The Regio Esercito (English: Royal Army) was the army of the Kingdom of Italy from the unification of Italy in 1861 until the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946, at which point the army changed its name to the Italian Army (Esercito Italiano).
Royal Italian Army in Days of Infamy[]
The Royal Italian Army had been engaged with the British 8th Army when Japan invaded Hawaii in late 1941. Although their soldiers made up the majority of the Axis forces, the Germans overshadowed all their efforts.
Toward the end of 1942, the British, along with their US allies, launched a counter attack that finally defeated both the Italians and the Germans.
Royal Italian Army in "The Phantom Tolbukhin"[]
Units of the Royal Italian Army had been brought to the Ukraine to help pad out the German forces, and to act as a buffer between Romanian and Hungarian forces, who seemed just as eager to shoot each other as the Soviets.
Royal Italian Army in The War That Came Early[]
The Royal Italian Army was completely unprepared when Germany declared war on Czechoslovakia in 1938. The army none the less continued the fight in both Spain, southern France, and the Libyan borders.
Before the war started, they had been active in Spain during the Civil War, where they earned a sordid reputation for using any excuse to halt their advance. While the Germans were famous for rapid advancements, the Italians were also famous for rapid advancements in the opposite direction.
After the 1941 British Military Coup, Mussolini, wanting to impress Hitler, started launching raids into Egypt in order to punish Britain for leaving the alliance against Russia. The British retaliated by pushing into Libya against the Italians. The Italian Army proved unable to stop them, retreating back into their major supply city of Tobruk, where they linked up with the Germans.
Royal Italian Army in Worldwar[]
The Royal Italian Army was busy fighting the British in North Africa when the Race invaded in mid 1942. Completely outclassed in the desert environment of Libya, the Italians where thrown back across the Mediterranean to Italy, where they fought against the Race when they invaded northern Italy from Southern France.
Outgunned, and not willing to put up a fight in the face of such overwhelming odds, the Italian Army fled and eventually surrendered when Italy capitulated not long afterward.
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