Anti-Japanese War: My equipment is infinitely refreshed

On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the international situation was turbulent and Italy faced a difficult choice.

King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy was well aware of his country's national conditions. Although Italy at that time had the ambition to revive the ancient Roman Empire, the reality was extremely cruel.

Economically, Italy was still suffering from the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 1929. It was extremely short of industrial resources such as coal, oil, rubber, and strategic metals, and was almost entirely dependent on imports. Its industrial development lagged behind that of other powers. After increased military investment and the consumption of the Ethiopian and Spanish wars, the country's finances were in an unprecedented deficit and were simply unable to support a large-scale war.

The military situation is also not optimistic. The army seems to have 74 divisions, but due to its special organization, its actual strength is only equivalent to 50 divisions of other countries. Its equipment is outdated and backward. The infantry divisions have few motor vehicles and rely on donkeys and horses to march. The artillery firepower is weak and the ammunition quality is poor. The main armored force is ultra-light tanks that are vulnerable to attack. Although the air force has nearly 3300 aircraft, only 1600 are combat-ready. There are few advanced fighter jets and they lack key equipment, so their combat capabilities are limited. The naval ships are unreasonably configured, there are no aircraft carriers and radars, and the sea-air coordination is chaotic. There was even an accident in which the air force accidentally attacked its own air force marshal.

Based on these realistic difficulties, Vittorio Emanuele III concluded that Italy was not yet ready for war and was therefore cautious about joining the war.

But Mussolini had other plans. On the one hand, he always believed that territorial expansion could ease domestic economic pressure, and he fantasized about gaining resources and markets through foreign conquests and thus shifting the economic crisis.

On the other hand, Germany's initial success in the European battlefield and its blitzkrieg victories gave Mussolini great confidence, making him believe that if Italy formed an alliance with Germany and joined the war, it would also be able to get a piece of the pie.

In addition, Italy's previous victories in the wars against Ethiopia and Spain led him to overestimate the strength of his own army. Regardless of many domestic problems and opposition voices, he insisted on tying Italy to the Nazi chariot and throwing it into the impending world war.

At the beginning of the war, Italy maintained a wait-and-see attitude for a while.

When Germany quickly swept through Poland, Denmark, Norway and other countries with its blitzkrieg, Mussolini saw a seemingly profitable opportunity and could not suppress his inner desire for expansion, so he decided to join the war.

The Italian army took the lead in launching a move on the African battlefield, attempting to seize Britain's African colonies by relying on its many years of business foundation in the local area, and realize Mussolini's ambition of building a "New Roman Empire" and making the Mediterranean its inland lake.

In early July 1940, the Italian army launched an attack on British troops in Sudan and Kenya based in Abyssinia.

Initially, due to the weak British army in the local area, the Italian army made smooth progress and occupied some important strongholds in Sudan and Kenya.

However, the good times did not last long. With the arrival of British reinforcements and the heroic resistance of local guerrillas, the situation of the Italian army took a sharp turn for the worse.

By April 1941, the remnants of the Italian army led by the Duke of Aosta surrendered to the British Army on the East African battlefield, and Mussolini's dream of establishing an East African empire was completely shattered.

At the same time, on the North African battlefield, the Italian troops stationed in North Africa took advantage of Germany's large-scale bombing of the British mainland in September 1940 to launch an attack on the British army from eastern Cyrenaica, attempting to invade Egypt and seize the British army's main naval base, Alexandria and the Suez Canal.

However, in order to safeguard its colonial interests in the Mediterranean and North Africa, the British army quickly dispatched reinforcements to defend Egypt.

On December 12, General Wavell led 7 troops and a tank brigade to launch a counterattack against the Italian army from south of Matruh.

In just one and a half months, the British army annihilated nine Italian divisions at the small cost of less than 2000 casualties, and captured 9 Italian officers and soldiers. The Italian army suffered heavy losses, and the initiative in the North African battlefield gradually fell into the hands of the British army.

On the European battlefield, on June 1940, 6, when the German army quickly invaded France and approached Paris and the French government fled Paris, Mussolini believed that the time had come and finally abandoned his neutral position and declared war on France.

But the performance of the Italian army was shocking. By June 6, about 18 Italian divisions had fought fiercely with 32 French divisions on the Alpine front and the southern coast for a week, but failed to force the French army to retreat a single step. This was despite the fact that the French divisions guarding the Franco-Italian border were under threat of attack from the rear by the German army. This showed the combat effectiveness and will of the Italian army.

Faced with these initial battle conditions, although Vittorio Emanuele III was somewhat concerned about the direction of the war, he did not interfere too much in military operations considering the domestic public opinion environment and the checks and balances of power with Mussolini.

At that time, fascist propaganda was rampant in Italy, and the people were indoctrinated with ideas such as restoring the glory of the ancient Roman Empire and expanding outward to gain living space. A large number of young people were bewitched to join the army and were full of enthusiasm for the war, believing that this was the only way for Italy to achieve glory.

Business people are driven by profit and hope to open up new markets and acquire resources through war in order to find a way out of their economic difficulties. They support war initiatives to a certain extent.

Only a few insightful people, seeing Italy's lack of preparation and the huge potential risks of war, privately expressed their concerns about joining the war, but their voices were drowned out by the fanatical atmosphere of the time.

The complexity of this domestic public opinion made it difficult for Vittorio Emanuele III to turn the situation around in the early stages of the war. He could only wait and see, hoping that the war situation would develop in a direction favorable to Italy.

As the war progressed, the situation became increasingly unfavorable for the Axis powers.

On the Soviet-German battlefield, the German army encountered stubborn resistance from the Soviet Red Army.

From the cold winter difficulties in the Battle of Moscow to the brutal street fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad, the German army suffered heavy losses and was severely damaged, and was forced to switch to strategic defense.

The Italian army originally joined the German army in attacking the Soviet Union, hoping to share in the benefits. However, the reality was that not only did the Italian army fail to gain any benefits, it also suffered heavy losses on the icy and snowy Eastern Front battlefield with a shortage of supplies. A large number of soldiers were captured, frostbitten, or frozen to death, and their morale was extremely low.

In addition, the domestic economy also experienced problems. Industrial production stagnated due to Allied bombing, insufficient food supply triggered large-scale protests from the people, anti-war sentiment was high, and the fascist regime was crumbling.

Faced with such a serious situation, Vittorio Emanuele III was extremely anxious.

He knew very well that Italy had been dragged into the abyss of war by Mussolini, and if it continued to follow the German army and resist stubbornly, the country would be doomed.

Therefore, he frequently held secret meetings with the big capitalists of the domestic monopoly bourgeoisie and analyzed the situation to them: "The war has left Italy in tatters, with industry paralyzed, agricultural harvests failing, and people living in misery. If we don't stop the losses in time, our wealth and status will be wiped out."

The big capitalists were initially hesitant due to their inertial support for the fascist regime and their misjudgment of the war situation, but as the situation became clearer, some began to waver.

At the same time, the king also had several secret talks with senior officers of the three armed forces, solemnly pointing out: "The Italian army is now defeated on all fronts, with huge losses in equipment and soldiers. If the war continues, the army will completely collapse. We must consider the future of Italy and find a time to end the war."

Some officers also realized the seriousness of the problem and were tempted by the king's proposal. After all, they had witnessed the disastrous defeat on the battlefield and were well aware of the army's plight.

However, the situation is changing rapidly.

Just as all parties in Italy began to think about retreat, the occasional counterattacks launched by the German army on local battlefields achieved small victories, which made some originally wavering officers and capitalists change their minds. They were optimistic and fantasized that the German army could turn the tide again and Italy could still gain benefits from the war. They continued to ignore the king's proposal to end the war, causing Italy to sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of war.

The discovery of the Libyan oil fields was like a bombshell, instantly disrupting Italy's original strategic layout and domestic power balance. Before that, although Italy had long coveted Libya and regarded it as a key link in its African colonial territory, it mainly focused on geopolitical significance, hoping to build a strategic channel connecting colonies such as Eritrea and Ethiopia by controlling this land, and then build a huge African colonial empire, making the Mediterranean its own "inland lake", opening up a vast market for Italian products and alleviating domestic economic difficulties.

When the oil field was discovered, the huge economic value it contained shocked the whole of Italy.

According to the exploration data at that time, the reserves of Libya's oil fields were astonishing. The initial estimated oil reserves were enough to meet Italy's domestic industrial needs for decades, and a large amount of exports could earn foreign exchange. This was undoubtedly a life-saving straw for Italy, which was deeply mired in the economic quagmire and lacked resources.
Oil not only means energy self-sufficiency and getting rid of dependence on imported oil, but also means that core industrial sectors such as the military industry and chemical industry will obtain a steady stream of power, have the opportunity to achieve leapfrog development, and reshape Italy's economic status in Europe and even the world.

On a strategic level, the existence of oil fields dramatically increased the importance of the North African battlefield.

Prior to this, Italy's war in North Africa was more to cooperate with Mussolini's expansionist fantasies, and its military operations lacked coherence and firm determination.

Now, in order to firmly control the oil fields, the Italian army must go all out to consolidate its rule in Libya.

This caused serious disagreements among Italy's top leaders on strategic decision-making. King Vittorio Emanuele III originally advocated shrinking the front and preserving strength in order to cope with the increasingly severe economic and social problems at home and avoid being overly involved in the quagmire of war; but the temptation of the oil fields made Mussolini and other fascist hardliners more fanatical, and they insisted on increasing military investment in North Africa, attempting to rely on oil resources to support a long-term war and realize their ambition to dominate the Mediterranean.

The balance of power in the country has also quietly shifted.

Mussolini further strengthened the fascist regime's control over the state apparatus on the grounds of protecting oil interests and achieving national revival.

He preached to the people about the bright prospects that Libya's oil fields would bring, which misled the people and led to a brief resurgence of public support for the war. The fascist forces took this opportunity to consolidate their rule.

Some military officers and capitalists who had originally doubted Mussolini because of the war failure, once again turned to his camp due to the envy of oil wealth, and gave the green light to his plan to expand armaments and increase troops.

This resulted in the king's voice in the decision-making process being greatly weakened.

Fortunately, there is always a way out. As the US military increased its attention to the European battlefield, a large number of US troops and equipment arrived in the British Isles.

Every day, a large number of planes bombed the German hinterland.

This led to a huge decline in the German army's industrial production, and even caused problems on the battlefields everywhere.

It was for this reason that Vittorio Emanuele III felt his chance had come.

In addition, the Allies sent people to lobby and persuade the Italian army to withdraw from the Axis powers and join the Allies to fight against Germany.

Not only that, but various conditions were also promised.

The Allied surrender action was like a timely rain, bringing a glimmer of hope for Italy to escape from the quagmire of war.

During the contacts between the Allied representatives and various Italian forces, they elaborated in detail on the situation in which the Axis powers were doomed to fail and the many benefits that would come from Italy joining the Allied camp.

These promises are undoubtedly very attractive to Italy, which is in trouble.

Vittorio Emanuele III knew that this was a great opportunity for Italy to escape the war crisis and avoid greater losses to the country.

He discussed secretly with his confidants and weighed the pros and cons.

On the one hand, if Italy continues to follow Germany, it will face a more severe situation, its domestic economy and society will suffer greater damage, and it may even face the danger of national extinction; on the other hand, although joining the Allies also involves certain risks, it will gain the support of the Allies and is expected to restore the country's vitality after the war.

After careful consideration, Vittorio Emanuele III decided to seize the opportunity.

He began to secretly cooperate with the Allies to prepare for Italy's defection.

He communicated with senior military officials and convinced them to support his decision.

At the same time, he also arranged for his confidants to contact anti-fascist forces in the country to win their support.

As news of Vittorio Emanuele III's contacts with the Allies spread, the situation in Italy became more complicated.

Some pro-fascist forces were dissatisfied with the king's actions and tried to prevent Italy from defecting.

These forces launched a propaganda campaign in the country, trying to incite public sentiment and make them continue to support the fascist regime and the war.

However, more Italians were tired of the war.

They saw the great destruction that war brought to the country and longed for peace.

Anti-fascist forces also took the opportunity to launch large-scale protests, demanding that the government end the war and join the Allies.

These protests have gained widespread support from the public, making the situation in the country even more tense.

"We must capture Mussolini and end all this chaos." Vittorio Emanuele III shook his head and said with determination.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The confidants immediately responded. (End of this chapter)