September 28, 1943, Berlin Chancellery.

In mid-September, Lao Maozi launched a campaign to recapture Leningrad without the support of the Central Xia people.

The Third Reich troops on the Eastern Front once again faced a severe test.

The battle lasted for half a month, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. However, the Third Reich still controlled Leningrad, but the situation was getting worse day by day.

Mustache has been in a bad mood recently and often loses his temper for no reason, making people afraid to approach him easily.

Two days ago, he had just received news from Italy that due to the fall of Sicily and the Allied bombing of major cities in Italy, Mussolini was dismissed from his post and secretly arrested.

Italy was the Third Reich's most important ally in Europe, and Mussolini was Mustache's close friend.

After Mussolini was arrested, Italy seemed to be inclined to surrender to the Allies and end the war.

Mustache was angry again. He would never allow Italy to surrender.

All of Europe was already occupied by the Third Reich, and only Italy was the soft belly of Europe.

If this soft belly surrenders, Mustache will not only lose a "strong" ally, but will also leave a huge gap in the Atlantic defense line, threatening the strategic defense of the entire Western Front.

Mustache is very angry for two reasons:

The first is the fear that the Allied forces will use Italy as a breakthrough point to cause his carefully arranged defense line to collapse.

The second is that they cannot bear the capitulation and weakness factions imprisoning their friends.

Mustache did not think that there was a problem in Italy as a whole. He only thought that those who opposed Mussolini arrested his friends for reasons such as power politics.

In his opinion, this country is still a strong ally, and he is unwilling to lose his ally unless it is absolutely necessary.

It took two days for the General Staff to finally come up with a response plan.

Chief of Staff Keitel led a group of navy and army generals into the conference room. Everyone's steps were very gentle and their faces were cautious.

The mustache glanced over coldly, without any ink marks, and asked bluntly:

"Have you figured out a way? Tell me quickly!"

Chief of Staff Keitel took out three folders, spread them out one after another and said to Mustache:

"Head of State, we have formulated three plans for what happened in Italy recently!"

"The first plan is called Operation Axis, which is to order our military in Italy to take over completely and seize or destroy the Italian navy and air force!"

"Bring the entire country firmly under our control and concentrate our efforts against the Allies!"

Mustache looked down at the action plan without saying anything. Keitel continued:

"The second plan is called Black Ops. We must not only control the army, but also control its government, achieve full occupation in a practical sense, and incorporate it into the territory of the Third Reich!"

Mustache believes that Italy is still a strong ally. At present, only some opposition personnel have arrested and detained Mussolini, and they are unwilling to take too tough and drastic actions.

He felt that the key to solving the problem lay with Mussolini.

As long as Mussolini is rescued, everything will return to the way it was before, allies will still be allies.

He directly skipped the first two plans and looked directly at the third plan.

Keitel also said at the same time:

"The third option is called Operation Student!"

"You don't need to occupy and control the entire country, you just need to send paratroopers to land in Rome and rescue Mussolini!"

Stuart was the commander of the paratroopers of the Third Reich.

The third plan is named after him, which shows that the rescue operation will be dominated by paratroopers.

Mustache was obviously more interested in the third option and asked:

"Are you ready with the specific action plan? I want to see the commander of the operation."

He looked at Student.

Student stood up quickly and said:

"Führer, the troops are ready, but we don't have the relevant information yet. We don't know the specific location where Mussolini is being held, so we haven't formulated a specific action plan yet."

The mustache looked at the SS leader Himmler again, and Himmler immediately said:

"Mossolinis was suddenly arrested and later moved to multiple places of detention. His current location cannot be confirmed at the moment."

"But please rest assured, head of state, our agents are already working very hard to search, and I think there will be results soon!"

Mustache frowned, holding the Student Action Plan and saying:

"The Allies must have also received the news. We must take action as soon as possible, otherwise things will change if we wait too long!"

"While gathering intelligence, we are preparing a rescue force. I think the specific action plan will be called Operation Oak!"

"General Student, ask the most elite commando captains to come to see me. I will personally select a commando team to carry out Operation Like Tree!"

Student hurriedly accepted the order without any hesitation.

The commandos mentioned here are special forces.

On the Eastern battlefield, Zhongxia's special forces achieved achievements that attracted world attention.

Special operations is no longer a new term, and militaries from all over the world are competing to imitate and learn from it.

The big action plan had been decided, but at this time, Imperial Marshal Göring raised a concern.

"Führer, I believe that the empire's commandos are definitely stronger than the patchwork troops of the Allied forces, but in addition to the Allied forces, we must also be wary of another opponent."

Hearing this, Goebbels, Himmler and Keitel blurted out at the same time:

"Zhongxia people!"

The mustache's eyes also narrowed, with anger and vigilance.

"Yes!" Goering nodded,

"The resistance movement in the eastern occupied areas has become increasingly fierce in recent months. There have been big security problems in the occupied areas. Many frontline officers have been ambushed and some supplies have been stolen."

"We have received accurate intelligence that there are shadows of the Central Xia Special Forces behind these resistance guerrillas!"

"Not only did they provide weapons and equipment to the guerrillas, they even took the initiative to help train these ragtag groups."

"Under the guidance of Zhongxia's special forces, the guerrillas will always cause us trouble!"

"Some small troubles are not enough to affect the entire battle situation, but when many troubles come together, things become difficult to say."

Goebbels tilted his head and said thoughtfully:

"You mean the Chinese people are also eyeing Mussolini and are competing with us for time?"

Goering nodded and said:

"This possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, there are shadows of Zhongxia people on the battlefields in the east and west. They want to get involved everywhere."

Everyone's expressions became solemn.

The conference room became quiet.

The people of Zhongxia are difficult to deal with. What should we do?

After a while, General Stuart said:

"Führer, it is only a possibility that the Zhongxia people will attack, not certain."

"We don't need to be afraid because of an uncertain factor. The most critical thing at the moment is to find Mussolini's location and execute Operation Oak!"

Mustache was frightened by the Zhongxia people. At that moment, he was even a little distracted.

"Indeed!"

..

At ten o'clock in the evening on the 28th, five commando captains of the Third Reich's special forces rushed to the base camp from the front line or training base.

Mustache met with five people overnight, which was regarded as an "interview" in person.

The head of state was a god-like existence in the eyes of these soldiers, and they seemed excited and excited.

At the "interview" scene, Mustache simply asked some questions, such as:

"Have you ever been to Italy? What do you think of it?"

"Tell me what you think of Italians and the Italian army."

These questions seemed to be commonplace, and the five commando captains answered cautiously and faithfully.

Half an hour later, Mustache chose one person from the five:

Captain Skorzeny!

There were two reasons for choosing Skorzeny.

The first is that there is a scar on his face that extends from his left ear to the corner of his lip, giving people a sense of fierceness and determination, which left a deep impression on Mustache.

The second is that during the "interview", Skorzeny said seriously and solemnly:

"I'm Austrian!"

As we all know, Mustache is a failed art student in Austria.

This answer instantly brought the relationship between the two closer, and also made Mustache think that Skorzeny was absolutely loyal to him.

Mustache appointed Skorzeny as the commander of Operation Oak, and General Stuart, commander of the paratroopers, will cooperate with his actions.

Skorzeny was flattered and repeatedly promised to complete the tasks assigned by the head of state.

The next day, Skorzeny and his commando team took a plane to Rome.
Chapter completed!