In the wilderness on the outskirts of Rome, several men dressed in civilian clothes fled into the wilderness, seemingly exhausted, but still afraid to stop. After all, they had just escaped from the city of Rome, which had been under martial law, and finally came to this relatively safe place.

The guys who complained about the inaction of the Italian soldiers when they resisted are now beginning to rejoice in the inaction of the Italian soldiers. After all, the Germans had not yet completely encircled the city of Rome, and most of the defense had to be handed over to the local Italian troops to help - so after spending a lot of money, Mussolini and a few retinues escaped with ease.

So from more than an hour ago, running became the main theme of Mussolini and the colonel, as well as the three guards and an entourage. The poor six men had been running all the way out of Rome, and had barely had time to catch their breath until now. Their mouths were dry, but they couldn't find a sip of water.

You must know that soon the German forward troops will find that Mussolini, an important figure, is missing, and the search and pursuit will be launched immediately, and at that time I am afraid that this vicinity will become a dangerous area, and someone will soon track it down.

"Must ...... We had to find a car, and if we ran like that, we would definitely be overtaken by the Germans. "At present, the most thoughtful person left is the colonel who followed Mussolini, and he calmly analyzed the situation in front of him, hoping to find a more suitable way out.

In this situation, it was not easy for them to find a place to stay, let alone the unattainable convergence of the armies that supported them. All that remains is to avoid all the Germans who are looking for them, and to live in fear.

"We don't have much money left, and it's certainly not enough to buy bribes with that little money, and there should be no problem buying a car. The colonel took out the money he had brought with him, and reluctantly told Mussolini about the current situation of this group of people.

Because they escaped in such a hurry, they did not arrange any necessary cover measures in the underground air defense tunnels, neither burned a few corpses, nor looted some money, they fled in such a hurry that they did not even have time to bring out the large amount of money they had prepared.

Thinking about the large sum of money still left in Mussolini's safe, Mr. Colonel felt his heart twitch. I don't know which bastard will be cheaper in the end, but it is estimated that just this harvest will be enough for this lucky guy to enjoy for a few lifetimes.

If possible, it's more discreet to buy a car and run away. He didn't want to snatch it, as that would attract the attention of the Germans and give them a direction to follow. Therefore, although they had several submachine guns purchased from Germany, they still did not have the idea of bullying the weak.

He didn't want to scatter and escape, after all, it was undoubtedly very safe for a small person like a guard to disperse at such a time. But if everyone had run away, Mussolini would have died in such a barren landscape. Therefore, the colonel did not propose to disperse, but on the contrary preferred to concentrate all his forces, so that they could take care of each other when the time came.

In the midst of this confusion, Mussolini sat on a rock in the field, for a high-ranking official, to let him run on his legs for so long, it was already considered a super performance, he was so tired that he couldn't breathe, and said with difficulty: "I ...... No...... Yes...... You ...... You'd better run on your own......"

If you listen closely, you can't hear the gunshots behind you at all, which means that either it's far enough away, or the battle in Rome is completely over. Looking in the direction of Rome, the colonel put the gun in his hand back into the belt of arms around his waist, and found a random place to sit on the ground: "Let's all rest and rest! I think it's safe here for the time being." ”

......

In the hall of the Roman City Defense Headquarters, a group of German troops carrying guns on their backs was carrying the killed Italian Blackshirts out of the room. There are so many corpses here, some of them are beaten to a blur of flesh, and it will take a long time to identify them.

An officer of the German special forces, part of the special operations brigade of the 0th SS division, was looking at the bloody corpses with his hands behind his back and frowning. There was a hint of solemnity in his expression, as if there was something that reassured him, annoying his thoughts.

Eventually, he turned his head to the Wehrmacht officer who was standing aside and was counting the corpses, and asked, "Mr. Lieutenant, we were ordered to come here to find Mussolini and arrest him, and now you tell me that I should find these bodies myself, it's a waste of time!"

"Second Lieutenant, I know you have your duty, but as you can see, the battle here has just ended, and all I know is that my men stormed the building and took out all the Italian defenders who fought back...... But now if you ask me who the people are and what their names are, I really can't tell you. The Wehrmacht lieutenant said, pointing to the bloodied soldier's nameplate on the table: "You can look through it yourself and see if there's anyone in there you're looking for." ”

"I'm looking for Mussolini, the former ruler of Italy!" the second lieutenant of the special forces repeated with some annoyance, "Can you give me some advice? ”

Hearing the slight compliment in the other party's tone, and knowing that it would not end well if he embarrassed his colleagues, the lieutenant turned around and stretched out his finger to the staircase at the end of the corridor: "There leads to the basement, where we killed a lot of people in suits and civilian clothes, maybe his body is there." ”

Every army has its own pride, and it is a "way of struggle" that everyone likes to be able to mix reconnaissance companies in the German armored forces, or units that have the ability to take the lead in launching an offensive and capture enemy positions? Even if they do not intrigue behind their backs, but take advantage of some advantages, it is a "way of struggle" that everyone likes.

Sure enough, after hearing this, the second lieutenant officer of the special forces nodded, then said thank you, and left with his men, these well-equipped squads were indeed more vigorous than many regular German troops.

After looking through the corpses, the second lieutenant finally confirmed what had happened after the fierce battle here, he looked at a long, unknown tunnel, and took the new walkie-talkie from the signal corps: "I am the prison group 1, no target was found here at the city defense headquarters, Mussolini ran away, we need to expand the search area!"

......

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour for me to stand here and make good news to you. Standing in the light, the Führer, dressed in a black SS uniform, looked much younger than his actual age, and his erect posture gave the illusion that time had stood still in him from the time he took charge of the whole of Germany.

He was wearing a majestic armed belt, and his figure was still so thin, which set off his tall stature and made the whole person look even taller. He pressed one hand to the holster hanging from one side of the belt, and the other to the edge of the lectern where the lecture was held. And at this moment, the people in the audience are all celebrities and party members.

"The situation in Italy is completely under our control, and with the exception of the traitor Mussolini and a few diehards, Italy remains a solid ally of the Third Reich...... The process of integration between the two countries will also advance more rapidly. Accardo's trademark smile reassured everyone in the audience that the Führer was a gift from God to the German people, and his smile was proof that everything was still under the control of the Reich.

In the past few days, because of the turmoil in Italy, which has seriously affected the empire's economy, many people's investments have lost half or more overnight. Real estate in Austria, transport in Italy, shipping in the Mediterranean, and even the production and export of daily necessities suffered a severe depression.

Merchants and consortia are waiting for the empire to give them an explanation, a statement that will increase their confidence in investing. Many of the well-established giants even began to put pressure on Accardo, because the current Third Reich could not allow a serious defeat such as the loss of Italy - once the war was stalemate, then hundreds of billions of investments would be reduced to nothingness, and the empire's economy would collapse in an instant with the defeat at the front.

"Friend of the Reich, Marshal Garibaldi will be at the helm of Italy, and the German-Italian alliance remains one of the strongest in the world. economic and trade cooperation, military cooperation, and scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries...... And so on and so forth, with no change except for a few local chaos that broke out because of the war criminal Mussolini. Rest assured, everything is under the control of the Third Reich!" Accardo raised his arm and ended his speech with a German salute: "Long live the Third Reich!"

Whether it is because of the profits brought to them by the Third Reich or because of the power that the Third Reich brought to them, no one will be at odds with money and power. As long as this Führer can still bring them victories and can also bring them great wealth, then they will not be stingy with their support. So all the men and women in the audience dressed in ceremonial and evening clothes raised their palms above their heads: "Long live the Third Reich! Long live Führer Accardo Rudolph!"