Even though Reinhard was busy with the war on the Western Front, he still found time to write letters to Mussolini in his spare time, telling him about Germany's successive victories.
Yes, this is pure showing off.
Reinhard was using Germany's continuous great victories to stimulate the leader's nerves and let him know how terrifying the Third Reich's strength was, so as to correct his attitude.
Prior to this, due to Reinhardt's intervention, Mussolini's army used poison gas in advance to fight, avoiding the embarrassing situation of being rampaged by European countries and African countries.
In other words, Italy in this time and space has actually never had a humiliating record.
If there is no shame, there is no lesson learned. Although with Mussolini’s character, even if he loses the battle, he can still continue to seek death in a brazen manner. Moreover, he has not lost the battle yet after all, so he is even more
It swells easily.
Of course, it was not that no one advised the Italian leader. However, the person who advised him was neither an Italian nor a German who was an ally of Italy, but the President of the United States, Mr. Roosevelt, who was far away across the Atlantic.
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Compared to a stubborn man like British Prime Minister Churchill, a tough guy like Stalin, General Secretary of the Soviet Union, or a psychopath like Reinhardt, the German head of state, Roosevelt was relatively easy to talk to.
This national leader who was rarely talkative during World War II first contacted Britain and France to confirm that they could give up some of the interests of the Mediterranean to Italy. Then he expressed his support for Italy to participate in the peace conference as a belligerent country. Finally,
He gave a tactful exhortation, stating that the United States had traditional interests in the Mediterranean, and politely threatened that if Italy participated in the war to support Germany, the United States would also increase aid transactions to Britain, France and other countries.
As a result, what was Mussolini's reaction?
The Italian bald man pointed contemptuously at the letter sent by Roosevelt and said to his subordinates: "Don't show me the consequences of paralysis in the future."
As a result, Roosevelt, the only person who seriously advised Mussolini, was humiliated and scorned by Mussolini because he suffered from polio and his lower limbs were paralyzed.
In Mussolini's view, the 200,000 elite British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk were wiped out. The hundreds of thousands of French troops on the Maginot Line were useless. Recently, the Weygand Line was breached by the German army, and the French capital Paris was in danger.
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Mussolini believed that this was the best time for him to make mistakes.
What is meant by "picking up the slack" is to wait until the war is about to come to an end, then attack with force, and coordinate with the strong side to defeat the weak side.
What Mussolini pursued was this kind of business that was sure to make a profit without losing any money. Now that this kind of business has appeared, why not join in.
Do we really want to watch the Germans take advantage of us?
Britain, shrouded in the glory of the superpower, and France, which claims to have the world's largest army, have been recognized by Mussolini as two outstanding transport captains.
The Germans lacked equipment to expand their army, so they left thousands of nearly brand-new cannons, tens of thousands of cars, nearly a thousand tanks, and countless guns and ammunition on the Dunkirk beach.
The Germans were short of labor in production and construction, so they provided Germany with hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, filling the gap in Germany's labor force.
Recently, the German army has penetrated deeply into the French territory, and many French factories have been expropriated by Germany, becoming the wealth of the Third Reich and strengthening Germany's industrial strength.
Mussolini couldn't wait any longer. The Germans were eating meat, so why should the Italians stare?
He had apparently forgotten that it was he who personally rejected Germany's offer of cooperation at the beginning of the war.
From the Battle of Poland to the Battle of France, he declined the opportunity to fight alongside the Germans because he was afraid of losing. At that time, he did not have the momentum he has today.
However, since Britain and France have become drowned dogs, Mussolini naturally does not mind giving them a good beating.
"Fighters of the land, sea and air, comrades of the revolutionary Black Guards, soldiers from abroad, gentlemen of Italy and the Kingdom of Abyssinia, please listen!" Mussolini chose to start his speech on the third day of June.
Declaration of participation in the war.
"The fateful moment has arrived!" Mussolini confidently shouted with open arms on the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia.
"As early as the commemorative conference in Berlin, I repeatedly emphasized that since we have concluded a friendship treaty with Germany, we will definitely advance and retreat with our friends until the last moment."
On this day when the German army was victorious, Mussolini proposed to advance and retreat together. He was obviously not prepared to share the hardships with the Third Reich. Any normal person could see his intention, and it was obvious that he was aiming to share happiness.
It's just that sharing adversity and sharing blessings can all be expressed by the neutral word "co-advance and retreat".
"Citizens of Italy, take up arms." Mussolini encouraged self-righteously: "Use your courage and indomitable spirit and join in the conquest!"
Although the Italian people themselves did not know that they still had such strong courage and indomitable spirit. However, since the leader said so, they also symbolically cooperated.
"Conquer! Conquer! Conquer!" a group of Italian people watching the excitement shouted, although they did not intend to pay any price for conquest.
At this moment, Mussolini was very intoxicated. He enjoyed this moment of participating in the process of writing history.
Mussolini even felt that it was a shame to stand aside while others were writing history. The important thing was to participate, and it didn't matter who won.
Of course, at this time Mussolini was convinced that he would win. He was convinced that he had intervened in the war at the right time, and by declaring war on Britain and France, he had bought a stock that was guaranteed to make a profit without losing any money.
Since the German army has defeated the British and French coalition forces, what danger is there in Italy stepping in to make up for it?
However, some people in Italy still gave Mussolini unfavorable advice.
An army lieutenant general told the truth to Mussolini who had just finished his speech: "Leader, we are not ready for war at all. In terms of material reserves, our current situation is actually worse than last September.
To make matters worse, the existing supplies are only enough to fight for a few months. And among our 74 divisions, only 19 are fully staffed and equipped with weapons and equipment. The other units are all insufficient in combat strength."
In fact, what the lieutenant general said is absolutely correct. The weapons and equipment of the Italian Army have lagged terribly behind.
Most of their soldiers hold Type 91 rifles used in World War I. Although automatic rifles have begun to be produced, their numbers are extremely limited.
At the same time, the backwardness of the infantry is also reflected in the lack of motor vehicles.
According to regulations, Italian soldiers each carry a backpack weighing 35 kilograms, so they move very slowly, averaging only 30 kilometers per day.
Although Italy's so-called famous general Grazzini implemented the so-called "small mechanization" in the infantry divisions, that is, each division was equipped with a small number of cars and bicycles as "supplementary equipment." Bicycles were used to transport backpacks, and soldiers took turns marching in cars.
Fixed an issue with the Italian army's march speed.
However, in this way, although the Italian army's marching speed was slightly increased, it weakened the discipline of the troops and further reduced the army's combat effectiveness.
The lieutenant general in front of him is very self-aware. With the level of the Italian Army, how can it fight against the French Army, which was once the first army in Europe?!
