The Third Reich in Desperation

Third Reich Episode 395

In the past few years, Ciano has been tired of war and killing, and he has long thought of anti-war.It's not that he loves peace so much, but that he is in it and knows how corrupt and inefficient Italy is.

Take the northern defense line he was responsible for building as an example. With this project alone, Ciano has stolen wealth that ordinary people can't even imagine.Once Italy now stops those wars that benefit little, stay neutral.

Even if it is to learn from Spain and support Germany in the name of neutrality, it is much better than going directly to battle with Germany like it is now.

From Ciano's point of view, his wealth is more than enough.Without the risk of war, he can spend the rest of his life in Italy.

Rich and powerful, what else is there to be dissatisfied with?

Perhaps, the only one who will not be satisfied is Mussolini, an idiot who dreams of being Caesar all day long.

Especially Ciano, the Italian foreign minister, saw that the chance for Italy to withdraw from the war gradually became clear, but his bald father-in-law was actually planning a new war.

And the target of this war is the Soviet army that even the Germans seem to be unable to resist!

Oh, God!How can Italy stand up to this toss!

At this time, Ciano still vaguely felt a sense of sacred responsibility endowed to him by history.

That's right, today's Italy does not need a warlike Caesar, but an anti-war leader like Ciano.

"Matthew! Oliver!" Ciano, who felt more and more that it was time to start preparations, immediately summoned his two cronies.

In Italy, not only Prime Minister Mussolini has his own cronies.

As the foreign minister, Ciano also has many people in the foreign ministry who are closer to him than the prime minister.

"Commissioner, is there anything to do?" As a senior person in charge of Ciano's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Matthew became a member of Ciano's Supreme Council.

"You two, come with me to meet the king." Ciano said confidently.

Meet the king? !

The two persons in charge suddenly lost their way.

"Member, why are we going to see the king? If there is something to report, wouldn't it be more effective to report directly to the leader?" Oliver also asked confusedly.

The leader in his mouth, of course, has always regarded himself as the leader of Italy, and asked others how to call him Mussolini.

In the eyes of the Italian public, the current King of Italy, Vittorio Emmanuel III, does not have as much power to speak as Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini.

In today's Italy, the cabinet is entirely occupied by Mussolini's party members, and the Senate has also become the legislature under Mussolini's control.

At this time, the king seems to be no longer so important.

Especially a few years ago, Deputy Prime Minister Rossi led people to clear the oil reserves of the Italian royal family hidden in caves in the northern mountains, which further damaged the royal family's power.

In today's Italy, the one with the greatest voice is undoubtedly Mussolini, whose trusted party members are all over the ruling and opposition parties.And even if it is considered the second most powerful voice, it is Rossi, the deputy prime minister and member of the Supreme Council.

In terms of the king's right to speak, even if there is some left, it is far less than the two prime ministers and deputy prime ministers of Italy today.

However, as soon as Oliver's words came out, Ciano sneered: "Mussolini? He is just the prime minister. In Italy, he is not our king."

Call Mussolini by his last name!

Oliver and Matthew couldn't help trembling at the same time.

Indistinctly, they felt an unusual aura.

Sure enough, Ciano continued: "His Prime Minister was given by the king after all. Although His Majesty the King is bound now, it doesn't mean that the King is no longer the King!"

"Today's Italy has reached the brink of danger. If we can't let Mussolini, as Prime Minister, stop his crazy and unrealistic expansion plan, then there will be no future Italy, including us. Good luck."

"So..." Ciano paused, looked into the eyes of the two cronies, and said, "Why don't we meet the king now, tell about Mussolini's ambitions, and win the king's support."

"With the support of His Majesty the King, we will have a name and slogan if we overthrow Mussolini's rule in the future." Ciano said quite conceitedly.

"However, the leader... the prime minister, after all, controls most of the key departments in the country, and also holds several cabinet ministers in person, so he has a strong ruling power."

Oliver thought for a while, and finally changed his mind and did not call Mussolini the leader.However, he also did not dare to call Ciano by his first name, so he chose to use the neutral title of "Prime Minister" to represent Mussolini.

"Yes, the Prime Minister has already controlled most of the domestic departments. And even the remaining departments are mostly in the hands of the Deputy Prime Minister Rossi. If we want to take action, the only department that can be used is our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That's all." Matthew also imitated Oliver's tone, using the Prime Minister to represent Mussolini.

Looking at these two cronies who were full of worries, Ciano sighed in disappointment.

These are already the two closest to him, and it is for this reason that Ciano will promote them as senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his own use.

But now, even the two most confidantes of him dare not set foot on his big plan.Ciano was very disappointed. Are the Italians really as cowardly as Mussolini said?

After sighing silently in his heart again, Ciano threatened the two of them coldly: "Don't give me so many reasons and excuses, I know what you are worried about!"

After being exposed to the small calculation in their hearts, both of them lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Indeed, the reason why they are really timid is that, in the final analysis, they are afraid of facing Mussolini's revenge once they fail.

"We are all on the same boat." Ciano said coldly without a trace of warmth: "I never treated the two of you badly when I shared the money before. Now, it's time for you to repay me."

"Don't try to do anything behind my back, because our fate has already been tied together! It's just that you and I embezzled a lot of money in the construction of the northern defense line, and the lack of defense project, we and the Germans can't see it in private The transaction is already enough to get us shot ten times!" Ciano finally chose to threaten the two cronies in a sensual way.

Since you are unwilling to take the initiative to join, then don't blame me for forcing you to go all the way.After all, starting from today, I, Ciano, still have a lot of places to employ people, so someone must be available!

Text Chapter 600 The Shepherd in the Shadow

Although Ciano is also corrupt, for Italy, he can be regarded as the most outstanding type of official among many colleagues.

In fact, ever since Germany annexed Austria, Ciano realized the danger Reinhardt's war intentions brought to Italy and the possibility of another world war.

Therefore, Ciano has repeatedly negotiated with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop on the issue of avoiding war.

However, since Reinhardt had made a decision long ago, and believed that Britain, France and the Soviet Union would not live in peace with Germany, Ciano's negotiations to avoid war proposed by Ribbentrop have been of no avail.

Also from then on, Ciano was convinced that Reinhardt "was dragging Mussolini to bear the risk of war with him."

At that time, Ciano proposed the famous "hegemony plan" for Mussolini, and even felt a bit like Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Opposition" during the Three Kingdoms period.

While dissuading Mussolini from prematurely participating in the battles proposed by the Germans, such as the Polish campaign, or the beginning of the French campaign, Ciano was actually pulling Mussolini to join the war.

On the other hand, Ciano actively cooperated with Mussolini to occupy and annex the weaker surrounding countries in order to strengthen Italy's military power.

In fact, Ciano has secretly sent a large number of spies to countries such as Greece, and has been secretly buying some government officials from these small countries.Ready to annex them at any time.

Ciano understands better than Mussolini. He knows that if Italy wants to dominate, it must not take the route of the European center.On the contrary, reappearing the glory of the Roman Empire can also be achieved by packing up some simple small countries.

As long as Italy took over the European and African lands along the Mediterranean Sea, it turned the Mediterranean Sea into an inner lake of Italy.Becoming the overlord of the Mediterranean is only a kind of hegemony.

To this end, Ciano cooperated with Mussolini to arrange the armed occupation of Albania.Then he wisely adopted a combination of grace and power in Albania to consolidate Italian rule, and skillfully used the Albanian election to award the Albanian crown to King Vittorio Emmanuel III of Italy, thus fundamentally completing Italy's opposition Annexation of Albania.

Of course, this is also Ciano's backhand.