 40 years, and we have reached the point where we can no longer bear it! Our esteemed Caesar once ruled the world here, and now it is my turn to bring you back to the glory of the Roman Empire. Glory will belong to the Italian ........"

"Well, I agree with you. It is more cost-effective to use the secret weapon earlier than later. De Bono made a compromise after seeing Mussolini's frenzied speech: "Because the leader ...... Failure will not be allowed. ”

In October 1935, the Italian Army launched a two-pronged attack on Ethiopia.

On the Southern Front, Italian Army General Rudolf. Graziani led a second-rate force of 110,000 men from Italian Somalia along the direction of Grahei-Haral-Dire Dawa in southern Ethiopia. Their task was to contain Ethiopia's elite troops on the southern front so that they could not move north.

And the Northern Front Group, which was in the direction of the main Italian attack, deployed a full 250,000 Italian main army corps. Five of these divisions were the main force of the Blackshirts brought by Rossi to be the strikers. The remaining 5 divisions under the command of De Bono are also the main first-class troops in the Italian Army.

Due to the large-scale use of poison gas by the Black Shirts, the Ethiopian army, lacking gas masks, was defeated. As a result, the Italian army's offensive on the northern front was unusually smooth, quickly occupying the strategic point of Adignath in northern Ethiopia, and assaulting the two important cities of Amewa and Aksu. It formed a flanking attack on Yasaba, the capital of Ethiopia.

With the cooperation of the Royal Italian Air Force, Rossi, who is not good at fighting, actually commanded the fastest two divisions of the Blackshirts to fight all the way to Asta, which is less than 5 kilometers away from the Ethiopian capital. Only a month has passed since the start of the war.

In contrast, Graziani's 110,000 troops on the southern front, not to mention the losses, advanced slowly for a total of 10 kilometers in a month. Admiral Badoglio, who was historically sent by Mussolini to replace the commander of the Northern Front, de Bono, became the successor of Graziani, the commander of the Southern Front.

Upon arrival, Badoglio immediately learned from Rossi's approach and launched a gas war. As a result, the Italian Army on the Southern Front also barely advanced another 20 kilometers a week later.

In the same way that Reinhardt had predicted the outcome for Rossi, Ethiopia's expected League of Nations did not help the poor country.

As Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini assured the French government that he would renounce his claim to French Tunisia and agree that France would also enjoy privileges in Ethiopia. Instead of condemning Italy for the use of poison gas, the French government ceded 110,000 square miles of the Sahara Desert to Italy and agreed to Italy's arbitrary use of the port of Djibouti, thus supporting Italy's military invasion of Ethiopia in disguise.

At Mussolini's request, the British government issued a public statement: "Friendship with Italy and helping Italy has always been the goal of the British government." ”

The United States, which passed the Neutrality Act in August 1935, cut off Ethiopia's access to weapons from the United States.

Under the appeasement policy of Britain, France and the United States, although the League of Nations finally had to declare Italy an aggressor, it did not implement an embargo on oil and other strategic materials against Italy, and hardly caused any obstacle to the invasion of Italy. Italy could even safely use the British-controlled Suez Canal to transport supplies.

On January 9, 1936, Italy ended the war in Ethiopia four months ahead of schedule. As Prime Minister of Italy, Mussolini was awarded the Order of Merit, Italy's highest honour, by the King of Italy, for his "meritorious service to the creation of a new empire".

Mussolini, who was becoming more and more powerful, had already faintly attempted to abolish the king and proclaim himself the new Roman Empire. Under the covert manipulation of his most trusted fascist No. 2, Rossi, he was opposed by the king's supporters in the fascist party.

However, Mussolini still took advantage of this expansion to have the right to be equal to the king of Italy and became the uncrowned king of Italy