Chapter 147
< World War II - The Time of Upheaval (6) >
October 28, 1940
Near Taranto, Southern Italy
While the first engagement between Germany and the Soviet Union raged on the Eastern Front, a civil war was underway in Italy to end the war.
The army of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Committee had occupied Naples, where the King and Fascist Party personnel had fled, and was now advancing in pursuit as they ran to Taranto.
A broadcast by General Giovanni Messe, who had toiled as a Vice Commander under the Fascist Regime, was being transmitted via radio and loudspeaker to the military and cities across Italy.
[Our King has abandoned Italy.
Victor Emmanuel III is a man who doesn't care how many more Italians die, how we are left destitute and starving, or how high a price we pay in reparations, as long as he can protect his Albanian Throne and Ethiopian Throne.]
When his conditions were not met, Victor Emmanuel III requested negotiations with Germany again, saying the amount of reparations was negotiable as long as the Albanian and Ethiopian Thrones were guaranteed.