Chapter 672: Circumstances Are Stronger Than Men

“Did he really say that?” When Mussolini heard Akado’s demands from his special envoy, his clenched fists trembled slightly. It was hard to tell if it was from fear or anger. He looked like an elderly Parkinson’s patient.

In fact, the Italian Navy’s fighting will and combat readiness were a cut above the army’s. The main reason their dozens of warships had remained anchored in port was not entirely because the naval generals were cowardly and afraid to fight, but because, under the psychological effect of their cowardice and fear, they had faithfully carried out the Duce Mussolini’s order not to engage the British Mediterranean Fleet in a decisive battle outside Alexandria.

In Mussolini’s view, the British Mediterranean Fleet was indeed no match for the main Italian fleet. However, after meeting with several of his naval generals, he had become more convinced of his idea. He and his naval generals all believed that even if the British Mediterranean Fleet was eventually annihilated by the Italian Navy, the Italian Navy would still lose twenty to thirty percent of its strength in the process.

Theoretically, by annihilating the British Mediterranean Fleet, the Italian Navy would have no rivals in the entire Mediterranean. Even if it meant suffering losses to destroy the enemy, it should not have been an unacceptable matter for an Italian Navy that hoped to control the Mediterranean. However, Mussolini came from a political background, and he was thinking of more than just a comparison of pure military strength.

Politicians often see things in a more comprehensive way. Sometimes this is a good thing, and sometimes it is a complete tragedy. In Mussolini’s eyes, after the annihilation of the British Mediterranean Fleet, the “Italian Lake” would not just have an Italian Navy, but also the French fleet, which, though weaker, could not be ignored, and, even more worrying to Mussolini, a future German Mediterranean squadron.

Therefore, he felt he should find a way to do something to preserve the scale and strength of the Italian Navy. He felt that in the future Mediterranean, the Italian Navy should maintain a small-scale, absolute superiority. To ensure this, he decided to break his word for once.

Anyone with eyes could see that after losing Alexandria and other coastal ports, the British Mediterranean Fleet had only two outcomes: either leave the Mediterranean or surrender to the Axis powers in the region. No matter which path the British chose, it would have no essential impact on the Italian Navy’s goal of dominating the Mediterranean.

As for the more distant future, Mussolini couldn’t be bothered to think about it, and he certainly had no intention of having the Italian Navy launch an expedition to the Indian Ocean. For the Italian Navy, which lacked the capability for long-range operational deployment, dominating the Mediterranean was the greatest dream they could imagine in their lifetime.

The highest ideal, or rather, the highest strategic objective, for Italy joining the Axis and brazenly starting a war was to “rebuild the glory of the Roman Empire” and “make the Mediterranean an inner lake of the Kingdom of Italy.” As for any other ideas, the Italians really didn’t have the guts or the imagination to practice them.

The slogan of rebuilding the glory of the Roman Empire was a bit too ambitious. After all, the Roman regime in Roman times had possessed France, Switzerland, a large part of Germany, the entire Balkans, and almost all of North Africa. But now, unless the Italians were crazy, not only could they not handle half of France, but they would absolutely not dare to go and order Germany to hand over Munich to Italy to rebuild the Roman Empire.

So, Mussolini’s other dream, “to make the Mediterranean an inner lake of the Kingdom of Italy,” had become the last lingering thought that haunted the minds of the Italian high command. And so, several Italian naval generals had conspired to persuade Mussolini, and together they had come up with this plan that had cost Akado a full 3,000 German paratroopers.

Now the Germans had drawn their sword, and it was with the force of a mountain crashing down, leaving the Italians no room to maneuver. Either they agreed to a series of humiliating treaties that ceded national sovereignty to compensate the Germans for being tricked this time, or they prepared to face the towering wrath of the German J Army Group.

When Mussolini heard this news, his first reaction was dizziness. Hoth’s J Army Group—was that something his bunch of useless army generals could resist? If Italy had the ability to take on 200,000 German troops, it wouldn’t have been chased by a few tens of thousands of British soldiers in North Africa.

His mind flashed through their past combat records: Rommel and Guderian had led four panzer divisions to sweep across France, beating them into submission, while at the same time, the Italian army had been beaten back to the border by the French. Hundreds of thousands of Italian troops had been chased all the way from the Egyptian border back to Tunis by a few tens of thousands of British troops. Now, in the North African theater, Rommel’s army was at the gates of Cairo, preparing to receive his marshal’s baton at the appropriate time. In the Balkans, the Italian army had been beaten all over the place by the Greeks and Yugoslavs, and in the end, had to beg the Germans for help just to save face.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his face. Once Germany and Italy really fell out, he would be seeing the beautiful sight of the German army surrounding Rome within a few days. His own army generals, upon hearing that the Germans were coming, would probably not think of organizing resistance first, but of arresting him and handing him over to their German masters.

Two days ago, when he learned that the navy had not set sail but had let the British Mediterranean Fleet go, the army generals had collectively met with him. At that time, the Italian Army Chief of Staff had tearfully said to Mussolini, “Once the German army enters Rome, regardless of the relations between our two countries, Italy will be able to hold out for one to two weeks at most… The specific time depends on the speed at which the German army rounds up prisoners and advances, and has nothing to do with the resistance of the Italian army.”

From that moment on, Mussolini knew that counting on these army generals to fight to the end and create a miracle of defeating the German army was less realistic than praying in a church for a bolt of lightning to strike Akado dead. The navy did support his decision, but if the Germans came to hold them accountable, the most the navy could do was give him a small boat and send him to South America or North America. There were many successful examples of this, such as de Gaulle, the British royal family…

After thinking it over and over, Mussolini felt that another path was much better: go to Berlin, kneel before Akado’s boots, and then no matter what the other party said, just nod vigorously. Then, at the very least, the position of the number one loyal dog under His Majesty the Axis Emperor Akado would be unshakeable.

“Help me prepare. I will personally make a trip to Berlin. It seems that the Führer of Germany, Mr. Akado Rudolph, has some misunderstanding of us Italians. In the spirit of maintaining the traditional friendship between our two countries, we must go and explain things clearly to our old friend in person,” Mussolini said. Although anyone with eyes could see that this trip to Berlin was to kneel and beg for mercy, at least on the surface, he had to make his words sound grand.

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief. Since Mussolini had backed down, at least there would be no war between Germany and Italy. Everyone could continue to enjoy their wealth and prosperity, and chat about topics like making a small fortune under the glory of the Third Reich. In short, as long as someone went to grovel, everything would be fine. As for who would play the part of the grandson, that was not everyone’s concern.

“Duce! Should we prepare a plane or a train?” a secretary in charge of Mussolini’s itinerary asked in a low voice from behind him. He had to prepare the transportation in advance. As for which one to use, it was up to the Duce himself.

“A plane…” Mussolini was about to say he wanted to take a plane to Germany, but then he remembered the last time he went to Germany to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Third Reich’s Financial Building. As soon as his plane had entered German airspace, it had been surrounded by four fighter jets and escorted. He felt it was safer to go by train. He had heard that the Germans’ radar could now detect a bird’s flight from a great distance. If the other side wanted to replace him with a more obedient Italian leader, they might just artificially create a plane crash.

Thinking of this, he decided to be prudent. “Let’s not prepare a plane. Let’s go by train. Also, I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Envoy, to make another trip to Berlin. Take a plane, leave tonight. Tell the Führer that everything is negotiable.”

Mussolini was also open-minded. They just wanted the right to train and command the Italian army, right? He would be a bachelor for once. Whatever they wanted, he would give. In any case, Italy was a country following behind Germany’s war chariot. It was only natural to pay a price to get some benefits. As for the interests in other places, to put it bluntly, they were all conquered with the help of the Germans. If they wanted a place, he would just give it to them. As long as it wasn’t too excessive, he had decided to be an ostrich this time!

Having already made this decision, Mussolini felt that since he was already doing it, he might as well go all out and give Akado and the German generals a huge amount of face. This way, when the Germans were preparing to ask for an exorbitant price, they would have to be a little more restrained.

So he beckoned to his secretary again and instructed, “Have the Blackshirt honor guard prepare. They will accompany me to Berlin this time. Also, prepare 30 huge wreaths for me. We’ll transport them to Germany by special train. I want to lay wreaths for the fallen paratrooper soldiers and bow in repentance!”

He thought for a moment, glanced at the Chief of the Naval Staff, who had privately decided to take the fall for this matter, and finally added, “The Chief of the Naval Staff will also accompany me to Berlin. If the Germans…”

“Duce! You don’t need to say any more. After all, circumstances are stronger than men. I will accompany you to Berlin to see the Führer. If he cannot swallow this, I will take my own life in front of him to give the Third Reich an explanation!” The Chief of the Naval Staff, knowing his own fate and the principle that it was better to face the music sooner rather than later, bowed his head and accepted. “I will bear all the responsibility!”

Published: 2025-09-17T08:41:39.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-16T17:52:19.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c672-are-men-139089907

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com