Chapter 867 Troubles of Pig Teammates

Compared to the occasional firing of a single shot on the German-French border, the Franco-Italian border at this time is obviously more lively.

France and Italy have deployed a large number of troops on their respective borders, opening up a 1v1 mode within France and Italy.

Obviously, the French still have a lot of advantages in the war with Italy.

West of the border between France and Italy is the vast territory of France. A large number of French troops are constantly gathering towards the southern border, which is not good news for Italy.

As for Italy, the mainland is more like a T-shape, plus two islands across the sea from the mainland, Sardinia and Sicily.

This makes it difficult for Italy to deploy large-scale troops on its northwestern border, and it must also guard against possible sneak attacks by the French at any time.

After all, Corsica, which belongs to France, is only more than 200 kilometers away from Rome. If the French deploy a large number of air forces on Corsica, French planes can attack Rome at any time, which is something the Italians do not want to see.

Unlike Italy, the French capital of Paris is located inland. No matter which direction Paris is attacked by air, it must pass through hundreds of kilometers of French territory.

As long as the French land in these directions is not occupied, the French can detect the attack of the air force with the radar systems in all directions and prepare in advance.

But Italy can't do that. Rome is a coastal city, and it is impossible for Italy to deploy a large number of radar systems in the ocean to detect possible attacks by the French.

Moreover, because of the participation of the British, the Italian navy is still at a disadvantage in the Mediterranean. As a country with all its coastlines in the Mediterranean, this is a heavy blow to Italy.

Austria is about to be at risk of national extinction, which makes the French government anxious. Under the order of the French government, in addition to the French army, a large amount of war preparations, including tanks and aircraft, are being continuously mobilized to the French-Italian border.

In the reply from the French government to the Austrian government, it was also mentioned that the French government stated that it would launch a full-scale attack on Italy at all costs, resolve Italy as soon as possible, and get the Austrians out of the situation of fighting on two fronts.

In order to compensate the Austrian government, Britain and France gathered a batch of weapons and strategic materials again, and used the air force to transport them from Yugoslavia to Austria.

After France dispatched troops on a large scale, the Italians finally panicked.

The French army was divided into two routes. One route started from Annecy in the north of the border and attacked Turin, a major city in western Italy.

The other route started from the southern port city of Nice and advanced towards the Genoa region of Italy along the coastal plains in the southernmost part of the border.

The first route of the army was mainly infantry and aircraft. Their combat mission was more difficult and they needed to confront a large number of Italian troops head-on.

The second route of the army was mainly tanks and infantry, with naval support in terms of firepower. The main task of this route of the army was to advance quickly from the plains, threaten the Genoa region of Italy, and complete the encirclement of the entire Turin region.

As long as Genoa was conquered, the so-called military town of Turin would become an isolated island. This was also the strategy of the French General Staff, which borrowed from Germany's combat concepts in Poland to achieve the purpose of containment while quickly breaking through the encirclement.

In order to confront the French head-on, Italy mobilized more than 1,500 aircraft, of which 1,200 were the latest fighters and reconnaissance aircraft.

At the same time, a large number of troops were also heading towards Turin and Genoa. Mussolini even stated before sending troops that the Italian army would not fear any enemy.

In the first three days of the war, except that Italy suffered more casualties than the French army, the Italian army was also tenacious.

The southern coastal plain was pushed back several kilometers by the French army, but this was harmless. More importantly, on the northern border, that is, west of Turin, the Italian army stubbornly resisted the attack of the French army, and even the first line of defense was not broken by the French army.

Mussolini, who learned of the results of the war, sent more strategic materials and food to the front-line troops, and even generously transported a large number of spirits and cigarettes, which were distributed to every soldier for free.

But on the fourth day, the situation on the battlefield ushered in a huge change.

The French army brought out more planes, many of which were even produced in the UK, and the Union Jack on the tail of the plane was clearly visible.

This made the number of French planes surpass that of Italy in an instant, and even briefly became the country with the largest number of planes in Europe.

This also reflects the advantages that industrial powers like Britain and France have when facing such a large-scale war.

Although Britain and France did not prepare for the war in advance, their industry still allowed Britain and France to produce a large number of planes, tanks and other important weapons and equipment in a short period of time.

In the encounter with the French Air Force, the Italian Air Force suffered a big loss for the first time, and more than half of the planes were damaged.

Although the damage to the French Air Force was not small, France had more planes. As one side gained and the other side lost, the French Air Force quickly occupied the air superiority on the battlefield.

Under the cover of a large number of aircraft, the French army re-launched a large-scale offensive. After occupying air superiority, the French army also launched a large-scale bombing in Italy for the first time.

Important cities in northwestern Italy such as Turin, Genoa, Milan and La Spezia are all on the French Air Force's bombing list.

Among them, the city that suffered the most serious losses was definitely Turin, a major military town in northwestern Italy.

This is the place with the largest number of Italian troops and the most frequent visits by the French Air Force.

In just five days from May 13 to May 17, France dispatched more than 220 bombers, conducted more than 2,275 bombing sorties, and dropped nearly 135,000 bombs.

On May 18, after the bombing ended, the area around Turin was still filled with smoke. Deep pits and dilapidated houses could be seen everywhere, telling the story of the torture the city had suffered in the past few days.

Unlike the German bombing, France did not show any mercy to the bombing of Italy. The purpose of the bombing was also very simple and pure, that is, Italy's transportation hubs, military towns, industrial bases and logistics warehouses.

The railway to Turin was visited by French aircraft at least four times, causing at least more than two kilometers of damage.

Not only that, the railways and roads around Genoa and Milan were also attacked by the French army and generally suffered varying degrees of damage.

Italy is a country with distinct north and south. Northern Italy has strong industry and has a large number of famous cities.

Southern Italy has relatively strong agriculture, but is far inferior to Northern Italy in terms of city size and popularity.

This actually means that the French Air Force's bombing of northwest Italy can greatly affect Italian industrial production.

Especially after the roads and railways to Turin were destroyed, it became very difficult for the hundreds of thousands of Italian troops here to obtain sufficient supplies.

Although the Italian government can also repair the railway in a short period of time, this does not mean that there is only one French air force attack.

As long as Italy did not regain air supremacy, such attacks would occur frequently, and the Italian government would never be able to repair the railway to Turin.

What made the situation worse was that after gaining control of the air, the French armored forces' advance was much smoother than before.

The Italian navy cowered in the port of Rome and did not dare to go out, which allowed the British and French fleets to support the French army unscrupulously.

Although Italy has a good number of armored forces, it is a coastal area after all. Under the premise that the French army has two major advantages in sea and air, it is naturally impossible for the Italian armored forces to defeat the French army.

On May 19, 11 days after the French troops were dispatched, France had advanced more than 40 kilometers on the border.

Genoa, an important coastal city in northwestern Italy, is close at hand, and the plan to completely encircle Turin seems to be coming true.

Faced with this situation, the Italian army panicked. They also tasted the feeling of the Austrian government half a month ago, and could only hurriedly seek help from their powerful ally, the German Empire.

Germany also felt the helplessness of having a pig teammate. As long as Italy could hold on longer, Germany and Italy could easily defeat the Austrian Empire.

Without the Austrian Empire, neither France nor Britain and France would be able to defeat the combination of Germany and Italy on the land front.

But the problem happens to be on the Italian side. Once the Italian army is unable to resist the French attack, important cities in northwest Italy and even the entire northern Italy may face a French attack.

Under such pressure, Italy will definitely withdraw its troops attacking Austria. Once Austria loses the pressure of fighting on two fronts, although it is impossible to defeat the German army, the delay will definitely be longer.

As I said before, the longer it is delayed, the less friendly it will be to Germany and Italy. The German government also understands this impact. They must find ways to help Italy, at least to stabilize the situation in Italy.

"We must attack France and force France to withdraw part of its troops and return to defense to relieve the pressure on our ally Italy." During the meeting of the German General Staff, the German Prime Minister said firmly.

"But, Your Excellency, Prime Minister, if we easily start the war on the Western Front, doesn't it mean that we will face the situation 20 years ago and enter the dilemma of fighting on two fronts again?" A general from the Ministry of War stood up bravely. Said: "Moreover, if we cannot solve the French Maginot Line of defense and rashly launch an offensive against France, it will only increase casualties."

"We are indeed unable to solve the French Maginot Line." The German Prime Minister nodded and said calmly but confidently: "So, why should we solve the Maginot Line?"

On May 21, 1936, when the war in Europe was extremely anxious, the German government suddenly issued an ultimatum to Belgium, asking the Belgian government to allow German troops to pass through Belgium to achieve the purpose of attacking the French.

The German government stated that this time the excuse was only an act of war against the French and did not have any ill intentions towards the neutral country Belgium.

But if Belgium does not agree to the borrowing of German troops, it will obviously violate Belgium's original intention of being a neutral country. The German Empire would not recognize such neutrality, and in order to defeat the French, it would accomplish its goal of passing through Belgium at all costs.

This ultimatum caught the Belgian government off guard. More importantly, the German government only gave the Belgian government 24 hours to think.

Once the Belgian government fails to agree to the German government's request within 24 hours, the German army will directly enter the Belgian border without any consultation with the Belgian government.

Obviously, this is outright robbery.

Germany's meaning is also very simple. Belgium can agree, but it has to agree even if it disagrees.

The question is, will the Belgian government believe what the Germans said, that this military action is only aimed at France, not Belgium?

Looking at Poland and the Austrian Empire around Germany, the Belgian government shook its head firmly, saying that it did not believe the Germans' statement.

Two hours after the Germans issued the ultimatum, the Belgian government urgently contacted the British and French governments, requiring Britain and France to comply with the Neutrality Treaty, give Belgium due support, and ensure Belgium's neutrality.

Britain and France also understood the Germans' ideas instantly. The Maginot Line is located on the border between Germany and France, so the French naturally cannot take the initiative to guard against Belgium.

After all, Belgium is only a small and medium-sized country in Europe. From the perspective of land area, industrial economy and population size, Belgium is completely impossible to be a match for the French, nor can it pose a threat to the French.

This also makes Belgium, located in northern France, one of the gaps in the Maginot Line. If the German army marches south from Belgium to France, it will indeed be a crisis for France.

The first reaction of the French government to the German ultimatum was not to help the Belgian government, but to frantically mobilize troops to protect Paris.

Why do this?

The French capital of Paris is nearly 300 kilometers away from the German-French border, which is a relatively safe range. Coupled with the Macedonian defense line, the French government is still relatively safe in Paris.

But Paris is only about 170 kilometers away from the border with Belgium, which is about half the distance from the German-French border.

What's more, there are not many military fortresses on the Franco-Belgian border. Once the German army marches south from Belgium, according to the horrific record of the German army, the fall of Paris is a matter of time.

In order to protect its capital, Paris, the French government made a decisive decision and decided to mobilize a large number of troops from central and western France.

At the same time, the French government notified the British government, asking the British government to fulfill the covenant in a timely manner and send troops to join the war.

The French government said that more than a month has passed since the outbreak of the war. As the most powerful country on the Anglo-French-Austrian front, the British Empire has not yet sent its army to participate in the war, and has not fulfilled its duties as an ally.

The French government requires that the British government should send at least 100,000 troops to France within half a month. Within a month, at least 250,000 troops should be sent to deploy on the Franco-Belgian border and help the Belgians defend their own territory.

After all, the problem at this time is still with Belgium. As long as the Belgians can defend their own territory, there will be no danger on the Franco-Belgian border.

However, the French do not believe that the Belgians can really defend their own territory. This is also the reason why the French government asked the British army to land in France.

Today, I will update it for now.