Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is the city of the plateau.

Maybe some people will dream of going to heaven by themselves, while in Germany everyone will dream of going to Munich in Bavaria, the paradise of the Germans.

An afternoon rain swept away the heat of the August sun, and the old stone streets were washed spotless, and the air was filled with the scent of fresh earth after the rain.

Four Seasons Hotel Munich is a historic luxury hotel with a beige façade adorned with white plaster carvings and a refined Rococo style.

On the balcony of the top floor of this beautiful building, a stout man holds coffee in one hand and the iron parapet of the balcony in the other, staring at Munich after the rain with his famous big chin held high.

"My leader."

A handsome young man crept up behind the man and whispered respectfully.

The man turned, a look of displeasure on his face, he hated it so much that people disturbed him while he was thinking, even the person in front of him who he trusted the most.

"Ziano, what's the matter?"

Mussolini, the successor of the Roman Empire, the leader of the Italian fascist party, the marshal of the Reich, the Prime Minister of Italy, and a large number of other Italian ducái with similar honorary titles, proudly walked to the chair in the middle of the balcony and sat down, tilting his chin and looking at his son-in-law with a resolute gaze that according to him could only be possessed by a noble emperor.

Once again, Ziano felt like a lobster on a plate, drenched in cream, boiled red. The father-in-law's sharp, powerful gaze, which captured the essence of the gluttons in the Sicilian beach stalls, made the poor Italian foreign minister feel a sudden thirst in his throat.

"My leader, the German Foreign Office has just sent a telegram."

Ziano said as he glanced at the mineral water on the round table.

"What does it say, von. When will Stadler come to see me. ”

Mussolini asked impatiently, as an "international" leader, he was willing to put aside his reserve and stoop to this "third-rate city" to meet the German Führer, who was a rookie in his eyes, and he felt that he was too great, and that greatness had exceeded his own imagination.

However, after coming here, things did not go the way he had imagined. Mussolini was outset with a hint of anger at the fact that the other party did not rush to meet him at the first moment, and accept the guidance of his wise, great, and incomparable political predecessors. Then something even more intolerable happened to him, the rookie had appointed only a third-class foreign secretary of the German Foreign Office to receive him, and instead of arranging for him to come to the luxurious, Italian-style, comfortable palace of Prince Karl, where he had been living in Munich before him, and in keeping with his status as a world leader, the Four Seasons Hotel where the idiot Frenchman Daladier had stayed at the Munich Conference, he had placed himself in the Four Seasons Hotel.

It was an insult to him, and Mussolini secretly swore that sooner or later he would let the fledgling know what it would cost to snub a powerful, great, fat "world-class leader".

According to Mussolini's usual temper, he should have gone away in such a violent manner at the expense of such contempt and neglect.

But he had to endure it all, he had to meet with the hairy boy whom he did not give any disdain, and he chose to endure for the sake of Italy, and it made him admire his greatness and tolerance even more.

"My leader, I guess you'd better see for yourself, I really can't say anything about it."

Ziano respectfully handed the document to Mussolini, his eyes still glancing at the bottle of mineral water.

"Pour it yourself, young people are thirsty."

Mussolini saw his son-in-law's intentions and waved his hand tolerantly.

"Thank you, my leader."

Ziano hurriedly walked to the table, picked up the beautiful crystal bottle, and drank it all down with a glass of water.

"What!"

The next moment, the balcony erupted with a roar that Ziano had long anticipated.

"This arrogant and stupid Stadler, what does he want to do? We've signed the Iron Pact, and does he want to break it? Even his predecessor Hitler did not dare to do this to me, this is an insult, an insult to me, an insult to the whole of Italy, to the Roman Empire, I absolutely cannot tolerate it anymore! ”

After reading the first few lines, Mussolini jumped to his feet in anger and roared loudly, and the Italian leader roared and waved the document as if it were a cavalry saber directed at his fictitious Reinhardt. Feng. Stadler's head was cut off.

"That means war. My leader. ”

Ziano carefully put down the crystal cup, and then said respectfully.

"Then declare war, I have never been afraid of war, the great Italian army will teach the Germans a lesson from the stupidity of their idiot Führer. We're going to win, Reinhardt. Feng. Stadger, this stupid idiot, he will never know what kind of person he is offending now. I am the Prime Minister of Italy, the leader of the Fascist Party, the only leader of Italy with the most powerful army in the world, the bravest people, the richest land, and the one whom he, the weak German Führer, cannot afford to provoke. Damn von. Stadler, this Nazi bastard who knows nothing about politics, this ......"

Mussolini had been irritated by the document, the haughty Italian ducái could no longer bear this contempt and humiliation, and the impudent demands of the German side became the last straw that broke the camel's spine of Mussolini's ability to bear it, and he was now foaming at the mouth like a madman on the rooftop balcony of the Four Seasons Hotel in Munich, Germany, insulting the German Führer.

"My leader, I hope you can look at this matter sensibly, we are still at war with France, and the situation on the front line is not very good. I think that in the current situation, we must maintain friendly relations with Germany, otherwise we will lose all the benefits we deserve. ”

Ziano still maintained an indifferent demeanor and said respectfully.

Ziano knew that Mussolini was just emotionally out of control for a while, he knew the bad temper of his father-in-law, and he also understood this man's political talent, so he didn't take Mussolini's war intimidation just now seriously.

When he finishes venting, he will soon calm down and seriously think about the solution to the situation in front of him, and Ziano is very confident in this.

"That bunch of damned stupid generals and marshals, a bunch of cowards, a bunch of cowards, useless waste!"

Mussolini was not clever but certainly not an idiot, and he knew full well that in the current situation, a declaration of war with Germany was simply a crazy idea.

After a reckless vent, he finally began to calm down, but when he heard Ziano talk about the French front, a nameless fire ignited in his heart, and the Italian leader immediately transferred his indignation to his men.

The situation at the front is not very rosy, it is simply a mess, the offensive on all fronts does not achieve the desired effect before the start of the war, as that damned Bagdorio said, it is simply a disaster.

The Italian army was disgraced in front of the French, they were not at all worthy to be called descendants of the Roman legions, they were all a bunch of cowardly cowards.

Mussolini couldn't figure out why the French, who were fleeing in front of the German army, were able to hold back his huge army for so long, and there was no sign of falling behind, and what made him even more depressed was that it was only the three French infantry divisions that blocked the advance of the great Italian army.

Under the rapid advance of the German ** team, the three French divisions had already lost all their way out. The Germans surrounded and annihilated all the reserves and logistical support systems of the French Alpine Army on the long back line. But it was here that Mussolini was puzzled, when the Germans had done all this, they stopped behind the French, and not only did they not strike any further blows at the French, but they did not even seem to have the slightest intention of launching a similar attack, and the French showed no sign of retreating, and they continued to resist fiercely.

If the German ** team continues to attack, under the front and back of the German and Italian ** teams, the French Alpine Marzino defense line will collapse in an instant, and Italy can take advantage of the situation to attack France.

However, the Germans did not do so, which made Mussolini angry, and Italy formed a military alliance with Germany under the steel agreement with Hitler, and in his opinion, Germany was obliged to fight with Italy, and this behavior of the Germans now is a clear betrayal of that agreement.

Mussolini had some resentment towards the Germans, believing that he had been dragged into the war by the Germans, and that Italy would not have started this humiliating war if he had not complied with that agreement.

Mussolini seems to have long forgotten the fact that he had initially rejected Hitler's invitation to war, and as a result, after seeing the German ** team winning one after another, he climbed into this chariot with a shy face with a bargain mentality, and he now put all the blame on the German side from the bottom of his heart, as if he had become a victim of this war.

At the same time, while he was disappointed in the performance of his group of generals and marshals, he was looking for a reason for failure, perhaps because of the terrain, or because the French ** team opposite was the elite of the entire French army, far stronger than the ones encountered by the Germans.

Because of this, the Germans chose to stay where they were and not attack, and they wanted the great Italian army to destroy for them these enemies that they could not deal with.

Could this be the case? Mussolini tried hard to convince himself of this idea.

This time he came to Munich with the intention of discussing some issues with the new German Führer.

First of all, he wanted the German army to launch an attack on the French as soon as possible, so that the Italian army could get out of the current embarrassing situation, which was what he was most looking forward to at present.

In addition, he also wanted to establish his authority in front of the new Führer, and Hitler could only claim to be a revolutionary descendant in front of him. Although Stader has met a few times, he has the impression that he is just a hairy boy, and of course he does not dare to be vague when he sees himself.

One of Mussolini's last and most important goals was to discuss the post-war spoils with Reinhardt.

This was Mussolini's greatest concern, and in his opinion, the young fledgling would not dare to refuse the demands of the great Italian leader, and would certainly allow himself to take what he wanted in the matter of post-war reparations for France.

However, the facts gave him a blow in the face, and the German Führer did not greet him respectfully at all in Menihe.

According to the German side, since Mussolini had not informed the German side in advance of his preparations, and the German Führer was now directing the final phase of the battle in Paris, France, he could not spare time to meet with His Excellency the Leader, so he had to ask His Excellency the Leader to be patient for a few days and wait for His Excellency to find time to meet with him.

Speaking of which, no one can know about this von. What exactly was Stadler thinking?

Mussolini gasped and calmed his emotions, and he looked at the document in his hand and thought depressedly.

This man was in a high position, but he had always kept a low profile, and his file in the Italian intelligence agencies was only two pages long, and Mussolini would not have noticed the existence of such a figure if he had not played a vigorous confrontation with Hitler some time ago.

This man was victorious, and very beautifully, and sat on the throne of the German Führer without hindrance.

But it may sound absurd to find that the new German Führer knew little about the new German Führer other than that he was a good general, but it was true.

"What is this?"

Mussolini, who had calmed down, continued to look at the document, but his brow furrowed again when he saw the second paragraph.

"They even protested against our dishonorable sneak attacks on them? Ask me for an explanation on this? He also said that we will be responsible for all the consequences caused by this! Ziano! What the hell are these Germans talking about! When did we sneak up on them? ”

Mussolini's face turned blue and jumped up again, shouting for war with Germany is one thing, but really firing at the German team is another, Mussolini sensed the seriousness of the problem.

"I also do not know, my leader, that I have sent a telegram to the Italian General Command requesting an investigation, and that a definite answer will be given soon, and I think that perhaps it is just a misunderstanding, which can be resolved with a few more explanations. I don't think you need to worry about that, my leader. ”

Ziano said lightly without panic.

He had been dealing with the Germans for many years, and he thought he knew the old-fashioned Germans very well, and although they were a little paranoid, they were very easy to deal with if you used them in the right way, and if you could get a good grasp of their ideas, they could even be very easy to take advantage of, at least that's what Ziano thought.

In the opinion of the Italian foreign minister, this was only a minor misunderstanding, because from the terrain, the Italians could not attack the Germans at all, after all, there were still three divisions of the French between the Germans and the Italian army.

Perhaps some idiot pilot or an interspersed mountain infantry attacked a reconnaissance unit sent by the Germans to the Alps, thought the foreign minister, who had spent a few days in the Italian Air Force.

Judging from the tough tone used by the Germans in this document, Ziano judged that the Germans may have suffered some losses in that conflict, so they were angry because they could not get over the face.

From the bottom of his heart, Ziano felt that these arrogant Germans should be taught a lesson, and that they should let the arrogant Germans know the elite of the Italian army.

At the same time, Ziano felt that the Germans did not seem to want to make a big deal of it, so they only raised this point in an ordinary diplomatic cable, whether it was intimidation or advice, which proved that the other side was a little short-hearted and strong-minded.

Because if Germany really wanted to hold the matter accountable and were prepared to make a big fuss about it, they would not have put the problem in their own hands on a small diplomatic cable.

Ciano reported his analysis and judgment to Mussolini in detail, and the Italian ducái pondered for a while before returning to his seat.

"Ziano, order them to pack their bags, and we'll rush to Paris tonight."

"Tonight? My leader. ”

Ziano looked at Mussolini in surprise.

"Well, I'm going to see Feng as soon as possible. Stadler. ”

Mussolini picked up the already cold cup of coffee and raised his famous large chin with a frown.

"I always feel like something is happening, Ziano, not very good."