Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 342: [Mussolini] Defense Line (1)

"This is totally unreasonable." Sergeant Carl Dick turned over and jumped into the natural dirt ditch that was used as a shelter, and found that his platoon was sitting comfortably on the ditch wall, holding an aluminum cup. Drinking cold coffee, and reading with relish a seized Italian newspaper, the headline of the newspaper read "German Army Marching" in large print.

"It's ridiculous." Dick leaned against the wall of the ditch, and then put the submachine gun back on his shoulder.

"What did you just say?" Platoon Sergeant John Farm blinked as if he had just spotted his boss.

"I said this is ridiculous. Other troops are advancing, but here we are playing a confrontation game with a group of Italian mountain infantry. The people in the camp are all crazy. We only need to launch a simple assault. , You can definitely win the opposite position." Dick took the aluminum cup that Fam had handed over, and watched as the opponent poured cold coffee into the cup.

"Isn't this good? Comrades have been fighting for this period of time. They have been very tired and can just take a good rest. Since this order was issued above, then there must be their reason. The rest of you A few points, don't forget to fill a pot in the kitchen." Sergeant Farm passed the thermos to a soldier beside him.

"Well, you're right, maybe I was too impulsive." Dick put the empty cup on the ammunition box beside him and took his pipe from his pocket.

"Don't underestimate the Italian mountain soldiers. It is the Verona Battalion, which belongs to the Second Italian Alpine Division. This is one of the most elite troops in the Italian army." Sergeant Farm took the share. The newspaper folded up and tucked it into the map bag around his waist.

"Aren't we the same? No one dares to underestimate the hundredth battalion." Dick twisted a handful of tobacco from the tobacco packet and stuffed it into the crudely carved walnut pipe.

The Fifth Mountain Division of the German Army is a newly formed unit. Usually people think that this new unit must be full of rookies, but in fact, the number of experienced veterans in the Fifth Mountain Division is no more than any There are few old German units.

This unit is composed of teams split from several old units. For example, Dick’s 100th Jager Regiment was originally part of the First Field Division and was the earliest mountain unit formed by the German Army. The officers and soldiers have undergone extremely rigorous training and at the same time experienced the test of war in the European war.

The 85th Jager Regiment in the division was adapted from an ordinary infantry regiment. It originally belonged to the 10th Infantry Division of the German Army, so the mountain combat capability is slightly lacking. It wants to reach the mountain division. Standards require a lot of time for professional intensive training. However, these infantrymen were very good at conventional operations. At that time, the 85th Regiment was an infantry unit and participated in the European War throughout the entire process. From Poland to the British beaches, this unit performed exceptionally well.

Before the outbreak of the Italian War, the Fifth Mountain Division was transferred to the Austrian border city of Villach, which is the confluence of Austria, Yugoslavia, and Italy. The issue of garrisoning here in the past is very sensitive. Changes in forces will attract the attention of the governments of Italy and Yugoslavia.

But this time the Italians made a serious misjudgment, which may have something to do with their concentration on preparing for the invasion of Greece. Anyway, the behavior of the German Chen Bing Villach was regarded by the Italians as that. The head of state is a means of demonstrating to Yugoslavia.

The Fifth Mountain Division was the first group of troops to enter the Italian border from the Eastern Front, and these troops who attacked from the Eastern Front were progressing very smoothly. After breaking through the border line, there was only sporadic resistance along the way. Because there were not many towns on this route, the German infantry division attacked the Po Plain along the railway line almost effortlessly.

Next is the stage where the armored forces performed. Eighteen hours after the war, the German army announced that it had occupied the Venice area. At midnight on the 21st, the last Italian army in the Veneto region announced that it would give up resistance and surrender to the Germans.

The fighting spirit of the Italians cannot but be said to be not high, but the backward equipment and poor logistics have hindered these fighters, and there have also been serious problems in the choice of tactics and on-site command at the command level. At the same time, they cannot After obtaining the correct information and losing air dominance, they could not even control the number and position of the enemy.

Italian troops generally lack heavy weapons. The main firepower is some medium-caliber artillery, and because of the chaos in logistical supplies and the destruction of the German troops interspersed with troops, they will not be able to get supplements from the rear after the fighting broke out. When the firefight began, the Italian artillery often quickly ran out of ammunition carried by the team. After receiving the artillery, they could only pick up their rifles and were used as infantry to resist.

The Italian infantry can only rely on small-caliber mortars, heavy machine guns and grenades to resist the German infantry and tanks. They squatted in temporary trenches and foxholes dug out, suffering the Germans. Almost endless heavy artillery bombardment, Stuka's terrifying screams will be heard from time to time above the head, and then the entire row of positions will be turned into a sea of ​​flames under the attack of incendiary bombs.

These are not the most terrible. The terrible thing is that when they find that there are traces of enemy troops in the rear, and their retreat is cut off, as mentioned earlier, the Italian military system cannot withstand too much pressure. So when those troops found themselves in a desperate situation~IndoMTL.com~The officers found it difficult to keep their soldiers obeying their orders. Usually at this time, as long as the Germans launch an assault, they will see a spectacular collapse. .

The only few armored units that Italy has in the north, in terms of quantity and quality, are not rivals to German counterparts. After being attacked by Italian L3 ultralight tanks and armored vehicles, the German infantry was pleasantly surprised to find that those 37mm door hammers that were originally planned to be eliminated were once again useful. In the eyes of these Germans, they could only be regarded as armed tracked transport vehicles or machine gun-like armored vehicles, and they soon lost their losses under the strangulation of the German multi-layer anti-tank firepower network.

The only thing that interests the Germans is the L3/33 fire-breathing tank attached to the Italian armored fire platoon. If it weren’t for the fuel trailer behind the car, it’s more conspicuous, and the Germans have long been interested in this vehicle. If you are on guard, maybe the infantry unit on the front line will suffer a big loss in front of this special tank.

Italy’s main armored forces were previously transferred to Greece and Libya. Only a few independent armored units were left in the country. Most of them were equipped with equipment eliminated by other forces. Of course, there were also some experimental companies equipped with the latest Italian tanks. . The Ninth Armored Division once encountered such an Italian tank company. In addition to a bunch of L3 and L5 tanks, it was also equipped with four latest M13/40 medium tanks.

But this is another story. It has nothing to do with the current war, so let's put it aside.

PS: Sorry, I have something to do today, but the number is a bit small. I will try to make up the big chapter tomorrow.

The current results are not satisfactory, the subscription is very poor, and the monthly ticket has fallen to 140, and there are only more than 1,000 votes in 20 days. I have no energy to talk about it. (To be continued.) What a book, home of book friends! Unique URL: