When the armistice was announced by Allied radio on the afternoon of 8 September, German forces immediately attacked Italian forces by executing Operation Achse. Most of the "Regio Esercito" (Italian Royal Army) had not been informed about the armistice, and no clear orders had been issued about the line of conduct to be taken in the face of the German armed forces. Some of the Italian divisions that should have defended Rome were still in transit from southern France. The King, along with the Royal Family and Badoglio, fled Rome on the early morning of the 9th, taking shelter in Brindisi, in Southern Italy. The initial intention had been to move army headquarters out of Rome together with the King and the Prime Minister, but few staff officers reached Brindisi. In the meanwhile, the Italian troops, without instructions, collapsed and were soon overwhelmed; some small units decided to stay loyal to the German ally. From 8 to 12 September, German forces occupied all of the Italian territory that was still not under Allied control, except Sardinia and part of Apulia, without meeting much organised resistance. In Rome, an Italian governor, with the support of an Italian infantry division, nominally ruled the city until 23 September, but in practice, the city was under German control from 11 September.