Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Butterfly Effect (4)
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Now, the sullen gaze of Winston Churchill, reduced from prime minister to a voice crying in the wilderness, turned toward the new prime minister.
“Surely you’re not going to bring ‘peace in our time’ to the people and wave it in their faces too, are you, Prime Minister?”
Edward Wood, Viscount Halifax, gave a wry smile.
“It’s an unavoidable situation. Public opinion—and nearly 300,000 expeditionary troops—wants our boys back home safe and sound.”
“Prime Minister, the Nazis are not the sort to honor promises. The concessions we’ve made to them now are nothing but a repeat of Chamberlain’s mistakes.”
“The cabinet has already decided.”
Viscount Halifax made it clear that the armistice negotiations were a done deal.
Churchill tried again and again to change the prime minister’s mind, but Edward Wood’s resolve was ironclad.
“The future of this country looks bleak.”
On July 4, 1940—the historic date of American independence—the British Empire, the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Slovak Republic agreed to an “armistice.”
In exchange for the return of the “old” German Empire’s colonies and recognition of Germany’s territorial gains in Europe, Hitler received acknowledgment of the British Empire’s existing territories and rights intact.
Of course, Mussolini threw his own tantrum to grab his share.
“At the very least, Egypt must go to Italy! Otherwise, we absolutely cannot agree!”
But the Duce’s negotiating skills were disastrously poor.
“What the hell is wrong with these Italians?”
“If they’ve got a high body count, they think they deserve a handout.”
No one treated Italy seriously as a victor, especially after their belated entry into the war and their dismal performance against France.
Not even their ally Germany.
“Just toss them some scraps from the table, and they’ll be fine.”
That was Germany’s take on Italy.
Once the armistice was finalized, Italy erupted in fury.
“Our Rome has been robbed of its rightful share. Once again, we’ve been handed a ‘mutilated victory’!”
The term “mutilated victory” referred to Italy’s experience in World War I, where despite sacrificing two million lives, they were denied the promises made in the Treaty of London.
Mussolini himself had risen to power by railing against that very mutilated victory to win support from the far right.
So the implications of that slogan were terrifying.
‘That bastard only brings us crippled results. Let’s drag him down.’
Voices of criticism against the Duce exploded within the Italian Fascist Party.
If they were just going to get treated like this, they shouldn’t have joined the war at all.
Or at least jumped in early to secure a proper share.
The Duce found himself catching flak from all sides.
Italy’s gains in the original timeline had been similarly meager, but the backlash was especially vicious because even in negotiations with the last Allied power, Britain, they’d come away with next to nothing.
For the Duce, it was urgent to launch some project to placate the public.
‘This is that son of a bitch screwing me over. For now, let’s swallow Yugoslavia whole to quiet the discontent.’
Without consulting Hitler, the Duce issued orders to prepare an invasion of Yugoslavia.
War Minister Carlo Favagrossa was taken aback by Mussolini’s directive.
“Duce, prepare to invade Yugoslavia? Our forces won’t be ready to resume war until after 1942.”
In truth, there was no reason to attack Yugoslavia.
The current ruler, Prince Regent Paul, was pro-Axis in orientation.
In the broadest sense, Paul was practically a potential ally in the Axis camp.
The idea of provoking such an opponent for political gain could only be described as the act of a madman.
The minister’s objections were swiftly ignored.
“We won’t need much time to conquer a backwater like Yugoslavia. Give me two weeks.”
After much deliberation, the Italian military arrived at this conclusion.
“We don’t need to prepare seriously for a pushover like Yugoslavia. Just throw bodies at it, and the game’s over.”
The Italian army threw together an invasion without bothering to refine any proper operational plan.
Units that had been deployed in the French campaign were mobilized as-is.
And they hastily cooked up a pretext.
“Italy will reclaim the just territories promised to us in World War I. Yugoslavia must immediately return the lands it illegally occupies!”
The Duce’s rash charge was enough to shake the entire Balkan Peninsula.
“If we don’t join the Axis, Italy’s going to come after us next.”
Romania, already reeling from Soviet beatdowns and acutely aware of its security crisis, made the first move, followed by Hungary and Bulgaria joining the Axis alliance in quick succession.
Even the Greek government, led by dictator General Ioannis Metaxas, was no exception.
Greece’s military regime had been pro-German from the start.
“We’ll join the Axis too!”
Mussolini grew ever more anxious as this unfolded.
Fearing Yugoslavia might join the Axis before he could act—and with preparations still half-baked—he abruptly declared war.
On July 15, 1940, war erupted between Italy and Yugoslavia with the Duce’s declaration.
Germany adopted a wait-and-see stance on the situation.
Truth be told, taking sides was awkward.
‘Paul’s on our side, and the Duce is on our side too. Mediation makes sense.’
But stepping in to mediate would obviously enrage the Duce.
While Germany dithered, the Italian army advanced triumphantly.
Surprisingly, the Yugoslav army turned out to be a paper tiger.
They boasted a million-strong force on paper, but it crumbled like tofu under attack.
Italian tanks, aircraft, and mechanized units—hallmarks of their modernization—led the charge.
Of course, most of it was outdated junk, but it looked convincing enough on the surface.
“Would you look at that. We’re a force to be reckoned with after all!”
The Duce packaged the gains in Yugoslavia as his own political achievement.
That was his plan to soothe the discontent.
“Duce, congratulations. We’ve completed the occupation of Croatia.”
“That’s exactly it.”
But the Duce didn’t enjoy his triumph for long.
The Yugoslav army, retreating deep into the interior, gradually shook off the initial shock and began mounting stubborn resistance.
Had they delivered a devastating blow to Yugoslavia’s command structure like Germany had in the original timeline, none of this would have happened—but the Italians lacked the skill to emulate the Wehrmacht.
As the fighting dragged on, Italy’s chronic logistics woes came back to bite them.
And there were more problems.
“We should’ve had an operational plan from the start to coordinate or adjust. How do you fix what doesn’t exist?”
The Italian military cabinet had no proper invasion plan.
Well, there was one, but it was a measly four pages.
Most people imagine military operations as massive stacks of documents hundreds of pages thick, but in Italy, such things existed only in theory.
The generals improvised on the fly, directing troops without any unified strategy.
As a result, their early advantages faded, giving way to the kind of dreary trench warfare last seen in World War I.
“This is humiliating! What the hell is the air force doing!”
The air force was no better, of course.
Italian pilots would loiter in the sky, spot areas where forces were tangled up, and drop bombs haphazardly.
Aerial resupply was the same story.
This led to frequent friendly fire incidents and even dropping supplies meant for their own troops on the enemy.
For all intents and purposes, the Italian air force didn’t exist.
“You said Belgrade in a week? It’s been two weeks now.”
Italy’s bumbling campaign quickly became a global laughingstock.
Mussolini joined Stalin as the year’s second head of state branded for “incompetent warfare,” earning him Man of the Year dishonors.
Italy’s fiasco rippled out to the world, where fascists had been watching their victories unfold.
“To Yugoslavia! We have to stop these fascist invaders here once and for all, or they’ll never learn to fear war.”
The International Brigades, defeated in the Spanish Civil War and scattered to their home countries or abroad,
“We might not touch the Germans, but we can give those Italian pigs a lesson right now!”
Anti-fascist volunteers arrived from Britain, America, and elsewhere.
Only the Soviet Union, on friendly terms with Yugoslavia, stayed silent.
“If we intervene in Yugoslavia now, we might provoke the Nazis. Refrain from anything that could stimulate them.”
Following Stalin’s non-interference order, the Soviets sent not a single rifle or bullet.
In reality, the Soviets weren’t in a position to help anyone else.
With Germany having forged the United States of Europe, they stood as a looming potential foe.
In any case, aside from the Axis powers, everyone secretly cheered Yugoslavia’s defiance.
For Italy, further damage to their prestige was intolerable.
The Duce made his decision.
“Use poison gas.”
In Africa, no one batted an eye at gassing Ethiopian “savages.”
But this time, the target was smack in the middle of Europe.
“Duce, that’s...”
“That’s an order.”
To turn the tide, Italy began aggressively deploying poison gas.
Even the Yugoslav forces, who had held up decently until then, were helpless against it.
“This violates international law!”
“And where are the enforcers of that international law?”
Italy clawed back momentum through despicable means.
But this didn’t spell the end for the Yugoslav war effort.
In the original timeline, the real game began only after Yugoslavia fell.
The Italians had no idea yet.