Chapter 254: Rise and Fall
Mussolini's request was finally granted.
The committee believed that since Mussolini's power had been bestowed by the King, it should logically be revoked by the King through legal means.
At four in the morning, just as dawn was beginning to break, Mussolini received the audience with Victor Emmanuel III that he had demanded.
The King had not slept all night.
Mussolini had expected to obtain royal support by relying on his past hard work and old achievements. Instead, what he received was only a cold, dismissive sentence.
"Commit suicide, Mussolini."
Victor Emmanuel III's voice was tired, but clear.
"It would be good for both you and Italy."
"The German Army will enter the country in two days at the latest. Falling into their hands will be very painful for you."
"If you die, your wife and children can still survive under the protection of your son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano."
"If you live, you will only bring disaster to your family."
Hearing that even his son-in-law was involved, Mussolini, who felt as if he had been betrayed by everyone in the world, shouted frantically, "Ciano is involved too?"
"That traitor!"
"I married my daughter to him. I allowed him to marry in the Vatican."
"Is this how he repays me?"
"That ungrateful beast!"
The faint light of early morning cast a dim glow over the clouds.
Amid the chirping of insects in the royal courtyard, Mussolini complained about everything like a trapped wild dog.
Only after Mussolini finished roaring did Victor Emmanuel III wave his hand.
A short length of rope was handed over.
"You choose, Benito."
"If you choose to fight to the end, I will not kill you. I will confine you to the best estate before the German Army arrives."
"As for what comes afterward…"
The King looked at him quietly.
"You can only pray for Germany's mercy."
After patting Mussolini on the shoulder, Victor Emmanuel III slowly walked away.
Listening to the sighs and the faint friction of rope coming from the small pavilion behind him, Victor Emmanuel III knew that everything was over.
The time required to build a tall tower was beyond imagination.
But its collapse could happen in a single instant.
Political power was the same.
Mussolini's regime had been built on grand visions. Once those visions failed to come true, it no longer possessed any foundation of support.
The day after Mussolini's death was announced, not a single right-wing extremist in all of Italy took up arms.
The Army remained silent.
Some people who had just moments ago firmly declared themselves Mussolini's most loyal subordinates now began celebrating the new Italy, trying every possible method to shed their former identities.
The civilian resistance forces that had been suppressed under Mussolini's dictatorship, as well as various repressed political parties, began to grow active.
A large number of radical government officials were overthrown.
The purge against Mussolini's ruling system, including public parades and executions, swept through Italy with the ruthlessness of an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves.
Two days later, Germany officially crossed the border.
Victor Emmanuel III announced the German-Italian Peace Treaty.
Heydrich's specially appointed provisional tribunal arrived in Milan by special plane.
The German 101st and 102nd Airborne Divisions temporarily took over the two major cities of Rome and Milan.
The trials and purges officially reached an unprecedented climax.
Milan.
Military airport.
Mohr, a subordinate trained by Heydrich who had planned and directed several political purges, stepped off the plane.
The mayor of Milan, who was responsible for receiving him, reported continuously like a student waiting to submit homework.
"Herr Mohr, we have thoroughly purged Mussolini's right-wing extremist organizations. All books and propaganda materials will be completely replaced within one week at the latest."
Mohr did not speak immediately.
He silently stared out the window, and the chill in his eyes caused an inexplicable unease.
After a long pause, he finally replied, "Have the Germans who were subjected to extreme treatment been released?"
"I heard that tens of thousands of Germans were forced into inhumane labor in various factories across Milan."
Mohr had a gloomy, unpredictable face, but his voice was exceptionally rough, like a beast wearing a human face.
"They are being released."
The mayor hurriedly answered.
"Our grassroots officials are actively assisting the racially oppressed German population. Afterward, we will provide high-standard subsidies in accordance with the treaty."
"We have also apprehended the vast majority of Mussolini's former government supporters in Milan. Only a small portion are still at large."
Mohr nodded.
Looking out the window, he saw portraits of Mussolini and various extremist books burning fiercely.
Many grassroots officials who had clung to the great tree of Mussolini's former government had been arrested by resistance organizations. Regardless of gender, they were stripped naked and paraded through the streets.
Of course, not every former Mussolini government official would be overthrown.
Mohr held a list in his hand.
The people on that list would be spared and would even continue to hold high-ranking positions in the new government.
"On the Army side, the division commander deployed around Milan, Della Cato, is eager to meet you. One day ago, he already took control of two illegal armed groups composed of Blackshirts."
Seeing that Mohr remained silent, the mayor of Milan continued speaking.
"I do not have time to meet him."
Mohr's tone was indifferent.
"And that is not within my jurisdiction. Military affairs and extremist transfers will be discussed with you in detail by a special commissioner tomorrow."
"I am here for the trials."
After saying this, Mohr took a list from his briefcase.
"Release everyone on this list."
"As for the others, I want to see them in court in half an hour."
The car drove through Loreto Square.
Milan's traffic hub had become exceptionally crowded at this time.
High-ranking extremists who had been caught while fleeing and then executed were hanging upside down from the top of a gas station.
Among them was Mussolini's mistress.
The public gathered around, watching these important figures, who had once ridden through the streets in luxury cars, become cold corpses.
Most of them showed little emotion. They had merely come to watch the spectacle.
Some were simply satisfying a dark craving to see important figures die.
Seeing Mohr stare at the inverted corpses for a long time, the mayor of Milan thought he had not done enough and asked tentatively, "Herr Mohr, are you dissatisfied? I will immediately order the police to take these bodies down…"
Before he could finish, Mohr raised his hand and interrupted him.
"No."
His gaze remained on one corpse with its legs spread apart.
"I was only thinking that you Italians truly know how to play football."
He pointed at the hanging corpse and said in a bloody, darkly humorous tone, "Even in death, you can still perform a bicycle kick."
The German issue in Italy had been resolved.
But the German issue in another region began to rise to prominence.
England.
Because Churchill's speeches were filled with nationalism, many Britons, who truly believed under government propaganda that Germany had massacred prisoners of war, began to discriminate against and ostracize Germans on a large scale.
The British government also noticed the changes in society.
In addition to closely monitoring all prisoner-of-war letters returned through neutral countries, it began guiding the failure of Operation Black Lion toward the issue of German leaks.
They attempted to shape public opinion into believing that German immigrants were all potential spies.
In addition to this propaganda offensive, the British Navy began executing a maritime convoy strike plan as retaliation for the failure of Operation Black Lion.
A fleet was deployed into the Atlantic, intending to destroy the German-Brazil-Spain iron ore trade route.
At the same time, mines were laid in various key areas to prevent the transport of food and other supplies.
But they quickly discovered one problem.
The United States was Germany's main food supplier.
If they wanted to destroy Germany's maritime food trade, then they would have to open fire on American merchant ships.
How to resolve this issue was ultimately placed on Churchill's desk.
At this moment, he was engaged in a fierce argument with a nobleman who held shares in two large media companies.
"Prime Minister, I repeat, we merely reported the truth about the naval battle."
The nobleman's voice was firm.
"This is fact. Why can it not be revealed?"
"Every warship is built with British taxpayers' money."
"They have the right to know what their money has become."
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