"This is the Colosseum?" Looking at the ruins composed of piles of huge ruined houses and debris in front of him, Lin Shuo, who deliberately changed into an ironed straight military uniform, felt a little dumbfounded. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info this is not the same as what he saw in the tourist brochure.

"This is it." One of Lin Shuo's colleagues replied, "When I was a child, my family and I came to Rome for a vacation, and I came here. But it looks like someone blew it up. ”

This era is not the global village of later generations, and traveling thousands of miles away is definitely a very remarkable thing. These officers and men naturally will not miss the opportunity to relax.

By this time, it had come to February 1942, after the Kingdom of Italy announced its unconditional surrender, and the Ming landing force landed from Anzio to Rome and cut off the logistical supply line of Rommel's corps near Cassino. Knowing that he could no longer hold out in central Italy, Rommel decisively chose to cut off his tail and retreat. Supplies were forcibly airlifted by the Luftwaffe without counting casualties, bringing most of the army back to northern Italy. Although tens of thousands of troops were lost, at least the main force managed to escape.

And the Ming landing force did not have much mind to pursue Rommel, who was mainly armored troops and marched fast. The various armies all rushed to Rome, all trying to make their presence felt in the enemy capital. The temptation of honor to occupy the capital of the enemy country is too great.

By mid-February, hundreds of thousands of Ming troops had gathered near Rome. Many of the Ming troops who had experienced long and fierce battles were given the opportunity to take vacations. Lin Shuo and his robes wandered around the thousand-year-old city after arriving in Rome, but they did not expect that the famous Colosseum in the tourist brochure had become a ruin.

The surrender of the Italians was not actually willing. No country will have no shortage of people who are willing to die for their homeland when it collapses. After the Royal Italian government announced its surrender, some Italians, who were unwilling to give up, chose to continue the war with the Germans. They attempted to seize control of all of Rome and engage in a fierce battle with the armies of the Kingdom of Italy stationed in Rome.

Although these patriots were finally defeated due to the rapid arrival of the Ming army, they destroyed many important places and materials during their retreat. It's like the Colosseum, a very famous arena that would rather destroy itself than leave it to its enemies.

After a long day of terrible infighting, the whole of Rome was out of control, and there were mobs and rebels everywhere smashing and looting. By the time the troops of the Ming Army rushed in to control the situation, the place was already full of fireworks and ruins. At this time, the famous Colosseum in front of Lin Shuo and others naturally did not survive. After all, such a big building is still so sturdy, and at the same time it is also a super prestigious place, how can it be worthy of the audience if it doesn't fight hard?

"What should I do?" The Ming army who came with him asked helplessly.

"Forget it." Lin Shuo looked at the dilapidated ruins of the big building in front of him, and shook his head helplessly, "Find a slightly intact place to take pictures, let's go somewhere else." "Cameras have long been common in this era, and of course they can't be the super advanced things of modern time and space, but there are still portable ones that can be carried around.

After a group of more than a dozen Ming army armored soldiers took pictures in a slightly recognizable place, they quickly packed up their mood and walked towards other famous scenic spots with great interest. In the entire city of Rome, there were a lot of Ming troops like Lin Shuo who came out on vacation to play, and the local economy, which was already on the verge of bankruptcy, was stimulated by tens of thousands of Ming officers and soldiers wielding the strongest currency in the world at this time, and quickly prospered.

The Italians were able to breathe a sigh of relief at this point. No matter how Zhang Cheng and Da Ming would treat them after the war ended, at least for these people for now, the war has gradually moved away from life. Although at the moment, northern Italy is still shrouded in the smoke of war.

Of course, Zhang Cheng couldn't let go of Italy, which was originally a colony of the Ming Dynasty and a country composed of many vassal states, so easily. The global empire will not be merciful to traitors. All Italy dare to fight against the Ming Dynasty, if you don't accept the punishment, how will you take care of the younger brothers in the future?

There is no action now, purely because Zhang Cheng knows that things are prioritized. Now that the war is still going on, the Italians have just surrendered at a time when they are uneasy. And all countries around the world are watching how the Ming will treat the surrendered Italy.

Zhang Cheng, who wanted to speed up the pace of the end of the war and avoid unnecessary casualties, temporarily put away his fierce revenge thoughts, and put on a mask with a smile on himself and Daming to fool the Italians. For example, allowing them to maintain the united territory, allowing Italy to continue to exist as a sovereign state, providing amnesty to the Italian high-ranking who started the war, and so on. In fact, it was only done to appease them. Once the war is over, Italy, which no longer has the slightest ability to resist, will not knead as much as it wants?

The fighting on the Italian battlefield is over for the time being, but this is not the end. The two sides were only a temporary intermission, and they were ready to fight for this important strategic location again.

From the landing of the Ming army in Salerno to the occupation of Rome by the Ming army and the forced withdrawal of the Kingdom of Italy from the battlefield, it was only a little more than a month. The German troops stationed in Italy alone had more than 10 divisional units encircled and annihilated, and countless other units were disabled.

According to a rough calculation, the German army suffered more than 300,000 officers and soldiers killed and wounded and captured in more than a month of fighting! This was definitely a huge loss for the German Army. And not only personnel, the Germans also lost thousands of warplanes, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and many more of various vehicles, military supplies, and so on and so forth. After losing half of the Apennine Peninsula and the entire Kingdom of Italy, the Germans readjusted their strategic layout and began to increase reinforcements to the northern part of the Apennine Peninsula.

The total number of officers and men killed and wounded and captured by the Ming Army during this period of fierce fighting was as high as nearly 80,000, most of which were lost in the landing of Salerno, the attack and defense of Cassino and the siege and annihilation of the German army in the southern Apennines. The loss of various fighters, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery vehicles and other military supplies was not much less than that of the Germans. But the Ming Dynasty fought, and it also occupied a strategic advantage.

After occupying the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula, the strategic bomber units of the Ming Army Aviation were soon stationed at various airfields in the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula. The combat radius of the strategic bomber forces taking off from here has been greatly expanded, and it can already encompass almost the entire region of Western Europe. In particular, the main industrial areas and important mineral belts of various countries.

In the face of the fierce bombardment of the Ming Army and Air Force, the war potential of various countries is rapidly declining. It was not until this time that the French, who had been sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, really felt the pain of the skin. Watching the major cities and industrial zones in China being bombed violently, the loss of personnel and materials was so tragic that it was heartbreaking. The French could not sit still either.

The French opened airfields in southern France and Sardinia and Corsica, and agreed that the Luftwaffe and the U.S. Army would be stationed at the airfields to counter the increasingly powerful Ming Army air.

At the same time, they are also seriously considering whether to send their own fleet to fight a decisive battle with the Ming Mediterranean Fleet, so as to cut off the supply channel of the Ming Dynasty. However, the proposal to send the navy to fight a decisive battle with the Ming Mediterranean Fleet was ultimately rejected by François, the supreme commander of the French navy. Admiral Darlan vetoed it.

Darlan's idea was simple, now the French fleet was able to protect southern France from the landing of the Ming Dynasty. What is the point of taking the initiative to strike a decisive battle with the powerful Daming Mediterranean fleet? Not to mention that if you lose, you will be annihilated, and the entire southern coast of France will lose the naval barrier. Even if he wins, it will only temporarily contain the military action of the Ming Dynasty, and he will suffer heavy losses.

Compared with the powerful, the strength far surpasses that of France, and the Ming Dynasty, which has a strong industrial production capacity that can massively replenish the losses of ships. The French Navy is now really fighting one less one.

It was already difficult to replenish ships before, and now in the face of fierce air attacks by the strategic bomber forces of the Ming Army Aviation, the French could not even replenish a single battleship of the cruiser level or above for a year. And even if the Mediterranean Fleet is completely wiped out, the Ming Dynasty can quickly draw new warships from all over the country to replenish it. How to fight in this case?

Compared to things on the sea, things on land are much simpler. The allies already had a first-hand experience of the power of the Ming Dynasty's strategic bomber force. In order to eliminate this huge threat that could blow them directly back to the Stone Age and end the war. Not only the Germans, but even the Americans and the French sent troops into northern Italy, preparing to launch a powerful offensive to drive the Ming army out of the Apennine Peninsula. At the same time, he regained control of the Kingdom of Italy, thus bringing back the small states that had panicked because of the Ming Dynasty's return to Europe.

The Germans reorganized their forces in Italy and sent large numbers of troops from the mainland to northern Italy to form a new Army Group South. It has one armored army, two infantry armies and a large number of auxiliary units. The total strength is close to half a million!

The Americans also sent their own expeditionary force in the face of threats from the Pacific on their homeland, and more than ten divisions of troops landed in western French ports and were sent to northern Italy. The Americans knew very well in their hearts that once they lost their European allies, they would not be able to resist the attack of the Ming Dynasty by themselves alone.

As for the French, they also sent several infantry units into Italy. However, the French, who valued their homeland more, consulted with Germany and the United States and took up the local garrison, and left the task of attacking south to the Germans and Americans.

Although I am very dissatisfied with the French's style of protecting themselves and not working hard. But Italy was, after all, under the control of the Germans, and the Germans, who were the main force, did not say much about it.

In a short period of time, the northern region of Italy had gathered a million-strong army of the allies. They are about to launch an unprecedentedly powerful counterattack on the southern Apennines, removing the threat of strategic bombing from under the noses of the Ming Dynasty. And the commander of this huge army is still the famous German general, Erwin, who has clashed with the Ming army many times. Rommel. (To be continued.) )