Rise of Australia

Chapter 957 Killing someone with a borrowed knife

The surrender of the Italian army in this small position seemed to have started a domino effect. In the next few days, wherever the British, French and Australian allied forces went, they could immediately see the Italian army holding up white flags and announcing their surrender.

Even more confused than the British, French and Australian troops were the German troops who were still holding out in Bizerte and Tunisia.

According to the German army's plan, the Italian army in the south could hold out for at least two weeks. During these two weeks, the German army could build a solid coastal defense line relying on the terrain of Bizerte and Tunisia.

But the problem was that the Italian army couldn't even last two days, let alone two weeks.

More importantly, with the surrender of the largest Italian army in Tunisia, it was completely announced that the British, French and Australian armies had completely surrounded the entire Bizerte and Tunisia region from land.

On January 1938, 1, the Italian government received an interrogating telegram from the German government, asking why the Italian army surrendered directly to the British, French and Australian troops without any prior notice.

Mussolini was confused at this time, and he even didn't believe the German government's questioning.

After all, the reports from the North African troops a few days ago showed that they were determined to resist the attacks of the British, French and Australian troops.

If the German ambassador to Italy had not come to him, Mussolini might have really thought that it was an enemy country trying to sow discord between Germany and Italy.

But Mussolini was even more confused at this time. The front line clearly said that they were resisting resolutely, so why did the Germans say that the Italian troops on the front line had surrendered?
More importantly, the British, French and Australian troops had only been on the offensive for a few days. Mussolini did not believe that the powerful Italian army would surrender in such a short time, not to mention that there was no way for the German population to resist.

But after investigation and questioning, Mussolini fell completely silent.

Reality slapped him in the face, making him realize that the powerful Italian army he thought was actually just a fantasy. What was powerful was the weapons equipped by the Italian army, not the Italian soldiers who used these weapons.

What is even more ironic is that the Italian soldiers trusted by Mussolini not only surrendered to Britain, France and Australia, but also surrendered very easily, without any resistance at all.

Surrender is fine, but the surrender flag used by Italian soldiers was cut from the Italian flag. This way of turning the national flag into a white flag is an insult to Italy, and it is a slap in the face for Mussolini.

The bad news for Italy was not just that, because it was not only the German troops in Tunisia that were surrounded, but also the Italian reinforcements that landed in Tunisia.

Going to Tunisia at this time is undoubtedly like walking into a tiger's mouth, which is no different from giving away one's life.

Mussolini, who sensed something was wrong, immediately signaled the Italian General Staff to call off the landing operation in Tunisia, but at this time, the landing in Tunisia had already been carried out for the most part.

Of the 30 Italian troops that went to support, more than 20 have successfully landed in Tunisia, and the remaining soldiers are still in Sicily and have not set out.

Upon hearing this news, Mussolini's face turned completely dark.

At present, the number of Italian troops in Tunisia is as high as 40. Given the situation of Tunisia being surrounded, these 40 Italian troops basically have only two fates: being surrounded and annihilated or surrendering.

Considering the performance of the Italian army in the North African battlefield, I believe that most Italian soldiers will choose the second option.

This also means that Italy may become the country with the largest number of soldiers surrendering in the history of World War II.

This is a full 40 troops! For Italy, which has almost lost all its colonies, these 40 troops are all made up of Italians.

If all 40 people were captured, it would definitely be a heavy blow to the Italian people's support for the war.

After all, 40 people represent 40 families, and 40 families represent at least millions of Italians.

The British, French and Australian allied forces held these 40 Italian soldiers as prisoners, which was equivalent to holding the lifeline of 40 Italian families.

If this matter is not handled properly, it may even arouse strong anti-war sentiment in Italy. After all, Italy was an ally of Britain and France in World War I, and its history as an ally is precisely that it betrayed the Germans.

Mussolini was not the only one who was worried about this matter. The German government, which was aware of the character of the Italians, was also worried.

It would be a lot of fun if Italy repeated its past mistakes and directly betrayed Germany and joined the British and French camps in the middle of the war.

Although it is unlikely to happen given the current situation, Germany must address and avoid it from the root as long as it is possible.

How to prevent Italy from joining the enemy?

First of all, we need to understand why Italy chose to join Germany.

From the root point of view, the biggest reason why Italy became Germany's ally is Mussolini, the current actual ruler of Italy.

It was precisely because Mussolini and the German Chancellor had the same ruling ideology that the two countries quickly approached and formed an alliance.

This also means that if you want to ensure that the Italians do not turn against you, you must ensure that Mussolini's rule in Italy is deeply rooted.

On January 1938, 1, German and Italian diplomatic representatives held talks in Munich to discuss the situation in North Africa and its solution.

During one of the talks, the German diplomatic representative formally raised the issue of Italy's political system and expressed the idea of ​​helping Italy establish a dictatorial republican government headed by Mussolini.

Yes, Italy was still a kingdom at this time and was ruled by the House of Savoy.

The Savoy dynasty is well-known in Italy and has the support of many Italians. This family is also very famous throughout Europe, and its rule over Italy can be traced back to the distant Count of Savoy more than 900 years ago.

More importantly, Vittorio Emanuele II, the unifier of the Italian region and the first King of Italy, affectionately called the Father of the Country by the Italian people, was a member of the House of Savoy.

It is precisely because of the Savoy dynasty's deep-rooted rule in Italy, coupled with its contribution to the unification of Italy, that the Kingdom of Italy has been able to survive to this day.

Even though Mussolini had already gained control of the Kingdom of Italy for several years, he still did not abolish the Savoy royal family.

After all, for some people who support the royal family, the existence of a royal family or not is two completely different concepts. They can accept Mussolini's decision to abolish the royal family, but they cannot accept Mussolini's direct abolition of the royal family.

Coincidentally, Germany is in a similar situation to Italy. Germany's official name is still the German Empire, and its supreme ruler is still Kaiser Wilhelm II. But in reality, whether it is Germany or the Kingdom of Italy, the real ruler is the prime minister of the government.

It is precisely because Germany and Italy are in the same situation that the previous German government did not support Italy's idea of ​​establishing a republic.

But now it is different. In order to ensure that the Italians are firmly tied to their chariot, the German Chancellor has taken the risk and openly proposed to help Mussolini establish the Italian Republic.

The benefits of establishing a republic are self-evident. After Italy became a republic, Mussolini's rule over Italy would become more reasonable, and he would not have to worry about the king, who was in the way, affecting him. The people could also be loyal to him exclusively, instead of being loyal to both the royal family and the government at the same time.

With the help of the Germans, the impact of Mussolini's abolition of the monarchy could be minimized.

As for whether monarchical powers such as the British Empire and the Australasian Empire would intervene, since war had already broken out between the two sides, why should we care about their intervention?

Thinking of this, Mussolini was obviously tempted. If he could abolish the king and work on his own, who would want to have another guy who gets in the way?
What's more, whether it is the German Chancellor or Mussolini, their control over the country is not so absolute.

They also had opposition parties at home, and both Kaiser Wilhelm II and the King of Italy held a certain amount of power.

Although it seems that the two men's rule is deeply rooted now, if William II and the King of Italy want to go against them, they will definitely face difficulties.

However, abolishing the king meant a complete break with the Italian aristocracy. It was no exaggeration to say that Mussolini might have to face a counterattack from Italy's entrenched aristocracy and members of the Savoy dynasty.

Such a violent conflict meant that a great purge was necessary, but thinking of the enormous power that would follow after success, Mussolini still decided to take a gamble.

On January 1938, 1, the Italian government issued an announcement stating that an Italian army in North Africa had surrendered to the British, French and Australian troops, and had made the Italian flag a white flag.

The Italian government said that the commander of this Italian army is a distant relative of the royal family and some members of the army are former royal guards.

At the end of the announcement, the Italian government also pointed out the serious harm that this surrender brought to Italy. First, it seriously damaged the reputation of the Italian government and insulted the Italian flag.

Secondly, the surrender of this army would put hundreds of thousands of German and Italian troops in Tunisia into a crisis of being surrounded, among which the Italian army numbered more than 50.

Although the entire announcement did not mention the royal family's responsibility, such a statement clearly puts the blame on the royal family.

Almost at the same time, many media in Rome reported the announcement. Some media, which were obviously well prepared, also published information about the composition of the Italian army, proving that the commander and some soldiers of the army were indeed from the Royal Guards.

For a time, the Italian people had different opinions about the royal family.

Some people think that the royal family should not bear the responsibility. After all, the royal guards had been disbanded long ago, and the army was planning to be reorganized into the Italian army. Only a small number of guards were still retained to protect the Italian royal family.

Just because of one's birth cannot prove the relationship between the surrendered army and the royal family, nor can it put the responsibility of surrender on the royal family.

But another group of people believed that the surrendered troops once belonged to the royal guards, and it was impossible to say that they had no connection with the royal family.

What's more, the King of Italy had opposed the reorganization of the Royal Guards. Could it be that in order to preserve the strength of his own Guards, the King of Italy specifically ordered his officers to surrender when they encountered danger?

The majority of people hold the second view. After all, there are many Italian families with family members serving in the army.

The Italians were afraid that such a situation would occur on all battlefields and put their families in danger on the battlefield.

Especially for the hundreds of thousands of Italian families whose family members went to the North African battlefield, it was impossible for them not to blame the royal family at this time.

Here we have to mention the origin of the Savoy dynasty. Although the rule of the Savoy family in Italy can be traced back more than 900 years, the founder of this family was not Italian, but Burgundian who migrated to Italy.

In normal times, Italians would certainly be willing to praise the House of Savoy and the unifier of the kingdom.

But if the lives and safety of their families are affected by the royal family, they will not have such a good impression of the royal family.

Mussolini's media attacks continued. Because some things were not convenient for the Italian local media to say, the German media needed to publish some comments that were favorable to Mussolini.

Just the next day, the German media published a series of articles condemning the Italian royal family for disregarding the safety of hundreds of thousands of German and Italian troops still fighting in Tunisia in order to preserve its own strength.

The news reports from Germany seemed to confirm the Italian royal family's guilt. After all, if only the royal family was condemned in their own country, the people would inevitably have some doubts and distrust.

But if such deeds are reported both at home and abroad, people's trust will increase a little more.

On January 1938, 1, Mussolini responded to the current public opinion about the royal family and expressed that he was still willing to believe in the royal family.

But at the same time, Mussolini said that because it involved nearly 50 Italian families and a full 50 Italian soldiers (exaggerated), whether to forgive the royal family was not something he could decide alone.

Mussolini then announced that the public would decide how to deal with the incident.

The Italian government will hold a public vote lasting half a month at the end of January, and all Italian citizens can participate, regardless of gender or age.

The final result of the vote will determine the direction of this incident and will also reflect the true attitudes and opinions of the Italian people.

Some Italians are quite satisfied with this solution. In addition, since all Italians can vote, the royal family and the royalists have no excuse to oppose it.

After all, if the people really feel that the royal family has no responsibility, then they can choose to support the royal family in this referendum.

As long as there are enough people supporting the royal family, even if Mussolini has any ideas about the royal family, he will not be able to do anything if all Italian people oppose it.

But if the final voting result is against the royal family, even if Mussolini has no idea, he must give an explanation to all Italian people for the so-called voting results.

Perhaps the Italian soldiers who surrendered at the beginning could not have imagined that their casual choice would bring the Savoy Dynasty, which had ruled Italy for more than 900 years, into the most serious crisis.

(End of this chapter)