The rank of marshal is no stranger to everyone, and generals who can be promoted to marshal are usually able to rank among the ranks of famous generals. For example, the Soviet troika, Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Konev, Germany's Manstein, Rommel, Modell, Britain's Wavell, Montgomery, etc., are all famous generals who can stand alone in World War II. But as the saying goes, if there is a high, there is a low, and the marshals of various countries in World War II are also divided into three, six, and nine. The most humiliating army in World War II was the Italian army, and the most humiliating marshal was the Marshal of Italy.
And the marshal we are going to talk about today is the most wasteful marshal of Italy, Rudolf Graziani. Generally speaking, it is considered that the most humiliating Italian marshal in World War II was Marshal Itano Balbo, who was shot by his own air defenses, after all, it is rare for a marshal to die by mistake. But this Rudolf Graziani was more humiliating than Balbo, because he was basically the marshal who had been picked up.
If you look at the resume, Rudolf Graziani is still a serious soldier. In 1908, he enlisted in the army, fought in the First World War, and was promoted to colonel for his military achievements. In 1927 he was sent to Libya and became a major general in 1930 through seniority. It is worth mentioning that he is also a 'good' armored officer in Italy, he is one of the few Italian generals who realize the superiority of the armored forces and have studied the tactics and organization of the armored troops, and he is a high-end talent in Italy.
But high-end talent does not mean that there must be ability, at least Rudolf Graziani's ability to fight in this area is really not good. Promoted to major general in 1930, Rudolf Graziani was also the supreme commander of the Italian armed forces in Libya, whose greatest achievement in Libya was the suppression of the Libyan national uprising.
At that time, Libya was full of insurgents, and Rudolf Graziani was busy suppressing the insurgents, and tens of thousands of insurgents and innocent civilians were brutally killed. Libya's national hero, Omar Mukhtar, was also one of the victims, and The brutality of Rudolf Graziani hanged the 73-year-old alive.
This brutal crackdown continued until 1934, when Rudolf Graziani's hands were stained with the blood of innocents, and because of this 'feat', Mussolini promoted him to general in 1935 and made him governor of Somalia. Supposedly in peacetime, a soldier could have reached the limit of this rank, but Rudolf Graziani had better luck, and he soon caught up with the Ethiopian War that broke out on October 3, 1935. The southern front force led by Rudolf Graziani existed as a diversion force, but he was an armored commander after all, so he decided to do a big job with the tanks at hand.
The level of the Italian armored forces is clear to everyone, in World War II can not be said to be one of the best, at least it is the bottom three, basically belong to the pheasant nameless, grass shoes no number. But the Ethiopian army was not as capable as the Italians, so Rudolf Graziani's armored forces soon broke the Ethiopian army's defenses and thus gained the initiative on the battlefield.
This credit really impressed Mussolini, who regarded Rudolf Graziani as a confidant, led his troops to Spain to help the dictator Franco, and the following year was promoted to marshal of the Italian army, and in 1936 became the Italian governor of Ethiopia.
To tell the truth, the Italian army in the Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War performance is relatively average, either the opponent is too dish, or can only play soy sauce, but Rudolf Graziani commanded the troops finally have some achievements, the battle ratio is not simply abused by people, so he is even a standout in the Italian army.
In 1937 he served successively as Governor-General of Italian East Africa and Commander of the Italian Homeland Army, and in 1939 he served as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. It can be said that at this time Rudolf Graziani can still be regarded as a general who can be regarded as a passable general, if he does not go to the North African battlefield.
The most tragic war for mankind at present is the Second World War, and Rudolf Graziani caught up with the North African battlefield. At this time, the British army stationed in North Africa was a weak miscellaneous army, and Mussolini felt that it was time to show his skills and complete the Italian territory of his dreams, so he hoped to be able to compete with the British army in North Africa.
The British army in North Africa was less than 40,000 people, while the Italian army in Libya had nearly 200,000 people, and with the addition of the minions recruited from Libya, the number exceeded 300,000, so Mussolini felt that it was time to raise the British army in North Africa.
Who was the previous Governor-General of Libya? It was Marshal Balbo, whom we are talking about, who was mistakenly killed by friendly forces, who was unanimously opposed to war with Britain because he knew that Italy was not capable of participating in a 'war between Europeans and Europeans'. Balbo died at the end of June 1940, however, and his successor became Rudolf Graziani.
The old man was a radical before taking office, clamoring that Italy should go to war immediately, but when he succeeded Balbo, he became a moderate, and the demand for Mussolini's troops was delayed again and again, and finally under Mussolini's orders, he launched an attack on September 9, 1940.
So was Archibald Bosivar Wavell, commander of the British army in North Africa, afraid of Rudolf Graziani? To tell the truth, if it was Balbo who came to invade Egypt, then Wavell would have to be afraid of him for three points, but it was Rudolf Graziani who was in the wine bag, and Then Wavell was not afraid at all.
Wavell decisively retreated his troops to the rear, luring Rudolf Graziani's troops deeper into the air, ready to make a surprise counterattack, and Rudolf Graziani was also really cooperative, and Wavell retreated as far as he went, stepping into Wavell's trap with one foot, until September 16, 1940, when he stopped 130 kilometers west of the British garrison of Myrsa Matroux under the pretext of running out of supplies.
It is also interesting to say that Rudolf Graziani's platoon is also interesting, the army of more than 200,000 people is stationed in five places, and the whole is divided into two areas, and there is a 30-kilometer vacuum zone between the two defensive areas. Rudolf Graziani and Wavell faced off until 9 December, when Wavell suddenly launched a counterattack on that day, pouring in a total of 1 infantry division and 1 panzer division.
And rudolf Graziani's reaction? Believing that Wavell's soldiers were strong and strong, and that he was powerless to resist, he ordered his troops to retreat from the front line, and the entire Italian army was in disarray, and almost all the troops were fleeing.
The Italian army under the command of Rudolf Graziani was chased all the way into Libya by the British, and lost many cities in northern Libya in one fell swoop, and the British even captured the Libyan city of Benghazi on February 7, 1941, and the troops were directed at Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
In this battle, the British army captured 130,000 prisoners alone, and the British Major General O'Connor claimed to be the "officer of five acres of land and the soldier of two hundred acres of land", if it were not for the fact that Wavell was really undermanned, it is estimated that Rudolf Graziani would have to be driven out of the sea by the British.
After this battle, Rudolf Graziani lost all his face, and he himself lost Mussolini's trust in him, and in March 1941 he was transferred back to Italy and dismissed from all positions. It can be said that just by virtue of this old man's humiliating record, the worst marshal of World War II is really him, but considering that he is the marshal of the Italian army, then his record is really not surprising.