Mussolini originally thought he had succeeded early enough. He became the Prime Minister of Italy at the age of 39 and reached the pinnacle of power in Italy.
However, German Chancellor Reinhardt, who was only in his 30s, broke his record. A 30-year-old prime minister reached this position earlier than Italy's youngest prime minister, Mussolini.
Mussolini, who was feeling a little jealous, said angrily: "Prime Minister Reinhard from Germany is really young."
When he heard the translated sentence, Reinhard was stunned for a moment. Facing his adoring gaze, Mussolini seemed not satisfied.
"I hope Germany will not pay the price for your youthful frivolity. When dealing with the relationship between Germany and the Kingdom of Italy in the future, you'd better be as calm as me." Mussolini's tone revealed obvious self-praise.
and disparagement of Reinhardt.
The two German translators who accompanied Reinhard tried to translate Mussolini's words as emotionlessly as possible. In their opinion, Reinhardt probably couldn't stand Mussolini's arrogance.
However, after an interpreter relayed Mussolini's words to Reinhardt, the admiration in Reinhardt's eyes became even more intense.
Reinhardt said immediately and loudly: "Leader, from now on you will be my revolutionary mentor Reinhardt. If you have any guidance, just tell me. I will never hesitate at all if you are thrown into the sword or into the fire."
, I will follow your teachings."
The two translators who had joined the Gestapo looked in surprise at the head of state they had sworn allegiance to. Does he still have any sense of honor when he bows his head in front of a foreign prime minister with such no bottom line?!
Although this was a secret meeting that was not open to the public, Reinhardt's behavior was still unacceptable to the two German translators.
Not to mention the rigid and upright Germans, this kind of obscene behavior would be unworthy of punishment in any country.
What's more, Reinhard is also the chancellor of Germany and the head of the Socialist Workers Party. But this guy has no airs at all, or in other words, no awareness of his identity.
As soon as Reinhard finished speaking, he tried to get close to Mussolini very familiarly, completely ignoring the disdainful looks of a group of Italian naval officers around him and the dull eyes of the two German translators.
When I saw Reinhard, his face was full of smiles, as if he had known Mussolini for a long time. This time it was even more like meeting Mussolini again after a long separation, and he was so enthusiastic.
Being such a shameless bitch really opened the eyes of everyone present. Seeing Reinhardt constantly pulling Mussolini's hand to bump fists with him, obviously forcefully hugging Mussolini, and even stretching his neck and pouting.
Trying to kiss her with your mouth makes your eyelids jump.
How did this shameless man grow up? For such a bitch, let alone becoming the Prime Minister of a country, it is already a miracle that he can live to this age without being beaten to death!
Reinhard continued to boast without realizing it: "Leader, there is something I don't know whether to talk about or not."
As a result, before Mussolini could comment, Reinhardt immediately spoke out: "I would say that we should avoid preparing for war with Ethiopia. Not only will it waste people and money, but it may also trigger oil sanctions from Britain and France. We Italy
Our oil cannot be separated from imports.”
We in Italy? Mussolini is a little unaccustomed to Reinhardt's familiar attitude, but Reinhardt's flattering attitude towards him is quite endearing. If anyone else dares to treat him like Mussolini
If the strategy was questioned, he would definitely get angry. But for the young man in front of him who respected himself as a revolutionary mentor, Mussolini did not recommend giving him more guidance.
"Reinhard" Mussolini pretended to be an elder and called Reinhard by his first name. It was obviously inappropriate to address the prime minister of another country in this way. However, except for his entourage, Reinhard
The two parties involved, Mussolini, seemed completely unaware of it.
"The conquest of Ethiopia is Italy's strategic goal, and this must never be changed. Once the weak Ethiopia is conquered, Italy's two existing colonies of Eritrea and Somalia can become one. This is my first step in rebuilding the glory of the Roman Empire.
No step should be missed!" Mussolini began his speech passionately.
Glancing at Reinhard who was listening intently to his teachings, Mussolini became more interested and raised his voice: "That is a land of 12.2 million square kilometers, and it is the first simple target for the expansion of the New Roman Empire.
After giving me a few years, Italy can enrich these 12.2 million square kilometers of land through immigration and use it as the material base of the New Roman Empire. Then, Italy can become the most powerful country around the Mediterranean."
Reinhardt, who was aware of current affairs, realized that Mussolini's ambition would not allow him to make suggestions. He suddenly realized with a teachable expression: "So it turns out that Ethiopia's hundreds of machine guns alone cannot stop the Italian army."
Steps. Defeat a weak enemy, gain so much, and lay the foundation for the establishment of a great empire spanning the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Balkans. Mr. Leader is indeed far-sighted and wise. I believe that the future of the Mediterranean will definitely be
It’s a world that belongs to Italy.”
The considerate Reinhard began to promise: "Teacher, don't worry. Once Italy goes to war with Ethiopia, Germany will definitely side with Italy."
Mussolini nodded with satisfaction, and cleverly added a layer of insurance to Reinhardt's guarantee: "In order to ensure more stable cooperation between Germany and Italy, I suggest that the two countries sign a secret cooperation agreement."
The goal was achieved, Reinhard smiled secretly from an angle that was not easy to detect. It was the best result for Italy to propose an alliance. In this way, Germany would have to pay much less. After all, it was you, Italy, who invited Germany to form an alliance.
, it’s not like Germany is asking for an alliance, so why should Germany offer a lot of benefits in exchange?
As a result, an alliance agreement called the "German-Italian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance" was secretly signed in Rome. The No. 2 Italian leader responsible for drafting this treaty, Rossi, the head of the Gestapo branch installed by Germany in Italy, met with Reinhardt
Many provisions that were not available in history and were beneficial to Germany were added under the instruction.
As in history, the main contents of the "German-Italian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance" are:
1. When the security or major interests of one contracting state are threatened by external threats, the other party will provide political and diplomatic support;
2. If one party is involved in a war, the other party will provide military support by land, sea and air;
3. The contracting parties pledge that once they are able to fight together, such as concluding an armistice agreement or contract, they must be completely consistent with each other;
4. In order to ensure the fulfillment of the above obligations, the two countries decided to strengthen cooperation in military and economic areas and establish a standing committee.
However, in many details, Rossi added many changes that did not exist in history.
First of all, the treaty adds that when one of the contracting parties requests the other party to send an expeditionary force for assistance, it must accept the military deployment control arranged by the other party, otherwise the other party has the right not to send an expeditionary force for support.
This seemingly fair supplement is actually preparation for Germany to send an expeditionary force to support Italy in the future. At that time, the historical German Afrika Korps can also make better use of Italian troops in the early stage.
In the later stages, Italy would no longer have the courage to defy Germany's will.
In addition, Ross also added a seemingly unnecessary supplementary clause: "A state party shall not use force privately and without notice against a third party that has friendly diplomatic relations with the other party."
This clause was specifically added by Reinhardt in order to prevent Italy from invading Germany's quasi-ally Greece in the future. You must know that historically, Germany wanted to make up for the failure of Italy's invasion of Greece.
The caves they built delayed the original Barbarossa plan by five weeks. This delay is generally considered by later generations to be the biggest reason why the German army failed to capture Moscow in time.
