Sicily is the largest island in the entire Mediterranean. On the world map, it is like a football under the feet of Italy. In this era, football has just begun and has not yet become the world's largest sport in later generations. Even cultural and sports activities are not very important. War and economy are the mainstream of the world.

Sicily extends into the Mediterranean Sea, which is considered one of Italy's maritime barriers. There is also a huge military port here, but the Italian navy, in front of more than 1.5 million tons of warships, became a joke. They did not dare to dock in Sicily at all. They ran back to the northern port directly, where is the safest place. Not only are there perfect fortresses, but also a large number of shipyards to provide maintenance.

It is really a joke that there is no fleet sea defense. Sicily has 25,000 square kilometers of land and a long coastline, and there is no way to defend everywhere. The scattered Italian army has not made any defense at all. It only retains three divisions of troops in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. There are more than 2 divisions distributed in other places, with less than 70,000 troops. It is impossible to defend more than 1,000 kilometers of coastline. Even the arrogant Italians cannot think that they can defend.

The Allies' offensive against Sicily represents the plan to open up a second battlefield in the Mediterranean. The preparations were quite well made. Not only did they carefully select the landing location among more than ten targets, but there were three final selected targets. The commander chose according to the situation on the front line and put it into effect to start the landing plan.

Beta is an excellent fleet commander with extremely rich experience. He first flew a shot and suppressed Palermo with a large number of ships, and then some fleet carriers landed directly. The landing location is less than 70 kilometers away from Palermo. It is a relatively open area. As long as 30 kilometers forward, it is the road around Sicily. You can easily enter various places in Sicily, which is the best among the three landing locations.

Originally, this position was just an alternative, after all, in war. The best position must be fortified by the other side. This is common sense in war, but when encountering Italians, they do not play according to common sense. One of the three divisions should have been placed in this position. Although it could not delay the landing of the Allies, it could cause great trouble to landing of the Allies. The convenient transportation conditions here still allow them to move quickly.

Even as an enemy and a vested interest, Beta couldn't help but despise the Italian army. He really didn't play according to common sense. Since there was no Italian army around this key landing site, he would not be polite and chose this best landing site.

The location was very good. The Italians were not blocked and the landing was not blocked. First, the landing of three regiments was built, a simple beachhead position was established, and then the transport ships modified by merchant ships could land soldiers at the nearest place. The speed and progress were very fast. On the first day, the army of 12 divisions landed on Sicily. A complete landing ground, temporary docks, simple camps and so on were also arranged. Next, a continuous stream of troops began to enter Sicily.

The temporary dock is almost 10 times more efficient than the mudflats without any anchorage conditions. When the Allied forces landed continuously, Italy could no longer resist it.

Sicily is the largest island in the entire Mediterranean Sea, with an area of ​​25,700 square kilometers, but if you really want to go, it is not big, with a diameter of only one or two hundred kilometers. The landing site is almost like a knife, dividing Sicily into two halves. No matter which direction it is in, it is not very far away.

The landing field protected by warships has an absolute advantage in firepower. On the second day, after the second batch of troops began to land, the first batch of 12 divisions began to make a strategy in Sicily, which really swept across the entire Sicily like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

On March 12, the seventh day after the outbreak of the war, the Allied forces had already controlled most of Sicily. Most cities except Palermo were conquered. Palermo's defenders lost one and a half divisions. As for the two divisions that were scattered, they completed the annihilation two days ago.

Due to the casualties, the Allies adopted a relatively soothing method against Palermo and did not attack hard. However, on March 16, the Italian Palermo defenders, who had huge losses, chose their avatars. With the fall of Palermo, the entire Sicily fell into the hands of the Allies. It took almost 11 days to completely occupy Sicily.

After the conquered by the Allies, it immediately caused shock to the Allies. You should know that Sicily is not only the largest island in Italy, but it is only a 3-kilometer-wide Strait of Messina between it and the Apennine Peninsula where Italy is located. It is 3 kilometers wide, and there is not even the widest part of the Chinese Yangtze River. In other words, the difficulties of the Allies attacking Italy almost do not exist. Sicily will become an extremely safe base for advancement in the Allies' navy, which has the advantage.

As long as the logistics resources are continuous and the personnel and materials are added together, the Allies will no longer be expeditionary warfare, but will be like local warfare. By then, the Italian army will be very weak and will really be miserable. Maybe they will really not be able to defend.

The huge Sicily, with the help of the Allied fleet, became a bridgehead for conquering Italy. The continuous supply of materials began to enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar and then transported to Sicily. Then the army rested in Sicily. Although the war did not further intensify and expand, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before the Allied attacked Italy.

The battlefield on the southern front was expected by the Allies. The fleets attacking the Middle East suspected that they were attacking Italy and also reminded Italy, which eventually proved to be a false alarm. It was this false alarm that made Italy think that the Allies did not dare to come to Italy at all. That's right. Even afterwards, Germany reminded twice in a row that a large number of troops heading to the Mediterranean, which may be targeting Italy, and Italy has no changes.

Especially this time, Britain, France and the United States were quite hidden, but there were still clues. They used a large number of warships and more than 1 million troops to the Mediterranean. It was definitely impossible to go to the Middle East. There were already 800,000 troops in the Middle East. If another 1 million was added, it would be almost 2 million. Perhaps the Middle East really needed so many troops, but in terms of importance, it was impossible to give them so many troops. Thinking of the solidity of the Dardanelles in Turkey, the possibility of attacking Italy was very high. The German Foreign Minister went to Italy in person and asked Italy to pay attention to it and build fortifications, but Italy ignored it and did not make any changes, which eventually led to the failure of the southern line.

In fact, Italy's performance was really not good during the entire war. As part of the allies, Italy played an almost minimal role in this European war. That is, when Germany attacked France, it supported it in the south of France, but it was not successful. Even if the French were beaten by the Germans, the French team was still strong compared to the Italian army. The French army of two armies, and the Italian army blocked the Italian army at the Albis Pass, had a little contact. After France showed its combat effectiveness, Italy stopped moving forward. No matter what Germany urged, it stopped moving forward. This made Germany very angry. Germany had asked them to attack more than once, and he was always avoided by him for various reasons.

With the lessons learned before, now, even though he had long discovered the actions of Britain and France, he did not make any more measures. He was warning Italy to pay attention to it. In Germany's view, Italy is one of the great powers, with a certain industrial foundation and a large number of troops. Not to mention anything else, the 1.5 million army that had been mobilized would not be easily occupied by the Allies.

Germany cannot be in a hurry. The Allies have taken action. It is clear that they are taking Italy as a soft persimmon. Although Italy and the European continent are separated by the Alps, as long as they pass the mountain, it is very convenient for both Austro-Hungary and Germany. In the war between the two sides, if there is a problem in Italy, the next step will be Austro-Hungary to face the firepower of the Allies.

With China's reminder, Germany is still prepared for Italy's scam attributes, but unexpectedly it will be like this. The landing battle that should have been tragic was turned into an armed parade by the Allies, and it costs almost no cost. Once Italy can't stand it, Austro-Hungary will probably follow in the footsteps. In the past year, the Austro-Hungary Empire, which is known as as powerful as Germany, has played very little role in the European war. Russia, which was beaten by Germany, has beaten Austro-Hungary and Turkey, has been beaten to search for teeth. This is not the main direction. It really has to be the main direction, and Austro-Hungary will be finished.

In most of the time, Austro-Hungary only bears defensive tasks, and is more of a German labor force and produces some materials for Germany. If the Allies really face them, it will be very troublesome. Unlike Italy, which is far away in the Apennines, Austro-Hungary is the core of the real ally, an important fulcrum of the 3b railway, and even an important partner of Germany. Once he suffers irreparable losses, it will directly affect Germany.

In order to avoid this consequence, Germany once again reminded Italy that this time Italy really took action. After all, a 25,700 square kilometers island, the largest island in the Mediterranean, was captured, and it was impossible not to pay attention. A large number of troops were mobilized to make a final resistance to prevent the Allies from invading Italy. (To be continued.) Mobile users, please visit http://m.piaotian.net
Chapter completed!