Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Long live Joachim

Chapter 1014 Predator Plan

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    The political situation in Italy has suddenly changed, and the political forces have quickly gained power. It is not just members of the Italian royal family and current government officials who are anxious to get angry.  The new United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary, which had just signed an armistice agreement with the Italian government and would receive huge war compensation from it, also did not want the current Italian regime to be subverted, which would affect Italy's implementation of the terms of the armistice agreement.  In the war that just ended, the coalition forces were determined from the beginning to defeat Italy with a quick blitzkrieg. Therefore, they only carried out intensive bombing of Italy's military and transportation facilities and did not carry out large-scale bombing of its main industrial facilities.  destroy.  Since the Italian government will not be able to pay sufficient cash compensation in the next few years, industrial equipment that is more technologically advanced, highly practical and even unique to Italy has been designated by the coalition to offset part of the war compensation.  After the armistice, dozens of joint working groups were formed by survey and statisticians from the New United Kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as international observers sent by the League of Nations members. Accompanied by Italian officials, they went to various places to inventory and count industrial equipment and facilities.  After completing the official handover procedures, the two victorious countries can disassemble the equipment and transport it back to the country.  However, a sudden political turmoil broke out in Italy. Not only did the repair work of damaged transportation facilities come to a standstill, but the normal use of many railway lines and port terminals was also disrupted. Italian officials were either overwhelmed or had no news at all. Many joint working groups were  Unable to continue working, he had to leave Italy on his own.  Faced with such a situation, the initial idea of ??the senior leaders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was simple and crude: to directly send troops across the armistice line, take over Italian cities and ports one by one, dismantle available industrial equipment, and finally withdraw troops from Italy.  "There is no doubt that this kind of military operation is a ruthless trampling of Italy's sovereignty and a cruel looting of all Italian citizens. Once the plan is implemented, it will be difficult to guarantee the safety of the lives and property of the Italian people.  Strictly speaking, such military actions are not allowed by international law.  Furthermore, relying solely on the power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to crush Italy's "remnants and defeated generals" is not guaranteed to be foolproof.  As a result, the Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire visited Berlin and Limerick successively. On behalf of the Austrian Emperor Karl I, he held discussions with senior officials of Germany and the New United Kingdom respectively, and made it clear that the terms of the armistice agreement must be fulfilled and the interests of the victorious countries must be protected.  Come down.  Under this general principle, the Austrian Army General Staff formulated a number of military action plans, preparing to use a large number of elite combat forces, including the main fleet, airborne troops and armored forces, to seize part of the territory of northern Italy and seize the Italian main fleet.  This was used as collateral to ensure that the Italians would pay huge war reparations.  After the Italians pay the war reparations and compensation items as promised, the pledged items will be returned in full.  In order to gain the full support of the new United Kingdom, a powerful ally, the Austrian Chief of Staff, who made only one trip to Ireland during the war, flew to Limerick twice within five days to secretly meet with the military chiefs of the new United Kingdom.  Negotiate troop dispatch plans.  After repeated negotiations, the general staffs of the two countries finally finalized two joint action plans, named Predator A Plan and Predator B Plan respectively.  After consulting the Germans through informal channels, New Austria and New Austria conveyed new requirements to the Italian government through the Italian liaison officer of the Armistice Agreement Supervision Committee.  It took three full days before Italian officials gave a reply: They agreed in principle to use the Italian fleet as a pledge for providing war compensation, but serious unrest occurred in Italy. Out of the need to maintain order and protect the base, they could not  To assemble the naval ships scattered in various bases, the most that can be done is to use the main fleet stationed at the Taranto Naval Base as a pledge.  This sounds like an acceptable alternative, but before expressing its stance, the coalition sent a long-range reconnaissance aircraft to conduct an aerial reconnaissance of the Port of Taranto.  After identification, it was found that the so-called Italian main fleet currently deployed in Taranto is mostly older battleships. The two most powerful Vittorio Emanuele II-class battleships are not among them, and the two most powerful battleships in service in the past ten years are not among them.  Only 5 cruisers are anchored here, and 4 of them are still lying on the slipway undergoing overhaul. The Italians' perfunctory and evasive attitude made the military and political officials of New Austria and New Austria very dissatisfied. They issued a solemn warning to the Italian officials: If  If Italy is unable to fulfill the terms of the armistice agreement, the coalition has the right to take necessary military actions and does not even rule out the possibility of restarting the war.  In response to the threats raised by the coalition forces, the Italian government has not given a clear answer, which completely annoyed the rulers of the Habsburg dynasty.  The Austro-Hungarian imperial troops and naval fleets deployed in the border occupied areas received secret instructions to make substantial preparations for the upcoming military operations: Army units canceled vacations, recalled personnel, distributed combat supplies, senior officers and staff  Study and rehearse the planned march route of the headquarters; the main naval ships also cancel their vacations andThe personnel were recalled, and the ships were loaded with ammunition, fuel and living supplies at their respective bases, and then went to the port of Rijeka in the southern Adriatic Sea to assemble.  On the Italian side, due to the deteriorating domestic situation, the minds of the Italian royal family and the current government have no intention of paying attention to the various changes in the coalition forces, but are racking their brains to maintain their position.  When military suppression failed to work, they began to seek cooperation with the French forces, and were even willing to hand over royal power. The monarch only continued to exist as a national symbol. However, with the support and instigation of the French, the interim government led by Candrone  The government rejected the Italian royal family's proposal. They demanded that the king abdicate, completely end the Savoy dynasty's rule over Italy, and only allow members of the royal family to continue living in Italy as ordinary citizens.  With no hope of reconciliation with the separatists, Italian dictator Umberto flew to Rome airport with a number of Italian military generals and personally directed the government troops to suppress the separatist forces entrenched in the city of Rome.  However, the best opportunity to reverse the situation has been missed. In just a few days, Candrone has transformed from an unknown figure into Italy's savior and the new leader of the republic.  At the suggestion of the French, Candrone quickly brought together several of the most important revolutionary forces and summoned the National Guards to gather in the city of Rome. In this way, the revolutionary forces used to defend the capital  , far stronger than the Italian government forces intent on retaking Rome!  The government officers and soldiers arriving outside Rome one after another do not want to be enemies with the National Guard from the bottom of their hearts. They also know that a civil war will only completely collapse Italy, which has just experienced a heavy blow from the foreign war.  Reluctantly, Umberto went to the front line to supervise the battle in person, and tens of thousands of Italian troops marched into Rome in only three directions.  Without the support of aircraft and tanks, the Italian government's offensive lacked momentum, so when the heavily armed soldiers were surrounded by people on the streets, the vast majority chose not to resist.  In more than twenty infantry regiments, only two or three officers ordered to fire, but no response was received from the soldiers. The result was obvious.  Except for a few troops who were able to escape, the rest either allowed the people to disarm, or simply defected and joined the ranks of the National Guard.  In just one day, the Roman front line that **** Umberto personally supervised completely collapsed. Seeing the massive National Guard approaching the Rome airport from all directions, he and the generals had to take a plane and flee back to the north in embarrassment.  With the return of Rome Airport to the hands of the National Guard, the failure of the Italian royal family and the current government has become irreversible.  Upon receiving this news, the coalition command ordered the launch of the "Predator A Plan."  A few hours later, more than 400,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, led by chariot troops, crossed the armistice line on the morning dew.  Except for the slight resistance from the Italian troops stationed at several important military strongholds, the Italian government troops stationed in the northern region retreated one after another, and some troops even collapsed during the retreat.  In just half a day, the Austro-Hungarian army penetrated into the deep zone dozens of kilometers away from the armistice line. According to this trend, it seems that there will be no problem for the troops to move south to the Apennine Peninsula and penetrate directly into the hinterland of Italy.  On the same morning, the Austro-Hungarian naval fleet on standby in the port of Rijeka arrived in the Bay of Taranto in a mighty manner. This was the first time in their history that such a powerful lineup appeared at the gate of the Italian Navy¡¯s first naval base.  After communicating with the Italian naval commander at the Port of Taranto, the Austro-Hungarian navy did not forcefully break into Taranto. Instead, it blocked the port, allowing only ships to enter and not allowing any Italian ships to leave.  Just as the Austro-Hungarian Navy was blockading the port of Taranto, the new United Kingdom fleet departing from the Cartagena Naval Base in Spain also arrived in Malta. More than 2,000 officers and soldiers of the 6th Marine Regiment accompanied by transport ships were flying on aircraft and ships.  Under the cover of artillery, they forcibly landed on the islands of Malta and Gozo.  Since the Italian government did not agree with the coalition's request to use Malta as one of the pledges for war reparations, the landing operation of the New United Kingdom Navy was entirely likely to encounter strong resistance from the Italian army. However, it was frightened by the launch of four aircraft carriers of the New United Kingdom Navy  , the powerful deterrent of the six heavy patrols, and the terrible consequences of restarting the war, the Italian defenders on the island gave in at the critical moment.  They surrendered the military strongholds outside Valletta, and all troops retreated to Valletta Fortress.  At that time, there were 22 Italian warships stationed in the Port of Valletta, but the total tonnage of the warships was only equal to that of an aircraft carrier. There was no chance of winning against a powerful enemy head-on.  In this case, the Valletta fleet decisively took a breakout action without the approval of the Naval Command.  A formation of 2 light cruisers, 3 destroyers and 6 torpedo boats left the port of Valletta in the afternoon. Ignoring the warnings of the New United Kingdom ships, they broke through the sea blockade and headed straight for Sicily.  Except for the destroyer "Sierra", which suffered a mechanical failure midway and was forced to return to Valletta Port, the other ships were able to successfully break through.  (End of this chapter)
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report