Even as the Allies were attacking the Catania Line, the political scene in Italy was shaken. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The reason for this was that the Allies had easily captured Sicily, which is now only a stone's throw from mainland Italy...... The narrowest point of the Strait of Messina is only a few kilometers.

Another trigger was the poor performance of the Italian army on the battlefield...... If the Italian soldiers had fought valiantly on the front lines, it might have aroused the grief and indignation of the common people who fought to the death with the same hatred of the enemy.

Of course, the only word "maybe" is used here, because European countries are completely different from Asian countries, Asian countries such as Japan may carry out a "national jade" resistance, and European countries tend to surrender simply when they realize that they cannot win or even have little hope of winning, as is the case with France.

And the incredible surrender and retreat of the Italian army on the front line made the Italian people completely lose confidence in the "victory".

Naturally, however, the vast majority of Italians were reluctant to continue the war in a senseless manner, and the call to sever ties with Germany and join the Allies was at an all-time high in the country.

In this way, the spearhead was pointed at Mussolini, who started the war and brought Italy into the fascist camp.

Mussolini was dismissive of this, believing that he had two major weapons in his hands: the army and the leader of the fascist party.

He believed that as long as he had the army in his hands and the support of the fascist party, he would not have to worry about the voices of the people at all.

But on this point, Mussolini was once again very wrong.

It can also be seen that Mussolini really did not have the wisdom of a politician, and when the wall fell and everyone pushed him, the political party would never have staked the future of the entire party for the benefit of Mussolini alone, and the same is true for the army.

To put it simply, when Mussolini was still confident in his regime, the military and political parties were secretly negotiating whether to arrest Mussolini.

There are at least two benefits to capturing Mussolini:

The first is to use Mussolini as a scapegoat to calm public anger and at the same time absolve himself of responsibility.

Second, it can clear the obstacles to negotiations with the Allies in exchange for peace.

The army and the political parties have their own agendas, some thinking about the first benefit, others thinking about the second...... Then, the day after the British and American forces attacked the Catania line, they put this plan into practice.

It is ridiculous that Mussolini was in the dark about his situation when he was controlled, because his captors lied that someone wanted to assassinate him, so he was secretly under special protection......

At the same time, another political leader of the fascist party, Badoglio, made a radio speech: "Despite the heavy casualties of the people in the captured provinces and destroyed cities, the war will continue and Italy will keep its word." Mussolini has resigned and appointed me, Badogglio to replace him! ”

All the Italians cheered, and the people danced like a festival.

Although there was a phrase in this speech, "The war will go on", even a fool knows it...... If even Mussolini is gone, will this war still be fought?

This almost meant that the time was not far off to break away from Germany and join the Allied camp.

Zhang Chi shook his head after hearing the news.

Italy as a country should be said to be one of the advocates of the fascist camp...... It stands to reason that he should be held accountable for the crimes he committed during the war.

But this clearly does not apply to politics between countries.

Because from the perspective of interests, a surrendered Italy is more beneficial to the Allies than an Italy that continues to resist, so the two giants of Britain and the United States can easily absolve Italy of its crimes on behalf of all mankind, and in the end Italy is even one of the victorious powers.

However, this is not something that Zhang Chi can control, because General Giraud can't wait to fly from Algiers to Palermo.

"Major General, I really don't know what words to use to praise you!" General Giro held his hand and smiled so much that his eyes were crooked: "I really didn't expect it...... We were able to achieve such a brilliant victory! ”

"With all due respect, General!" Zhang Chi took the opportunity to say: "A large part of the reason for this victory is the reform of the Zoaf Corps!" ”

"Yes, yes, that's right!" General Giro replied as he walked to the balcony and leaned against the railing to look at the buildings below, with a proud smile on his face and his chin raised high, as if he were a conqueror.

At this moment, General Giraud seemed to forget that he had not even given a single order in this war, that he had almost nothing to do with this victory, and that the one who really achieved it was standing next to him.

Zhang Chi didn't care about this, because he understood that it was people like General Giraud who were in power...... He is likely to get more benefits.

"General!" Zhang Chi took advantage of this time and said to General Giro: "You have also seen that the effect of the reform of the Zoaf Regiment is immediate, and it can be predicted...... As the war deepens, the units of an army are not enough to meet the demand! I think we need a similar reform of more troops! ”

General Giraud was silent, he still had obvious scruples.

"Maybe we don't need to reform the other troops!" General Giraud said, "Look, you're doing a good job right now, aren't you?" You even took Palermo with just one division! ”

"But it was just an accident!" Zhang Chi said: "As you know, our division was almost wiped out under the attack of two elite German divisions...... A large part of the reason for our victory was that the Germans took advantage of the strong pressure of the two Allied armies. Next time, maybe you won't be so lucky! ”

Hearing this, General Giro couldn't help but be silent, in order to achieve a greater victory, it was necessary to have more and better troops, he did not understand this truth, but he was unwilling to give up control of the Zoaf corps.

So in the end, Zhang Chi had to use a killer move.

"You must know that there are more than 100,000 troops on the side of 'Fighting France', and they are all French people with not weak quality!" Zhang Chi said: "If we only have 30,000 troops, and the rest are troops that are useless and have little combat effectiveness on the battlefield, then ......."

"Okay!" General Giraud nodded: "I agree to continue the reform, and put in two more armies, no more!" ”

"Yes, General!" Zhang Chi smiled with satisfaction.

General Giraud has made it simple: if one army regains its freedom one after another, how can the rest of the Zoaf corps hold it down?