Breaking free from the hugs of Bardogrio and Ziano, Mussolini tried his best to calm his emotions. During the twenty-four hours after declaring war with Germany, no one could understand the heavy pressure he was carrying.

Mussolini is proud. He believes that he has a talented mission. He will save Italy, which has been destined to be the savior of this country. He is Caesar, Augustus, and a great figure who should be recorded in history and be passed down by his descendants for thousands of years.

But the reality is extremely cruel. The Italy he led could not withstand the test of war at all. This country has poor resources and has no conditions to exist independently of European society. In three centuries, Italy has used up all the accumulated character of his ancestors. All the great city-states of the past have become passing clouds, and the last glory of the Roman Empire has been buried in the dust of history.

"Notify the gendarmerie and arrest Kafliani!" Mussolini said, pointing to Giano.

Then the imperial leader turned his gaze to the Chief of Staff's face, and he covered his ribs with his hands and asked, "If I give you the ships and escort fleet you need, will the army guarantee the regaining of Sicily!"

"No!" Bardoglio answered very simply, and at the same time, he shook his head vigorously to make a decision.

"Why! We have fifteen infantry divisions there." Mussolini's eyes became dangerous and sharp.

"I told you that this is not only a matter of number of people. The nearest infantry divisions lack ammunition and supplies, and the weapons shortages are also serious. If we decide to support Sicily, it will take about three to four days, and we can probably gather a force of five infantry regiments. And as I pointed out before, without the support of the navy, we can't send them to the island at all." Badorio said as he walked to the front of the long table.

"The Navy will be dispatched, and it won't take too long to deal with the current problem. I can guarantee it." Mussolini said, but hesitated in his words.

"If there is support from the navy, the army should be able to solve this problem, right? This is the army's responsibility." Mussolini reached out and gestured to the map.

"It is true in theory, Prime Minister, but in fact, no matter what plan we come up with now, it is too late to go in time, and the Germans will not give us time to rest." Bardoglio picked up a red pencil from the table and drew several lines on Sicily.

"At present, they have broken through the beachhead position, I don't know how they did it, but considering the combat effectiveness of the German Army, okay, let's not talk about this for now." Looking at Mussolini's ugly face, Bardoglio decided not to stimulate Caesar too much before the talks ended.

"This is the defense line of the Aosta Infantry Division, and this is the defense line of the Naples Infantry Division. You can see that it should be a company." Bardogrio drew an arc behind the southern coastline of Sicily.

"But we don't know what happened, and the connection between the two divisions has been disconnected. The German army is very good at breaking through the weak points of the position, and then developing to the depth and the two wings, destroying the supply points and command centers in the deep assault troops, and then cooperating with the roundabout forces of the two wings to annihilate the troops in the encirclement in one fell swoop. The weak position of the two troop positions is the German favorite breakthrough point." Bardoglio threw the red pencil on the map.

"The training level of the other infantry divisions in the south is no different from these two infantry divisions. If we send them to that island now, it would be equivalent to letting these soldiers die."

"The Italians are not afraid of sacrifice. We have firm belief and determination." Mussolini said with his head down and his hand touching the map. His mood finally calmed down. After his intense excitement, he left exponential depression.

"Prime Minister, I am afraid we must give up Sicily now, which is the wisest choice at present." Bardoglio put the military cap on the table.

"No, we cannot give up Sicily. As long as I am still the Prime Minister of Italy, I will never make a decision to give up my territory." Mussolini stared at Badoglio with his eyes. The Marshal of the Army could clearly see the red blood around his pupils.

"The retreat is temporary now, otherwise we will lose more, Prime Minister." Bardoglio picked up the red pencil and drew a huge circle on the tip of the boots on the Italian map.

"We only have two poorly equipped coastal divisions here. Like the four coastal divisions on Sicily, the troops were said to have collapsed at the first time. So if the Germans were preparing to land in Italy from here, we would have no way to stop them."

"So what is your plan?" Mussolini looked down at the map and was silent for a while. Apparently he was convinced by the facts told by Bardoglio.

"My plan proposed after the negotiations by the Commander-in-Chief was to immediately assemble troops from several major southern provinces and build a line of defense between Salerno and Mesaponte, which is expected to take about five days. We estimate that the Germans are not able to launch a second landing operation for the time being, and it will take time for both material allocation and fleet organization.

We can strengthen the defense lines of the southern provinces in this gap left to us by the Germans. And just one line of defense cannot stop the Germans. We also need to establish a second and third line of defense in the rear, which requires mobilizing all the Italian army's troops in the south. We calculated that it is roughly thirty-two infantry divisions."

"God, this is almost half the total number of the army." Ziano exclaimed.

"The actual force is not that large. We need to recruit Italian men of appropriate age to join the army. Although there is not much time to train them, at least we can teach them to pull the trigger." Bardoglio drew the two subsequent defense lines on the map.

"This plan is very good, I'm very satisfied." Mussolini glanced at Ziano, then nodded to the Chief of Staff with approval.

"I'm glad you agree with this plan, but if you want to complete it, I need to obtain your written authorization because we will mobilize strategic material reserves in the five major southern provinces, requisition the required civil transportation, and also need a sum of funds as salary for recruiters." Bardoglio said with some embarrassment.

"No problem, you will get my authorization letter, supplies, supplies, personnel, ammunition, vehicles, funds, and everything you can think of, as long as you can guarantee it and stop the Germans from moving forward." Looking at the sincere expression on Mussolini's face, if he had not figured out the details of the leader, Bardoglio would have been moved by him.

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will give you a written application and a list of items you need after I go back." Bardoglio bowed slightly to greet him.

"But what about the enemy in the north? Have you forgotten the enemy in the north?" Ziano couldn't stand this small theater with harmony between the king and the ministers, so he interrupted again.

"Of course I haven't forgotten, His Excellency Minister of Foreign Affairs!" Bardoglio replied loudly. The Army Marshal kicked the Foreign Minister with a look. This was indeed a little bastard and deserved to be dealt with by his father-in-law.

"As far as the troops at hand are concerned, we have assembled four infantry divisions on the Apennines defense line. In Florence, our Fourth Army is ready to go." Bardogrio drew a horizontal line north of the central Italian mountains with a red pencil.

"From Pisa, through Florence, Arezzo, Castello and all the way to the Adriatic Sea, we will build a solid line of defense. The Roman commander unanimously decided to call it Mussolini's line of defense, in order to express the Italian people's determination to resist and support and respect for the national leaders." Bardoglio owed again, and Mussolini's face looked a little better at that time.

"How many troops are going to deploy here," Mussolini asked, touching her chin.

"For twenty-two infantry divisions, we need to assemble all the troops around central and western Italy and Rome, including the Blackshirts." Bardoglio replied respectfully.

"You mean to mobilize the Roman garrison troops? The 10th Motorized Infantry Division? Plus all the Blackshirt Legion?" Mussolini hesitated. These troops were the last national reserves he had prepared.

"We can no longer withdraw the troops on the French border. Prime Minister, the French have broken through the defense line on the border." After Badoglio said that, he glanced at Ziano again, and the foreign minister was half short on the spot.

"These damn Gauls." Mussolini also turned his face and kicked Ziano, as if the other party was the culprit that caused all this.

"How long does it take to build this line of defense if you follow your plan?" Mussolini asked.

"About four to five days, we can mobilize some troops in front of the Mussolini defense line to build a slightly simpler defense line. It only takes the Germans for four or five days. I believe we can still do this." Bardoglio replied.

ps: Sorry, it’s too late to this chapter today, thank you for your understanding.

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Chapter completed!