Badoglio is now in a stable state of mind, he thinks that he has done all the work he can do, and the rest is left to God's arrangement.

The field marshal was convinced that the merciful Lord still favored the Kingdom of Italy and its pious people, so Mussolini had to step down, even though he was praised by the Pope as a "Providence."

The Vatican's attitude has always been somewhat ambiguous, but in Badoglio's view, it is not too much of a problem, and as long as the church remains neutral at this time, it is tantamount to acknowledging the legitimacy of the coup.

The transitional government only needs to continue to recognize Mussolini's agreement with the Vatican, and then the shepherds of God will not be obsessed with superficial issues, and they may demand some benefits from them afterwards, but by then the big picture has been decided, and there is time for this group of greedy people to slowly get their hands dirty.

Badoglio slowly ascended the steps of the Palazzo Venezia, where he was about to put on a final show for the arrogant dictator, and the field marshal confirmed that everything was in place and that the leader's fate could not be changed.

"Good morning, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Badoglio strode into the room and saluted the dictator standing behind his desk.

"Good morning, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, there is something important that you need to come in person." Mussolini briefly raised his wrist, then reached out and made a gesture to sit down.

"Thank you, no need, I have brought the will of His Majesty the King this time, and he wants to ask you to go to him immediately." Badoglio bowed slightly in thanks.

"What's the urgency? Why not give a call first. ”

Mussolini was not surprised by the king's summons, he only visited the Quirinal Palace once on the second day of the war, and never saw his majesty again. Emmanuele III (Emmanuel III), of course, had some thoughts, after all, it was his country that was nominally ravaged by war.

"Do you know what His Majesty is looking for me?" Mussolini sat down and deliberately flipped through a folder in front of him, pretending that he still had a bunch of official business to attend to.

"To be honest, I don't know, I asked Colonel Paul the same question before, but unfortunately the chief of the guard was completely unaware." Badoglio turned sideways to look at the chief of the palace guard behind him, and the other party quickly nodded in agreement.

"Okay, give me half an hour, you go to the lounge to rest first, I'll go change my clothes, I can't dress like this to see Your Majesty." Mussolini tugged at his uniform.

"Yes, Your Excellency, we will wait for you downstairs." Badogglio respectfully bowed and bowed, and before going out, he turned around and gave Mussolini a fascist salute.

Watching the field marshal leave, Mussolini sank his face, this field marshal just behaved no different from the past, but from the moment he entered the door, Mussolini had a strange feeling in his heart, there seemed to be something hidden under that deferential face today, especially when the field marshal looked at him, he actually had a creepy feeling, as if he had encountered some kind of natural enemy.

Badoglio seems to have been a little too active during this time, and now the power of the chief of the general staff has swelled dramatically because of the war, and he has more than two-thirds of the armed forces in his hands, is this because of this to make himself feel threatened, it seems that this should be a reasonable answer after all.

Mussolini stared at the papers on the table for a moment, but finally decided to go to the king first, and wait until he could think about how to confiscate the marshal's military power.

Mussolini still retains a certain loyalty to the royal family, and he did consider following the example of the German Führer for a while, overthrowing the royal family and appointing himself as the leader of Italy, but the situation in Italy is different from that of Germany, the Italian royal family still retains a lot of political power, and there are many supporters among the people, and the Savoy dynasty has not lost the hearts of the people at this time, and Mussolini cannot risk splitting Italian society to satisfy his personal ambitions.

The influence of the royal family is still throughout Italian society, and Emmanuel III is not a mediocre man, he does not have those dazzling political skills, but just squats firmly at the center of the power network, controlling the balance of power in Italy. This is a figure like Emperor Hirohito, the Italian royal family reaped the benefits of the war, but in the end relied on a defection, easily evading the investigation and trial of the war responsibility.

This time Emanuele III put his chips on the side of Badoglio, and his starting point was actually the same, he was afraid that the Germans would settle old accounts with him, and it was because of his defection in the world war that Italy would join the side of the Entente.

In the German lexicon, the king may have been equated with a traitor, and if the Germans were not satisfied this time, the House of Savoy might indeed become history, and he had seen so much of the devastation of the exiled royal family over the years that he did not want to be one of them.

Since the German Führer hated Mussolini, he would have given the resignation of the prime minister as a gift, and the apostle of God would have been very happy.

Mussolini would never have dreamed that the biggest black hand behind the whole thing was the Italian king whom he supported with all his might. It was Mussolini's fascist campaign that saved the royal family from crisis, and when the dynasty was once again threatened with intermittent survival, this time it was his turn to be abandoned by the royal family without hesitation.

PS: After the meal, there is another chapter later. (To be continued.) )