Khrushchev and Voroshilov are now very miserable, except for some local improvised arsenals that can produce and replenish some light weapons and ammunition, they actually do not have the ability to repair or produce heavy weapons. The devastating blow of this bombing to the Crimean Peninsula literally killed both of them.

About 100 anti-aircraft guns were destroyed, most of them large 85 mm guns, which directly shattered and collapsed the high-altitude air defense network of the Crimea, and from this day on, the vicinity of Sevastopol became a place frequented by German bombers. And this time, because of operational needs, the large butcher strategic bomber was replaced by an outdated medium-range bomber DO-217, the range is just right, not to mention, and it is economical.

Khrushchev and Voroshilov did not have many families, and their only little self-sufficient industrial base was in Sevastopol and Chike, and now one has become a ruin, and the fire has not been completely extinguished even two days later.

Everyone thought that the Germans would start the battle of the Crimean Peninsula immediately after this bombing, but the Germans did not appear in the possible positions as scheduled, and the entire Soviet-German temporary control line was still calm, and even the Germans did not even have the idea of a small-scale attack. On the fourth day, just when everyone thought that the German bombing was just a super-massive retaliation for the shelling of the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Navy, German bombers once again swept across the entire Crimean region.

No one doubted the target of the German offensive anymore, the Soviet command estimated that the German offensive would begin within 24 hours, and the American intelligence analysis department also expected a large-scale battle to break out in the Crimea. And the massive bombing of the Crimea for 5 days in a row has not happened since the air battle in London.

However, in the end, what makes people laugh is that just after the bombing of Sevastopol lasted for 5 days, the battle for the Crimean Peninsula did not break out, but the war on the Balkan Peninsula suddenly ignited. Turkey launched a full-scale invasion of Bulgaria without declaring war, and 400,000 Turkish infantry crossed the Bulgarian border defense line and began to storm northward.

Two hours later, Romania joined the war of partition by declaring war on Bulgaria, and its troops entered the northern part of Bulgaria and began to seize Bulgarian territory. The war went very smoothly, because of the German pindown, Bulgaria's defense focus was on the northwest, and the other main forces were in the south to defend against Turkey, so Romania achieved amazing results of advancing 30 kilometers after the war.

About four hours later, Italy belatedly declared war on all the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, and then the Italian troops rushed into Croatia and fought fiercely with the local defenders.

The battle was very fierce, the Italians for the first time showed their true heritage, after brewing for a long time, both in logistics and morale, Italy has made full preparations, this offensive can be described as devastating, only artillery Italy put in 900 guns, the Yugoslav army on the border to the ground.

From this, it can be seen that when they are well prepared and have the determination to fight, the Italian troops actually still have a certain combat effectiveness. At least the main Italian forces were not as useless as the legend suggests, and they were definitely a relatively capable force - if one evaluates the combat effectiveness of the Italian army when everything is ready, it is at least about the same as the Japanese, but in most cases the Italians lack the courage to fight to the death, and are not as desperate as the Japanese in terms of momentum.

However, although the Italians fought well, they did not achieve any decent results, several Yugoslav divisions on the border relied on strong defensive lines to stop the Italians attack, although they suffered heavy casualties, but still did not give up an inch of land, after a day and a night of fighting, the position was still under the control of the Yugoslav soldiers, and the Italian troops only achieved some insignificant results in some areas.

Accardo didn't want to throw the main German army into the pit of the Balkans and entangle with the partisans. This is the powder keg of the wars in Europe, and the wars that led to the war because of the national dispute are almost the history of large-scale wars in the whole of Europe. Whoever is stuck in this region will not be too comfortable, at least until the national question is completely resolved, there will be no real peace here.

So the Germans were only prepared to control part of it, and to throw most of the hot potato to Turkey, as well as Italy and Romania, and what the Germans really wanted was Crete, which, once taken, would give the Germans a permanent military base in the Mediterranean. Accardo chose not to participate in the Balkans as much as possible during the partition of several countries that invaded the Balkans, much to the satisfaction of Turkey and Italy, which blocked the Bosphorus and Dardanelles despite Soviet protests.

The next day, at the moment of war in the Balkans, the German army declared war on Bulgaria, and the entire Balkan campaign was in full swing. The Bulgarian government then surrendered to the Germans and Romania, ceding almost a third of its territory to Turkey. So on July 30, 1938, Turkey gained a land border with Greece.

On July 31, 1938, Turkey declared war on Greece, and on the same day, Mussolini visited Germany, and he rushed to the Wolf's Den to meet Accardo, hoping to get the support of the German army in the Balkan War. For he could see that if Accardo left it alone, two-thirds of the entire Balkan region would probably fall into the hands of a strong and well-prepared Turkey, and Italy's interests would be threatened.

"My Führer, I ask you to consider the unbreakable alliance between Germany and Italy in Europe. If Turkey were to take full control of the Balkans, it would not be in Germany's fundamental interests. As soon as they met, Mussolini couldn't wait to sow discord, and he had to get Accardo to help, so that Italy could reap enough benefits from the war to retain his position as leader in Italy. After all, he was not the same as Accardo, and Mussolini also had a nominal leader above his head, that is, His Majesty, the king of Italy.

"Mr. Great Italian Leader, is it not enough that Germany is conscientiously fulfilling all the treaties of alliance between Germany and Italy, that in North Africa the Germans are fighting bloodily to expand its colonies, and that in the Balkans the Italian offensive is also strongly supported by the German diplomatic service?" Accardo knew that Mussolini was coming, so he deliberately prepared a conference room with a map of the Soviet Eastern Front to receive Mussolini, and Accardo even brought the chief of the General Staff, General Manstein, in order to reap more benefits.

Manstein was a traditional soldier who made it his duty to obey orders, and Accardo ordered him to act according to the script, so it can be said that there is no truth in talking about the Eastern Front. He pointed to the map and gave Mussolini a half-hour military lesson: "The German army is preparing for the summer offensive and the autumn decisive battle, and the main forces will launch fierce assaults on several sections, and finally encircle Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, and end the war on the Eastern Front once and for all." ”

In short, the chief of the German General Staff, at the behest of the Führer, took the old version of the Barbarossa plan as a real thing, and dizzy Mussolini said in one go. In his mouth, in the future, the German army will launch at least four large-scale offensive operations, mobilize more than 6,000 tanks, and dispatch the air force to account for more than 70% of the German air power. With such a large-scale plan, Mussolini felt very good to listen to.

But then the fatal question arose: if such a large battle plan was forced to be suspended because of Italian reasons, what would Italy have to come up with to make up for the losses suffered by the German army? This kind of thing is not big or small, but it is definitely not small -- if Germany insists that if the campaign deployment is disrupted, it will lose the war, and Italy cannot afford to pay for it.

Mussolini gritted his teeth and begged Accardo to come to his rescue, not knowing how many times he had scolded his generals and the troops who couldn't do anything. He was bent on restoring Italy to its glory in the Roman Empire, but he had no choice but to fulfill the old Chinese saying: the heart is higher than the sky, and the life is thinner than paper. His plans were thwarted again and again, and the Roman Empire in his heart, which made the Mediterranean Sea an inland lake, was getting farther and farther away from him.

But this is the wolf's den of the Third Reich, and no one pities the life of Miss Mussolini's body. Accardo reluctantly said to Mussolini: "If the whole plan is forced to be aborted, then in the winter the German army will be preempted by the Soviet Union, and the Reich will suffer heavy losses - you know, if we have problems on the Eastern Front, then it will be all over." ”

"My Führer, if you help me this time, then Italy is willing to take out 200,000 expeditionary forces on the Eastern Front to help Germany resist the invasion of the Soviet Union in the winter!" Mussolini gritted his teeth and threw out his bargaining chips: "Some of the marginal colonies in Africa, Italy is willing to give up some of them as the price for Germany and France to send troops!"

"400,000! Don't worry, I only need 100,000 Italian troops to participate in the front-line operations, and I will put the rest of the troops in the rear to stabilize the supply line. Accardo stretched out his four fingers and bargained: "So that we can make up for the losses and give an account to the supporters of the Third Reich." ”