 On 24 October 1922, during the Fascist congress in Naples, Mussolini announced that the Fascists would march on Rome "take by the throat our miserable ruling class".General Pietro Badoglio told the King that the military would be able without difficulty to rout the rebels, who numbered no more than 10,000 men armed mostly with knives and clubs whereas the "Regio Esercito" had 30,000 soldiers in the Rome area armed with heavy weapons, armoured cars, and machine guns.During the "March on Rome", the Fascist "squadristi" were halted by 400 lightly armed policemen, as the "squadristi" had no desire to take on the Italian state.