During World War II, Italy was known as the weakest chicken at the bottom of its combat effectiveness. Not only did they not share the pressure on Germany, but after the surrender in 1943, they turned their guns to help the Allies deal with the Germans. The Italian army and the German army on the italian occupied island of Rhodes fought because of the British provocation, and the Italian army also stubbornly resisted the German army for a period of time.
1. Italy and Germany
Italy, an ally of Nazi Germany, was also the first designer to propose the concept of the Axis powers. The leading leader of Italy, Mussolini, continued to advocate expansion and plunder, rebuilding the so-called Roman Empire. This gimmick has always deeply influenced Hitler with the mustache, and it has also led to the formation of a relationship between Italy and Nazi Germany like an iron brother.
In fact, Italy and Germany have a certain inextricable relationship,
Back in the First World War. Italy was once Germany's military ally.
They allied themselves and tried to infiltrate all of Europe.
However, this alliance was not strong, because Germany at that time, his other ally, Austria-Hungary and Italy, had a territorial dispute.
Italy has long had territorial claims to Trieste and South Tyrol, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also has a legitimate territorial jurisprudence.
Therefore, whether driven by interests or because of being severely beaten by the powerful Anglo-French coalition forces, Italy woke up, and Italy chose to betray Germany. Then they formed an alliance with Britain and France, and together they beat Germany happily and became the victorious powers.
However, Italy was not satisfied with the division of colonial power after World War I.
Therefore, in the Weimar German period, it was once again eye-catching with Germany.
When Mussolini came to power, he began to vigorously promote nationalism, great power chauvinism, and pursued a policy of military expansion.
After Hitler became the head of the German Fuehrer, the bald Mussolini threw a wink, and it was not long before the mustache Hitler hooked up with the big bald Mussolini to form the Axis Powers.
In 1935, Italy successfully annexed Ethiopia, completing its first military expansion after World War I. Italy, like the Japanese, fell into an expansion frenzy and invaded Albania in 1939.
When the German Hans bypassed the French Maginot Line and made the self-respecting French roosters into a chicken pot.
Italy also launched an offensive against the Alps in southern France,
Instead of achieving the desired effect of Italy, the attack suffered heavy casualties, while the French defense line remained unmoving.
It was not until the signing of the Franco-German Armistice That the French troops stationed here surrendered to the Italians as victors.
Frustrated, Italy did not rethink its military prowess, declaring war on Yugoslavia and Greece in a furious manner and dragging Germany into the water.
During this period, the German army played the role of a nanny, changing diapers for Italy, changing bottles, and saddleing the horse before and after the weekly thoughtfulness.
But in 1943, when the Allies began to attack Italy, the Italians suddenly surrendered
Once again, they used their World War I skills, turned against the enemy, and turned around to attack Germany.
This blew up Hitler, who had a mustache, and Hitler ordered the Germans to launch an attack on Italy, and the former allies officially entered a state of war.
2. The defense of Rhode Island and Italy
On 8 September 1943, Italy and the Allies signed an armistice in Casibery. Italy officially joined the Allied camp,
At that time, the Italian army was occupying the Mediterranean island of Rhodes, which was an important naval and air base.
Because of the armistice agreement, the commander was temporarily changed to Rear Admiral Carlo Davidso di Chavinsod.
Because the Italian army was in disarray at the beginning of the armistice, the Italian garrison in Rhode Island did not receive any orders.
Therefore, the Italian troops stationed here had to choose whether to remain loyal to the Italian government or to the Germans who had fought alongside them.
The Italian officers and soldiers here chose to be loyal to their own king, Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Thus also offended the German Hans,
An angry German Hans planned to seize Rhode Island, giving the unconscionable Italians a harsh lesson about what "loyalty and glory" meant.
The Italian army also realized that the German army might have to give itself a big move.
So Italy sent Lieutenant General Arnaldo Fourero to Rhode Island early in the morning to take over the command of the Italian Army.
Organize defense efforts. The Italian garrison set up the Defense Command at the Knights' Palace on Rhode Island (formerly the Knights Hospitaller Castle), but it took a lot of time to build the defensive line and redeploy, so Lieutenant General Furero could only count the number of Italian equipment first.
The results of the count were a headache for italian officers, and on paper, Rhode Island had 46 artillery regiments.
Although equipped with some 152 mm howitzers and 210 mm heavy guns, they are almost all old World War I veterans, and their power and performance are not flattering.
And the number of infantry on the island is not enough, only 34,000 people, only a few dozen trucks... How can this battle be fought?
And the Italian Navy in Rhode Island has only torpedo boats and submarines and some small ships such as minesweepers, patrol boats and the like. Although the Germans also had no navy to use to attack Rhode Island,
But the Italian army was also unable to receive naval artillery support, which was a headache.
In addition, the Italian Air Force on the island is also very embarrassing,
The Italian Air Force, with 3,000 men, has only about 65 combat aircraft, of which 10 are unable to operate the entire field... And the airports on the island are mostly deserted,
No one maintains it at all.
On the grounds of appeal,
The defense of the island could only rely on artillery units, so Lieutenant General Fu leiro ordered the urgent construction of artillery fortifications to strengthen the protection of the artillery.
Lest they be attacked by The German Hans at the first time.
Third, the enemy and the British manatee
The Germans had visited Rhodes in early 1943 and knew all about the island's defenses, perhaps better than the Italians, since it was four German fortification experts who visited the island.
And in the beginning of the year, in order to strengthen the defense of Rhode Island,
The Germans sent three Panzergrenadier battalions to the island.
By the middle of '43, the German commander Ulrich Kleiman was ordered to enter Rhode Island to organize the defenses. A German defensive zone was constructed 11 km from the Italian defensive zone.
At this time, the island had about 8,000 German troops, a total of 150 tanks and armored vehicles, 25 self-propelled guns and 170 guns and mortars of various types, and several 88 mm anti-aircraft guns.
Although the News of Italy's surrender surprised the German garrison, they did not immediately attack or pressure the Italians, but immediately sent a message to the German command requesting instructions.
Initially the German command expected the Italian officers and men on the island to be able to submit to German management and fight the damn Allies to the end,
It was therefore proposed that a negotiation be initiated. The venue for the negotiations was set up in the Knights' Palace on Rhodes, although the Italians said during the negotiations that no explicit orders had been received, so there would be no action.
But the Germans still expressed their dissatisfaction and insisted that the Italian army disarm and leave Rhodes.
While the Italians and Germans were arguing, the obnoxious Blue Star super big-mouthed English manatee came to add to the chaos. A group of British bombers flew over Rhodes and dropped thousands of leaflets ordering the Italian army to abide by the armistice, immediately launch an attack on the German-controlled areas, and submit to the dispatch of the Allies.
This group of British people is best at this kind of measurement,
From instigating the Contradictions between the Soviet Union and The People' Union, to instigating the Contradictions between Germany and the Soviet Union, to instigating the contradictions between Japan and France and the contradictions between the United States and Japan. Almost every time, it became their established policy,
Therefore, provoking contradictions in the face of indecision has become the best job of the British.
On the morning of the 9th, Germany and Italy made one last representation, and after being rejected by the Italians, the Germans began to attack and ordered all Italian officers and soldiers to surrender.
The Italians returned fire with artillery fire and destroyed the German tank units that were occupying the airfield, although this move also wiped out the Italian air force on the island...
That evening, the Commander of the Italian Garrison sent a telegram to the British for help, but the reply was that the Italians would have to hold out on Rhodes for a week before the British would arrive.
This upset the Italian commander, and the Germans attacked in the early hours of the next morning, with a fierce battle around Marista Air Base.
German artillery and Italian artillery came and went, the artillery fire was very fierce, the battle lasted until the evening, the Italian army surrendered, and each side lost several soldiers...
The Germans cut off the Italians' radio after a day,
A British officer was urgently parachuted to the island to meet with the Italian commander and organize a defense, and after ordering the Italians to resist resolutely, the British emissaries escaped through ships moored in the harbor.
The Germans again demanded the surrender of the Italians, and this time the Italians showed a tenacious fighting spirit, and they refused to surrender.
The fighting continued into the afternoon, when the Germans threatened air raids on the town, and the Italian commanders decided to accept surrender, but the Italians destroyed the codebooks used to communicate with the Allies.
Some Italian soldiers refused to surrender, believing that the Germans were already at the end of their crossbows, and that it was the Germans who surrendered as long as they held out for a while. Many more wept and surrendered to the Germans and scolded their commanders as traitors and pawns of the Germans.
Although Germany expressed its willingness to guarantee the safety of the Lives of Italian prisoners, many Italian prisoners died inexplicably in shipwrecks on the way to Greece, not once, but many times, resulting in the deaths of some 4,062 Italian officers and soldiers, and only senior Italian officers were released by the Germans alone and survived.
epilogue
Italy appeared in the war as an ally of Germany in both world war I and World War II history, but betrayed Germany. Although the Italian soldiers' will to fight was generally recognized as the lowest of the great powers, and even the lowest level in the world, in Rhodes, when facing the Germans, they implemented a brief and tenacious resistance, which is really regrettable.
bibliography:
Italian Military History 1943
Rhode Island in 1943