Chapter 1034: Avoiding the Plague

Anyone who remembers the phone calls Akado made when he decided to launch a surprise attack on Italy will recall the words he heard: “No problem, my Führer… We’re just a little short on manpower, and I’d like to use some of our reserves.”

Akado agreed to this. As a result, the German special forces pulled everyone from their training schools and sent them to Italy to disarm the resisting troops. These special forces trainees were generally sent to less dangerous areas to carry out their missions, and in these locations, they secured a large number of surrenders for the German army.

Rein was ordered, along with two other officers, to go to a barracks that wasn’t particularly troublesome to confiscate the weapons of about 1,000 Italian troops and order them to remain neutral in the conflict. But there was a small hiccup: the Italians had sent a rather hardline, loyal-to-Mussolini officer, which added some trouble to this disarmament mission.

So Alice had directly run down that unlucky Mussolini loyalist. For him to run into a female soldier who spent her days mowing down enemies with a machine gun, calling him unlucky was an understatement. Once that unlucky bastard was dead, the situation, unsurprisingly, was immediately brought under control by the Germans. All the Italian soldiers cooperatively laid down their weapons and accepted the German reorganization.

After all, these Italian soldiers had been trained by the Germans. Many had witnessed the terrifying combat quality of the Wehrmacht. Coupled with the chaos from Mussolini’s sudden defection, the Italian troops, who had little habit of improvising, immediately forgot the fact that they and the Germans were no longer allies.

For these Italians, handing over their weapons to their German allies was not an act of treason or cowardice. Some of them even supported Marshal Garibaldi more, so their surrender was a matter of course.

German tanks found that long-lost feeling of a smooth advance in Italy. These armored vehicles, mixed with a large number of cavalry, advanced rapidly on the undeveloped Italian roads. This could be said to be a true exercise of a WWII German army invading Italy. The non-mechanized German troops, led by horses and Panther tanks, swept through the Italian army, which had no will to fight, like cutting melons and vegetables.

The German J Army Group under General Hoth had not even fully mobilized. Its only armored force, the 8th Panzer Corps, had advanced so quickly that it had been broken up into battalion-sized combat units and couldn’t be concentrated into a combat group. Now, General Hoth only had the 10th SS Panzer Division as a reserve, which looked very pitiful.

But the Italian army had no intention of counter-attacking at all. Most of the local garrisons didn’t even retreat, but instead waited for the Germans to enter the city, then handed their weapons over to the German troops who had come to disarm them, and just like that, their work was done. Over 400,000 Italian troops did this, making the Germans, for a time, unable to believe their eyes.

The surrender of hundreds of thousands of Italian guards was partly due to Mussolini’s cover-up, which had led to insufficient pre-war mobilization preparations. On the other hand, most of the Italian army was pinning its hopes on the guess that the Germans were only targeting Mussolini himself.

After all, Marshal Garibaldi seemed more likely to allow Italy to continue its power diplomacy, and he was a marshal who was highly respected by the army. Just a few minutes ago, he had issued a statement in southern Italy opposing Mussolini, revealing to the entire nation Mussolini’s ugly face for abandoning the North African army, disregarding the lives of hundreds of thousands of Italian soldiers for his own personal ambition.

This matter had caused an even greater number of Italian troops to defect in the face of the German offensive. Although Mussolini had quickly come out to refute the rumor, at a time like this, the army’s morale had already been shaken, and the entire defense line was in a state of collapse. Soon, the important port of Naples declared its support for Garibaldi, and the garrison of Bologna also announced it was switching sides.

The German army advanced all the way south. The Italians were surrendering and defecting even faster than the Wehrmacht could advance. Just 12 hours after the Mussolini group announced its withdrawal from the Axis, the Italian North African Expeditionary Force and the governors of Libya and other regions all collectively supported Marshal Garibaldi. Ten hours later, that is, 22 hours after Italy had left the Axis, the expeditionary force stationed in the Balkans announced it was standing on the side of the Axis.

Before Mussolini could even get his second line of defense ready, the German army had already rushed all the way to the area north of Florence and San Marino, occupying the entire northern region of Italy. And the price the German army had paid for occupying such a vast area was 240 paratroopers killed and 1,700 wounded.

General Hoth, who a day ago had had no confidence in his Italian offensive, had found that his troops, after fighting for a day, had been forced to stop their advance due to fatigue. And most of his troops, who had been on the march, hadn’t even fought a single decent battle.

Most of the German troops hadn’t even been able to reach the actual line of control. They had been forced to stop, to make camp and rest in order to maintain a good combat effectiveness for the future. And the defecting Italian troops were still in control of large areas that the Germans had not yet reached.

The famous Italian city of Naples welcomed Marshal Garibaldi on this night. Tens of thousands of people, holding torches, welcomed the return of this hero of the Italian expedition. The people, waving their torches and singing songs, escorted this hero in their hearts to the Naples City Hall. And then all of southern Italy, including Sicily, announced that they would follow Garibaldi’s command and break away from Mussolini’s rule.

A military officer loyal to Mussolini had at this time just arrived in Bari. This port was stockpiled with a large amount of supplies and equipment. Most of the goods were things that the Jewish merchants had procured to support their own country, such as instruments, equipment, food, and cargo. There were even some private cars, and a large number of Jewish civilians preparing to pour into Israel.

The entire port was in chaos. After all, the founding of Israel had had a huge impact on the Jewish world. Many people had abandoned their prosperous lives outside and were willing to return to their homeland, even if it meant living in poverty. Coupled with the German-aided projects and supplies, the whole of Italy seemed to be filled with transport ships and goods.

To intercept this batch of goods was also an important reason why Mussolini had been in such a hurry to act. And this confidant of Mussolini had rushed over at this time also for this large batch of military supplies stockpiled in the port of Bari.

“By order of the Leader, this port must be sealed, awaiting further orders.” This officer had found the port authority personnel and had announced Mussolini’s order. He had rushed here all the way and hadn’t even had a sip of water. His mouth dry, he finished giving the order and began to arrange for the transfer of the port’s supplies.

However, he had not seen the unfriendly looks in the eyes of the several officers who had been ordered to leave. Soon, the order to blockade the port was known by the Israeli officials who were here arranging for transport and loading. And even faster, these Israeli officials had used money to smooth over all the uncooperative Italian garrison.

The port was indeed blockaded, but the goods were still being shipped out of the port, one after another. The bustling scene was no different from before the blockade. Even the Italian destroyers responsible for the blockade mission did not cause any trouble for anyone.

And the officer, Mussolini’s trusted aide, who was sitting in his office waiting for good news, was instead met by a dozen or so ferocious-looking guards. These Italian guards rushed into his office and then, with their rifle butts and leather boots, had beaten this poor superior to death. A few minutes later, the port of Bari announced its support for all actions of the Axis and had dispatched a force of 500 men to Naples to fight for Marshal Garibaldi.

Only 30 hours had passed since Mussolini had announced his withdrawal from the Axis, and two-thirds of Italy was already out of his control. The seemingly impregnable rule of Mussolini had collapsed in an instant. Even he himself hadn’t figured out why Akado, being called Führer, could unite all of Germany, while he, who called himself Leader, had ended up being deserted by everyone.

His most trusted Blackshirt units had, by the battalion, taken off their black shirts and had put on SS uniforms. This private army, which had once had such firm beliefs, had, under a subtle influence, all become loyal followers of the German Greater German Party. They were no longer loyal to Mussolini, but to a unified, powerful Europe.

“How could this be? How could this be? Where are those aides? Why aren’t they here yet?” Mussolini had, in just a few short hours, received the news of the fall of half of Italy. He was at a loss, pacing in his office, waiting for those aides who usually surrounded him to come and give him a decent idea.

But more than an hour had passed, and not a single one of those aides and generals had appeared before him. He had sent people to look for a few of them, only to find that some had already fled, and had long since run out of Rome. And some, although they were at home, had, upon hearing that Mussolini had summoned them, immediately refused to come.

Now, as long as one wasn’t a fool, one could clearly see that Mussolini’s days were numbered. No one was willing to stand with the loser when it was time to pick a side, right? So those aides, who had in the past hoped to gain a high position through Mussolini, were now avoiding him as if he were the plague.

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