The Rise of Australia

Chapter 867 The troubles of pig teammates

Compared with the German-French border where shots were occasionally fired, the French-Italian border at this time was obviously more lively.

France and Italy deployed a large number of troops on their respective borders, starting a 1v1 mode within France and Italy.

Obviously, the French still have an advantage in the war with Italy.

To the west of the border between France and Italy is the vast territory of France. A large number of French troops are constantly gathering towards the southern border. This is not good news for Italy.

As for Italy, the mainland is more like a T-shape, plus two islands across the sea from the mainland, Sardinia and Sicily.

This makes it difficult for Italy to deploy large-scale troops on its northwest border, and it must also be prepared for possible sneak attacks by the French at any time.

After all, the French island of Corsica is only more than 200 kilometers away from Rome. If the French deploy a large number of air forces on Corsica, French aircraft can attack Rome at any time, which the Italians do not want to see.

As long as the French land in these directions does not fall, the French will be able to detect air force attacks with radar systems in all directions and prepare in advance.

On May 19, 11 days after the French troops were dispatched, France had advanced more than 40 kilometers on the border.

This also made Belgium, located in northern France, one of the gaps in the Maginot Line. If the German army marches south from Belgium to France, it will indeed be a crisis for France.

Although Italy has a good number of armored forces, it is a coastal area after all. Under the premise that the French army has two major advantages in sea and air, it is naturally impossible for the Italian armored forces to defeat the French army.

Faced with this situation, the Italian army panicked. They also tasted the feeling of the Austrian government half a month ago, and could only hurriedly seek help from their powerful ally, the German Empire.

Although the damage to the French air force was not small, France had more aircraft. Under the ebb and flow of one another, the French Air Force quickly occupied the air superiority on the battlefield.

The second army is mainly tanks and infantry, with naval support in terms of firepower. The main task of this army is to quickly advance from the plains, threaten the Genoa region of Italy, and complete the encirclement of the entire Turin region.

This ultimatum caught the Belgian government off guard. More importantly, the German government only gave the Belgian government 24 hours to think.

Under the cover of a large number of aircraft, the French army relaunched a large-scale offensive. After occupying air superiority, the French army also launched a major bombing campaign in Italy for the first time.

Unlike Italy, France's capital, Paris, is located inland. No matter which direction the air attack on Paris came from, it would have to pass through hundreds of kilometers of French territory.

As long as Genoa is captured, the so-called military town of Turin will become an isolated island. This is also the strategy of the French General Staff, drawing on the German combat concept in Poland to achieve the purpose of containing while quickly breaking through and encircling the enemy.

After all, Belgium is only a small and medium-sized country in Europe. From the perspective of land area, industrial economy and population size, Belgium is completely impossible to rival the French, and it is impossible to pose a threat to the French.

But if Belgium does not agree to the borrowing of German troops, it will obviously violate Belgium's original intention of being a neutral country. The German Empire would not recognize such neutrality, and in order to defeat the French, it would accomplish its goal of passing through Belgium at all costs.

Obviously, this is outright robbery.

The Italian navy cowered in the port of Rome and did not dare to go out, which allowed the British and French fleets to support the French army unscrupulously.

On May 18, after the bombing ended, the area around Turin was still filled with smoke. Deep pits and dilapidated houses could be seen everywhere, telling the story of the torture the city had suffered in the past few days.

In the encounter with the French air force, the Italian Air Force suffered a big loss for the first time, with more than half of the aircraft damaged.

The French army took out more aircraft, many of which were even produced in the United Kingdom. The Union Jack flag on the tail of the aircraft was clearly visible.

Although Britain and France were not prepared for war in advance, their industries could still allow Britain and France to produce a large number of aircraft, tanks and other important weapons and equipment in a short period of time.

After France dispatched its troops on a large scale, the Italians finally panicked.

The French army was divided into two groups, starting from Annecy in the north of the border and attacking Turin, an important town in western Italy.

In the first three days of the war, apart from the fact that the Italian army suffered more casualties than the French army, the Italian army was quite tenacious.

At the same time, the French government sent a note to the British government, asking the British government to promptly fulfill the covenant and send troops to join the war.

In order to make up for the Austrian government, Britain and France gathered together a batch of weapons, equipment and strategic materials, and used their air force to pass through Yugoslavia and transport them to Austria.

The railway to Turin was visited by French aircraft at least four times, causing at least more than two kilometers of damage.

In order to protect its capital Paris, the French government made a decisive decision and decided to mobilize a large number of troops from central and western France.

After all, the problem at this time still lies with Belgium. As long as the Belgians can defend their territory, there will be no danger on the Franco-Belgian border.

The French government stated that more than a month has passed since the war broke out. As the most powerful country on the Anglo-French-Austrian front, the British Empire has not sent army troops to participate in the war so far, and has failed to fulfill its responsibilities as an ally.

"We must attack France and force France to withdraw part of its troops and return to defense to relieve the pressure on our ally Italy." During the meeting of the German General Staff, the German Prime Minister said firmly.

"We are indeed unable to solve the French Maginot Line." The German Prime Minister nodded and said calmly but confidently: "So, why should we solve the Maginot Line?"

This actually means that the French Air Force's bombing of northwest Italy can greatly affect Italian industrial production. Especially after the roads and railways to Turin were destroyed, it became very difficult for the hundreds of thousands of Italian troops here to obtain sufficient supplies.

Austria was about to be at risk of national destruction, which made the French government become anxious. Under the orders of the French government, in addition to the French army, a large number of combat readiness materials, including tanks and aircraft, are being continuously mobilized towards the French-Italian border.

In order to resist the French head-on, Italy mobilized more than 1,500 aircraft, 1,200 of which were the latest fighters and reconnaissance aircraft.

Although the Italian government can also repair the railway in a short period of time, this does not mean that there is only one French air force attack.

Not only that, the railways and roads around Genoa and Milan were also attacked by the French army and generally suffered varying degrees of damage.

Genoa, an important coastal city in northwestern Italy, is close at hand, and the plan to completely encircle Turin seems to be coming true.

The German government stated that this time the excuse was only an act of war against the French and did not have any ill intentions towards the neutral country Belgium.

The French troops pushed the front several kilometers across the southern coastal plain, but this was innocuous. More importantly, on the northern border, west of Turin, the Italian army tenaciously resisted the French army's attack. Even the first line of defense was not breached by the French army.

After learning of the results of the war, Mussolini generously sent more strategic materials and food to the frontline troops, and even generously transported a large amount of spirits and cigarettes, which were distributed free of charge to every soldier.

This allowed France to instantly surpass Italy in the number of aircraft, and even briefly became the country with the largest number of aircraft in Europe.

The other road starts from the southern port city of Nice, along the southernmost coastal plain of the border, and advances towards the Genoa region of Italy.

Britain and France also instantly understood what the Germans were thinking. The Maginot Line of Defense is located on the German-French border, so it is naturally impossible for the French to take the initiative to defend Belgium.

Germany also felt the helplessness of having a pig teammate. As long as Italy can hold on longer, Germany and Italy can easily defeat the Austrian Empire.

What made the situation worse was that after gaining control of the air, the French armored forces' advance was much smoother than before.

Under such pressure, Italy will definitely withdraw its troops attacking Austria. Once Austria loses the pressure of fighting on two fronts, although it is impossible to defeat the German army, the delay will definitely be longer.

Unlike the German bombing, France did not show any mercy to the bombing of Italy. The purpose of the bombing was also very simple and pure, that is, Italy's transportation hubs, military towns, industrial bases and logistics warehouses.

Italy is a country with distinct north and south. Northern Italy has strong industry and has a large number of famous cities.

Why do this?

Paris, the capital of France, is close to 300 kilometers from the German-French border, which is considered a relatively safe range. Coupled with the Macedonian defense line, the French government is relatively safe in Paris.

Important cities in northwestern Italy such as Turin, Genoa, Milan and La Spezia are all on the French Air Force's bombing list.

What's even more terrible is that there are not many military fortresses on the Franco-Belgian border. Once the German army moves south from Belgium, judging from the terrifying record of the German army, Paris will fall sooner or later.

Once the Belgian government fails to agree to the German government's request within 24 hours, the German army will directly enter the Belgian border without any consultation with the Belgian government.

Looking at the Polish and Austrian empires surrounding Germany, the Belgian government firmly shook its head and expressed that it did not believe the Germans.

The question is, will the Belgian government believe what the Germans say that this military operation is only against France and not against Belgium?

But Paris is only about 170 kilometers away from the border with Belgium, which is about half shorter than the distance from the German-French border.

This also reflects the advantages that industrial powers like Britain and France have in facing such a large-scale war.

In just five days from May 13 to May 17, France dispatched more than 220 bombers, conducted more than 2,275 bombing sorties, and dropped nearly 135,000 bombs.

Germany's meaning is also very simple. Belgium only needs to agree, and it has to agree even if it disagrees.

This is the place with the largest number of Italian troops and the most frequent visits by the French Air Force.

The French government requested that the British government send at least 100,000 troops to France within half a month. Within a month, at least 250,000 troops were dispatched to the French-Belgian border and helped the Belgians defend their homeland.

"But, Your Excellency, Prime Minister, if we easily start the war on the Western Front, doesn't it mean that we will face the situation 20 years ago and enter the dilemma of fighting on two fronts again?" A general from the Ministry of War stood up bravely. Said: "Moreover, if we cannot solve the French Maginot Line of defense and rashly launch an offensive against France, it will only increase casualties."

But not Italy. Rome is a coastal city, and it is impossible for Italy to deploy a large number of radar systems in the ocean to detect possible French attacks.

Without the Austrian Empire, neither France nor Britain and France would be able to defeat the combination of Germany and Italy on the land front.

But the problem happens to be on the Italian side. Once the Italian army is unable to resist the French attack, important cities in northwest Italy and even the entire northern Italy may face a French attack.

It was also mentioned in the reply from the French government to the Austrian government that the French government stated that it would launch a full-scale attack on Italy at all costs to resolve Italy as soon as possible and free the Austrians from the two-front war situation.

But on the fourth day, the battlefield situation ushered in a huge change.

At the same time, a large number of troops were also heading towards Turin and Genoa. Mussolini even stated before sending troops that the Italian army would not be afraid of any enemy.

Among them, the one with the most heavy losses was definitely Turin, a military town in northwest Italy.

Two hours after the Germans issued the ultimatum, the Belgian government urgently contacted the British and French governments, demanding that Britain and France abide by the Neutrality Treaty, provide Belgium with due support, and ensure Belgium's neutrality.

On May 21, 1936, when the war in Europe was extremely anxious, the German government suddenly issued an ultimatum to Belgium, asking the Belgian government to allow German troops to pass through Belgium to achieve the purpose of attacking the French.

Southern Italy has relatively strong agriculture, but is far inferior to Northern Italy in terms of city size and popularity.

The first army is mainly infantry and aircraft. Their combat tasks are relatively difficult and they need to confront a large number of Italian troops head-on.

As I said before, the longer it is delayed, the less friendly it will be to Germany and Italy. The German government also understands this impact. They must find ways to help Italy, at least to stabilize the situation in Italy.

As long as Italy did not regain air supremacy, such attacks would occur frequently, and the Italian government would never be able to repair the railway to Turin.

Moreover, because of the participation of the British, the Italian navy was still at a disadvantage in the Mediterranean. As a country whose entire coastline is located on the Mediterranean Sea, this is a heavy blow to Italy.

When the French government learned of the German ultimatum, its first reaction was not to help the Belgian government, but to frantically mobilize troops to protect Paris.

However, the French did not believe that the Belgians could really defend their territory. This is why the French government asked British troops to land in France.

An update for today.