"As things stand, it was not the Italian military that was the main force of the army in northern Italy to wipe out the blackshirts, and in this incident, the Italian army, although it favored the navy, was generally restrained. According to our intelligence, there are at least 30,000 French and U.S. Army troops in northern Italy helping Tycho in the war, and that number continues to rise. If we don't intervene, the United States and France will uproot the Blackshirts in a few weeks at most, and they seem to have considered our involvement and have begun to gradually build up defensive positions in the northern passes. Ludendorff briefed the German leadership, including the Kaiser, in front of a huge sand table.

"There are also signs of the presence of the Americans and the Chinese Air Force in Italy. Unlike the Army, more than half of the mid-level generals in the Air Force are inclined to Italy, and the Air Force's top brass acquiesces in this. In other words, the planes coming from China and the Entente countries could directly use the Italian airfields, although they have not made any efforts at present, but according to the information provided by the intelligence officers, I estimate that there are at least about 500 foreign planes in Italy, many of which were already transported to Italy for storage before the war. It can be seen from this incident that the other side has been preparing for a long time, and it will be very difficult for us to completely grasp air supremacy in a short period of time. Richthofen also said with a little embarrassment. It was far more than he had estimated.

"The situation was even worse on the naval side, as a detachment of the Chinese Navy had already joined up with the Italian Navy in Sicily, combined with the ultimatum they had issued earlier. I don't think you should doubt each other's determination, right? In terms of strength, although there is a Mediterranean fleet, the naval side is the least optimistic. On the army side, despite the full assistance of the United States and France, we still have an absolute advantage in terms of troops. The Air Force is almost the same, and when it comes to the Air Force, the other side is only temporarily superior, and the Navy? I can only say that we could not gain an advantage until the Turkish fleet entered the Mediterranean. Even if the Turks come, our advantage is very limited. If it really doesn't work, I think the Russians should still have a medium-sized aircraft carrier in the Black Sea. You can turn it around. "The bigwigs of the army and air force have already expressed their positions, and Hipper has also expressed his unoptimism about the situation.

"Although the situation is very serious, it has not yet reached the point of no return. If there is enough time, I think the final victory will definitely belong to Germany. I think the first thing to do is to communicate with Austria-Hungary immediately, so that they can first eliminate the mountain divisions and the United States and France from fighting in northern Italy, and contain the forces of these two countries. And then quickly strengthen our aviation forces in the Balkans. Prepare for the next stage of the offensive from the Adriatic. At the same time, we need to strengthen the air force of the Cretan Peninsula and Greece. Survive this vacuum before the Turkish and Russian fleets enter the Mediterranean. After the three bigwigs of the navy, land, and air force introduced the basic situation, Hindenburg, who served as the chief of the German General Staff, began to discuss the arrangements for the next battle plan from the General Staff. In this plan, Germany still hopes to find a breakthrough point in the Adriatic Sea.

Although the situation has changed a lot, the Germans can still find a breakthrough in the complicated and intricate shapes, and the German top brass has calculated for themselves, even if China and the Entente come to Italy's aid. China and the United States are too far away from Italy, and Britain and France are not rivals to Germany. Not to mention that they are not yet completely out of the economic crisis. So even aid was very limited, except for some early stage of the war by relying on adequate preparations. Once Germany and Austria exert their strength, after a period of attrition, it was the Allies who won in the end. It stands to reason that Austria-Hungary shares a border with Italy, and it is more convenient to directly let the Austro-Hungarian and German armies sweep over by land, but the Germans, after careful analysis, considered this a trap!

Not to mention how difficult it is to maneuver in the mountains on the northern border, you must know that historically, the level of the Italian army was lower than that of Austria-Hungary, but the two sides were entangled on the border for a long time, and no one could help anyone, and geographical factors accounted for a large component. Secondly. Italy's territory is a belt territory that is narrow from east to west and long from north to south, and if Germany and Austria attack from the north, then Italy will have a relatively long strategic depth to use. Moreover, in view of the unfriendly relations between Austria-Hungary and Italy, the Germans can imagine that this journey will be waist-deep in blood! Everywhere the soldiers passed, the corpses strewn and the city turned into a white field, and this was definitely not what the Germans wanted! Germany wants a complete Italy.

And the most important issue is time, what is the key to solving the Italian problem at the lowest cost? It's time! If the Italian problem can be solved as much as possible, then there is no way for China and the Entente to intervene. The closest distance between the Balkans and Italy is the narrow Adriatic Sea! Under the cover of the air force, the German-Austrian army could deal a heavy blow to Italy's most vulnerable hinterland, while also avoiding the destruction of Italian towns to the greatest extent. If Rome could be taken and the King of Italy could be forced to recognize Mussolini's position, the tide of favor would be immediately reversed, and the Italian navy would become a rebel. And the Italian Army and Air Force, which were already wavering, are likely to turn back.

And once this point is reached, I am afraid that some of the generals of the Italian Navy will also begin to think about the future way out, whether to follow Tycho to go abroad, or to be bribed by the high-ranking officials of the new Italian government? "If Tycho is willing to lay down his arms, he can still be the commander of the fleet." The Kaiser even said so in private. So, considering that the Italian Navy has received the support of Huaxia, its strength has increased. The Germans, on the contrary, relieved the pressure on the Italian navy, intending to divide and disintegrate the other side once the situation on land was settled. And Austria-Hungary also agreed, after all, in this way, there would be no need for Austria-Hungary's precious navy to fight to the death, which was undoubtedly a good plan for both sides.

But whether this plan can be realized or not will ultimately be determined by the Air Force! If the Air Force can suppress the Italian Air Force throughout the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean, then everything is easy to say, but what if it can't be suppressed? Therefore, Richthofen first increased the deployment of the air force, and together with the Austro-Hungarian air force, launched an air campaign against Italy. But something that happened next put Richthofen under great pressure, and the three wings of the Griffon Air Force deployed in Austria-Hungary did not take advantage of the other side. On the contrary, I suffered some losses.

After Germany and Italy declared war on each other, the Italian navy began to lay mines and various obstacles in the Adriatic coastal ports, and even began to sabotage some ports that could not be defended. On the one hand, in order to organize the actions of the Italian Navy, and on the other hand, in order to deter the other side, the Luftwaffe once organized a large-scale air strike plan with the participation of Germany and Austria. Up to 100 bombers, under the cover of more than 50 fighters, began to launch air strikes on northern Italian ports.

But who knew that this operation did not go far from the beginning, when the German and Austrian air forces just crossed the center line of the Adriatic Sea, they began to memorize the words, first a pair of twin-engine long-range fighters in the vicinity of the group of constantly circling, although these things are very cumbersome and not good at fighting, but one thing is that people are fast! (This is not a sideways fabrication, before the engine power came up, the twin-engine fighter was really no slower than the single-engine, for example, the original BF110 was fast when it first entered service, and the P38 was also the first fighter in the United States to exceed 400 miles per hour.) Although the grappling is sure to find death, and the climb is not bad, but you really can't help it if you want to run!

After seeing the planes painted in the livery of the Italian Navy, the Austrians were also more ambiguous, and the two three-plane formations immediately threw off the fuel tanks and went to intercept them, and then. I saw that the 6 twin-engine planes turned around and flashed directly. Twin-engine aircraft generally have a long range, and they are fighting in areas close to the base, so there will be no problems with natural endurance, but the Allied fighters have always been known for their short ranges, and if they want to continue to escort the whole process after throwing away the auxiliary fuel tanks, then the fuel is a little tight. After repeating it several times, fighter planes returned one after another due to fuel problems, and the escort force of the missile bomber formation was somewhat reduced.

Although it is not good to be out of school. But the German-Austrian Air Force still insisted on flying to the destination, and then saw fighters in the high sky, interceptor balloons in the middle airspace, and anti-aircraft artillery at the target point! In line with the idea that since they came, they could not return empty-handed, in line with the principle that face is greater than reality, the German and Austrian air forces still launched an air attack on this heavily fortified port city, and after a fight, after dropping nearly 30 planes of various kinds, the German and Austrian air forces began to evacuate, and when evacuating, they were intercepted many times, and the final result was that on the way home, because of fuel and battle damage, more than 10 planes were thrown down, and nearly 4 squadrons were lost after a sortie! Although the other side agreed to pay a heavy price, the Germans also realized that it would be difficult to take Italy in one fell swoop.

"Let the Imperial Air Force go. Don't let me down again. Wilhelm II looked at Richthofen, whose face was a little ugly, and said. Imperial Air Force? Isn't it too early? As the head of the Luftwaffe, he knows his family very well, the Reich Air Force, the first thousand-plane air force in the German Empire, first has thousands of aircraft, but it is far from being comparable to the newly established air force such as the Griffon Air Force, and from the equipment composition, the Reich Air Force already has detachments equipped with new all-metal monoplanes, and there are twin-engine fighters and four-engine heavy bombers specially prepared for the future strategic bomber force, it seems that the Kaiser is really annoyed this time!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for the tip~~~, and the book friend smyhe783 for the monthly pass support ~~. (To be continued......)