"This assassination operation, if there are no accidents, should be successful. Everything has been considered, and the location and time of the assassination have been carefully prepared. Even if there are any accidents, it will not stop the progress of the entire plan." The major was quite confident.
He patted his chest and assured.
"Are you sure there's no problem, right?" A somewhat cautious Ciano asked for the fifth time.
In Italy, the assassination of Mussolini began with the king's acquiescence.
It has to be said that Reinhardt and Mussolini, superficial brothers, actually became sworn brothers in the end, and both were plotted in the assassination plan at the same time. This is also a terrible coincidence.
Of course, if both assassinations were successful, there would be no suspense about the rest of the war.
Among the Allied Powers, the ones responsible for the main supply of troops were the Iron Alliance countries of Germany and Italy.
The newly rebuilt League of Nations was only supported by Germany and Italy, with the assistance of "quasi-powerful countries" such as Vichy France and Spain, and it was successfully implemented.
If Germany and Italy lose their leaders at the same time, regardless of the impact on public opinion and morale, the period of time when the supreme power is in a vacuum is enough to collapse the frontline armies of the two countries.
The first to cause problems must be the German army.
Because there is no command from the headquarters, even if the command system with the Army, Navy and Air Force Headquarters as the core is re-established, it will take a lot of buffer time.
The ever-changing battlefield will not give them this time at all.
It's okay to say that the British battlefield is fine. At most, the offensive has stalled and will not endanger the Third Reich homeland.
But the Soviet army, which was already fighting hard on the Eastern Front, would not give the German army a chance to regain its command system.
Zhukov and other famous Soviet generals who have sharpened their swords and gone all out are still supporting the full-line offensive. Although the German army relied on the preset second-line defense offensive and natural geographical defense areas, it successfully blocked the Soviet army's aggressive attack.
.
However, with the support of Reinhardt, Paulus, Model and other Wehrmacht and SS generals who had rushed to the eastern southern front to prepare for a large-scale counterattack plan, could they successfully launch the plan after losing the backing of the Führer?
The offense will indeed have a big question mark.
In the central and northern parts of the Eastern Front, generals close to Reinhardt such as Guderian and Manstein would also suffer setbacks to a greater or lesser extent.
Especially the SS men under Steve who have always been madly loyal to the Führer, the Gestapo under Ross who secretly dedicated themselves to the Führer, and the people in Germany who have always worshiped the Führer as their savior...
Too many Germans will fall into sadness, influence, confusion, and even panic!
Relying on his legendary experience and incredible political achievements, Reinhard has been crazily admired by some people across Germany and even other European countries.
Among these people are workers, farmers, soldiers of the National Defense Forces, intellectuals, government civil servants, and primary and secondary school students.
Every day, there is an endless stream of letters sent to the head of state's residence to express their respect. The contents of the letters are also varied and intricate.
"Reinhard Heydrich, we believe in you. Without you, we are nothing but a piece of sand. With you, we are a nation!"
"Dear head of state, under your leadership, the German people have completely learned to use their diligence, wisdom, calmness and bravery to overcome all difficulties! Germany's future will definitely be bright!"
"Twenty years ago, I felt panic and disbelief about the future of my motherland. Today, twenty years later, I look forward to every tomorrow and the good news that comes with it."
...
There are many similar letters.
But without exception, every letter shows the fact that most Germans are immersed in a lofty sense of honor and responsibility, and they believe that they should follow the great head of state and plunge into the incomparably magnificent revolutionary torrent to create a new chapter in human history.
An unprecedented sacred cause.
At this time, once Stauffenberg really assassinated Reinhardt, conservative estimates suggest that more than 50% of the people in Germany would despise Stauffenberg as a bastard.
Among the remaining 50%, most people belong to the category who want to kill Stauffenberg directly.
After all, Reinhard has never lost.
The sudden attack by the Soviet army was a bit abrupt, but the head of state was prepared to take precautions in advance.
And the most critical thing is that Reinhard never launched a war for aggression in the true sense.
The Anschluss was the people's choice.
The merger of Germany and Hungary was also the people's choice.
Germany merged with Czechoslovakia because it wanted to protect the people on this land from the eager Polish army (at least that was the superficial reason at the time.)
The Polish Campaign was launched in retaliation for the invasion of the Danzig Corridor.
The Battle of Norway was to protect the freedom and stability of the Norwegian people and send troops to drive away the British and French invaders for them.
Not to mention the French campaign and the British campaign.
As early as the Battle of Poland, these two countries took the initiative to declare war on Germany. People have already threatened to fight you. How can you not fight them?
The Soviet-German Battle... This was a real trap. The Soviet army simply carried out a sneak attack, and the German army really stood up to defend itself.
Under such circumstances, Reinhard has never proposed a theory of land expansion (it doesn't matter what he thinks in his heart, at least he has never said it), and he is not really a war madman in theory.
Assassinating such a head of state, who also led Germany from the edge of collapse to strength, merged with Austria, which Bismarck even failed to merge back then. Defeated all the surrounding countries that had bullied him. In addition to being very satisfying, the head of state is really
Didn't do anything wrong.
Regarding Stauffenberg's attitude towards assassinating the Führer, 99% of people would oppose it without hesitation.
Italy, on the other hand, is much better.
Among Italians, Mussolini's prestige and achievements are not very satisfactory. If it is really gone...then forget it.
Therefore, the assassination plan on the Italian side is not as unacceptable to the entire Allied Powers as the assassination of the German head of state.
As long as Italy's new leaders can still stand on the side of the new League of Nations and the camp of the Allies, then the difference will be basically insignificant.
Perhaps anticipating this, Ciano, who was preparing to assassinate Mussolini, even prepared a statement announcing that Italy would not withdraw from the Allies and the New League of Nations after becoming Prime Minister.
Anyway, what he wants to do at this stage is just to oust Mussolini from power. In other aspects, he can just do it step by step.
