Chapter 49 Political Whirlpool (1)

ps: I went to see "Darkest Hour" today. Everything else was fine, except that Churchill was portrayed too old. He was only in his 60s in 1940, but the screen clearly showed him to be in his 70s, even older than Chamberlain. Old - the latter is obviously 5 years older than Churchill.

After talking about submarines, Contini originally wanted to continue chatting with Dönitz about torpedo boats. Italy successfully used mas torpedo boats in World War I. At the same time, he was also very interested in the S-boats used by Germany. More importantly, he was also very interested in the S-boats used by Germany. However, Contini clearly knows that compared with the main fleet of the Italian Navy, which has a bleak future and almost no significant results, the results achieved by small and medium-sized warships and even special weapons are very eye-catching: the Italian submarine force has a good record, and the torpedo boats It sank a battleship, and even conducted a surprise attack on Alexandria with manned torpedoes and directly damaged two British battleships (although they were later fished out).

He once thought about a question repeatedly: Are the Italians on the battleships and the Italians on the small warships not of the same race? Later, after learning more information, I became convinced that due to the superior status of the Italian Navy, the battleships were filled with disciples of nobles and bureaucrats. To be fair, with very few exceptions, most such officers were not as good as civilians in terms of fighting spirit and dedication. officer. So Contini made up his mind to reduce the number of noble officers in core positions as much as possible.

Although he himself is considered a noble, he has no sympathy for these treatments.

It’s not that no one has tried to gain seniority under Contini. Simply and roughly expelling him won’t work. Contini will usually be put into the training team. Only those who can survive the arduous training of the commando team in the morning and evening such as cross-country and wilderness survival can I would consider taking them in, but many people gave up during the process. It would be good if one out of ten could persist.

Many people did not understand his approach. Even the old Ciano reluctantly said that he was in love a few times. He meant not to be too serious and sometimes he could pretend to be confused. But Contini's words were resounding: I have the final say on the United Group! If you can't even obey my orders, what are you doing? If you want to mix up your qualifications, you can arrange to go to the Ministry of Transportation...

These words made old Ciano stop talking: they were all placed in the Ministry of Transport and he couldn't control these big guys, so in the end he had no choice but to let it go. Therefore, this incident caused great dissatisfaction among the aristocratic circle with the Chiano family, but Contini didn't care. When Mussolini found out, he thought he had done the right thing - he was not an aristocrat himself, and he resented the aristocratic power and his generals going too far. Recently, he thought this was a huge threat to himself, but Contini was very serious about it.

But the torpedo boat conversation had just begun when Ji'an came over with an anxious look on his face: "President, something happened!"

Contini had no choice but to give up and let Dönitz take the submarine officers and technical engineers to study the submarine, and then listen carefully to the report.

"What happened?"

"There are two pieces of information. The first is the report from our spy in Egypt. Egypt has recently conducted a large arms deal with Libyan tribal armed forces. The specific details and inside story are not yet known, but it is certain that the British are behind it. ——Is it the intention of the British government or some powerful people? The second is the news just received..." Ji'an's face was very nervous, "The leader was assassinated on the streets of Rome!"

"Assassination?" Contini was also anxious, "How are they?"

"He's fine. The bullet from the pistol flew past his nose. If he had just deflected a little further, the leader would have been shot, and fatally in the head." Ji'an said, "The leader's guards have caught the assassin, but things are very complicated. Trouble - the assassin is a woman, and a British woman at that!"

Contini came to his senses: "You suspect that the two incidents are related."

"I can't tell, but it's very suspicious."

"Go to the Prime Minister's Office immediately, I want to see the leader!"

Hearing that Mussolini had just been assassinated, Enzo became anxious and immediately summoned guards to escort Contini to the Prime Minister's Office, cheering and swarming.

The identity of the assassin was quickly discovered, and it was the British Violet Gibson. However, this was an isolated incident - think about it, if it was really the British intelligence agency, there would not be such an obvious flaw. But in Contini's eyes, there's a lot to be done here.

"Leader, when I heard that you were murdered, I rushed over immediately without stopping..."

"Calais... I'm fine! I'm fine. This little trick can't hurt me. I'm protected by destiny!" Mussolini was in a good mood. "Didn't you say you were going to North Africa for an inspection? Why didn't you? Walk?"

"I was preparing to leave in a few days, but I didn't expect something like this to happen." Contini pondered for a moment and then said, "My people received some intelligence that the British provided weapons to the North African tribesmen! It may be equipped with 2- 3 companies!”

"Bastard! Bastard!" Mussolini cursed angrily as soon as he heard the word "British". "The assassin is British too!"

His roaring voice could be clearly heard throughout the Venezia Palace, but he quickly calmed down: "Calais, the British may indeed be causing trouble in North Africa, but the assassination of me should have nothing to do with the British. ——The British are not that stupid at least yet.”

"So, who do you think it's related to?"

Mussolini was about to say something, but suddenly he shut up and took the topic in another direction: "Calais, what do you think of my effectiveness in governing the country in the past few years?"

"It's amazing, it's great, it's unique in the world." Contini gave all the praises to the leader without hesitation, "It has only been three and a half years since Fascist came to power, and we have achieved outstanding political achievements. The economy has achieved rapid development, the unemployment rate has dropped rapidly, a complete set of political strategies for governing the country have been proposed, and major diplomatic victories have been achieved... all because of your leadership."

"But now some people in the party are dissatisfied with me. For example, some heads of local party organizations disobey local administrators, some still insist on taking violent measures, and some think it is wrong for us to compromise with the Pope and deliberately hold the I am deeply troubled by the accusations made against me by some of my past attacks on the church.”

Contini understood that Mussolini was venting his dissatisfaction with Farinacci. The Fascist secretary not only declared himself the second-in-command in public, but also always insisted that the power of the party was higher than that of the government. rights, to continue to maintain the "revolutionary spirit" - in fact, it means to maintain the original violent Rangers of the Black Shirt Party, which is completely different from Mussolini's attitude of maintaining stability. On the one hand, Mussolini reached a political compromise with the traditionalists and aristocratic forces, and on the other hand, he formed an understanding with the Wehrmacht officer corps militarily, not wanting them to feel the power of the Blackshirts.

Contini also didn’t like being such a secretary-general. On the one hand, he always pretended to be a veteran revolutionary to teach himself a lesson. On the other hand, he tried every means to reach out to the Youth League on the pretext of arresting the reserve team and the organization. This was Contini. Tiny would never tolerate it.

"Leader, this matter is actually easy to handle, as long as you grasp one principle." Contini said slowly, "The important idea of ​​the three flags is the party's program written in the party constitution. A leader is one of the flags. All Italy, There is only one leader in all fascism, and there is no second one. At the same time, since the current government and local institutions are the embodiment of the party's governance philosophy, they should be completely subject to management... Some people use the name of the party and the name of permanent revolution. The slogan is actually ruining the reputation of the party. The Italian revolution has already won. Our party is not only the ruling party, but also the largest political party in the country. If we continue to promote the revolution, the motive of continuing the revolution is very suspicious. ? Whose rule should we overthrow? This is not a normal theoretical argument, it is obviously anti-Party thinking!”

Contini’s words are well-founded. After the Social Democratic Party was completely defeated and the Catholic Party and the Nationalist Party were absorbed by the Fascist Party, the influence of other political parties in Italy has been greatly reduced. In the past, the Liberal Party was also considered a force. Now, even if the Liberal Party and the Socialist Party are combined with the Communist Party, their prestige is not as good as that of the previous Social Democratic Party, not to mention that there are still deep-rooted conflicts between the Liberal Party and the Socialist Party.

Five months ago, in November 1925, the First Congress had passed the "National Defense Measures" (Special Law) and the "Law on the Responsibilities and Privileges of the Head of Government and Cabinet Members". With the "Special Law" and the "Privileges Law", Fascism has completely become an overwhelming political force, and the House of Representatives has been completely controlled by fascist members. This is also the real reason for this assassination-the opposition parties who were forced into a dead corner have almost no way out.

Mussolini fully understood, so he concluded straightforwardly that the assassin would not be a British man. However, Contini's persuasion just now reminded him of the intra-party struggle, and he showed hesitation. color.

Soon he jumped to change the topic: "Calais, are you graduating this year?"

"I will graduate in June this year, and my thesis is almost finished." Contini wondered why he asked this.

"Ada will graduate from middle school this year. She told me that she doesn't want to go to a senior high school and then go to university. She feels that she is not good at academics. She wants to go to a secondary technical school or a vocational technical school and graduate in the future. Then I can go out to work." Mussolini said, "You are familiar with the education system and understand Ada's situation. Can you give me an idea, what should she study better?"

Contini pondered. Ada is very self-aware. Her grades are indeed not very good, just below average. It is very difficult to go to high school and college. It is not impossible to get into college. With Mosso Because of Rini's reputation, no school in Italy would dare not accept him, but this would change the taste. If he fails to keep up in college and ends up failing or dropping out, then Ada herself will not be able to bear it.

"How about going to a medical college? You can study nursing..."

Mussolini's eyes widened and he complained dissatisfiedly: "You want my daughter to be a nurse in the future to serve those patients? I can't accept this!"