In fact, if someone looked at it from the perspective of a bystander, it would almost feel like Mussolini was simply giving away his head.
It was as if Mussolini was deliberately trying not to be one-sided in the French campaign. Mussolini issued an order that was detrimental to himself and others.
It was this order that gave the French Third Republic, which had been completely defeated, a chance to win a great victory, and gave the appearance of a new famous general born in World War II, a rising general named Henri Berante.
Like Reinhardt, Mussolini also believed that the war would only last a few weeks. So, on a whim, he explicitly ordered the people to live as usual and not to disturb themselves due to full-scale war mobilization.
Mussolini's idea was very simple. He wanted to create a phenomenon where even if there was a war, the Kingdom of Italy could handle it calmly and easily.
On the other hand, he also ordered cabinet members and his cronies to leave the office and immediately go to the front line to take up military positions.
The reason why Mussolini did this was to give people the impression that Italian cabinet ministers, even if they had not received strict military training, were natural warriors and could command a field battalion immediately.
At the same time, this will also allow everyone to understand that Mussolini can govern the country independently even without the assistance of his ministers, and is an all-powerful leader.
In this way, he was able to do something that even Reinhardt in Germany could not do.
You see, no matter how capable the German head of state is, he does not have to rely on the assistance of professionals in various fields to govern the country. But Mussolini is different. I can handle everything by myself!
But in fact, because the ministers and leaders of the Italian government put Mussolini on the front line, the Italian administrative structure was in chaos.
It is precisely because of this that a large number of Italian merchant ships anchored at sea or in foreign countries were seized by the United Kingdom because they were not notified in time by the relevant departments. If there were dedicated leaders in charge of these matters, such problems would not arise.
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Moreover, Mussolini had an inexplicable confidence in his arrangements.
Because he served as a corporal in World War I, Mussolini once boasted: "Reinhard was just a non-commissioned officer when he made his fortune, and Napoleon was just a small corporal at the beginning.
But they have all become more powerful military geniuses than the generals who came out of the military academy. In the same way, I can also become such a wise genius, and I will definitely do better than them!"
Whenever someone made the opposite suggestion, telling Mussolini not to send amateur ministers to the front lines and command experienced officers, Mussolini would put on a majestic posture like Caesar the Great in ancient Rome and say:
"Are you arguing with the conquerors of Ethiopia? Are you arguing with the victors of the Spanish battlefields?"
In the end, a large number of political officials were inexplicably sent to the front line to command the army, and then they had to stop the offensive after sending a large number of lives inexplicably.
Now, anyone with a little bit of military knowledge can see that Italy's attack on southern France has not made much progress. Except for the offensive led by the first division of the Black Shirts, the other offensive forces have great command and military capabilities.
The equipment is all shockingly poor.
As a result, faced with the terrible fighting situation on the front line, Mussolini vigorously promoted propaganda on the surface, claiming to the people that the Italian army had achieved a huge victory on the front line and occupied a large area of French land.
On the other hand, he privately shirks his responsibility to his son-in-law Ciano: "The failure to achieve sufficient victory is mainly to be blamed on the bourgeoisie. It is they who have failed their leaders and have illusions about an easy life. Although he has done it for them
They have exhausted all their efforts, but they don’t obey orders at all.”
However, Mussolini finally stated that one day, he would regain the true face of the Romans and he would redouble his efforts to cultivate a more resilient and unyielding nation.
Mussolini even looked to the future, claiming that even if the war ended soon, he would start another war in order to make Italians tougher.
Worried that the French were trying to only recognize Germany as a slave and not regard Italy as a victor, Mussolini urged the Black Shirts to work harder and break through the French defenses to open up the situation.
"Our offensive on the front line cannot stop, we must muster up the courage to redouble our efforts." Mussolini shouted to the generals who stayed beside him: "I have written to Reinhardt and asked him to try his best.
Accept the French request for peace talks a few days later. The purpose is to give our army time to fight a victorious battle and allow Italy to join the peace negotiations as a victorious country."
When Mussolini said this, his voice trembled with anger.
Attacking the defeated French troops from behind, 32 Italian main divisions were actually held back by 10 French garrison divisions!
What made Mussolini even more angry was that at this critical moment, French Prime Minister Reno had already stepped down. The new government established by Pétain demanded an immediate armistice and expressed France's willingness to surrender to Germany.
Is surrendering to Germany enough?
Where does this put the face of the dignified Italian Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini?!
You must know that Mussolini's original plan was to cede a large amount of French territory, receive the entire French fleet, and even remove the famous Italian paintings from the French art museum.
As a result, the French have no intention of surrendering to Italy now. How embarrassing this is!
What's even more embarrassing is that Italy can't do anything to the French. The high-profile military operations have no effect. The French have completely blocked the entire Italian main force with a single division.
No! Even though we haven’t obtained any capital yet, we still can’t give up on our goal.
In Mussolini's eyes, the annexation of the French fleet had an extremely important impact on his Mediterranean strategy. Even if the territorial claims against France were not mentioned, just to obtain the powerful French fleet, Italy must win a decisive victory on the battlefield.
!
"Ciano!" Mussolini said to his "reliable" son-in-law with determination: "Let's make some arrangements, I'm going to give a victory speech in advance."
Victory speech?!
Ciano obviously did not keep up with his father-in-law's thinking. Where did Italy win? Why didn't he hear about it?
However, before Ciano could be confused for too long, Mussolini revealed his thoughts: "I want to put some pressure on the frontline troops and let them know that I will hold a speech to celebrate the victory tomorrow. In this way, they will encourage
Work hard enough to win before I give my speech and live up to my expectations."
"That's...ok, leader." Although Ciano didn't think much of his father-in-law's motivational methods, he didn't dare to refute, so he had no choice but to agree.
Anyway, when the time comes, it won’t be him who is embarrassed, right? Ciano?