Chapter 1033: Driver

The soldier who stepped off the ship flipped back the hood of his cape, revealing his face. Only then did the people waiting see that this was Marshal Garibaldi, who was supposed to be in North Africa.

“My heavens! Marshal! Why have you come back from Cairo?” a general exclaimed, hastily saluting Garibaldi. This marshal, a god of war with immense influence in Italy, was supposed to be in North Africa at this time, helping Marshal Rommel with the offensive in the Middle East. His appearance here was enough to shock the welcoming party. The original plan was for Garibaldi’s aide to return, just a representative of the marshal. But his influence was worlds apart from the marshal’s. If Mussolini knew that Garibaldi had returned to southern Italy, he would certainly go mad.

“What? Not happy to see me back?” Garibaldi said with a smile, clapping the man on the shoulder. Everyone here was his trusted confidant, all pro-German Italian soldiers. It was naturally impossible for anyone to truly be unhappy about his return. He had made this casual joke, and it immediately broke the tense atmosphere.

The general who had been clapped on the shoulder gave an awkward laugh and then said, “Of course not. We have all been hoping that the Marshal would return to Italy and lead us on the true path to a strong nation.”

“How are things with the Blackshirts?” Garibaldi didn’t waste any time, but immediately asked the generals standing to one side. The Blackshirts, which Mussolini had created, were one of the thorniest problems in all of Italy. This trouble had to be dealt with at the fastest possible speed.

“Marshal! Most of the Blackshirts have already been assimilated by the Greater German Party and the Wehrmacht. They now believe in you, Marshal, not that incompetent Mussolini,” one of the generals replied, his face full of pride. “As for the army, whoever pays their salary is their officer, isn’t it?”

The German infiltration of Italy was simply too thorough. More than half of the Italian army had hired German instructors. Pro-German sentiment among the officers was very common, and the economic cooperation between the two countries was also very deep. So much so that even after hearing Mussolini’s speech about withdrawing from the Axis, most of the civilians still believed that it was just Mussolini who had gone mad, and that it would not affect the fundamental relationship between Germany and Italy.

“In the northern regions of Italy, there have been clashes between the Germans and Mussolini’s loyalists. But the battles have been proceeding very smoothly. Most of Mussolini’s elite units have been annihilated, which is very beneficial for us in unifying the voice of Italy later on,” another general said, introducing the war situation in the last 20 hours. They were on the German side, so no one cared about the rout of the Italian army at the front.

For these generals, as long as they had the great tree of the German army to lean on, then no matter how many troops they needed, they could be re-trained. These were not important matters. The important thing was to help Garibaldi establish a military government in Italy, to stabilize the situation, and to take control of all power.

“Then, one last question. If I were to rush back to Rome now, how many troops would be loyal to me? Or rather, loyal to the German-Italian alliance?” Garibaldi asked, looking at his men as he walked towards the car.

“Marshal, if you can lead us north, then all the places we pass will come under your leadership!” the accompanying Italian officers replied to Garibaldi’s question, overjoyed. “In the southern region, our supporters are close to one hundred percent. From here to Rome, the road is clear!”

In fact, the Germans had already taken control of Milan and other important northern Italian cities. The paratroopers had even pushed their southward-advancing tentacles to the Parma area. The area that Mussolini’s men could truly control was, at most, only from south of Rome. If one were to count the southern region of Italy, which was already under Garibaldi’s actual control, then the resources that Mussolini could mobilize were truly very limited. At the very least, this was not the process he had envisioned when he had first prepared to break away from the Axis.

At the main gate of a huge Italian barracks, two Italian officers and several guards stood there, in a standoff with two German soldiers who had come to take over this place. They refused to let the German army enter the barracks, and also refused to hand over their weapons as requested.

However, these Italian soldiers did not have the guts to open fire on the German army. After all, it was said that several cities not far away had already been surrounded by German paratroopers. The place where they were was very likely to become the front line in a few hours, so they had no need to offend the Germans to the very end.

Moreover, the Germans who had come here had in their hands a document personally signed by Marshal Garibaldi, ordering the Italian troops to lay down their weapons and to cooperate with the German army for a full-scale reorganization. Although the legal basis of this document was not really able to withstand scrutiny, who could argue with the fact that Marshal Garibaldi’s prestige in the Italian army was so immense?

“No! Sir, we have no authority to let you into the barracks! This is Italian territory. Even if you are allies, you have no right to order us to hand over our weapons!” the leading Italian officer looked very hesitant. Although he had refused the German army’s request to enter, he had not spoken with too much finality. “You two officers, I can restrain the soldiers here and make them not leave the barracks, but I cannot let them…”

“No need to be polite with these people! Leader Mussolini has already given the combat order. You should order these two Germans to be arrested, or order them to be shot and killed here!” The commander of this camp seemed to be a neutral, or rather, a fence-sitter. But what put him in a difficult position was that the adjutant who had spoken up behind him was Mussolini’s man, and his power was great. At least from the orders he had received a few hours ago, he had the right to supervise the commander-in-chief of this barracks.

It was clear that the two commanders here had a difference of opinion on how to treat the Germans. One felt that to do nothing was the correct choice, while the other was in a hurry to show his position as a confidant of Mussolini. Their attitude made the two German officers very embarrassed, because behind them, in the car, two rather intimidating figures were waiting.

Sure enough, after hearing the adjutant’s clamor, the car behind them was started. Although they couldn’t see what the driver inside looked like, from the roar of the engine, the two German officers knew that there would probably be some complications today.

“To leave here is also a good choice! If I were you, it would be best to get in the car,” the Italian barracks commander, who was unwilling to stir up trouble, said to the two German officers in front of him. “If you are willing to get back in your car and leave, I will definitely not do anything unnecessary…”

“You shut up! We should arrest them and transfer our troops to the front line to support our compatriots who are fighting a bloody battle!” the adjutant interrupted the commander again in a rage. His behavior made the barracks commander frown, but he was still wary of his subordinate’s deep connection to the Leader and did not say anything.

The two German officers nodded, gave the clamoring adjutant a threatening look, and then turned and separated, walking towards the sides of the car. But then something that no one had expected happened. The car that had been started, just like that, rushed forward with a screech of tires, through the gap between the two separated men.

Even the two German officers were stunned by the scene before them. The Italians opposite them were even more astonished. They had never thought that the other side, with only four people, would be so ruthless as to drive a car, in front of so many guards, so brazenly and so menacingly, and charge over.

The Italian barracks commander was so scared he quickly took a step to the side, getting out of the center. And that adjutant, too, had lost his arrogant look and was quickly stepping to the other side. Unfortunately, the car opposite him seemed tobe heading straight for him, so after he had taken two steps, the car had also turned its steering wheel.

And so this poor adjutant was pinned to the front of the car, his upper body splayed on the car’s hood, struggling in pain. Because the car’s starting speed was not too fast, he had not been sent flying but had been pinned by the car and had been pushed backward.

Soon the car had crashed into the barracks gate’s sentry box. The shattered glass and wooden planks had smashed onto this unlucky adjutant. The huge impact and the shock had made him pass out directly. It was only at this moment that the Italian guards had remembered to raise their rifles and aim them at the terrifying car.

A girl in an SS officer’s uniform climbed out of the driver’s seat. The sight of her instantly made these Italian soldiers forget why they had raised their rifles. They looked at this beautiful German girl in confusion, a little in disbelief that it was this angel who had been driving just now.

This girl, with a second lieutenant’s rank on her shoulder, pulled open the car’s back door. The major officer sitting inside still had a bandage on his arm. He complained to his driver as he climbed out of his car. “Alice, you let go of the brake too early. Next time you want to ram, be more careful.”

A young German SS major stood in front of the still-shaken Italian barracks commander, a warm smile on his face. “I’m sorry. You know… women drivers… well, never mind that. I am here under orders to take over this barracks. Now that the uncooperative person has disappeared, shouldn’t you be giving us a clear answer?”

With a bitter smile, this Italian commander dropped his pistol. “Do I have any other choice?” The Italian guards followed his lead and dropped their rifles. And just behind them, Alice drew her sidearm and, at the pile of rotten flesh that was slumped on the car’s hood, she fired two shots, “Crack! Crack!”

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