There is fighting in the west and training in the east, but what happened in the south of Germany?
Oh, it's next to Italy in the south, so it's fine. What can happen to Italy?
However, just after the Kingdom of Italy pretended to be deaf and dumb for nearly a month, and after the main force of the British and French coalition forces was completely defeated and retreated to Dunkirk, the great Italian Prime Minister Mussolini came to Germany to meet with Reinhardt.
"Führer Reinhard, since I learned the news of Belgium's surrender, I decided to lead Italy to participate in this war on June 5. We will fight together and fight for our interests...
..”
Who wants to fight with a bald man like you?! Reinhard thought hard, trying to find out where Mussolini shined. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any good points about this guy after thinking for a long time.
"Now, the Italian people are also eager to fight side by side with the German people against the common enemy. This is a great boon to Germany, which is struggling..." Mussolini continued to boast.
"Ahem...!" Reinhardt on the side was so shocked by these words that he coughed continuously.
When did Germany fall into a bitter war? The situation on our front line here is very good, and we are about to win a complete victory! And with this gospel, how confident are you in the Italian army...
When he thought of the "horrible" surrender rate of the Italian Army, and then looked at the confident Italian leader in front of him, Reinhard really wanted to laugh. Who gave him the courage to say this?
However, before Reinhard could speak, Mussolini went on to raise the price for Germany: "From a political point of view, I think it is necessary to expand the war to the Danube River Basin and the Balkans, and Italy also
Supplies must be obtained from this area and cannot be tainted by anyone.”
What did Mussolini mean by this? It was to remind Reinhard that the Balkans are Italy's sphere of influence, and Germany must not have any intentions.
"Let's leave the Balkans matter aside for now." Reinhard reminded Mussolini in a rare kindness: "On the contrary, regarding Italy's participation in the war, I have some suggestions to make to Mr. Leader."
Reinhardt's reminder was actually purely because he didn't want this bald ally to make too much of a fool of himself in the future, and also to prevent the German-Italian Steel Alliance from being embarrassed.
But Mussolini didn't think so. He thought Reinhardt wanted to urge Italy to join the war and reduce the military pressure on Germany to fight alone, so he gave suggestions to Italy to join the war.
Thinking of this, Mussolini smiled slightly, then pulled out a list from his bag and waved it in front of Reinhard intentionally or unintentionally.
Good guy, I brought you a list at this juncture. I want the lion to open his mouth! Reinhard swallowed his saliva blankly and looked directly at Mussolini. This bald guy wants to make a fool of himself?!
Clearing his throat, Mussolini smiled and said: "700,000 tons of oil, 600,000 tons of coal, 300,000 tons of steel, 200,000 tons of wood, 50 anti-aircraft guns, 2,000 trucks...
This request has been reduced by 90% compared to the war materials we proposed before the Polish campaign, but you don’t have to be too polite."
I'm sorry, you big-headed guy! If Reinhard had a mace in his hand, he would probably have knocked Mussolini on his bald head. When you have the nerve to mention the Battle of Poland, what the hell are you going to do?
You've become addicted to supplies.
In addition to supplies, Mussolini also proposed Germany's latest drawings of the No. 5 tank, Germany's Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter technology, and all the benefits Germany could provide.
Otherwise, human beings are full of infinite unknown possibilities. In the past, Reinhard always thought that he was one of the best for being shameless, but now look at Mussolini, he finally believed in the idea that there are people outside the world and there is a world outside the sky!
How can you dare to ask for so many benefits by sending out 300,000 people to defeat France, which is about to collapse? How can such a good thing be possible?!
If you had sent troops earlier, it would not be impossible to benefit you. But you did not send troops when the war first started, and you still do not send troops now. You have to wait until after June 5 to send troops.
What do I need from you?!
Reinhard was sweating profusely after hearing this, and in the end he could only wave his hand: "No, no, no, no, Mr. Leader, just pretend I didn't say it. I have no suggestions for you anymore. You can fight the Battle of France however you want. If you don't think so,
Don’t fight if you don’t want to, and don’t force it.”
Why, Germany doesn’t want Italy to send troops? Mussolini was a little surprised.
"Actually, we in Germany can handle this French battle on our own without bothering our Italian allies." Reinhard said bluntly.
In fact, what he was thinking was that even if you work hard in Italy, it's useless. Just go and do what you need to do and stop being annoying here.
"However, we have given Germany great help in diplomacy. I think it is necessary for Germany to repay Italy with a lot of technology as compensation." Mussolini was stunned for a moment and did not worry about why Reinhard did not ask him to send troops.
Continue to ask for prices shamelessly.
He was not in a hurry to send troops in the first place. Since you Germans have said that we don’t need to bother, then we won’t bother. If possible, we in Italy will wait until the day when the French and Germans sign a surrender agreement before sending troops to pick up the slack. It will be a pleasure.
However, benefits are still needed. Who will make us allies? Mussolini thought to himself, the Germans must pay more benefits.
Fortunately, Reinhard was not a fuel-efficient person. He immediately patted his chest and agreed loudly: "No problem! The drawings of the Panther tank, right? I will send them to you. There are also Messchmidt's fighter planes.
We can do a joint research and development project."
Ross, who had been accompanying him all along, his eyes widened when he heard Reinhard casually agreeing to send over high-level secret weapons information.
Although they are allies, it is impossible to give away core technology just by saying!
After sending Mussolini away, he immediately went to Reinhardt to remind him: Head of state! Do we really want to send the latest drawings of the No. 5 tank to Italy? That is..."
"Short-sighted! This war cannot be won by ourselves!" Reinhard pointed out seriously: "We are in the same boat as the Kingdom of Italy, and we cannot do anything that can enhance the combat effectiveness of the Iron Alliance.
Stingy!”
"Oh!" Rose looked at Reinhardt with admiration and nodded in understanding.
"Go back and ask the R&D department to make the appearance of the Panther tank more beautiful. Try to achieve the effect of defeating the enemy without fighting!" Reinhardt tilted his head and said with a gloating smile: "As for what's inside,
As for the internal structure drawings, I still have to take them out and keep them, so I will replace them with the structural drawings of the E79 (a drawing of an advanced German tank that did not appear in World War II, and even Germany could not build it, not to mention Italy)."
"If they can really solve the technical difficulties of E79 infrared night vision, automatic loading, low-level linear torsion bar suspension and 128 high-magnification cannon... forget it, they can still dream!"
"Yes!" Rose nodded heavily and looked at Reinhard with even more admiration.
