In Italy, in the leader's office, Mussolini sat face to face with several men in suits, as if discussing something. He was flanked by his cronies and staff, as well as his personal secretary, who was in charge of recording the meeting. Of course, there is also a translator, and it seems that there is still a certain communication barrier between the two languages.

Several of you here are spies from the United States, including translators, who are also members of this secret spy mission. They had been in Italy for several months and were in charge of making unilateral contact with Mussolini in an attempt to turn Italy against the United States in this war.

They ventured to contact the Italian government directly, and the results were very satisfying - the Italians did not hand over the spies to their German allies, and even treated the spies from the hostile country, the United States, to a sumptuous Italian meal.

Then they met Mussolini very easily, and even took up residence in a detached villa deliberately protected by the Italians, and set up a radio station that could directly communicate with the United States. Compared to the original embassy, it is functionally as small as the U.S. Embassy in Italy.

Of course, Mussolini's main purpose in supporting these American spies, or American diplomats, was to reap greater benefits for Italy at a critical time.

The cooperation with Germany did not allow Italy to reap the benefits it had expected for various reasons, and Mussolini blamed all this on the insidious cunning and cunning of the German Führer Accardo.

In terms of French interests, Italy did not reap any benefits because it was late in action; on the Balkan question, it was too hasty to act, which led to a heavy defeat; in the distant North African region, the Italian troops had been completely reduced to German vassals, so that after the defeat of Cairo, Italy was not embarrassed to consult Germany on the question of the ownership of Egypt.

As a result, Italy's expansion in Europe was very limited, and it even compromised with Turkey on the Balkan issue. And its expansion in North Africa was divided by the Germans because of the question of how much it contributed. As a result, Italy is now far from the "new Roman Empire" that its leader Mussolini proclaimed.

On the other hand, Mussolini did not look down on the rigor and coldness of the German army. He felt that it was a very foolish thing for Germany to rely on its own strong force to rely on sacrifice to win the war, and he felt that Italy should have more options than Germany.

The wise Italian leader Benito Mussolini preferred to rely on diplomatic mediation to pursue Italy's own interests...... Or that he had lost hope in his country's army – for whatever reason, Mussolini now preferred to trust his politicians rather than the defeated generals.

But it was not easy for Mussolini to submit to the United States. After all, the Third Reich is now in full swing, and it takes great courage to dare to announce a change of flag on the premise of bordering the border.

Mussolini was tempted by the bait thrown by the Americans, and once the agreement was signed, the United States would guarantee the stability of Italy's existing borders and recognize Italy's "leading position" over the Balkans and North Africa.

"You know! This is the most sincere compromise in the United States, Mr. Mussolini...... As you know, it's not easy to make such a huge concession. A diplomat representing the United States sat on a couch and sipped the wine in his hand as he spoke to Mussolini.

When he said this, the diplomat obviously had the confidence and capital to say this. The United States took out many of the benefits that Accardo did not give to Italy, including the entire Balkans, as well as places like German-occupied Egypt. Nothing else, just the interest of the Suez Canal is enough for the Italian side to covet.

This is also the last plan for the distribution of interests put forward by the US side after repeated negotiations. Italy and Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union carved up Germany after the war, Italy gained de facto control of the Mediterranean, Britain gained the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and the Soviet Union got the whole of Eastern Europe......

Look at how efficient the Americans are, this war is still in the stage of losing and retreating, and people are beginning to pull in allies and potential allies, and start to divide the delicious cake after victory. The brilliance lies in the fact that this cake is painted so large and delicious that people feel the urge to stop at a glance.

"Mr. Jennifer, you must know that no matter how good the money is, you have to have a life to spend it. Mussolini's confidant sitting next to him opened his mouth and bargained: "The terms you promised us were all after the defeat of Germany, but now we do not see the slightest sign of defeat in Germany, and it is not in Italy's best interests to betray at this time." ”

This is also the main point of disagreement in the negotiations between the two sides, after all, Germany has been advancing all the way from the beginning of the war to the present, defeating countless countries. There were countless powers that fell under the tank tracks of the Third Reich, and even Mussolini, no matter how conceited, did not have the brains to believe that his army could prevent Germany from sweeping away the betrayed Italy.

The great leader Benito Mussolini and all his aides knew that it was impossible for the Italian army to defeat the Germans, not even the Germans on the second front. So he and his staff resorted to a delaying tactic, hoping to let Italy bet when they saw a win.

Unfortunately, the tide of the war took a turn for the worse, and the Americans really couldn't wait. The ultimate goal of the United States in ceding countless benefits was to allow Italy to contain part of Germany's forces and save the collapsed Soviet-German front. If Italy is only judged by the results, is it worth the effort?

Time is not on the side of the Allies, and once the Soviet-German front collapses, the Italian side will become a dispensable dead chess, and it no longer matters what the outcome is. Therefore, the United States must agitate Italy to withdraw from the war as soon as possible, and it is better to turn against Germany because of this.

The best result was that the Italian troops on the front line and the German army fought together, and the Soviet army took the opportunity to consolidate its position and finally turned the tables. Then the United States seized Gibraltar, landed easily in Italy, bypassed the fortified Atlantic barrier, and opened a second theater of war against Germany.

"Unfortunately, the tide of battle cannot wait, Monsieur Mussolini, the great leader. The American diplomat waved his hand regretfully and confessed to Mussolini: "We don't need to repeat those benefits and results, the problem now is that if the Germans win the Soviet-German war, then Italy will have no chance to stand again!"

"......" This is also Mussolini's most depressed thing, although following Germany all the way to the black, did get a lot of benefits, but he has always been in the position of the younger brother within the Axis countries, which makes Mussolini, who is accustomed to dictatorship, very dissatisfied.

"But, you know, in the north and west of Italy, there's a huge German Balkan battle cluster. This cluster is commanded by General **** and has a very high combat effectiveness. Mussolini, with what little strategic talent he had, began to tell his dilemma: "The Italian troops could not stand against this German army alone. ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the map spread out on the coffee table, and reluctantly admitted that Italy's actual combat effectiveness was indeed inferior to that of Germany (of course, everyone on the earth knew that there was still a certain gap between it and his own admission): "At most, within a week, at most, Rome will be occupied by the Germans." That's when everything will be over and Italy will disappear from this world...... I don't dare take that risk. ”

"The United States did not want Italy to be an ally in the fight against German aggression. The American diplomat thought for a moment and replied: "We have a plan, that is, to use the Icelandic bombing to cover our real attempt, to attack Norway in the north, but the main force will go south and force the landing in Italy, when the time comes, you will have the support of 100,000 American troops, and there will be more reinforcements in the future, presumably the German army will not be able to deploy another army group in Italy, right?"

Mussolini was not an idiot, he still waved his hand and rejected the demagogy of American diplomats: "During the war in North Africa, didn't Rommel's 50,000 men still chase after your more than 100,000 American soldiers? Now Germany is a cluster of hundreds of thousands of people, where is the ...... of 100,000 American soldiers?"

"Isn't that the worst-case scenario...... Most of our plans were based on the premise that the Germans would use force when Italy announced its withdrawal from the war and the Axis powers. However, the assessment report shows that the probability of the German army using force is only 30% at most, which is not a cause for concern. The American diplomat hurriedly followed.

After finishing speaking, he added his thoughts: "Mr. Leader, please seize the last time, this is your last chance! Once this opportunity is lost, the Germans will still be soldiers south to annex Italy, and the United States will no longer have the strength to help you and your country!"

Recently, some pro-German Italian parties, as well as some of the common people, have often made terrible arguments about the unification of Greater Europe. This was another reason why Mussolini was anxious to consult frequently with American diplomats, fearing that he would lose power in his hands, and even more so that the Germans would eventually swallow Italy.

But considering the German Army Group J in the Italian border area, which had kept the partisans in the Balkans out of the box, Mussolini felt that there was a storm behind him. He thought about it for a long time, but finally stood up and gave the order to evict the guest: "Let me think about it again! After all, we all need to be cautious about this kind of thing." Help me get some of the envoys out......"