The year 1943 was destined to be Hitler's most difficult year, when the war was already becoming white-hot and the German army was gradually plunged into a bitter battle. One after another, the news of the defeat of the war rushed to the 'Wolf's Lair'. In July 1943, the Soviet and German armies were in full swing in Kursk, but what Manstein had painstakingly planned was suddenly interrupted by the "sled dog" operation. The Successful Allied landings on Sicily in southern Italy made Hitler feel like a needle in the haystack, and in order to cope with the potential danger of the Allied invasion of italy itself, he began to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to Italy. However, the crisis was not resolved, and it turned out that under the conditions of heavy military pressure, serious divisions began to emerge within the Italian ruling clique. Some believed that Mussolini's continued leadership of Italy would bring devastating disaster to the country, so they advocated breaking away from the Axis alliance, negotiating peace with the Allies and withdrawing from World War II, and even planned a coup d'état to remove Mussolini from power. In addition to the support of the anti-Mexican leader Dino Grandi, the plan was supported by most of the cabinet members, including the fascist patriarch General Emilio de Bono, Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Ciano, and members of the Supreme Council, and an anti-Mexican coup was imminent.
Sicily
Anglo-American allies landed on Sicily
Count Ofziano
The opposition grew, but Mussolini was convinced that the king would still support him, and on 25 July 1943 he entered the palace as usual to see King Victor Emmanuel III, but what awaited him was an edict to dismiss him. Subsequently, under the "close protection" of the palace guards, Mussolini was taken away by an ambulance. At 10:45 p.m. that night, Radio Rome announced to the nation that Mussolini had resigned and That Marshal Pietro Badoglio would take his place. The news of Mussolini's ouster quickly reached Germany, and Hitler was furious, because once Badoglio made peace with the Allies, Germany's gateway to central and southern Europe would be wide open, and Germany would be attacked. In any case, Germany must rescue Mussolini, an ally, as soon as possible and stabilize the situation in Italy! At Hitler's behest, the Germans quickly drew up a rescue plan code-named "Operation Oak Tree", appointed Skörzner as the commander of the operation, and asked the commander of the paratrooper force, Student, to cooperate in this task, and the rest of the German army was ready to support it.
Mussolini and Hitler
Skolzner, the commander of the SS special forces "Fredenthal Unit", was tall and had a knife scar on his face, which was said to have been injured by a duel with others when he was young, and because of his fierce appearance, he was called the "first evil man" in Europe. Fredenthal forces are particularly adept at special operations, often performing unconventional combat missions in small units, and they are found on the Eastern and Even Western Fronts. Fredenthal's forces even engaged in psychological warfare, and they spread rumors of the assassination of allied commander-in-chief Eisenhower, which caused panic among the Allied forces, and Eisenhower was also "protected" and forbidden to go out in underground command posts. But these are all afterwords, at this time Skolzny is not so famous, and what really makes him famous is Operation Oak.
SS Special Forces Leader Skolzny
The Italians also knew that the Germans would never sit idly by, so they changed Mussolini's place of detention several times. The Germans first found the island of Ponchas on the basis of intelligence, and then tracked down Sardinia, but each time they came one step late. After circumnavigating Italy for half a second, the Germans finally reconfirmed that Mussolini was locked up in the Campo Hotel on mount Grand Sasso ( the highest peak of the Apennines ) . The Hotel campo is located at the top of the cliff, only a cable car connects to the valley, 250 Italian defenders are deployed around the hotel, and Italian troops are stationed on the roads leading to the outside world. Obviously, a frontal assault is not a wise choice. Not only that, the location of the hotel is thin air, chaotic air flow, and it is not suitable for paratroopers to parachute, so in order to save Mussolini, Skolzner can only find another way.
Campo Hotel on Monta do Sassault
Skolzner discovered through aerial reconnaissance that there was a triangular flat ground behind the hotel, so a bold plan was formed in his mind, and he decided to lead a commando team to land on this flat land by glider, and use this as a starting point for a strong attack on the hotel. The plan will use 12 DFS230 gliders, each carrying nine commandos, to escort Mussolini away after taking the hotel and cable car station. In order to ensure the success of the plan, Skolzner also planned to "invite" the pro-German general Soletti from Rome to persuade the Italian defenders not to resist. However, the german command was not optimistic about this bold plan, but due to the fuehrer's order, the plan was successfully approved.
German-equipped DFS230 glider
On the day of the operation, due to the impact of the US bombing, only 9 gliders took off smoothly, but then two more aircraft were lost. However, when the glider reached the triangle clearing and began to land, it suddenly found that the ground was full of stones and was not suitable for landing. However, the arrow was already on the string, and Skolzny could only order the troops to land forcibly. Fortunately, the plane landed smoothly, and the German army immediately began to move and quickly subdued the defenders at the entrance of the hotel. General Soletti then intervened to persuade him to surrender, which quickly confused the Italian army, and finally the Italian army gave up resistance without firing a shot. When Skolzner appeared in front of Mussolini, the latter was so grateful that he hugged Skolzny and said, "I knew my old friend had not abandoned me." Skolzny could not care less about listening to Mussolini's sigh here, the time was tight, and before he could finish speaking, he immediately pulled Mussolini out of the Great Sasso Mountain in a "Stork" reconnaissance plane.
The open space where the Germans landed
Operation Oak was a great success, with no German casualties, and Mussolini was rescued without a single shot. In the end, Mussolini successfully escaped to Germany, and Skolzner became famous and became a great hero in the minds of the Germans at that time. Bold and swift, The Oak Plan of Action is a classic example of World War II special operations. Although it did not turn the Tide's defeat, its huge propaganda effect still excited the German propaganda department, and Goebbels even sent a film crew to the Great Sasso Mountains to make the rescue process into a movie.