1004 Last Chance

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In the leader's office in Italy, Mussolini sat face to face with several people in suits, seemingly discussing something. Sitting next to him are his aides and staff, as well as his personal secretary who is responsible for recording the contents of the meeting. Of course, there is also a translator. Obviously, there seems to be a certain communication barrier between the languages ​​of the two parties.

Several of you here are spies from the United States, including the interpreter, who is also a member of this secret spy mission. They had been in Italy for several months and were in charge of making unilateral contacts with Mussolini in an attempt to bring Italy to the United States in this war.

They took the risk of contacting the Italian government directly, and the result was very satisfactory-the Italians did not hand over these spies to the German allies, and even treated these spies from the enemy country, the United States, to a hearty Italian meal.

Then they met Mussolini very easily, and even settled down in an independent villa deliberately protected by the Italians, and set up a radio station that could directly contact the United States. Compared with the original embassy, ​​it is not inferior in function, and it can be regarded as a small American embassy in Italy.

Of course, the main purpose of Mussolini supporting these American spies, or American diplomats, is to reap greater benefits for Italy at critical times.

The cooperation with Germany, for various reasons, did not allow Italy to get the benefits it originally expected, and Mussolini blamed all this on the insidious and cunning double-faced swordsmanship of the German head of state, Accardo.

In terms of French interests, Italy did not reap any benefits because it was too late; on the Balkan issue, it caused a disastrous failure because it was too hasty; After leaving Cairo, Italy was not ashamed to discuss with Germany on the issue of Egypt's ownership.

As a result, Italy's expansion in Europe was very limited, and it even compromised with Turkey on the Balkan issue. And its expansion in North Africa was taken away by the Germans because of the issue of how much it contributed. The result is that Italy's current expansion is far from the "New Roman Empire" proclaimed by leader Mussolini.

On the other hand, Mussolini still didn't like the rigorous and cold demeanor of the German team. He felt that it was a very stupid thing for Germany to rely on its own powerful force to rely on sacrifice to win the war. He felt that Italy should have more choices than Germany.

The Italian leader Mussolini, who advocates wisdom, prefers to rely on diplomatic mediation to fight for Italy's own interests...or he has lost hope in his own country's army—anyway, no matter what the reason is, Mussolini is now more willing to Believe in those politicians under him, not in those generals who have been defeated in all battles.

But it is not easy for Mussolini to submit to the United States with all his heart. After all, the current Third Reich is in full swing, and dared to announce a change of flag on the premise of bordering,

It still takes a lot of courage.

The bait thrown by the Americans made Mussolini quite tempted. Once the two sides signed an agreement, the United States would guarantee the stability of Italy's current vested borders and recognize Italy's "leadership" in the Balkans and North Africa.

"You know! This is already the most sincere compromise made by the United States, Mr. Mussolini... I think you also know that it is not easy to make such a huge concession." A diplomat representing the United States sat On the sofa, while tasting the red wine in his hand, he said to Mussolini.

When he said this, the diplomat obviously had the confidence and capital to say so. The United States took out many benefits that Acador did not give Italy, including the entire Balkans, as well as places such as Egypt occupied by Germany. Not counting other things for the time being, just the benefit of the Suez Canal is enough for the Italian side to salivate.

This is also the last benefit distribution plan proposed by the United States after repeated negotiations. Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union divided up Germany after the war. Italy gained actual control of the Mediterranean Sea, Britain gained the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and the Soviet Union gained the entire Eastern Europe...

Look at how efficient the Americans are. This war is still in a stage of retreat, and they have begun to recruit allies and potential allies to share the delicious cake after victory. The brilliance lies in the fact that the cake is so big and delicious that people have an urge to stop after just looking at it.

"Mr. Jennifer, you have to know that no matter how good the money is, you have to spend it with your life." The confidant sitting next to Mussolini bargained: "The terms you agreed to us are all defeated in Germany." After that, but now we still don't see any signs of Germany's defeat, and betrayal at this time is not in Italy's best interests."

This is also the main point of difference in the negotiations between the two parties. After all, Germany has made great strides since the start of the war and has defeated countless countries. There are countless powerful countries that fell under the tank tracks of the German Third Reich. Even Mussolini, no matter how conceited he was, was not crazy enough to believe that his army could prevent Germany from sweeping away the betrayed Italy.

The great leader Mussolini and all his staff knew that it was impossible for the Italian army to defeat the German army, not even the second-line German army. So he and his staff adopted a delaying tactic, hoping to let Italy bet when they saw the outcome.

It's a pity that the war situation has taken a turn for the worse, and the Americans really can't wait. The ultimate goal of the United States giving up countless benefits is to allow Italy to contain part of Germany's troops and save the collapsed Soviet-German front. If it is just for Italy to judge based on the results, is it still necessary to make such efforts?

Time is not on the side of the Allies. Once the Soviet-German front collapses, Italy will become a dispensable dead game, and the result is no longer important. Therefore, the United States must encourage Italy to withdraw from the war as soon as possible, and it is best to turn against Germany because of this.

The best result is that the Italian troops on the front line and the German army fight together, and the Soviet army takes the opportunity to consolidate their positions and finally come back. Then the United States captured Gibraltar, easily landed in Italy, bypassed the strong Atlantic barrier, and opened up a second front against Germany.

"Unfortunately, the war situation cannot wait, the great leader Mr. Mussolini." The American diplomat waved his hand regretfully, and confessed to Mussolini: "We don't have to repeat those benefits and results, now The problem is that if the Germans win the Soviet-German war, then Italy will have no chance to regroup!"

"..." This is also the most depressing thing for Mussolini. Although he has indeed gained a lot of benefits by following Germany all the way to black, he has always been in the position of the younger brother in the Axis powers, which makes him used to Mussolini was very dissatisfied with the dictatorship.

"But, as you know, there is a huge German Balkan combat group deployed in the north and west of Italy. This group is commanded by General **** and has a very high combat effectiveness." Mussolini took out his only Some strategic talents began to tell their own difficulties: "Italian troops cannot stand alone against this German army."

While talking, he pointed at the map spread out on the coffee table, and reluctantly admitted that the actual combat power of Italy is indeed inferior to that of Germany (of course, everyone on earth knows that there is still a certain gap between his own admission): "At most a week, Within a week at the most, Rome will be occupied by the Germans. Then everything will be over, and Italy will disappear from the world...I dare not take that risk."

"The United States does not want Italy to become an ally to resist German aggression." The American diplomat thought for a while and replied: "We have a plan, which is to use Iceland bombing to cover our real attempt to attack Norway in the north, but the main force goes south to force When you land in Italy, you will have the support of 100,000 US troops, and there will be more reinforcements in the future. Presumably the German army is not capable of deploying another army group in Italy, right?"

Mussolini was not an idiot either. He still waved his hand and rejected the American diplomat's temptation: "During the North African War, didn't Rommel's 50,000 people still chase after your more than 100,000 American soldiers? There are hundreds of thousands of people in a group, how can 100,000 American soldiers be enough..."

"Isn't this the worst plan... Most of our plans are actually based on the premise that the German army will use force when Italy announces its withdrawal from the war and the Axis powers. However, the assessment report shows that the possibility of the German army using force It’s only 30% at most, so it’s nothing to worry about.” The American diplomat hurriedly said.

After finishing speaking, he added his own thoughts: "Mr. Leader, please seize the last time, this is your last chance! Once you lose this opportunity, the Germans will still go south to annex Italy, And the United States has no power to help you and your country anymore!"

Recently, some German-friendly Italian parties and some ordinary people often make terrible arguments about the unification of Europe. This is another reason why Mussolini was eager to negotiate frequently with American diplomats. He was afraid of losing his power, and he was even more afraid that the Germans would eventually swallow Italy.

However, considering the German J Army in the Italian border area that packed up the guerrillas on the Balkan Peninsula so that they did not dare to show up, Mussolini felt that there was a gust of wind behind him. After thinking about it for a while, he finally stood up and issued the eviction order: "Let me think about it again! After all, we all need to be more cautious about this kind of thing. Help me send some special envoys out..."