An example of Italy's record reversal in World War II

In World War II, China people had the impression that the Italians were the puppet troops of the German army, and they felt that the Italians were extremely poor in fighting capacity. In fact, this is totally a great misunderstanding. Because there are a lot of German powder in China, in order to maintain the brave image of the noble Aryan German Germans in German powder's heart, many funny aspects of the Italian army were misrepresented on the Internet. This is why many Germans in China make up online jokes that laugh at the fighting capacity of Italians. The statement that Italy was defeated in North Africa and the Soviet Union has no accurate basis in history. All corrections are now made:

Rumor 1: Italians are a burden and a burden to the German army.

The fact is:

In the battle of sweeping Ukraine, the Italian Expeditionary Force captured 1, Soviet troops and independently captured important towns such as Stalingrad. On the north wing of Stalingrad, the Italian army defended the front for 1,2 kilometers, while the Germans in charge of supply not only did not provide reinforcements and weapons (especially the scarce anti-tank guns), but also often dispatched Italian trucks to transport materials for themselves (there was an Italian one in the siege of Stalingrad). When the Soviet Union's absolutely superior armored forces attacked, there were no reinforcements, and the Italian army with insufficient heavy weapons was surrounded by the breakthrough (Romanian army and Hungarian army). The mountain army and other troops persisted for nearly a month until they received the evacuation order. A 3,-person Italian army group fought hard, including hand-to-hand combat, and 4, people broke through. Without these so-called Italian "baggage", how can the Germans defend this 2-kilometer position on the Don River?

In the "Crusade" launched in the Battle of Gubi Well in North Africa on November 18th, 1941, the Italian armored division of Ariet ("Ram") fought against the 22nd armored brigade of the British army. The British troops were not at a disadvantage, and Ariet did not take part in the battle with all his men. In this battle, 12 officers and 193 soldiers of Ariet Division were killed/injured. 79 tanks of the 22nd British Armored Brigade were destroyed or severely damaged.

Italians have always provided most of the troops in the Axis Army and are responsible for escorting the transport fleet at great losses. Without Italians, only tens of thousands of Rommel's troops can deal with hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth troops? Without the infantry provided by the Italians, effective artillery and armored troops with poor equipment but brave fighting, can the Germans win? Without Italians to cover their flanks and act as defenders from time to time in the spirit of self-sacrifice, the Germans can attack with confidence and retreat safely? Do you know the Gubi Well twice? Do you know the St. Kyle Naval Infantry Battalion in Tobruk? Do you know combat engineering, who is at the front? Do you know the Ram armored division that fought to the end? Do you know the epic defender battle of the paratroopers of Fogel? Do you know that an Italian soldier rushed to the British tank with an explosive charge after his arm was broken? Rommel said, "German soldiers shocked the world, while Italian soldiers shocked German soldiers." If you don't believe me, you can read Rommel's biography. So Italians often do dirty work for the Germans, but they are humiliated by German powder.

Myth 2: Captives captured in Italy can eat luxury packages every day ... A British pilot was captured by Italy and put into a prisoner concentration camp. That night, he got his own dinner in prison. It was from the appetizer to macaroni and meat, and even the last fruit and red wine were well-equipped, luxurious and unnatural.

"Is this the so-called last supper ..."

The next morning, a senior general appeared in front of him: "Yesterday, we made a little mistake and provided you as a general with dinner for ordinary soldiers. This is definitely not intentional abuse of prisoners. Can you forgive the wrong guard for my sake? "

the fact is: this pilot is a member of the British royal family, so he considered it from the aspect of political influence. Other British pilots are not treated like this, otherwise most Italian officers and men will be nervous.

rumor 3: the 5,-strong Italian army met a roadblock set by a company of British troops and disarmed on the spot.

When Churchill called to ask the British commander auchinleck how many Italians were captured, auchinleck proudly said, "I can't count them, about five acres of officers and 2 acres of soldiers."

the fact is: after the defeat of El Alamein, Rommel decided to retreat and took Italy's fresh water and oil supplies. Italians retreated in the desert area on foot without fresh water, and many soldiers were either wiped out by the British troops who had the advantage of mechanization, or died of thirst alive because of lack of water. Finally, the Italians surrendered to the British army. By the way, in the Libyan desert in Wang Yuanzheng, Persia, 3, people died of thirst because of lack of water.

rumor 4: the german army received an Italian rescue request in the desert and sent a squadron to the rescue. When they met with Italy, they found that the other side was boiling macaroni with precious water ...

The fact is: this place is Alaman, where the Italian army resisted the onslaught of the main force of Montgomery Army of the British army. Italy was completely defeated, and all the soldiers had to retreat to 2 kilometers away on foot. On the way, they met an Italian general, who knew that the fresh water and oil supplies in Italy had been taken away by the Germans, and he was unable to withdraw his troops. Mussolini will shoot him when he returns, and he will die in the battlefield with his orderly. Before the last World War, the general said, "Children, I think we can eat some macaroni from our hometown." ....................................................................................................................

the fact is: even Mussolini wanted to stick to the consistent policy of neutrality on the European issue, because Hitler was pressured into participating in the war. Why should a peace-loving national army prepare an invasion plan in addition to its local defense plan?

The French always thought that their maginot line would repeat the grand occasion of World War I meat grinder, and the British would shed their last drop of blood for it. The famous soldier who had experienced World War I, Petain, commanded the most elite French army to guard the French-Italian border at that time ... Petain's army became the last support of Vichy government. Why do you think Hitler let the French keep such a government?

At that time, the focal point of Italian attack was the Fortress Vosges, which was a very solid link on the French maginot line. The Fortress Vosges was also a fortress built on the steep Vosges Mountains. It is very difficult to attack such a fortress built on a high mountain. Don't forget that the Germans bypassed maginot line, not made a positive breakthrough. Let's look at the performance of the Germans in Brest fortress, and we will know how difficult it is to break through a fortress from the front. During World War I, the Russians realized that the role of the fortress in modern war was not as good as before, so they planned to change it into a military camp. When the Germans attacked Brest fortress, the Russians had almost dismantled the emplacement of the fortress and the fort, but the Germans still paid heavy casualties in order to conquer this fortress with weak protection.

Myth 6: On the battlefield in Alaman, North Africa, the British army led 25 people to fight with 1, Italian troops in World War I, and captured more than 8, people.

the fact is: it's purely domestic German bullshit. In the Battle of El Alamein, the Italian Eliot armored division sacrificed their old tanks while resisting the allied attack and covering the German retreat. At about 15: 3 on November 4, a few surviving tanks were surrounded by superior enemy forces, and they sent the last telegram.

Allied tanks broke through the south of Eliot's armored division. So Eliot's armored division was surrounded 5 kilometers northeast of Bir-el-Abd. Elliott armored division still insist on fighting! They fought to the last tank. On November 6, 1942, the Germans admitted that the British "paid a heavy price in terms of personnel and material losses for their infiltration" in the defense zone of the Alioti armored division. The Italians fought to the last man. "

Myth 7: In order to finance foreign trade, Italy will sell advanced devices that are not equipped with its own air force to foreign countries or even enemy countries ...

A fighter plane was designed with an advanced design of a closed cabin, but it was restored to an open design because some pilots complained that they could not feel the wind. Therefore, Italy didn't develop high-speed fighters until the end of World War II ...

The fact is: at that time, Italy's cutting-edge industrial capacity was very poor, even tank radios could not be mass-produced and sealed engine rooms could not be manufactured on a large scale. Although it took the lead in research and development, it could not be assembled and put into operation on a large scale. When the air force commander painfully informed the pilots of this news, the young man joked indifferently, "Never mind, general, We prefer the smell of the wind ........ "

Proverbs 8: In order to keep the battlefield clean, the gun designer invented a machine gun that can rebound the cartridge case ... (Italy waved the white flag: I love environmental protection! ! )

The fact is: It was an Italian Breda)M37 heavy machine gun, also known as Breda

M-1937. This is an excellent machine gun, which uses 2 rounds of ammunition plates to supply ammunition. The difference from other machine guns with ammunition plates, such as Haqikas, is that the shells fired by M37 are not directly thrown out of the gun, but are pulled out of the chamber and re-stuck on the ammunition plates. This gun is the most used and handy heavy machine gun in the Italian army in World War II. After the end of World War II, the Italian army continued to use M37 Breda heavy machine guns and 8mm Breda Buju bullets for a long time. Breda heavy machine gun is popular because the shell can plug the machine gun with rebound drum, the barrel temperature is more stable, the firing rate is faster and the combat efficiency is extremely high.

rumor 9: in 1943, the allied forces landed in Italy, and there was a battlefield. The allied forces fought fiercely all morning without any casualties. The only loss is that his plane threw the airborne troops into the sea (using the sandbar as a beach).

During the Sicilian campaign, the US military dropped "cannonball leaflets". The leaflets said that these leaflets could be used as "surrender certificates", and you could take them to the rear of the allied forces to get food and get safety.

The next morning, a group of Italians came running, each with a leaflet in his hand. Some people even asked nervously, "Is this a voucher for surrender?" After receiving a positive reply, all of them happily handed over their weapons. On the third day and the fourth day ... at first, there were dozens of people, and later, hundreds of people came running with leaflets. Once, after two Italian soldiers surrendered with leaflets, they told the US military that 6

people in their company wanted to surrender but were afraid to come because they didn't have a "surrender certificate", so the US military immediately sent someone with a "surrender certificate" to bring all these people. On another occasion, an Italian soldier made a special trip to ask for another leaflet so that his younger brother could come and surrender.

when American troops landed in Italy and confronted Italy, they felt that Italians had no will to fight, so they deliberately weakened their attack. When a German reconnaissance plane flew over the battlefield for investigation, the Italian army commander thought that his face was too embarrassing and ordered him to pretend to be fighting, and the American army also fought back without enthusiasm. This battle was discovered by the German reconnaissance plane and said with emotion: "Awesome! The Italians stopped the American offensive! " (God)

Then German reinforcements arrived and started a real fierce battle.

The fact is that the Italian king has already announced that he will join the Allies, but the troops have not yet left contact, so the US military has dropped "artillery leaflets" on the Italians. The fierce battle that followed was nothing more than a fierce battle between fascist Germany and the Italian army loyal to the king's government. It was said that when the allied forces attacked Italy in 1943, they fought against the Germans. This was because after the Italian king announced the dismissal of Mussolini, Hitler sent troops to rescue Mussolini, and occupied the mountainous areas in northern Italy to defend against the allies.

Myth 1:

The submarine named after the great scientist Galileo failed in a confrontation with an armed British fishing boat and was captured by the other side. At the beginning, "Galileo" launched an attack on the other side, but it was attacked by a fishing boat that was not even equipped with a lighting sight (note: it was a fishing boat! ) hit continuously and finally surrendered because the captain was injured.

The fact is: Galileo submarine was launched before World War I, and after the outbreak of World War I, Italy quickly took refuge in the British-led allies. Will Italy attack the fishing boats of British allies?

Rumor 11:

On June 3, 194, Marshal Barbo, the Italian governor in Libya, was shot down by Italy's own anti-aircraft artillery over Tobruk. In order to cover up this tragedy, the Italians announced that the marshal was killed in an air battle with the British.

The fact is that Tobruk is an important strategic point of the British army in North Africa. After being besieged by Italy, it is isolated. Marshal Barbour likes to go to the front line to observe and arrange the front line. The itinerary was learned by spies. In order to break through Italy's perfect anti-aircraft gun position, the Royal Air Force took this opportunity to dispatch large-scale airborne materials. The burly Marshal Barbour ordered indiscriminate fire on the landline. Nine months later, Tobruk, who ran out of materials, fell and achieved Rommel's marshal rank.

rumor 12: in yugoslavia, a german officer captured by guerrillas was very surprised and asked, "where did you get the anti-tank guns?" When the guerrillas told him that they had taken it from their ally, the Italians, he was filled with emotion: "Alas! These lovely Italians.

the fact is: their ally, the Italian guerrillas of the * * * production party, later hanged Mussolini, so their strength is average, right? The strength of Italy's * * * production party remained the largest party in Italy until the beginning of the Cold War.

Italian guerrillas were still very active in World War II. The Germans were often beaten everywhere by Italian guerrillas. In the summer of 1944, the armored grenadiers division of SS SS16 "National Leader" launched a bloody crackdown on the left-wing guerrillas "Garibaldi Brigade" and "Red Star Brigade" in northern Italy. If there were no guerrillas, they took it out on the local residents, usually shooting them as guerrillas.

On August 11th of that year, when the first division of the division was carrying out anti-guerrilla warfare in Santa Ana, it vented its anger on local civilians because it could not find guerrillas, and shot and killed more than 1 civilians, even the infants who were still nursing.

For this reason, many soldiers of this division won the Anti-Guerrilla Medal. After the war, the international court ruled that any soldier who won this medal was classified as a war criminal. However, in the post-war German government after the unification of West Germany and Germany, the special medals awarded by the massacre were "legal" again. The federal government also awarded medals to many German veterans who participated in the massacre, but the new medals removed the Nazi eagle emblem.

rumor 13: the old Shuang Ye fighter planes of the British navy attacked the Italian fleet in Taranto bay, and as a result, one warship of the Italian fleet sank and two warships were moderately damaged. The British did not suffer any losses at all.

The fact is: British spies learned about Italy's defense deployment in Taranto Bay, and the British learned from intelligence that Italy's air defense force was weak, so they sent an aircraft carrier fleet to surprise taranto. There is an entire carrier fleet behind these old Shuang Ye fighters.