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As Italian resistance weakened, Hitler turned Italy from an Axis partner into a German satellite
state directly under the Fuhrer's power. In the meantime, General Eisenhower planned the Allies
next move to invade Sicily using Patton and Montgomery as the leaders of this attack. This campaign
did not last long and the then the Italian fleet surrendered their ships at Malta. The Allies finally landed
on the main European continent near Salerno on September 3, 1943 and proceeded towards Naples. The battle
lasted 3 deadly months, but eventually 30,000 German troops surrendered in heavy fighting. The Allies then
landed another invasion at Anzio on the way to Rome, which was finally in Allied hands in January of 1944.
Italy was liberated and Mussolini was hanged by his own people and the people of Italy rejoiced as freedom
finally arrived.
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