Battle of the Third Reich

The declaration of war sounded again, and the dignity of Germany could not be provoked. The headliner's tough attitude was endorsed by most Germans. They were filled with indignation at the atrocities suffered by the German embassy and determined to give the Apennine idiot a lifetime unforgettable lesson.

The Germans have no worries about the outcome of this war, and victory will definitely belong to the great heads of state and the German people. The Germans are used to this kind of day. The people are full of confidence in the victory of the war. The market in Berlin is as stable as usual. The citizens rest and work as usual, but in the parks and beer halls, many people gathered together for this war. Talkative and enthusiastic people, of course, this occasion also has some Gestapo casual clothes with cold eyes.

On the evening of the 20th, the lights in the Bendler building where the Imperial Command was located stayed up all night. The car park in front of the building was echoing the roar of the engine all night. The vehicle that sent the order and submitted the report was like a crucian carp, The reckless army driver even caused a traffic accident on the nearby Tirbitz road, causing traffic congestion at one time, and finally dispatched an entire military police company to finally clear the traffic order.

[Theodoric] The plan took only one month from planning to implementation, and Germany’s developed military mobilization and logistics support system played a key role at this time. Compared with the Italian Army, it took two months to prepare for the invasion of Greece, but when it finally launched the attack, it still seemed like nothing was prepared. However, Germany has already completed the reorganization and transfer of a group of army groups during this time, and ensured that these troops can immediately engage in a large-scale military operation. This is the gap between national powers, which can be overcome without relying on some cleverness.

The mobilization of the army forces was entirely dependent on the sound railway and highway transportation network in Germany. Hitler spent six years working **** road infrastructure, and at this moment it fully showed its results. The entire regiment of battalions took passenger or freight trains and traversed more than half of Germany to reach Austria, and then entered a long-prescribed military camp for rest and preparation. These troops have all participated in the battles of Poland and France, and have rich combat experience. At this time, they only need to carry out some adaptive training in mountain warfare and can immediately enter the battle.

The Austrian rapid reaction cluster was reorganized from a part of the original group army group. The original group army organization of Witzleben was retained, and the fourth armored cluster of Hepner was added to it. Four Mountain Army and two new motorcycle brigades. In the final stage of preparations for the battle, Keitel took over the highest command from Marshal Loeb in the name of command.

Along with Kettle was also the "Cyprus" regiment directly under the head of state. At this time, the captain of the regiment Mueller had entered the Berlin Military Academy, and Manstein, who was preparing for the formation of a new armored army, had not yet unloaded. After losing the position of chief of staff of the legion, he temporarily became the supreme commander of this powerful legion. Don’t look at Man Stein’s unhappy look on the surface, in fact, the new generation of commander-in-chief doesn’t know how happy he is.

The German military plan is not strictly confidential, and it is easy to detect some superficial intelligence. The German's [Aldrich] plan seems to be prepared to refer to a Balkan country. So during that time, the Balkan miscellaneous people lived very happily, and secretly guessed which German grandfather was looking at.

The Balkan miscellaneous people can find out the news. The Italians who started the intelligence are certainly not unaware, but the Italian side has also been misled by the name of this plan, thinking that the Germans are preparing to invade a certain area of ​​the Balkans. The Roman Command The generals guessed that the German’s goal should be Yugoslavia. After a few curses with envious psychology, the information was thrown into the official document pile. The Italians were busy preparing for the invasion of Greece at this time, and were not interested in ignoring it. German matter.

When news of Germany’s declaration of war spread to Rome via radio waves, the Italians initially thought it was a bad joke. Everyone knows that Italy and Germany are **** allies. May be shot against his brother. But for the next half a day, the Italians seemed to have had a chaotic nightmare. All kinds of news came at once, all of which confirmed that the joke was not a lie. Germany was indeed preparing to declare war with Italy.

Finally, when the news was also announced in the news of the French and British radio stations, the Italians finally believed that things that could not be dreamed of in dreams really happened before their eyes.

The whole of Italy suddenly fell into a doom-like panic. At this time, the Italians had no intention of working. Countless people ran around the streets. The taverns and pizzerias were full of civilians, food stores and daily necessities who yelled, quarreled, and inquired about the news. In front of the store, there is a long line of shopping money. The citizens are looking for each other and want to take their family out of the city and go to the country for a while.

The Italian Black Shirt Legion should have stood up at this moment to inspire and agitate the people. The strange thing is that during the whole day, the group of black shirts that were originally seen everywhere, but only a dozen **** members were left, standing in front of the sculpture in the heart of the fountain. , Waving the fascist party flag, clamoring for the **** battle with Germany to the last person, screaming that great Italy will win.

When they learned that their opponent was a powerful Germany, the Italians basically gave up hope of victory. Their army couldn’t even pack up the French who had been beaten to pieces. Now who would dare to believe that Italy will win such a lie, Pizza Hut is almost the same, I believe that Germans should like pizza.

German Ambassador to Rome von Kruger formally submitted a declaration of war to the Italian Prime Minister Mussolini at 5 pm on the 20th. At that time, only a few people witnessed this historic scene.

Mussolini also wanted to use a low-level reason such as physical discomfort to push the meeting off, as if he wouldn't pick up the document, the Germans would not go to war. In the end, his son-in-law Ziano persuaded him, telling Mussolini that whether he accepted it or not, the war between Germany and Italy had become a foregone conclusion. Instead of escaping, it was better to go all out and show the Italians to the Germans. With the spirit, even if the final defeat is inevitable, at least Italy has maintained its dignity.

Eventually Mussolini took over the documents in the hands of the German ambassador in his office. According to Ziano's later recollection, at that moment the leader was filled with tears in his eyes because of the humiliation and anger. And von Kruger wrote this in his report to Berlin. The leader's face was pale, his eyes were dull, and his hands were shaking. It was completely out of the spirit of the past, and Mussolini looked abnormal that day. Cang Lao, I personally think that it was the erosive life of the previous transition that destroyed his health.

The Italian ambassador to Germany stayed outside the door of the new prime minister’s office until 0:00 that night, then he was prepared by Gestapo on a special car that was already on the side, and then he was jammed into a d-2 passenger plane flying to Switzerland. And all the senior diplomats in the Italian embassy.

The remaining Italian diplomats will be sent to a neutral ship and return to their homeland by sea. The Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs thinks that this is a superfluous move. Maybe these people are still on the way, and the war is over.

Germany’s declaration of war was so sudden for Italy. Although the heads of empire generously gave the Italians half a day, with Rome’s inefficient command system, this time was simply not enough for them to respond effectively.

Throughout the afternoon, the Italian command and communication system became a mess, and the generals of Rome had only realized at this time that they had never formulated a defense plan for the situation in front of them, and their northern defense plan was still in their hands. It was formulated at the end of the war and has been out of touch with the times for many years.

However, if it was changed yesterday that someone proposed to prepare a combat plan to defend against German invasion, it is estimated that the marshals of the headquarters will laugh at the lungs, and no one can predict the future, so the embarrassing situation that occurs now can be regarded as excusable.

The problem before them was that the headquarters in Rome had to make some actions immediately, no matter what the order was, even if it was just to stabilize the military, the Roman headquarters had to let the front-line troops feel that everything was still under their control.

Italy has not deployed many regular troops on the border with Austria. In order to avoid causing suspicions from allies, Italy has even deliberately removed most of its heavy weapons. Now the security of the border between the two countries is mainly a group of police and Gendarmerie, with some Italian black shirts apparently dispatched there, their usual tasks are mainly to arrest their own smugglers and Austrian Jews who sneaked into Switzerland by way of way. After all, over the Alps, not ordinary people can do it Things.

Now these unfortunate border police gendarmes and black shirts will face an attack by the German Army armed to the teeth. The only trouble these people can cause to the Germans is that they may not find such a large prisoner of war camp.

The Roman Headquarters could only first transfer several infantry divisions recuperating in the direction of Venice towards the northern border, and then issued the national leader in the name of the Prime Minister.

The Roman Headquarters ordered all temporarily retired soldiers to return to the team within 24 hours. Those who did not reach the time limit will be punished as deserters. If they are far away and cannot return to the team in time, they must also report to the nearby army unit nearby. Without any reason to delay, they will be arrested by the military police and sent to the military court.

The Headquarters specifically pointed out that no one can evade obligations to the country for any reason. Italy has reached the most critical moment. Every Italian needs to contribute his own power. Under the leadership of the great leader, the brutal German aggressors will be eliminated. The final victory will surely belong to glorious Italy, long live Italy, Mussolini Long live!

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