The Third Reich in Desperation

Now that the German army has already defeated the British and French allied forces, how can there be any danger in Italy going up to make up for it?

However, some people in Italy made harsh advice to Mussolini.

A lieutenant general of the army recklessly told the truth to Mussolini who had just finished his speech: "Leader, we are not ready for war at all. In terms of material reserves, our current situation is actually worse than it was in September last year. To make matters worse, the existing materials are only enough to fight for a few months. And among all our 9 divisions, only 74 divisions are fully staffed and fully equipped with weapons. The rest of the units are not capable enough to fight.”

In fact, what the lieutenant general said was absolutely correct.The weapons and equipment of the Italian Army are terribly backward.

Most of their soldiers held Type 91 rifles used in World War I.Automatic rifles were produced, but in extremely limited numbers.

At the same time, the backwardness of the infantry is also reflected in the lack of motor vehicles.

According to the regulations, each Italian soldier carried a backpack weighing 35 kilograms, so the marching speed was very slow, an average of only 30 kilometers per day.

Although the so-called Italian general Grazzini implemented the so-called "small mechanization" in the infantry division, that is, equipped each division with a small number of cars and bicycles as "supplementary equipment".Bicycles were used to transport backpacks, and soldiers took turns marching in cars, which solved the problem of the Italian army's marching speed.

But in this way, although the marching speed of the Italian army has increased slightly, it has disrupted the discipline of the troops and caused the army's combat effectiveness to further decline.

The lieutenant general in front of him is very self-aware. With the level of the Italian army, how can he fight against the French army, which was once the number one army in Europe? !

Body 4 Chapter [-] Marshal Balbo

说到意大利步兵师的配备，现阶段还主要武器是，34门100毫米野炮、30门81毫米迫击炮、8门47毫米反坦克炮。

Moreover, a considerable part of these artillery was captured from the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, and most of the rest were assembled with old-fashioned parts produced by Italy before and after World War I.It is not difficult to see from this that the artillery used by the Italian army can no longer meet the requirements of modern warfare.

But Mussolini didn't think so. He felt that he should win. He felt that the Kingdom of Italy was waiting for work, the assault soldiers were exhausted, and the demoralized French army had no reason to lose.

In his opinion, the little lieutenant general in front of him who prevented him from participating in the war was probably because he was timid and afraid of fighting.

"It's okay not to be here." Mussolini waved his hand impatiently, interrupting the lieutenant general who was trying to dissuade him: "In this battle, we only need to die a few thousand people to join the battle To the final peace negotiations. Kingdom of Italy, there is no reason not to participate!"

Yeah, it looks like France is due to surrender soon.If you don't take a share at this time, wouldn't Italy be equivalent to missing the opportunity to deliver it to you? !

During the Polish campaign, Italy lost the opportunity to divide the spoils because of too much consideration.Now that the French campaign is almost over, how can we repeat the same mistakes!

"Don't worry, according to my research, the main reason why the Germans are invincible is that they have armored divisions and concentrate on using tanks to fight."

Although Mussolini was a half-hearted militarily, he watched Reinhardt read in his letter all day long: "Germany concentrates on using armored forces, and the blitzkrieg is invincible." Now it is more or less available. have a certain concept.

"Don't forget, the Germans are not the only ones who will concentrate on using tanks." Mussolini smiled pretentiously, and he said to the generals with an air of pointing out: "This leader has long studied They overthrew the tactics of the Germans and ordered the establishment of three armored divisions of our Italy. Now, our Italy also has the confidence of the Blitzkrieg!"

This is what is inevitable in war.You Germans can come up with new tactics in advance under Reinhardt's intervention, taking advantage of the early stage.Correspondingly, other countries can also take the opportunity to learn from the brilliance of the German army.

The armored forces of the Third Reich swept across Poland and overwhelmed France. While shocking the world, they also sent experience to the world.

Not to mention other countries, even Italy, a country with a very low level of mechanization, is also working hard to establish an armored division that uses tanks intensively under the influence of Germany.For countries with stronger industrial foundations such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, the formation of armored divisions is even more reasonable.

However, learning comes from learning, but whether you can learn it or not varies from person to person.

Mussolini, the dictator who led Italy, only learned the superficial aspects of Reinhardt's armor tactics, but did not understand its essence.

Take for example the three armored divisions he formed in the Italian Army.Although it has a total of 3 tanks, nearly 1200 of them are 1100-ton 3 light tanks with thin armor that can be penetrated by rifle bullets.

Moreover, these Italian thin-skinned tanks also have a huge and biggest feature, that is, there is no artillery installed, and the main weapon they carry is only a machine gun.Even the generals of Italy's own armored forces joked that this pocket-sized tank, which had long been eliminated by Britain, France and Germany, was a "rouge box", and some also called it a "sardine tin box".

In fact, Mussolini didn't know that his pocket tanks were not as suitable for combat as German tanks, but could only be used as an auxiliary tool for transporting ammunition during wartime, as a small transport vehicle that looked like a tank.

And his other about 100 6-ton Italian 16 medium tanks cannot go to the front line for a while.

The reason is that the gun sight is faulty and needs to be overhauled.Otherwise, it is impossible to drive to the front line.

In addition, most of the British or French armored forces of the enemy at that time were equipped with medium tanks of more than 13 tons. In front of them, these armored divisions of Mussolini were also superficial and vulnerable.

"Dear leader..." the distraught Italian lieutenant general really wanted to say it out loud, tell Mussolini that the Italian armored forces are not the same as those of Germany , Tell others that there is a gap between people and between countries.

Since no one in Italy expects you Mussolini to become an omniscient figure like Reinhardt, then you don't have to ask the Italian German army to become as powerful as the German army!

Unfortunately, the lieutenant general who hesitated to speak was finally stopped by Itano Balbo, who knew how to wink.

The Marshal of the Italian Air Force can be said to be one of the few talented people in the Italian high-level.

As a result of Mussolini's promotion, Balbo served as Minister of Aeronautics of the Kingdom of Italy from 1929 to 1933, although he knew nothing about flying before that.But he quickly learned to fly and set about reorganizing the Royal Italian Air Force.

During his tenure, he worked hard to develop Italy's military and civil aviation, and tried to build the Italian Air Force into the most elite sharp knife force.Balbo has always emphasized that as long as it has air supremacy, even if the Italian Army is fighting badly, it will not fail.

After all, the air force can not only support the offensive when the army is attacking, but also cover bombing and pursue the enemy when the army is retreating.

Not enough may also be due to his high reputation, which aroused the suspicion of Mussolini, the pompous dictator.

So at the end of 1933, while Balbo was promoted to Marshal of the Air Force, he was dismissed from his post in the Air Force.

This point is quite similar to Reinhardt's method of promoting Borasic to Field Marshal and removing him from the position of Army Commander-in-Chief.

Of course, Mussolini's and Reinhardt's motives were completely opposite.Reinhard's demotion to Burroughs is for the sake of the public and the country.And Mussolini was purely for the consolidation of his own private power.

It's a pity that if Mussolini hadn't suppressed Balbo so early, perhaps Italy's current air force would be even stronger.

After all, during the days when Balbo was working, Italy's aviation technology developed by leaps and bounds.As of today, Italy has 1132 bombers, of which about 900 are capable of combat, and of these 900 aircraft, 600 are very modern.Italy also has 1100 fighter and attack aircraft, 700 of which are operational.

In addition, Italy has hundreds of transport and reconnaissance aircraft, and 323 older aircraft in East Africa.It can be said that the strength of today's Italian air force has caught up with the British and French air forces that were weakened by the German army. Its bomber and fighter strength even surpasses the current British!

Therefore, in the eyes of a capable man like Balbo, even if the Italian army is not very good, he can guarantee that the air force can suppress the French.Even though, he has not been in contact with the Italian Air Force for many years.

Body 4 Chapter [-] The Eagle of the Mediterranean

The Italian Air Force is actually very brave, but Mussolini, the leader, has never paid attention to it.

However, the Reinhardt Air Force is now able to develop so rapidly, and finally it is due to Reinhardt, the German head of state who "values" the friendship of allies.

Reinhardt discovered an important problem as early as in the aerial confrontation during the Spanish Civil War.At that time, the German Air Force had just started, and the number of fighters sent to Spain was very limited.

As a result, the German army treated fighter planes and pilots as treasures, and Italy, which went to support the Spanish National Army together, was still happily giving away heads with a 300-speed biplane!

No matter how rich and powerful, it can't be played like this? !What's more, where is Italy considered rich and powerful?

Just like playing League of Legends or Glory of Kings, although your team already has the advantage, your teammates keep running to give away heads to boost the morale of the opponent.

Therefore, Reinhardt, who really couldn't see the allies giving away his head, started a project jointly developed by the German and Italian Air Forces early on, and planned to give this brother a hand.

As a result, Mr. Italy's "great" leader was unwilling to accept this favor.He took it for granted that accepting favors would make Italy bow down in front of Germany, how could this work?

What the Kingdom of Italy wants is to be on an equal footing with Germany, not to be Germany's follower and participate in international competitions as a younger brother.

As a result, the joint development project was delayed again and again. It was not until Mussolini contacted Reinhardt for tank drawings a few days ago that the air force cooperation project was restarted.

Of course, Reinhardt is not a good guy without careful thinking.In the cooperation of this Italian ally, he deliberately kept a hand and did not deliver the tank drawings to Italy.Instead, it has selectively only cooperated seriously with Italy in the air force and navy.

After all, Italy has betrayed Germany's neighbor twice in history.Letting this neighbor have a strong army is not all good for Germany, and even the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.