The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1152 - 866: The Troubles of a Pig Teammate_2

Chapter 1152: Chapter 866: The Troubles of a Pig Teammate_2

Turin, Genoa, Milan, and La Spezia among other key urban cities in northwestern Italy were all on the French Air Force’s extensive bombing list.

Of these, Turin in northwestern Italy had definitely suffered the most disastrous losses.

This was where the largest number of Italian troops was located and the place the French Air Force visited the most frequently.

Within the brief span from May 13th to May 17th, France had launched over 220 bombers, conducting more than 2,275 bombing runs, and dropped close to 135,000 bombs.

On May 18th after the bombing had concluded, the surroundings of Turin were still shrouded in gunsmoke, with deep craters and shattered buildings everywhere, narrating the city’s torment over the past few days.

Unlike the Germans’ bombings, the French showed no mercy in their bombing campaign against Italy, with a simple and clear purpose: to target Italy’s transport hubs, military strongholds, industrial bases, and logistics warehouses.

The railways leading to Turin were hit by French planes at least four times, causing destruction spanning more than two kilometers.

But that wasn’t all; the railways and highways around Genoa and Milan also fell victim to the French Military’s attacks, suffering varying degrees of damage.

Italy is a country with a distinct north-south divide. Northern Italy has a stronger industry and hosts numerous famous cities.

Southern Italy excels in agriculture and, in terms of urban scale and renown, can’t hold a candle to the north.

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This also meant, the French Air Force’s bombings on northwestern Italy could severely affect Italian industrial production.

Especially after the destruction of the roads and railways leading to Turin, it became incredibly difficult for the hundreds of thousands of Italian troops located there to secure enough supplies.

Although the Italian Government could repair the railways in a short time, this did not mean that the French Air Force’s attacks would happen only once.

As long as Italy had not regained air superiority, such attacks would continue to occur frequently, and the Italian Government would never be able to fully repair the railways leading to Turin.

To make matters worse, now that they had air superiority, the progress of the French Armored troops was much smoother than before.

The Italian navy holed up in the harbor of Rome, daring not to move, which gave the British and French fleets free rein to support the French Army.

Although Italy had a considerable number of armored troops, being in a coastal region meant that they naturally couldn’t defeat the French Military, who held the twin advantages of sea and air.

By May 19th, 11 days after the French Military had set off, they had already advanced over 40 kilometers past the border.

The important coastal city of Genoa in northwestern Italy was now within reach, and the plan to completely encircle Turin seemed imminent.

Faced with such a situation, the Italian Military began to panic. They were experiencing the same desperation that the Austrian Government felt just half a month earlier, only able to hastily call upon their powerful ally, the German Empire, for help.

Germany too felt the exasperation of having a weak ally. If only Italy could have held out longer, Germany and Italy would have been able to easily defeat the Austrian Empire.

Without the Austrian Empire, neither France nor the British and French combined could possibly defeat the combined land forces of Germany and Italy.

But the issue, quite vexingly, lay with Italy. Once the Italian Army was unable to resist the French onslaught, not only the important cities in northwestern Italy but possibly the entire northern Italy could face a French invasion.

Under such pressure, Italy would undoubtedly have to pull back the troops attacking Austria. Once Austria was relieved of the pressure of fighting on two fronts, they might not be able to defeat the German Army, but they certainly could extend the conflict even longer.

As mentioned before, the longer the delay, the more unfavorable it was for Germany and Italy. The German government understood this impact; they had to find a way to help Italy, at least to stabilize the domestic situation there.

“We must attack France, forcing them to withdraw some of their troops to defend and thus relieve our ally Italy’s pressure,” declared the German Chancellor firmly at a meeting of the German General Staff.

“However, Your Excellency, if we rashly initiate hostilities on the Westline, doesn’t it mean we’ll be facing the same situation as 20 years ago, entering the predicament of fighting on two fronts again?” a General from the Army Department bravely stepped forward and said: “Moreover, if we cannot overcome the French’s Maginot Line and rashly start an offensive against France, it would only increase our casualties.”

“We indeed cannot overcome the French’s Maginot Line,” admitted the German Chancellor, nodding and saying with calm but absolute confidence: “So why should we try to overcome the Maginot Line?”

On May 21st, 1936, at a time when the European War was extremely tense, the French government suddenly issued an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding that the Belgian government allow the German Army passage through Belgium to achieve the goal of attacking the French indirectly.

The German government explained that this passage was solely directed at the war against France and bore no ill will towards the neutral country of Belgium.

However, if Belgium refused the German Army’s passage, it would clearly betray Belgium’s fundamental intent as a neutral nation. The German Empire would not recognize such neutrality and, in order to defeat France, was determined to do whatever necessary to ensure passage through Belgium.