Battle of the Third Reich

Italy is a small country. The Alps seem to be far away from the Apennines. In fact, Verona and Bologna are only more than 100 kilometers apart, which is about the distance from Shanghai to Wuxi. It is farther from Hangzhou to Hangzhou.

The quality of the Italian roads is very good. Mussolini is very enthusiastic about the infrastructure in Italy. Just like he likes to build monuments and landmarks, this new century Caesar is passionate about everything that can put his name in the history. These road networks can often be traced back to the Middle Ages and even the Roman Empire. After using modern building materials for reconstruction and reinforcement, most of them can withstand the passage of heavy vehicles.

It’s just that you don’t confuse the 1940s with modern times. At that time, the transportation of automobiles was basically less than ten tons. For example, the trucks used by the German army had a payload of between one and a half to three tons. Some heavy trucks, just For example, Mercedes and Mann only weigh six tons without overloading. Of course, this is only the load in the case of bad roads. If you encounter high-quality roads or extra trailers, you have to calculate it separately. Under normal circumstances, German logistics units will secretly overload some, but this amount usually does not exceed twice the effective load, because of mechanical transitions. Wear and tear will also increase logistical troubles.

For this war, the German Army specially organized the Austrian fast anti-cluster, but when the war really began, considering the problems of frontline deployment and supply, only eight infantry divisions and two armored divisions have been invested in Italy so far. Some of the logistics and engineering support units added up to a total of almost 200,000 people. This is just the number of people required for a second-line battle in the European War, but for the Kingdom of Italy, this has made them feel unbearable. .

In four days, the Kingdom of Italy’s Army can confirm that the casualties have exceeded 30,000, and it can be divided into two infantry divisions. Among them, there are more than 8,000 people killed in battle, and the rest are all kinds of casualties, including some spirits. Traumatized soldier.

In addition, more than 150,000 army officers and men laid down their weapons, most of which were troops from the Alps defense line and the northwest region. They were compressed and surrounded by France and Germany from the east and west lines, and many troops did not proceed at all. What kind of decent resistance surrendered directly to the tough invaders.

Their generals seem to have reached a certain deal with the Germans, and these elite troops in the Italian army have long since spent their last confrontation with the French army, and they spent the last remaining morale. After receiving orders from their superiors, the Italians almost happily poured into the prisoner of war camps established by the Germans.

However, in a report transferred to Mussolini by the Roman Command, a group of "brave Italian men" also stubbornly resisted the attack of the German-French coalition forces in the north. These troops successfully regrouped near Pavia, and There, the German attack was blocked, but the troop personnel suffered heavy losses during the battle, and the materials were also consumed by more than half. They were about to run out of food and urgently needed assistance from Rome.

This is really an inspiring and moving story. Mussolini told the story to all Italians on the radio of Rome that day, and personally ordered the only two squadrons of Rome to send out to Pavia. The warriors airdrop the much-needed military supplies.

In order to show the Italian people the importance he attached to this matter, Mussolini even sent his own personal plane. Interestingly, it was a German Junker ju52, one of Hitler’s personal gifts.

At that time, a total of thirteen transport planes took off from the airport in Rome. The cabin was filled with canned food and ammunition. It is said that the goods also contained a commendation order issued by Mussolini and a bronze medal of courage.

The transport fleet took off in the magnificent military music and the cheers of a group of journalists and the people. This was the last time people saw these planes. None of the thirteen planes returned to the base. No one knew what happened to them during the voyage.

After a long time, some curious historical researchers finally found the last trace of this group of planes from the pile of German decryption documents. A German fighter group was waiting in a certain airspace in accordance with the orders of its superiors. It ambushed and annihilated a group of "Italian bombers". The report specifically mentioned that one of them was a Junker aircraft suspected of being German, and the fuselage was painted with the gorgeous Italian national emblem. , And the combat position recorded in this report coincides with the airdrop area scheduled by the transport plane.

The scholar smelled the conspiracy and wanted to get to the bottom of it, but soon he was under pressure from the Italian government. The investigation could only be stopped eventually, and part of the information was destroyed. No one knows the incident anymore. Hidden secret.

The indestructible [Mussolini] line of defense only exists on government documents and the map of the headquarters. This gave birth to the biggest inexplicable mystery in the Italian War. Why did the Germans give up the victory at hand in the face of the mountains guarded by only a few Italian troops, and ordered the troops to stop moving forward, and it was not worth it compared with them. The mentioned defender stood on that rough line of defense for three days, which was completely illogical.

Some people think that it was the Germans who had problems with supplies. The poor road conditions in Italy dragged the Germans behind. But in fact, the roads in Italy are great. The German logistics commander said more than once in the report that he was very satisfied with the traffic conditions in Italy, because the delays caused by the roads were not as many as the number of traffic accidents. The German army established a station system along the way. After the war, most of them were handed over to the Italian Army for continued use, which proves that the German army's halt is obviously not a logistical problem.

Some people think that this is to cover Anzio's landing operation, and the Germans deliberately attracted Rome's attention. This has been agreed by most researchers, because no other reasonable explanation can be found.

As for the statement that the great Prime Minister Badogrio colluded with the German head of state, this is completely nonsense. This is a rumor released by the hostile forces and a derogation of the noble personality of the highest empire marshal of Badogrio.

By October 26, the last black shirt in the city of Rome was transferred to the Apennines. Many of these soldiers were recruits recruited this week. They were all loyal members of the Fascist National Party, Mussolini It is impossible to say how faithful they will be to themselves, but this leader is convinced that these people, like themselves, are full of love for the Kingdom of Italy.

At this time, the magnificent and magnificent Roman city became a city without troops stationed, and only the police and a small number of military police maintained the order of the city.

The Romans were thankful that the Germans had never bombed this ancient capital. The government wanted to attribute this to the Italian Air Force and Mussolini, but no Italians believed that a German reconnaissance plane would arrive in the city center almost every afternoon. After a few laps, I didn't see any Italian fighter jets drove away.

Many of the citizens of Rome believed that the result of the war was very clear. The kingdom could not fight against the three powerful countries on its own, and Mussolini could not win the war. There are various versions of rumors circulating in the city, none of which is beneficial to this leader, and the government’s battle report has completely lost its credibility. The reason is very simple. Since Italy is winning all the time, why is the ration standard of citizens' daily life still dropping?

Less than a week after the war, there was a serious food shortage in Rome. The army has taken away a large amount of strategic reserves in the warehouse. There were not many materials left for the citizens. Now it still squeezes out part of the supply front, and some are secretly transferred to the black market by bureaucrats.

The city of Rome has no food self-sufficiency. The capital consumed by the capital comes from the whole of Italy. Now the main food production areas are in the German control area. The Romans can only prepare the hungry belly obediently.

ps: The second chapter is served. (To be continued.)

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