Chapter 962 D-Day (End)

Hoffman vaguely guessed something, but his face was calm and asked: "What's going on?"

"It's the leader!"

"Leader?" Hoffman asked doubtfully, "What's the fuss about on vacation in Rome? Was he assassinated?"

"This... no... no, uh..." Ribbentrop showed a very strange expression, "this, well... how should I put it... is sick."

Bowman burst out laughing: "Is it worth making a fuss about the leader being sick? Isn't it just a matter of a few days of rest?"

But when the detailed report came out, everyone's expressions became very strange:

The leader was not only ill, but also seriously ill. It was said that he had suffered a stroke in half of his body and was unconscious. This is not the key. The key is that the cause of the disease is rare in the world.

The leader was over 60 years old, while Bettasi had just turned 30. He was like a wolf at his age. Mussolini did not want to show his cowardice, so he often took sex-stimulating drugs. In many cases, Bettasi even did it. Here it is - her father is a doctor, so it's normal to get some medicine. This time, he put the medicine in the wine as usual.

But she never expected that this time the drug was overdosed by Ciano after letting German agents sneak in. What's more terrible is that Ciano was afraid that it was not exciting enough, so he deliberately let Ada and her mother drink it. Raguel knew that usually Raguel might not care much about Mussolini's affairs, but in front of her daughter and son-in-law, she couldn't help it this time. That night she rushed into the summer palace and went into a rage, demanding Break the legs of this bitch in Loreto (Milan's famous red light district), and Mussolini suffered a tragedy.

When Lager rushed in to catch the rapist, he happened to be working hard on Bettaxi's belly. At this fatal moment, the leader who had a tendency to be henpecked rolled off the bed at the sound of a lion's roar from his wife, and collapsed on the ground unable to move. Raguel thought he was pretending to be dead, so he picked up a pillow and beat the leader hard. Only when the housekeeper rushed in did he realize that something was wrong. The leader was slurring his words, confused, and completely collapsed, and he was rushed to the hospital.

Ciano's original arrangement was for Mussolini to fall seriously ill due to excitement and fear, so that he could take the opportunity to ascend to power. However, the result of the diagnosis made everyone dumbfounded - the leader was so anxious that he attacked his heart and brain. Part of the blood vessels burst, and he actually suffered a stroke. Half of his body was paralyzed. He had only vague consciousness and could not even speak clearly.

The news spread quickly, and all the top fascists came to the hospital bedside to listen to the leader's "teachings." However, why the leader was admitted to the hospital could not be kept secret at all, and it soon spread vividly, adding to the news. A lot of jokes.

Mussolini's children also came, and they originally complained that their mother beat their father too hard, but after hearing Ada explain the whole story, none of them really sympathized with him.

On the hospital bed, in front of many senior officials, Ada took Mussolini's hand and asked him: "Do you want Count Ciano to succeed you and continue to lead the Italian people? If so, you will Blink a few times.”

Mr. and Mrs. Ciano had discussed it with the doctor in detail beforehand. The leader's problem would not be cured unless he took care of it for 3-5 years. As for whether it would be cured after 3-5 years, it was not certain, so he had to consider his own future. . The couple communicated and decided to let Ada step in to replace Mussolini to handle the most important issue of heir.

Sure enough, Mussolini blinked several times with difficulty. Although Mussolini's other abilities have been traumatized, his basic thinking ability has not been lost: when he cannot control the power, it is safest to hand it over to his son-in-law Ciano, at least the son-in-law can keep his posthumous name.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Before they came, they had heard the news about the secret alert of the German army. Once there was turmoil in the transfer of power in Italy, the Germans might intervene. It is more ideal to let Ciano succeed. Firstly, he is the successor designated by the leader and will not cause other people to have any wrong ideas. Secondly, it can also stabilize the situation and prevent turmoil.

On June 29, the King of Italy accepted Mussolini’s request to resign as prime minister due to illness. In fact, this letter was written by several senior officials together. The leader could only blink his eyes and even signed it with Ada. It was written on his behalf that Ciano was appointed Prime Minister and to lead the Italian government. However, the party still retained the title of leader Mussolini, and called Ciano the deputy leader.

In the early morning of the next day, the relevant announcement was released: "Dear leader Comrade Benito Mussolini has been working on state affairs for a long time and has become sick from overwork. He is seriously ill and cannot continue to work. He is currently recuperating. According to the leader's request and assignment, Count Galeazzo Ciano took over as Prime Minister and continued to lead the Italian people forward.”

The official notice is written with seriousness, but it can only deceive ordinary people who do not know what to do. Among well-informed people, the real cause of the leader's "illness" has long been revealed.

Ciano and others became ministers of foreign affairs at a young age and were able to deal with troubles. Obviously they also had two brushes. He knew that people's hearts were unstable after he succeeded to the throne, so he issued orders continuously. Mussolini had been in charge of land and sea affairs at the beginning. , Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. After Ciano came to power, he immediately appointed Field Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, who had been sidelined but had senior qualifications, as Chief of Army. He also promoted Admiral Ia Kinso, Commander of the Italian Fleet, to Chief of the Army. With the rank of Navy Marshal, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. Since the Air Force has always been Fascist's exclusive domain, and Ciano himself also knew the Air Force, he only concurrently held the post of Chief of the Air Force.

In this way, the situation of the military has stabilized.

The second card played by Ciano was to gain recognition from Berlin. Shortly after the Italian government changed, Berlin announced that it would "support the political choice of the leader and move forward steadily with its Italian allies to win the final victory", announcing Germany's determination to support Ciano's regime to the Italian military and political circles. Kesselring, Ribbentrop and others came forward to appease the other figures, and the head of state also said that he would visit the leader's condition in Italy tomorrow.

The third card played by Ciano was to deepen the economic cooperation between Germany and Italy. Not only would he continue to increase the development of Libya's oil fields, but he would also further introduce German chemical, steel, machinery, metallurgy and other industries. At the same time, he acknowledged that he would ratify the relevant EU treaties to achieve the sharing of benefits in the European common market, and promised to continue to develop relatively backward economic regions such as the south and Sicily after the war, which won over the chaebols and capital oligarchs.

Finally, it was to show tangible benefits. After mediation, considering that Italy was a major belligerent against Britain and suffered heavy naval losses (most of which were in the Mediterranean), Britain agreed to compensate Italy with 2,000 aircraft, 1,000 tanks, 2 aircraft carriers (Giant class), 4 cruisers, and agreed that Italy would occupy 150,000 square kilometers of Italian Northern Rhodesia.

With these measures, Ciano successfully secured his position and survived the turbulent period of power transfer. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief...