The War Ministry in Rome full of people.
Italy's top brass were assembled.
Marshal Pietro Badoglio, General Emilio De Bono and the heads of engineering, rail logistics, and the air force.
Benito Mussolini entered.
He didn't sit.
He rarely did.
"We strike in October," he declared. "Before the rains end. Before the League meets again. The world will debate. We will move."
Badoglio cleared his throat, deliberately.
"If I may October gives us six weeks. Eritrean roads are only partially graded. We've cleared 62 kilometers south of Asmara, but most heavy artillery is still in Naples."
"Then finish the roads by September," Mussolini snapped. "No more excuses. The Roman Empire didn't wait for paved paths."
Badoglio tapped a field report with two fingers.
"Southern sector is still a mess. Rains in Jubaland have washed out the supply paths. We lost two truck convoys."
"Then use bulldozers. Dynamite. Camels. I don't care. If terrain resists, crush it."
