I heard that Italy was very cowardly during World War II. How cowardly was it?

Italy has always been called "poor imperialism". All the enthusiasm of the Italians seems to be used for opera, football and other activities, and war is not their strong point. Quoting a German officer at the time:

If Italy is Germany's enemy, then Germany only needs 10 divisions to defeat it;

If Italy remains neutral, then Germany needs Send 20 divisions to defend him;

If Italy is an ally of Germany, then Germany will send 30 divisions to defend it.

In my impression, there has never been an example of the Italian army winning a battle without relying on the German army alone on the battlefield of World War II.

Although Italy was a member of the Axis Powers and also signed the "Steel Covenant", it did not abide by the treaty and went to war with Germany at the beginning, and did not abide by the treaty at the end, but launched the Axis Powers. Before the war broke out, Mussolini was told that even if all the arsenals in Italy received all the raw materials and started working day and night, it would not be possible until 1943 to complete war preparations. Therefore, Italy did not get involved in the war when Germany blitzed Poland. They sent workers to Germany, and when Germany was progressing smoothly, and it seemed that they were about to achieve a complete victory, they hastily declared war on Britain and France, rushing to win. How could they be invincible?

Before I even finished reading the declaration of war, I was beaten by the French on the ground and beaten by the British at sea. I was still unable to fight back; in "The Captain's Mandolin", the Greeks have a very classic saying: "We "I would rather surrender to the German captain's dog than to the Italians." Who is willing to surrender to an opponent who has been beaten to a pulp by himself? Before the Germans intervened in North Africa, Churchill even planned to withdraw some troops from North Africa to support other battlefields. His original words were "Considering Italy's great defeat in North Africa, there should be no problem in deploying these troops"... After Italy surrendered, the Italian army was brutally killed by the German army at will, without the ability to fight back, even if it was adapted by Tito into Garibaldi The Italian army of the division only made important "sacrifice" in the battle against the German army.

In a battle in North Africa, more than 10,000 troops surrendered without a fight, just like thousands of Allied troops surrendered. The reason was that the screwdriver to open the ammunition box could not be found.

When facing Ethiopia, a country with only 200 machine guns and 4,000 rifles, even some of the Royal Guards were only equipped with Changyu, actually held back the Italian army for half a year and forced the opponent to fight. Victory was achieved without the use of chemical weapons, and ultimately cost 130,000 casualties. Even their allies the Germans looked down upon them. When they were fighting in North Africa, the German army had not yet entered, but the Italian army had 500,000 people. The British army organized 50,000 Indian troops and hundreds of vehicles driven by the British. Tanks launched a surprise attack on the Italian army, and the result was shocking. 500,000 Italian troops were defeated by 50,000 British Indian troops. The important town of Tobruk was lost, and more than 100,000 people were captured. When Rommel first arrived in North Africa, What I saw was a scene of Italians fleeing in panic. Longshuai dispersed his German officers and soldiers to serve as commanders among some Italian troops. These soldiers soon became the backbone of the Italian army and achieved victory in the counterattack. ( The combat effectiveness of the German army is indeed terrifying. The most basic soldiers can become outstanding officers in the Italian army. At the same time, the low combat effectiveness of the Italian army can also be seen). Longshuai has always had a low evaluation of the Italian army. He said: "The Italians fight , When it was time for them to charge, they all lay on the ground and cowered, but when it was time to hide, they all moved forward bravely. As a result, some enemy soldiers shot dead and wounded." Once, because the Malta Island in the Mediterranean Sea posed a strong threat to the African Army supply line (when the island was strong, 2/3 of the Axis transport ships were sent to the bottom of the sea, but when the island was weak, more than 95% of the ships could safely pass through). When everyone was discussing how to deal with it, an Italian officer said that Italian airborne troops could be sent to seize the island. Long Shuai retorted on the spot: "Is this possible based on the Italian army's consistent performance?".

What’s even more ridiculous is that on June 30, 1940, the plane of Marshal Balbo, the Italian governor in Libya, was shot down by Italy’s own anti-aircraft artillery over the northeastern port of Tobruk, and the marshal was killed on the spot. In order to cover up this serious incident, the Italian army announced that the marshal was killed in an air battle with the British.

Poor Balbo became the highest-ranking commander who was accidentally injured in World War II. On February 16, 1941, Rommel, commander of the German Afrika Korps, arrived in North Africa for rescue on Hitler's order. At this time, the Italian army was already in disarray and fled in panic. A colonel reported to Rommel that the Italian soldiers had thrown their weapons and ammunition in the desert, and the officers were packing their bags, hoping to return to Italy as soon as possible.

In May 1940, the German army quickly invaded France and approached Paris. On June 10, Mussolini believed that the time had come and ordered Prince Umberto, commander of the Western Army Group, to command 325,000 troops to be stationed on the Italian-French border on standby. On the 17th, the newly formed French Pétain government requested an armistice, and Hitler invited Mussolini to meet in Munich. Mussolini successfully obtained the ceded land from France. Interestingly, Mussolini felt that such a victory was undignified, and suddenly decided to launch a blitzkrieg against the French army on the 21st and 22nd before the armistice agreement was officially signed. As a result, in the Alps, the Italian army's lightning attack not only failed to make the six weak French divisions take a step back, but was hit head-on by the French army, causing heavy losses. 631 people were killed, 5,206 were injured, and 626 were injured. Disappeared, Prince Umberto was forced to declare a truce. Strasser, the former general secretary of the Italian National Fascist Party, said with emotion that it was really heartbreaking to fight two days before the armistice and let so many people die in vain.

In order to change his supporting role among the fascist axis powers, on October 28, 1940, Mussolini mobilized 87,000 troops, 163 tanks, 686 artillery pieces and 380 aircraft to attack Greece. Launched a full-scale attack. However, the Italian army failed to meet Mussolini's expectations. On November 4, the Greek government only assembled 15 divisions, and it took a week to drive the Italian army from the border. On the 21st, Mussolini temporarily changed command, dispatched 14 additional divisions, and launched a new round of general offensive. The Greek army cleverly used the terrain and resisted tenaciously, but the Italian army never reversed the defeat. Mussolini was so distraught that he blamed the General Staff for the fiasco and then changed the Chief of General Staff. At the same time, he demanded an armistice in Greece through Hitler. But it was too late. The Greek army had launched an offensive across the board. The Italian army suffered heavy casualties. All the ace divisions were wiped out, five generals were captured, and one general was killed. The Italians were all stunned. They didn't know what was going on. Mussolini rushed to Germany anxiously, sitting in front of Hitler as anxiously as a schoolboy who had made a mistake, begging for help. Hitler agreed to send troops and spent two hours teaching strategy and tactics to Mussolini. Interestingly, after Mussolini returned home, he still hoped to defeat Greece before Germany and rely on his own country's strength to save face. He ordered an urgent recruitment of new soldiers and formed a reinforcement force of 500,000 people. On March 2, 1941, he personally supervised the battle as the supreme commander, but it still ended in failure. Mussolini could not figure out why the Italian army, which had superior numbers and weapons, could not break through the Greek defense lines. The First World War in Greece further exposed the weakness and incompetence of the Italian fascist regime, and also reduced Italy to a second-rate country in the Axis group, and could only play a "supporting role" in subordinate wars with the German army.

After the Soviet-German war broke out, Hitler originally wanted to "go it alone." Mussolini believed that the German army would win and could share the spoils if they fought together, so he begged Hitler to allow the Italian army to participate in the war against the Soviet Union. As a result, the 220,000 Italian elite troops sent to the Soviet Union were also vulnerable. Half of the soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, and the other half fled back to Italy early. Most of the losses in various weapons reached more than 80%.