The sun never sets

It's not that it's useless if it's just a little bit off. Naval warfare depends not only on equipment, but also on luck. If you're lucky, you'll only get flesh wounds from a heavy chronograph shell, but not any serious injuries. If you're unlucky, you'll be killed right away if a shell hits you.

But the Alliance had far more battleships than Italy. For every battleship Mussolini sent, the Alliance could send two. Because the United States was caught in a civil war, the Alliance did not need to deploy a strong naval force in the Pacific for the time being, and could just send all its battleships to the Middle East.

Mussolini stroked his big bald head and said unhappily: "Is there nothing we can do about them?"

When the leader gets angry, most people are awed and lower their heads, not daring to offend the leader. Only a few people can remain calm.

Seeing the looks of the ministers and generals, Mussolini could not help but lose his temper again, and finally asked: "What should we do now?"

"...We must intensify our offensive on land and completely defeat those Africans before the People's Revolutionary League sends out volunteers!"

The "three-month quick victory theory" proposed by Italy before the war has failed, but the war has already reached its current level and the sunk costs are too high. There is no way to stop it, and they can only put more chips on the table, hoping to win it all back in the next round.

Minister of Information and Propaganda Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law, expressed new opinions, "It is possible to contact the League to negotiate on the war in Ethiopia."

Although fascism and Lin Yongchangism are two sharply opposing political ideologies, it does not mean that they cannot cooperate. At present, Italy and the [People's Revolutionary League] do not border each other, so there is no possibility of a direct conflict.

In that case, why not try to make contact?

Although Count Ciano was an important member of the Fascist Party and Mussolini's son-in-law, he did not like the Fascist approach. He clearly understood Italy's strength and knew that the so-called "Revival of Rome" was just a castle in the air. If it weren't for the fact that Count Ciano was a Fascist veteran, he might not even have joined the Fascists.

Mussolini had no sons, and his huge empire had no successor, so he took a special liking to Count Ciano. According to rumors, the leader intended to train Count Ciano and was ready to appoint him as the second leader of the fascists at the appropriate time.

Seeing that it was his son-in-law who spoke up, Mussolini's attitude improved a little. "How do we talk? Let the alliance withdraw from Ethiopia? Or let us withdraw from Ethiopia?"

“It depends on the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Humph! They all failed my expectations! Just like my generals! They thought they learned how to lead troops and fight wars and legal provisions in school, but in fact, they know nothing but how to eat with a knife and fork!"

Mussolini stroked his big bald head and suddenly thought of a good idea, "Ciano, you will serve as foreign minister and be responsible for the negotiations with the alliance!"

Chapter 880: Taking Every Penny

After Comrade Chen Tianhua became the chairman of the Human Reform League, he did a lot of things, including the rectification movement, military parades, military exercises, etc. He also raised the retirement age of central cadres from 65 to 70 years old.

This is not to save some pension, but because many central cadres have been away from the front-line work and are in good health. They are still able to continue working at the age of 65. Let the old comrades continue to shine.

[People's Revolutionary League] The average life expectancy of the people has reached 76 years, which includes the average life expectancy of people who died due to various factors such as disease, accidents, natural disasters and man-made disasters. Even in rural areas, there are many people over 80 years old.

Under such circumstances, adjusting the retirement age of central leading cadres is a reasonable and logical thing to do. However, this kind of thing does not seem to be done by Chen Tianhua. He has always given people the impression of being "upright and incorruptible". Why would he do something that is obviously to please old comrades?

Chen Tianhua did not explain why he did this, nor did he need to explain to others. He is now the chairman of the [Human Separation Reform Alliance] and he only needs to convince the Central Standing Committee.

The Italian government wanted to negotiate with the alliance about Ethiopia, so Chen Tianhua sent diplomat Chen Lu to Rome with a delegation. Negotiations are not necessarily successful, and even if there is no result, it does not necessarily mean nothing is gained.

The civil ties between Italy and the League have never been broken. When the earthquake broke out in Italy, the League made great efforts to help Italians with disaster relief. Since then, the civil ties between Italy and the League have been very close.

A few Italians accepted the "Lin Yongchang Doctrine" passed down from the Alliance, but now that fascism is so powerful, those people can only remain submissive for the time being.

There are also some people who become so-called pro-Alliance because they want to do business with the Alliance.

The negotiations between Italy and the League did not go smoothly. The League accused the Italian army of using poison gas bombs, while Italy believed that the League had violated Italy's sphere of influence.

At every negotiation meeting, the representatives of both sides were on edge and the atmosphere was tense. However, after the negotiations, the diplomats and military attachés on both sides became good friends and often attended cocktail parties together.

Like the syndicalist regime, the fascist regime cut down on consumer goods and invested most of its resources in the military and military-related projects. The living standards of Italians were quite good, but few people could be called wealthy. Faced with the various expensive watches, cars, mink coats, color TVs, refrigerators and other gifts sent by Chen Lu, the fascists quickly lost their moral integrity and became close friends with the diplomats of the alliance.

At cocktail parties and various private gatherings, Italian diplomats revealed a lot of useful information, such as that the logistics of the African Army were almost unable to support it and that the keel of a new aircraft carrier was being laid in the Naples shipyard.

The fascist regime monitors the people very closely, but it is full of loopholes. However, this is not just a problem for the fascists, many other political parties also have this problem.

The Italian Fascist government asked the people to be dedicated and to live frugally for the great cause of "rejuvenating Rome", but the party members within the Fascist party were extremely extravagant, which really lived up to the saying "take every penny and spend it like dirt".

The higher up the ranks of the fascists, the more easily they are corrupted, and they have no scruples about selling out state secrets and interests. On the contrary, the ordinary soldiers in the Blackshirts have a very strong patriotic enthusiasm. In the mountains of northern Ethiopia, the Italian mountain infantry fought very bravely.

Abe Nobuhide was known as a "mountain warfare expert". He commanded the Ethiopian new army to fight against the Italian mountain infantry, but did not gain any advantage and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

The diplomatic mission led by Chen Lu obtained a lot of useful information in Rome, and the biggest gain was to establish contact with Italian Foreign Minister Ciano. Count Galeazzo Ciano was Mussolini's son-in-law, but he did not agree with the fascist ideology. He believed that Italy could not participate in the world hegemony with its strength, and the best approach was to focus on defense in military affairs and maintain a neutral position, just like the Netherlands in the world war.

In private contacts, Chen Lu vaguely felt Count Ciano's dissatisfaction with Italy's current policies. He did not ask much. It would be enough to keep this clue. Everything had to be done slowly.

Mussolini now has absolute power in Italy, and even a big figure like Count Ciano can't do anything else.

Negotiations were negotiations, and fighting was fighting. The League's diplomats were negotiating with the Italians in Rome, while the war between the Italian and Ethiopian armies continued in East Africa.

The battles on the front lines were extremely fierce. In order to make up for the casualties on the front lines, the Alliance's military advisory group once again shortened the training period for new recruits, reducing the training time from three months to two months, and then from two months to one month. Those tribal soldiers could not even wear uniforms. After hastily learning how to shoot, throw bombs, fight with bayonets, and maintain firearms, they were sent to the northern and southern battlefields.

Nagata Tetsuzan thought that this was sending soldiers to die. What could be trained in a month? That was not an army, but just armed civilians with rifles.

He was not complaining for the Ethiopians, but was worried that the new recruits who had not yet completed their training would be consumed too quickly. If there were too many casualties on the front line, there would be no time to train new recruits in the rear, and the training time for new recruits would be repeatedly compressed. Wouldn't this become a negative feedback loop?

However, Emperor Haile Selassie was very satisfied with the work of the Alliance Military Advisory Group and believed that their work was very effective.

So what if they only trained for a month? As long as they could shoot, it would be fine. In the positional warfare on the northern front, it didn't matter if the soldiers were elite. As long as they had advanced weapons (Mosin-Nagant rifles) and dared to fight and kill (dared to fight with Italian soldiers with bayonets), they were good soldiers.

It was with the help of more than 100,000 new soldiers who had only been trained for a month that the Ethiopians blocked the enemy's attacks on both the northern and southern fronts. Although the Ethiopian army's casualties were still higher than those of the enemy, they had dropped from the previous ratio of 1:4 or 1:5 to about 1:2. In some positions that were easy to defend but difficult to attack, the casualties of both sides reached 1:1, and the Italian army even suffered more casualties.

This was due to military training, the large amount of weapons and equipment shipped by the Alliance, and the hard work of the Volunteer Air Force. Since the Alliance fighters appeared in the Ethiopian sky, the good days of the Italian Air Force were gone.

Chapter 881 Shock

Italy did not gain any advantage in the negotiations with the People's Revolutionary League, so it had no choice but to call on Germany, hoping to put more pressure on the People's Revolutionary League and force the alliance to make concessions on the Ethiopia issue.

But the effect was not great. Germany participated in the negotiations, but the German government was now focusing on the war in North America and could not threaten the alliance.

With threats and unable to offer much in exchange, it can do nothing to help Ethiopia.

The United States is much more important than Ethiopia. If the Confederate States of America in the South can win the American Civil War, the strength of the German camp will be greatly enhanced. On the contrary, if the American Commune in the North wins, the power of the labor union will expand to the world's first level.

MacArthur's military government lost a lot of territory in succession under the attack from the north and south, and was already showing signs of fatigue. The Pacific States of America stopped attacking the military government and secretly provided some assistance to the military government. The labor union and the fascist party were too fierce, and the Pacific States of America was worried that after the military government was finished, they would be the next.

The German government sent a large number of reinforcements to North America, and transported many planes, tanks and artillery, hoping to delay the alliance. Because of the arms trade between the People's Revolutionary League and MacArthur's military government, Huey Long's fascist army suffered heavy casualties.

If the alliance could put more effort into Ethiopia, perhaps the situation in North America would improve.

With this in mind, German diplomats privately contacted the diplomats of the People's Revolutionary League and implicitly revealed their willingness to use Germany's non-interference in the Ethiopian War as a condition in exchange for the People's Revolutionary League no longer supporting MacArthur's military government.

The Alliance accepted the German proposal. In the past two years, the Alliance has almost squeezed the US military government dry. MacArthur's gold has been used up, and the Alliance plans to sell MacArthur a large amount of arms. After the money and goods are settled, they will no longer care about the military government and let the Americans fight to the death.

Before the Civil War, the United States had a population of 1.2 million and 2400 million cars. Although it was a civil war, the scale and severity of the war were not much different from the world war. During the world war, the combined population of Germany and France was only about the same as that of the United States.

Moreover, the United States is too far away from the Alliance. If they want to interfere in the American Civil War, they will need to expend too much energy. Unless they forcefully compress consumer goods like Germany and Italy do, and use most of their resources to produce weapons and equipment; or if they are student workers, and implement a rationing system, no matter what you buy, you need tickets, such as food tickets, oil tickets, TV tickets, etc., then the Alliance can cross a distance of more than 10,000 kilometers to decide the direction of the American Civil War.

Taking into account the fact that the Panamanian government did not allow the People's Revolutionary League warships to pass through the canal, the distance between China and MacArthur's military government exceeded 15000 kilometers.

To fight a war over such a long distance, logistical support can really cost lives. Of course, if the Union government gritted its teeth, it could transport hundreds of thousands of troops to North America. However, the scale of the American Civil War was too large. There were already tens of millions of troops. Hundreds of thousands of people could not play a decisive role in the American Civil War.

The League and the German government reached a private agreement, and the interests of the Italians were betrayed. Although Italy was also a great power, it was the weakest among the great powers, so Germany could sacrifice Italy without hesitation.

After discovering that Germany and the Allies were secretly colluding and the negotiations failed, Italian diplomats walked out in anger. Of course, in private, the fascist gangsters received many luxury goods and cash.

This time, Mussolini did not make an angry speech, but generously expressed understanding for Germany's actions. What if he did not understand? Italy needed Germany more now. Neither the trade unions nor the People's Revolutionary League would accept the Italian government led by the fascist regime.

Since Germany would not intervene in the war in Ethiopia, the defeat of the Italian army in Africa was a foregone conclusion. Many people thought so, including the top leaders of the People's Revolutionary League in Moscow and Chang'an.

On the northern battlefield of Ethiopia, after consuming the Italian army's ammunition and manpower, the Egyptian army gradually retreated, leading the Italians into an encirclement. At this time, the Egyptian army, Mulugita, seized the opportunity to contain the Italians with frontal troops, while ordering the two corps of Duke Sejum and Duke Kasa to attack Tembien. In coordination, Duke Imiru on the southern front also led a corps across the Takaze River to recapture Silay and threaten the Italian flank.

By November 1935, the Egyptian army liberated the northern city of Abyadi and surrounded the main Italian forces on the northern front. The Italian army was about to repeat the disastrous defeat of their predecessors at Adwa in the 11th century.

In this counterattack, "mountain warfare expert" Major General Abe Nobuhide led a mountain infantry division to defeat the Italian mountain infantry, seized four obstacles, and successfully tied up the pocket.

However, the charm of war lies in its unpredictability. While the coalition's military advisory group and the Ethiopian army were focusing on the northern front, unexpected situations occurred on the southern battlefield.

On November 11, the Italian army in the south used tanks and planes to lead the way and launched an attack in the direction of Dolo. The Egyptian military command was now focused on the northern battlefield, and was almost instantly opened up by the Italian general Graziani and penetrated hundreds of kilometers. Five days later, the Italian army occupied Nejiri, the capital of Borana, and headed towards Silay, an important city in Egypt.

Rodolfo Graziani was born in 1882. He served in the colonial army from 1908 and participated in World War I. From 1927, he served in the Italian army in Libya. He was promoted to major general in 1930 and lieutenant general in 1932.

In the history of another time and space, although due to the later battle with the British army

Graziani was beaten badly and ridiculed as a useless general, but he was still a rare armored pioneer in the Italian army. Even compared to the later famous Guderian, Graziani engaged in the research of armored warfare earlier.

Before launching the offensive on the southern front, Rodolfo Graziani organized his troops into four mobile forces, namely the Maretti Group, the Bergonzoli Group, the Agostini Group and the Frusch Group. The first two were mainly armored units, and the other two were mainly infantry, just like the armored divisions and armored grenadiers in the German army.

Although the Italian army's planes and tanks were not very good, Rodolfo Graziani still achieved the effect of blitzkrieg, completely defeating the Egyptian army's defense on the southern front, shocking the entire Ethiopia and surprising Chang'an.

Chapter 882: Using His Way

"I didn't expect Italy also has a general who is good at armored warfare!"

"Yes, the Italian army is not a weakling after all."

"Fascist theory has a certain additive effect on the combat effectiveness of the army... Why are you stepping on my feet? This is a matter of fact. I think the assessment of the combat effectiveness of the German army should be raised."

Sun Chuanfang and the generals of the military advisory group had a very low opinion of the Italian army, believing that it was an army from the World War era. However, the Italian army chose to launch a "blitzkrieg", which made many people embarrassed.

"The problem now is not to correct the evaluation of the Italian army, but to find a way to deal with it!"

Graziania's attack was too fierce, and Ethiopia's defense on the southern front had completely collapsed. Not only did it lose a large number of troops, but the logistics center and supply warehouses along the way also fell into the hands of the Italians, which enhanced the Italian army's sustained combat capability on the southern front.

"We need to send more troops to Xilai, otherwise we won't be able to defend that place!"

Since Grazignasi broke through the southern front, Emperor Haile Selassie urgently met with Lieutenant General Sun Chuanfang and sent the new recruits in training and his own guards to Silay. However, these troops added up to only more than 30,000 people and lacked heavy equipment. They could not stop the nearly 100,000 Italian troops with high morale.

Emperor Haile Selassie sent the Central Army and the "elite" he had trained to the northern front, hoping to fight a massive annihilation war on the northern front and reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield in one fell swoop. The northern front achieved a great victory, but the southern front collapsed.

The incident happened suddenly, and the Emperor had no choice but to send the new soldiers and the Imperial Guards who were being trained to the southern front. Many ministers suggested that troops be transferred from the northern front to defend the southern front, but Emperor Haile Selassie refused.

The emperor was very cautious before the war, but at this time he was very decisive. He believed that the annihilation battle on the northern front was more important and not a single soldier could be withdrawn from the northern front. As for the southern front, Emperor Haile Selassie planned to go to Silay in person. As the emperor of Ethiopia, if Haile Selassie appeared on the front line, the morale of the Egyptian army would surely be boosted.

But this was still not enough, so Sun Chuanfang proposed, "We can transfer the alliance's security forces in various places to the southern front, and invite the People's Army to join the war in the name of volunteers."

The Alliance's Central Asian Military District has a division of troops stationed in Yemen and surrounding areas, as well as a regiment of marines. If those troops can be transferred here, the combat effectiveness of the Ethiopian army on the southern front will be greatly enhanced.

"In addition," Sun Chuanfang paused, then continued, "I suggest using special artillery shells on the northern front to end the battle as quickly as possible."

Italy often used poison gas bombs when advancing, forcing the Ethiopian army to leave its strong position and causing heavy casualties to the Ethiopian army. In the negotiations with Italy, the Alliance hoped to sign a treaty with Germany and Italy to ban the use of poison gas bombs. The German government thought this was a good idea because the Alliance's chemical industry was more developed than Germany's, with more advanced technology and stronger production capacity.

If everyone threw poison gas bombs at each other, Germany would not be able to resist the alliance. The People's Revolutionary League deployed hundreds of four-engine heavy bombers in Belarus, which could drop hundreds of tons of poison gas such as sarin and mustard gas at a time, causing great damage to Germany.

If Germany dropped poison gas bombs on the Alliance, at most it would only fumigate Poland, the three Baltic states, and Belarus. According to the German General Staff, the Alliance Central Committee would like to see all the Poles and Lithuanians die.

Germany was very happy to sign a treaty with the Allies not to use poison gas bombs, but Italy refused. In the battle against Ethiopia, poison gas bombs played a very important role, and Mussolini would not give up this weapon.

In this case, we might as well use poison gas bombs against the Italians.

The Italian troops trapped on the northern front were entrenched in a group, digging trenches and carefully building machine gun and artillery positions, which gave the Egyptian army a headache. Attacking a strong position is never an easy task, not to mention that the Egyptian army's technical and tactical level is not high and it lacks heavy artillery. The only thing worth praising is the high morale.

But morale is not omnipotent. In the face of machine guns, high morale will only bring more casualties to the Egyptian army.

Originally, the Egyptian army planned to use siege to slowly consume the Italian army's food and ammunition, and then launch an attack, just like forty years ago. This process would be relatively long, at least three or four months, and if it took longer, it might take more than half a year.

However, the Egyptian army's defense line in the south collapsed, and the Ethiopian army on the northern front did not have enough time to defeat the enemy by hunger, so they could only take a more proactive approach.

Emperor Haile Selassie had no psychological concerns about using poison gas bombs. Italians can use them, but Ethiopians can't? That doesn't make sense.

What he was concerned about was the effect of poison gas bombs. After the distribution of gas masks, targeted training, and special precautions, the poison gas bombs used by the Italian army could no longer kill Egyptian troops on a large scale.

At the beginning, the Italians bombarded the city with artillery fire and then attacked in chaos, killing more than 2,000 Egyptian soldiers. When the Ethiopians had houses, the Italian gas bombs could kill at most a dozen people at a time.

Those poison gas bombs were transported all the way from Italy, and they had to be transported very carefully. Then, hundreds of shells were fired, killing dozens of people. The cost-effectiveness was too low.

If the Italian army had also been prepared, the Egyptian army's poison gas bomb attack might not have had any effect.

"Your Majesty, the Italian army is not equipped with gas masks and is not prepared to deal with special ammunition attacks."

Sun Chuanfang believed that poison gas bombs would play a very good role. The Italian army was gathered together and at the bottom of the valley, which was the best time to use poison gas bombs. There was no need to block all 30,000 Italian troops, just to hit their morale and destroy their organization.

Haile Selassie was very satisfied with this. If a large-scale annihilation war was fought on the northern front, the dangerous situation Ethiopia was currently facing would certainly be greatly improved.

"I have sent a message to Mulujita, asking him to listen more to General Gangcun's advice on how to fight the war."

Haile Selassie said: "I will leave the assistance and training to you, General Sun. I will personally lead the troops to Silay to stop the Italian attack."

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better for you to stay in the capital and not act rashly."

Sun Chuanfang knew that Emperor Haile Selassie's presence at the front would boost the morale of the Egyptian army, but what if? If His Majesty the Emperor died at the front, the situation on the southern front would be completely ruined.

Chapter 883 Returning the favor

Sun Chuanfang did not want Emperor Haile Selassie to go to the front to command the battle, but the African emperor did not care about his personal safety. "If the ancestors protect me, I will be unscathed and win a glorious victory. In this way, we can have several more decades of development."

"If the ancestors are no longer looking after me..." Emperor Haile Selassie paused, "Then let me die in Silay!"

Haile Selassie is an African, but his skin is not as dark as other Africans, but a little bit lighter. No matter what he looks like, his courage is worthy of admiration.

Italy has generals who are good at armored warfare, and Ethiopia also has countless warriors. The strength of these countries is far from comparable to that of the Alliance, but they should not be underestimated!

Sun Chuanfang could not stop Emperor Haile Selassie from going to the Silai front, so he sent his blessing, "Your Majesty, you will surely be victorious on this trip!"

Emperor Haile Selassie laughed loudly upon hearing this. Although he was an African, he seemed to be full of heroic spirit.