"As things stand, it was not the Italian military that was the main force of the army in northern Italy to wipe out the blackshirts, and in this incident, the Italian army, although it favored the navy, was generally restrained. According to our intelligence, there are at least 30,000 French and U.S. Army troops in northern Italy helping Tycho in the war, and that number continues to rise. If we don't intervene, the United States and France will uproot the Blackshirts in a few weeks at most, and they seem to have considered our involvement and have begun to gradually build up defensive positions in the northern passes. Ludendorff briefed the German leadership, including the Kaiser, in front of a huge sand table.

"There are also signs of the presence of the Americans and the Chinese Air Force in Italy. Unlike the Army, more than half of the mid-level generals in the Air Force are inclined to Italy, and the Air Force's top brass acquiesces in this. Other words...... Aircraft from China and the Entente could use Italian airfields directly, and although they have not yet made any efforts, according to the intelligence provided by the intelligence officers, I estimate that there are at least one or so foreign planes in Italy, many of which were shipped to Italy for storage before the war. It can be seen from this incident that the other side has been preparing for a long time, and it will be very difficult for us to completely grasp air supremacy in a short period of time. Richthofen also said with a little embarrassment. This matter is far beyond his estimate.........

"The situation on the naval side is even worse, as a detachment of the Chinese Navy has joined up with the Italian Navy in Sicily. Combined with the ultimatum they had given before that, I don't think you should doubt each other's determination, right? In terms of strength, although there is a Mediterranean fleet, the naval side is the least optimistic. The Army side is fully assisted by the United States and France. But we still have an absolute advantage in terms of troops. The Air Force is almost the same, and when it comes to the Air Force, the other side is only temporarily superior, and the Navy? I can only say that we could not gain an advantage until the Turkish fleet entered the Mediterranean. Even if the Turks come, our advantage is very limited. If it really doesn't work. I remember that the Russians should still have a medium aircraft carrier in the Black Sea, which can be transferred. "The bigwigs of the army and air force have already expressed their position. Hipper also expressed his lack of optimism about the situation.

"Although the situation is serious, it is not irreversible, and if there is enough time, I think the final victory will definitely belong to Germany. I think the first thing to do is to communicate with Austria-Hungary immediately. Let them first eliminate the mountain divisions and the American and French fighting in northern Italy, pin down the forces of these two countries, and then quickly strengthen our air forces in the Balkans. Prepare for the next stage of the offensive from the Adriatic. At the same time, we need to strengthen the air force presence on the Cretan Peninsula and in Greece. Survive this vacuum before the Turkish and Russian fleets enter the Mediterranean. After the three bigwigs of the navy, land, and air force introduced the basic situation, Hindenburg, who served as the chief of the German General Staff, began to discuss the arrangements for the next battle plan from the General Staff. In this plan, Germany still hopes to find a breakthrough point ......... the Adriatic Sea.

Although the situation has changed a lot, the Germans can still find a breakthrough in the complicated situation, and the German top brass has calculated it themselves. What if Huaxia and the Entente came to the aid of Italy? China and the United States are too far away from Italy, and Britain and France are not rivals to Germany. What's more, they are not yet fully out of the economic crisis, so even aid is very limited. In addition to relying on adequate preparation in the early stage of the war to take some leads, once Germany and Austria exert their strength, after a period of attrition, the final victory was still the Allies. It stands to reason that Austria-Hungary borders Italy, and it is more convenient to directly allow the Austro-Hungarian and German armies to sweep over by land, but the Germans carefully analyzed it. Think it's a trap! …。

Let's not talk about how difficult it is to maneuver in the mountains on the northern border. Historically, the level of the Italian army was lower than that of Austria-Hungary, but the two sides were entangled on the border for a long time, and no one could help anyone, and geographical factors accounted for a large component. Secondly. Italy's territory is a belt territory that is narrow from east to west and long from north to south, and if Germany and Austria attack from the north, then Italy will have a relatively long strategic depth to use. Moreover, in view of the unfriendly relations between Austria-Hungary and Italy, the Germans can imagine that this journey will be waist-deep in blood! Everywhere the soldiers passed, the corpses strewn and the city turned into a white field, and this was definitely not what the Germans wanted! What Germany wanted was a complete Italian ..........

And the most important issue is time, what is the key to solving the Italian problem at the lowest cost? It's time! If the Italian problem can be resolved as soon as possible, then there is no way for China and the Entente to intervene. The closest distance between the Balkans and Italy is the narrow Adriatic Sea! Under the cover of the Air Force...... The German-Austrian army could deal a heavy blow to Italy's most vulnerable hinterland, while also avoiding the destruction of Italian towns to the greatest extent. If Rome could be taken and the King of Italy could be forced to recognize Mussolini's position, the tide of favor would be immediately reversed, and the Italian navy would become a rebel. And the Italian Army and Air Force, which were already wavering, are likely to turn back.

And once this point is reached, I am afraid that some of the generals of the Italian Navy will also begin to think about the future way out, whether to follow Tycho to go abroad, or to be bribed by the high-ranking officials of the new Italian government? "If Tycho is willing to lay down his arms, he can still be the commander of the fleet." The Kaiser even said so in private. So, considering that the Italian Navy has received the support of Huaxia, its strength has increased. The Germans, on the contrary, relieved the pressure on the Italian navy. It is intended to divide and disintegrate the other side after the situation on land is settled. And Austria-Hungary also agreed, after all, in this way, there would be no need for Austria-Hungary's precious navy to fight to the death with each other, which was undoubtedly a good plan for both sides..........

But whether this plan can be realized or not will ultimately be determined by the Air Force! If the Air Force can suppress the Italian Air Force throughout the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean, then everything is easy to say, but what if it can't be suppressed? Therefore, Richthofen suggested that the deployment of the air force should be increased first, and together with the Austro-Hungarian air force, an air campaign should be launched against Italy. But something that happened next put Richthofen under great pressure, and the three wings of the Griffon Air Force deployed in Austria-Hungary did not take advantage of the other side. On the contrary, I suffered some losses.

After Germany and Italy declared war on each other. The Italian Navy began to lay mines and various obstacles in the coastal ports of the Adriatic Sea, and even began to sabotage some ports that could not be defended. On the one hand, in order to organize the actions of the Italian Navy, and on the other hand, in order to deter the other side, the Luftwaffe once organized a large-scale air strike plan with the participation of Germany and Austria. Under the cover of the remaining fighters, up to 1 bomber began to launch air strikes on the northern Italian ports.

But who knew that this operation did not go far from the beginning, when the German and Austrian air forces just crossed the center line of the Adriatic Sea, they began to memorize the words, first a pair of twin-engine long-range fighters in the vicinity of the group of constantly circling, although these things are very cumbersome and not good at fighting, but one thing is that people are fast! (This is by no means a sideways fabrication, before the engine power came up, the speed of the twin-engine fighter was really no slower than that of the single engine, for example, the original BF11 was fast when it first entered service, and the P38 was also the first fighter in the United States to reach speeds of more than 4 miles per hour.) Although the grappling is sure to find death, and the climb is not bad, but you really can't help it if you want to run! …………。

After seeing the planes painted in the livery of the Italian Navy, the Austrians were also more ambiguous, and the two three-plane formations immediately threw off the fuel tanks and went to intercept them, and then. I saw that the 6 twin-engine planes turned around and flashed directly. Twin-engine aircraft generally have a long range, and they are fighting in areas close to the base, so there will be no problems with natural endurance, but the Allied fighters have always been known for their short ranges, and if they want to continue to escort the whole process after throwing away the auxiliary fuel tanks, then the fuel is a little tight. After several repetitions, fighter jets returned home one after another due to fuel problems...... As a result, the escort strength of the bomber formation was somewhat reduced.

Although it is not good to be out of school. But the German-Austrian Air Force still insisted on flying to the destination, and then saw fighters in the high sky, interceptor balloons in the middle airspace, and anti-aircraft artillery at the target point! In line with the idea that since they came, they could not return empty-handed, and in line with the principle that face is greater than reality, the German-Austrian air force still launched an air attack on this heavily fortified port city, and after a fight, after dropping nearly three planes of various types, the German-Austrian air force, which had returned with a feather, began to evacuate, and was intercepted many times during the evacuation. The final result was that on the way home, due to fuel and battle damage, more than 1 plane was thrown down, and nearly 4 squadrons were lost after one sortie! Although the other side agreed to pay a heavy price, the Germans also realized that it would be difficult to take Italy in one fell swoop.........

"Let the Imperial Air Force go. Don't let me down again. Wilhelm II looked at Richthofen, whose face was a little ugly, and said. Imperial Air Force? Isn't it too early? "As the head of the Luftwaffe. He knows his family background very well, the Imperial Air Force, the first thousand-plane air force in the German Empire, first has thousands of aircraft of all kinds, but it is far from being comparable to the newly established air force such as the Griffin Air Force, and from the equipment composition, the Imperial Air Force already has detachments equipped with new all-metal monoplanes, and there are also twin-engine fighters and four-engine heavy bombers specially prepared for the future strategic bomber force, it seems that the Kaiser is really annoyed this time!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyuaikaka for the tip~~~, and the book friend smyhe783 for the monthly pass support ~~. (To be continued).