NOVPUBChapter 1319: Chapter 959: Attack on Rome
Chapter 1319 -959: Attack on Rome
Time swiftly moved on to March 1938.
The war on the European Continent had become increasingly intense, as nations continually expanded their mobilization, even staking their entire national fortunes on this war.
The most striking example was Germany. After amending its mobilization laws, Germany increased its military from less than 6 million to over 12 million in just a few months, its total force second only to Russia, and among the European Nations, it had one of the largest military sizes.
But Italy’s resistance seemed like the desperate struggle of prey hit by a gun, to the British-French-Australian Allied Army. Although it appeared impressive, it actually posed no threat.
It was Italy’s Air Force that played an effective role. Aside from the Air Force, the performance of the Italian Army was a mess, nowhere near the stature of a Power.
With the Italian Army’s consistently poor performance, the Australasia Armored forces easily tore through Genoa’s defenses, crossing Genoa, La Spezia, and Lucca, and ultimately reaching the hinterlands of Florence, one of the most important cities in the central and northern parts of Italy.
Though there were many Italian troops to the south in Rome, they were no longer significant to the Australasia Armored forces at that time.
As the British and French forces attracted the attention of the main Italian Army in the north, 350,000 Australasian troops grandly advanced through the breach torn open by the Armored troops towards Genoa and La Spezia.
The speed of the Italian Army’s collapse astonished everyone.
In less than three days, the Italian Army had retreated from Genoa to the more southern La Spezia.
But by then, their retreat was irrelevant, for the Armored troops had already successfully circled around to Florence’s rear. If the Italian Army could not evacuate to Rome before the encirclement was complete, they would be gradually consumed within the encirclement and ultimately annihilated.
However, the Italian Army was not without better strategies.
Just as the Australasian side thought Italy would desperately break through, the remaining defenders in the region of Genoa surrendered one after another, with a shocking speed.
Even Britain and France hadn’t expected this; the British and French forces in greater numbers had made no progress in their northern offensive in Italy, while in the south, they had already taken Genoa and were marching towards Florence.
Concerned about contributions to the entire battlefield and the future distribution of postwar benefits, Britain and France still gave this considerable importance.
On March 19, 1938, Britain and France also mobilized a large number of Armored divisions, intending to forcefully attack Milan.
In Eastern Europe, Germany and the Russian nation were also fiercely engaged in combat. After the Battle of Moscow, the Russians had gained some experience in resisting Germany.
Applying such experience in the defense of Stalingrad also had its effects.
Under the valiant resistance of hundreds of thousands, even millions of the Russian army, Germany’s advance became extraordinarily difficult, even almost grinding to a halt.
But the German government had too much on its plate by then. After a Cabinet Meeting, the German Chancellor personally sent a Telegram to the frontlines in France, demanding that the commanders hold their positions at all costs, at least to keep the Paris defense line intact.
As for the troops in eastern Stalingrad, the German Chancellor also demanded an all-out assault by the German Army; they had to take Stalingrad and advance into the Caucasus Region, sabotaging the industry there, before the British and French could retake Paris.
As for Italy, which was under attack by the British-French-Australian forces, the German Chancellor said he could not be concerned with that much anymore.
More importantly, it was because of the Italian Army’s poor performance in North Africa that the German Army faced such severe circumstances in Western Europe.
For Germany, the importance of Italy as an ally had diminished. Italy’s greatest use for Germany was to hold back the British-French-Australian forces, allowing Germany to quickly defeat Russia and send reinforcements before the British-French-Australian troops entered the homeland.
Between nations, there are no eternal interests, and it was clear that the German government was ready to sacrifice Italy to save itself.
On Italy’s side, after repeated failures to receive help from Germany, Mussolini understood that Italy was being abandoned.
The rapid shift in the situation caught him unprepared, as the northern cities of Italy fell one by one, leaving him restless.
Arthur would not let Mussolini off easily, and neither would Italy.
Firstly, there was Mussolini’s attitude toward challenging the monarchy—a stance Arthur was unwilling to accept. Such actions posed threats not only to Italy’s monarchy but also to all monarchic countries in the world.
On March 27, 1938, Arthur made a public statement, asserting that the Italian Government’s framing of the royal family by Mussolini was groundless, shameful, and illegal.
Arthur also declared that Mussolini was one of the culprits who had instigated the second World War, just like the German Chancellor; both responsible for the war that caused tens of millions of casualties.
