Rommel suddenly transferred the Italian SS back, was he not worried about the Italian SS, as Brauchitsch knew, the SS in all countries was actually in the hands of Germany in disguise. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Because there were a large number of German middle-level officers in these SS troops, these middle-level German officers had extremely high prestige among the SS cadres of various countries, and the SS troops of any country could not be commanded in their own country, and only Germany could command them.

Field Marshal Brauchitsch felt that Rommel was a bit of a grassy soldier, and the Italian SS under the leadership of Edward was also a relatively elite fighting unit, so it was a pity to abandon it like this.

"Dear Führer Rommel, the Italian SS is still firmly in our hands, I think it is better to let them continue to fight!"

Rommel knew that Marshal Brauchitsch had misunderstood, and the Italian SS, of course, was going to be of great use, but not on the battlefields of the USSR.

Now Mussolini is so arrogant, using the separation from the steel alliance and the start of war as a threat, delusional to take control of the two oil-producing regions of Libya and Egypt without much effort, then the German **** is not in the hands of Mussolini.

So Rommel must not let Mussolini succeed, Mussolini also made a very bad start within the Axis countries, if anyone is dissatisfied with the leadership of Germany, they all come out and shout all over the world, then the Axis alliance will fall apart.

So Mussolini had to die, but if the Germans didn't put Mussolini to death, that would push the whole of Italy to the opposite side.

If Mussolini is killed, it can only be Italy's own people, and Edward, the leader of the Italian SS who Rommel brought out, is the executor.

Edward alone was not enough, because Edward was only a soldier, and his killing of Mussolini was a coup d'état, and even after the coup was successful, Italy would fall into chaos and even cause a civil war.

Italy of chaos and civil war, this is not what Rommel wants, Rommel wants an obedient, prosperous Italy.

So Rommel thought of the Italian king Emmanuel III, who arrested Mussolini in history, and Mussolini was able to ascend to the position of Italian prime minister because of the support of Emmanuel III.

But when Mussolini came to power, Mussolini wanted to see all the rights in Italy, which undoubtedly made Emmanuel III intolerable, and the conflict between Mussolini and Emmanuel III was inevitable.

The result of the conflict between the two sides was the complete defeat of Emmanuel III, Mussolini completely took control of the military and political power in Italy, and Emmanuel III was exiled by Mussolini to the Italian colony of Ethiopia to become king.

It was only after Rommel told Brauchitsch what he thought that the old and cautious marshal suddenly became enlightened. As long as King Emmanuel III issued an order for Mussolini's execution, the Italian SS would be able to carry it out in the open.

Only when you are clear and upright can you speak smoothly.

"Great Führer Rommel, your plan to kill people with a knife is so good, I will give the Italian SS an order, and I promise that within three days all the Italian SS troops will be in Rome."

"Don't forget to bring Emmanuel III to Berlin, Emmanuel III is the key to the success or failure of this matter."

Brauchitsch smiled:

"Don't worry, great Führer Rommel, if Emmanuel III willingly cooperates with us, that's the best, and if he doesn't, we will let Canaris entertain the King of Italy."

"Well, don't let people see the trauma."

In fact, Brauchitsch was too worried, Emmanuel III now hated Mussolini to the core, he was actually exiled by his courtiers, if it wasn't for a group of old ministers desperately protecting him, maybe Mussolini would have let him go to God quietly.

When the German ambassador went to pick up Emmanuel III and explained his intentions, Emmanuel III flew to Berlin with the German ambassador without saying a word.

Führer Rommel would not blow a whistle and get a warrant for the execution of Mussolini written by Emmanuel III, while Edward, the general leader of the Italian SS, was rushing to Rome, the capital of Italy, by train with three Italian SS divisions.

Mussolini's fate could no longer be changed.

……

The attack of the German Army Group North was successful, but the Center Army Group encountered stubborn resistance from the direction of Kiev, but the Germans, relying on their advanced weapons and tactics, were still attacking with all their might, but the speed of the attack had become slow.

The German Army Group Center then divided its forces into two parts, one to attack Kyiv from the left and the other to attack Kyiv from the right, and Army Group Center had more than 2 million troops, which gave them enough confidence to divide their forces to encircle Kyiv.

The passive defense of the Soviet army has lost all its ability to excite and the last chance to break through, and it is impossible for Stalin to let them give up the Kiev breakout.

After a series of battles in the border area and the defeat of the Dubno-Lutsk-Rivne tank engagement, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Red Army considered the south-western direction to be the main direction of the German offensive.

As a result, most of the forces of the Soviet Red Army were deployed in Ukraine, including the Southwestern Front (5th, 6th, 26th, 12th Army) and Southern Front (18th and 9th Armies), a total of 6 army groups, 69 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry divisions and 28 armored brigades, under the command of the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Direction, Marshal of the Soviet Union Budyonny.

The Soviet army deployed a large number of troops in Ukraine, but it was still crushed by the German Army Group South and suffered heavy losses.

Stalin was a fool to the bottom, and when it was hopeless to hold on to Ukraine, he ordered the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Red Army, which began to retreat from Western Ukraine on April 25, 1941, and rearranged the defenses on the front line of the Ukrainian capital.

The tasks of the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Army were:

Before April 29, 1940, the field army occupied the fortified areas of Korostin, Volynsky Novaya, Shepetovka, Staraya Konstantinov, Proskurov, etc., which were built on the old border, and organized a strong defense on this front.

And the 1st tank group of the German Army Group "Center", the 6th and 17th armies, broke through the front of the Soviet Red Army on the front line of the old fortified area, advanced to the Kiev region, and seized the landing ground on the Dnieper. Then the assault group turned to the southeast to attack in order to prevent the main forces of the Southwestern Front from retreating across the Dnieper and to destroy it by surprise from the rear.

The Soviet Southwestern Front, with 44 divisions that had also been severely weakened in battle, confronted 40 German divisions (including 10 tank and motorized divisions).

The German army had more than 1 times more infantry, artillery and mortars than the Soviet Red Army, and 50% more aircraft. On April 25, 1940, the German offensive began.

As early as April 21, 1940, the German army, with the tank corps as the first echelon, broke through the defenses of the Soviet Red Army north of Novomiropol, captured Berdichev in the evening, and the next day, carried out a breakthrough south of Volynsky New City, preparing to capture Zhytomyr.

(The strategic situation of the encirclement of the Soviet army in Kiev has been formed, and the largest encirclement and forced landing battle in history is about to begin.) (To be continued.) )