Looking out the window at a group of German infantrymen squatting on the ground smoking cigarettes and collecting firewood everywhere to cook something to eat, a decent man in a suit in the room frowned. Through the thick curtains, he looked at these uninvited guests passing by the town through the cracks, and he had an indescribable feeling in his heart.

These German soldiers with guns on their backs were bound by orders, and they did not easily disturb the lives of the locals, but only hurried by, even if they stopped their steps, they only ate a meal and left. Because of this, the locals did not regard these GIs from Germany as outsiders, and some even sold cigarettes and alcohol to these enemies from afar.

These were the first groups of German soldiers to pass by the gate today? First of all, armored scouts in armored vehicles, who passed very quickly and with great caution. This was followed by German tanks rumbling over the town's roads, filled with German grenadiers with guns.

Then there were the German cavalry on tall horses, mechanized infantry in all sorts of cars, and behind those trucks there were artillery pieces of all calibers, 75 mm field guns and 105 mm cannons. This was followed by these ordinary German infantrymen who were desperately hurrying on two legs, and they were not fast, and they would stay in the town for a meal before leaving.

The man lowered the curtains in his hand and walked back to his room, where he checked the doors and windows again so that he could stall for a moment if outsiders wanted to enter the room. Then he went back to his second floor, where he had observed the Germans, and pulled out a small and delicate radio from a dark compartment behind the desk.

He was a very successful businessman in the area, owning his own shop, and in the eyes of his neighbors he was a nice and pleasant gentleman, and sometimes he would sit on the only street in the town and throw candy to passing children.

However, his real identity is that he is a grassroots spy trained by the United States, and he has only recently been activated after a long hiatus to monitor whether Italy can meet the basic requirements that the United States expects when it comes to secession from the Axis powers.

After a moment's consideration, he sent a telegram with a very simple content: "The German army is coming!" The person who sent the telegram did not know how big it was, but he was only responsible for transmitting what he saw to the intelligence station in the distance, and was not responsible for analyzing the meaning of the intelligence representative. This is his job, an important job that has been assigned several years ago.

The deployment and use of spies is a long-term job, and what Accardo did more than ten years ago was just to expand the work that major countries are doing. In fact, all countries have old spies hiding in the other side's camp, sometimes they are lurking for decades, and they will not be used once until they die of old age.

After he had finished sending the telegram, he carefully put away the telegraph in his hand and stuffed it into the secret compartment behind the desk. Then he walked back to the window and looked with those expressionless eyes at the German infantrymen outside the courtyard who had begun to eat.

Several wagons dragging 75 mm infantry guns passed by the soldiers, and the artillerymen sitting in the carts leaned against the ammunition boxes, swaying slightly as the wagons swayed. They were in a hurry to get to the real front, so without even stopping to rest, they passed through the town and advanced farther south.

The man gestured a cross with his hand on his chest, and then muttered the thoughts of his heart: "O Lord Almighty, I hope that you will bless America with such a mighty enemy!" ”

......

At the same moment, far away on the other side of the ocean, in the building of the US intelligence department, more than a dozen telegraph planes received telegrams from various regions, and the United States deployed in Italy, obviously not only spies, but these hidden intelligence officers, finally sent back vital news when the United States needed them most.

"Sir, news has just arrived from Intelligence Station 4 that the Germans have occupied the city of Milan! No large-scale fighting has broken out!" said an officer in charge of translating the code, standing behind the head of the intelligence department, standing up and saluting loudly.

Another officer hurriedly ran over, handed another document to the frowning intelligence officer, and then reported the news he had received breathlessly: "News came from intelligence station 6, he saw a large number of German troops passing through his area. ”

"What's going on at Station 9? Is there any news? I need exact information, where exactly are the Germans advancing and where are their armored units?" the intelligence chief dropped the telegram in his hand on the table, then looked up at the huge map that a group of female officers were constantly revising.

There were more and more places where German troops were found, and it was clear that this was not the situation that the Allies wanted to see. The battle for the border line, which Mussolini had promised and which the Allies wanted to see, did not break out - on the contrary, the Germans drove straight in, without any real exchange of fire with the Italian army.

"This is not the speed of advance in battle! This is faster than the speed of an army rushing forward! I need to make sure that there are no troops in Italy that are resisting the Germans, and whether Mussolini can still control the situation!" the intelligence chief ordered all the intelligence stations to be mobilized in the shortest possible time to find out whether Italy had really broken with the Axis powers, or whether it was just a huge trap dug by Germany and Italy for the Allies.

A few hours earlier, the last telegram had been sent back from a secret diplomatic mission in Rome, Italy, claiming that it was being attacked by German special forces, and then it had been heard from again. Having lost this intelligence station, which was closest to Mussolini, the Americans' control of the situation in Italy as a whole began to become chaotic.

They don't know whether the Italian side will continue to cooperate, whether Mussolini's decision to secede from the Axis powers is a trap to attract the United States to the net, or whether it is a second battlefield that has really been carved out.

You must know that all the basis of the raids of the Americans was based on the premise of the Italian anti-water. After arriving in Italy, it is necessary to have the local troops to meet them, and with the cooperation and support of the locals, this force can play its due role. If Italy is impregnable, and the Americans cannot rely on tens of thousands of men to fight a landing war in the heart of the Axis powers, then it is really crazy.

So, what is Italy's attitude, this is really important for the United States. Thinking of this, the intelligence chief hurriedly dialed the phone number that went directly to the White House: "Pick me up Mr. President! I have important things to report to him!"

He waited for just a few seconds, and Roosevelt's voice came from the other side of the phone, after all, Roosevelt was also concerned about the situation in Italy, which could become the decisive key to changing the situation on the battlefield at any time, and he couldn't help but not care: "I'm Roosevelt!"

"Mr. President, the information I just received that Italy's northern defense line collapsed in an instant, and the German army had already driven straight into ......" The head of the intelligence department thought about the wording for a moment, and then opened his mouth to say the worst situation at present: "The situation there is very chaotic now, and we are not even sure whether Italy is fighting back or has surrendered. ”

"......" President Roosevelt was silent for a moment before he asked, "I don't care about what is going on in Italy now, I ask you questions, and I ask you to answer them truthfully...... From the analysis of the existing intelligence, how likely do you think it is that the Germans will have the information about Italy's secession from the Axis powers in advance?"

"Mr. President! Judging from the information we have so far, the probability that the German army will know in advance that the news is ready is at least 90 percent!" The other side replied very simply, which also confirmed Roosevelt's worries from one side. Since the Germans were able to enter Italy so cleanly, it would be a joke to say that they did not prepare in advance.

President Roosevelt closed his eyes and reached out to rub the bridge of his nose, as if pondering an important decision. Now that the intelligence services had almost confirmed the preparations made in advance by the Germans, the entire Italian plan became no longer viable. Because all these plans were based on the carelessness of Germany.

In fact, now that I think about it, it is a bit self-deceptive to believe that the intelligence secrecy on both the Italian and Allied sides can be concealed from the Germans. If it weren't for the fact that the United States really couldn't find the means to attack Germany, and if it weren't for the fact that the benefits of the whole plan were enough to change the whole situation of the war, the American intelligence services would not have discovered at the last second that everything seemed to have almost fallen into the trap of the Germans.

"I think that two days ago, our intelligence officers discovered that the German fleet that had gone out for training at Wilhelm Port did not return to port on time, and this information should be true. Roosevelt asked suddenly.

"Yes, I suppose the German fleet must have been lying in ambush near Gibraltar, waiting for us to take the bait. The officer of the US intelligence department said helplessly. Italy's performance was so unusual and disappointing to the Americans, even if they managed to break through Gibraltar, what awaited the Americans would be an Axis Italy that had to land in order to fight.

"Then, copy all the information obtained by the intelligence department to the Navy and the Army......" Roosevelt sighed, and commanded, "Call our fleet back, and the plan of action - canceled." ”