Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan

by Bruce Lee

The analysts in Washington note that Hidaka is saying that when Mussolini met Hitler on July 19, Il Duce must have seen that all Hitler was thinking of doing was to establish a defense line across the Appenine Mountains from Leghorn to Ancona. Thus, when the Fascist Grand Council met, Italy was faced with only two alternatives: either retire to the north and fight or get out of the war. The majority of the Council voted against withdrawing northward and continuing the war, and that decision brought about Mussolini’s downfall. Hidaka then ends his report with some prescient commentary. “If the Germans try to take over part of Italy and defend it against the will of the Italians, the Italian troops which are maintaining order from Greece to Dalmatia and the approximately twelve Italian divisions stationed in southern France will no longer assist the Germans and … will