On October 15, 1939, news of the total fall of Poland had spread throughout the world along with Reinhardt's military parade in Warsaw. At this time, Italian Prime Minister Mussolini, who was far away in Rome, could not sit still.
The German army will dispatch troops from the border on September 15th, and they will be able to parade in the Polish capital on October 15th. This kind of victory is so fast!
"Say it! I know you have been holding back a lot of words." Mussolini tried his best to pretend that he had anticipated everything, and motioned to the important Italian representatives he called to discuss the situation to speak freely.
At this time, a total of three types of people gathered in his secret meeting.
The first category includes Ciano, Balbo, Debono and others. They not only firmly oppose participating in the war, but also have varying degrees of willingness to get rid of their German allies.
This type of people had a brief upper hand when the Polish campaign was about to begin. On the first day of the German army's invasion of Poland, which was a month ago on the morning of September 15, Mussolini was instigated by Ciano and others.
Next, a telegram was sent to Reinhard, asking the German head of state to relieve Italy of all its obligations to the Iron Alliance.
In the letter, Mussolini stated that Italy could not face the danger of an attack by the British and French armies, so Germany must agree to Italy's request whether it wanted to or not.
If Reinhard hadn't known that sending troops to Italy was of no use to his plan, he would probably have been angered to death by such a "smart ally".
When Italy is in need, the German army should fulfill its obligation to send troops. When the German army goes to war, Italy will not fulfill the treaty if it does not want to. This simply makes the Germans idiots, and they are the only smart Italians in the world.
Reinhardt is quite open-minded about this matter. He already knows the outcome anyway. It is not impossible to satisfy Mussolini's wishes before the start and help others to reduce the psychological pressure on Italy. After all, he still has the future.
When it comes to Italy, it is quite necessary to let Italy see Germany's powerful military power and rich military results.
Therefore, on September 15, Reinhard made an unprecedented public statement: "Germany does not need any military assistance from Italy in this war."
For this reason, Mussolini developed a considerable affection for the German head of state who was considerate of his difficulties.
"Leader, the matter has come to this, we should first express our congratulations to the Germans." Governor Balbo, who had previously taken the lead in advising Mussolini not to intervene, embarrassedly defended: "Although we have not directly helped the Germans militarily.
, but we contained a large number of French troops in the Alps, which indirectly reduced the military pressure on the Germans on the Western Front."
Balbo, a close associate of Mussolini who had served as governor of Libya since 1933, transformed Libya from a backward colony into a model for Italian provinces for Mussolini's "Great Roman Empire Plan" and was known as Italy's
Fourth Coast.
In the eyes of many people, Balbo was a "visionary" governor. The important Italian East African town he was in charge of had 9 Italian infantry divisions, 3 Blackshirt divisions, and 2 Libyan indigenous divisions, a total of 14 powerful divisions.
The Legion took away 323 vintage aircraft.
As Mussolini's "Southern General" who stayed in Libya, Balbo's previous suggestions had a great impression on Mussolini. If it weren't for his various suggestions, Mussolini would not have been so decisive.
Treaty of Alliance.
However, Balbo's suggestion is not wrong, at least it has allowed Italy to gain a lot of diplomatic "results."
In order to win over Italy, Britain and France provided a large number of orders for Italian factories and purchased a lot of military uniforms, military blankets, machine tools and other goods. For a time, Rome's stock market soared, and the economic situation was excellent.
But Mussolini was a careerist, and he didn't like this soft fruit. What he wanted was a glorious Warring States period like the one achieved by Germany, and huge dividends obtained through war!
Mussolini could not deny the defense of Balbo, his confidant: "What you said makes sense, but the Germans will definitely not be happy about our breach of contract. Although Sergeant Reinhardt said nothing,
But he probably hates us all in his heart."
Sergeant, this was Mussolini’s private contemptuous term for Reinhardt. He always felt that he was much older than Reinhardt. He thought that when he became the Prime Minister of Italy, Reinhardt was just
He's just a young kid.
But Reinhard, an ordinary person who only climbed to the position of staff sergeant in 1923, actually rose through the ranks in the next 10 years, and continued to be promoted at an almost abnormal speed.
Since Operation Rainbow, Reinhardt's promotion path seems to have been constantly compromised. From staff sergeant to second lieutenant, it only took a month. From second lieutenant to lieutenant, it was less than a week since the last promotion. From lieutenant to captain, captain
When he was promoted to major, it happened to coincide with the most chaotic period of Germany's internal affairs. Even the most basic procedures were not completed and passed under Ludendorff's arrangement.
Later, this guy was attracted by Sickert, who was the commander-in-chief of the German Wehrmacht, and was taught as a student. The disciple of the commander-in-chief of the army wanted to be promoted to lieutenant colonel, who would dare to object?!
As for the reason for being promoted to colonel, it was also to give Reinhardt, who was in charge of Soviet-German cooperation at the time, a suitable rank so that the Soviet partners could feel the sincerity of Germany.
The promotion path to general level is slower. It takes a total of 3 years, and on average, it is only one level per year. To say it is full, it is also based on his previous promotion speed. For a normal officer, many people
I have spent my entire life unable to cross the threshold from colonel to major general.
This is in fucking peacetime, and the promotion speed is actually faster than the promotion of the legendary generals in the war!
Mussolini rose to the top in one step, riding on the east wind of a Roman march. For this, he prepared for 15 years, a full 15 years!
On the other hand, Reinhard reached the pinnacle of power in just ten years.
But this kind of nouveau riche actually keeps walking one step at a time, moving fast and steadily.
First, he was promoted from sergeant to general in the army. Then he switched to politics, and naturally got what he wanted again and again, and finally became the head of state of Germany. Having had experience in the army, Rein
Hart's control over the troops was infinitely greater than that of Mussolini.
Participated in the planning of Operation Rainbow, put down the Kapp coup, presided over the secret cooperation between the Soviet Union and Germany (in order to appease Italy's timidity, Reinhard secretly informed Mussolini), and defeated the Franco-Belgian invasion in the Ruhr. Full body
His merits and legendary experiences along the way make it impossible to argue against his high position.
Now, Mussolini, who was jealous of the military miracle he had achieved in Poland, could only entertain himself by making fun of Reinhardt in order to calm down his inner jealousy.