My Italian: Chapter 603 Battle of the Alps 2

Although Admiral Baxter was a little sad that he failed to lead the French army to a decisive battle with him, he was definitely an excellent commander. Since the French army did not want to show up, let him show up.

So on the second day after capturing the small town of Menton, the Southern Group Army launched a massive offensive. Eight divisions with 140,000 troops attacked Tenagne, the Tande Valley, the Umblant Pass, and Baslott. Yamaguchi launched an attack on the defending French army.

This time the Southern Group Army was very powerful. In addition to all kinds of artillery in its hands, it also dispatched airship troops to bomb several key areas.

As for the bombing effect of the airship, it was somewhat unsatisfactory. First, the airflow in the mountainous area was chaotic, and the airship was very unsuitable for flying in the mountainous area, and the bombing accuracy of the airship was not high. Although the altitude can be lowered to improve accuracy, ground anti-aircraft artillery is not a vegetarian.

On the first day of the general offensive, an airship wanted to lower altitude, improve the precision of bombing, and open a gap for ground infantry. However, under the care of the defenders' anti-aircraft weapons, the airship was finally damaged and crashed in the valley. In addition to the crashed airship, five other airships were damaged.

At this time, the disadvantages of the airship also appeared, that is, after the enemy has anti-aircraft firepower, the huge airship and its slow speed are very easy to be hit by the enemy.

Of course, the airship was not suitable for front-line combat, and it was quickly sent back to the army headquarters. The War Department immediately called off the bombing missions of the airships.

A large airship is almost enough to board a destroyer, and the army does not dare to suffer too many losses at this cost. After all, airships can do many things besides bombing.

In this offensive on the French border, in addition to the Southern Army, the Northern Army also participated. However, compared with the massive Southern Army, the Northern Army is much worse, and its offensive is only 40,000 people.

Because the northern army is located in the middle of the more dangerous mountainous area, there are fewer roads and checkpoints that can be passed by the army. The Northern Army can only attack the French army from dangerous places such as Lars Pass and Weisuo Pass, all of which are mountain passes, river valleys and other places. There is no way to deploy troops at all, so the advantage of numbers does not play a big role here. It depends more on the advantage of weapons, the elite level of the troops, and the command level of the leading officer.

And this massive attack was also very generous for the attacking Italian side. These infantry divisions that launched the attack have been strengthened. In terms of the artillery they are equipped with, in addition to the artillery within the establishment of each division, Each division was augmented by at least one 105th Howitzer Battalion.

The most exaggerated is the 19th Infantry Division responsible for attacking the coastal town of Tenagne. In addition to its own artillery, the army's 150mm heavy artillery battalion (12 guns), the group army's 210mm heavy artillery battalion (6 guns), an engineering regiment, and a transport regiment add up to nearly 30,000 troops. Of course, this is also because its task is the heaviest and the situation it faces is the most complicated.

The coastal areas of the two countries have undulating mountains, and it is not at all difficult to attack from here. And it may be harassed by the enemy navy at any time.

The use of such a large-scale army to attack France made Admiral Decasterno, who served as the Sixth Army, immediately feel that something was wrong.

The Sixth Army is the French army responsible for guarding the border between Italy and France. The group army has 210,000 troops in 11 divisions.

Facing the onslaught of the Italian army, although it was not enough to shake the defense line, the veteran had to take care of it. After careful consideration, he sent 4 divisions with more than 60,000 people to reinforce the various ministries. At present, in addition to the troops sent for reinforcements and the troops stationed in the position, he also holds the strength of 3 divisions in his hands to prevent any unexpected situations.

The movement of the French troops was quickly spread to Italy by intelligence personnel. Faced with the news from intelligence personnel, the Italian military attaches great importance to it.

Then airships and planes were sent to investigate.

I would like to add one more word here. At present, the aircraft used for reconnaissance in various countries can generally fly more than 100 kilometers. This faster aircraft is more conducive to investigation than the huge airship.

So after the war started, the planes of the two countries flew to each other's territory every day, trying to check for any clues. Of course, the military must be dissatisfied with this move to allow enemy aircraft to come and go freely.

Don't worry, Siegel Aircraft Factory is already developing an epoch-making product, and I believe it will surprise the enemy aircraft soon.

But now he can only let the opponent's plane look over his head. But one thing is good, that is, there are more planes on the Italian side. Before the war, the Italian military had more than one hundred planes, while the French army on the opposite side had only a dozen planes. The gap between the two can be seen at a glance. .

Therefore, in reconnaissance, the French army lags behind the Italian army.

However, it is not enough to rely solely on the detection of the aircraft, and the advantage of the airship's long stay in the air can also be used. In this regard, Prince Filiberto, who is the commander of the Northern Army, very much agrees with this.

At this time, a small airship slowly landed on the open space outside the small town of Aosta, and Prince Filiberto stepped out of the airship first.

But he was embarrassed when he got off the airship, because Lieutenant General Cabrera, the chief of staff of his partner, the Northern Army, was standing in front of him and looking at him coldly.

"Cabrera, are you waiting for me for something urgent?"

Prince Filiberto pretended not to see it at all, and asked his chief of staff curiously.

"Your Excellency, Commander, I have something I want to ask, please answer me truthfully."

Looking at Prince Filiberto who was pretending to be stupid, Lieutenant General Cabrera was not used to him, and spoke directly.

"Ask, my Chief of Staff."

"Excuse me, where did you go in the airship this time?"

Facing the chief of staff's question, Prince Filiberto answered truthfully. "I went to the French positions to have a look, so that I could be prepared for the next combat mission."

Hearing what Prince Filiberto said, Lieutenant General Cabrera felt his veins throbbing. "Your Excellency, Commander, let me reiterate that you should stay with your troops instead of going to check the enemy's situation in person~www.mtlnovel.com~ If anything happens to you, then our Northern Army will not have a commander , especially when combat missions are about to be issued, this is not advisable and extremely dangerous, and it is also irresponsible for one's own duties."

Faced with the chief of staff's scolding, even Filiberto, who is the prince, lowered his head helplessly. "Follow my chief of staff, I won't take the airship next time, okay?"

Lieutenant General Cabrera didn't want to pursue this matter any more after seeing his commander admitting his mistake.

It is enough to talk about this kind of thing two or three times, and it will make people bored if it is too much.

"Commander, I didn't come to see you this time to criticize you. I just got the news that our ally Germany has entered the northern border of France, and our plan is about to start."

"What, show it to me."

After reading the telegram a few times, Prince Filiberto immediately ordered. "Communicate my order, Operation Zeus begins in 24 hours."

"As ordered."

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