"At that time, I was on the left wing of the team and didn't notice where the Italians emerged. When the second platoon Lieutenant Dane ordered the fire, I found that the Italian infantry was charging towards the tanks and armored vehicles on the right wing of our platoon." Rudolph Kozel recalled after the war.

"There is a small wood three hundred meters on the right side of the road. There were some shrubs more than one meter tall on the outside of the forest. I also judged that the Italians might have been ambushed in the woods for a long time, but of course I found out later that this was not the case." The third row platoon leader Lieutenant Dorman wrote in his diary.

"You ask me what I was thinking at that time? It's hard to answer this question (laugh). To be honest, I had a blank mind at that time. I just thought that I had to block these Italian infantry and could not allow them to break through the outer line of defense and rush into the company's array. Fortunately, we had enough mg machine guns and twenty-mm machine guns. After the war, we found the unlit [***************] next to the corpses of many Italian infantry. Do you know what that is? Well, it seems that I don't need to explain it specifically." Sergeant Schoenberg answered this way in an interview with Berlin TV.

The German army has a very detailed record of this battle that took place on the outskirts of Verona, providing rich information for scholars who will study the [9-Day War] in the future. It is regrettable that there is a lack of testimony from Italy. In the end, only a very small number of people survived the first battalion that participated in the battle. However, everyone remained silent about the matter. No matter how indirect they kept silent about the battle, people could only feel the tragic nature of the [Bloody Day] from their fear and pain.

Seven hundred and twenty people were grouped according to their own squads and platoons and formed six scattered lines. This was once the most popular infantry attack formation, but it was only in the last world war. This was also impossible. The Italians were not prepared at all. At this time, there was no basic trench. The troops lacked weapons and ammunition, not to mention any supplies and reinforcements.

At this time, they had to rush out to fight a war, and they had to retreat into the city to fight street battles. No matter what choice they made, Verona would definitely fall.

Colonel Bernefene never considered the issue of surrender to the German army from the beginning, which was related to the honor of an old Italian aristocrat, and he could not bear the responsibility of destroying Verona. This is an ancient city that has stood at the foot of the Alps since the first century AD. It carries Italy's two thousand years of history. It is the hometown of Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare's works, the love holy land in the hearts of Italians and even all Europeans, and it carries the beautiful wishes of countless people.

Bernefeni knew that once street fighting broke out, the ancient city would definitely be destroyed. Although the Germans paid attention to the ancient monuments, it did not mean that they would be ruthless to the resisters. Bernefeni did not want to change the stigma of "Verona Destroyer" after his death, so the colonel of the army decided to lead the team to attack in person, hoping to die gloriously on the battlefield in the early stages of the battle. This not only preserved its reputation, but also no one could blame him even if the whole city was destroyed by war in the end.

Bernefeni did not get any useful information. He did not know which unit the invading German army was, nor how many troops the other side had. The villagers who came to report only said that the Germans had many tanks, but could not tell the specific number. Bernefeni initially estimated that this was just the German vanguard, and it should be a battalion-level combat unit with a few armored vehicles and tanks. From this we can see that the colonel's vision was still a unique feature. The vanguard of the entire army was indeed a battalion-level unit of the German army. However, this enthusiastic villager was eager to enter the city to report the situation, and did not see the mighty German armored troops.

The four companies of the 1st Battalion of the 33rd Armored Regiment of the German Army had gathered three outside Verona at this time, and a medium-sized armored company was escorting the 1st Battalion of the Motorized Artillery and the 47th Machine Gun Battalion of the 1st Iron-2nd Artillery Regiment toward the front line.

The task of the First Armored Battalion is to occupy the favorable terrain outside the city, block the city's external traffic, surround the city before the main force arrives, and wait for the large army to arrive, and then take multiple measures to make the final decision.

Of course, the troops responsible for the encirclement can also launch some feint attacks to test the opponent's defense arrangement, the morale and combat determination of the guardian troops. If you find that the enemy's resistance is not strong, the feint attack can immediately become a formal attack. This has long been numerous successful cases in the previous tactical use of the German army.

The task assigned to the Fourth Company is to make some feints on the west side of the city and investigate the defense arrangements outside the city. If conditions permit, you can enter some urban areas. The key is to block the access to and from the city according to the map.

This light armored company is equipped with a total of twenty-two tanks, with four armored platoons under it, each with four No. 3 and one No. 2 tank. Currently, there are many armored units configured in the German army, and it is said that this is just a transitional organization, which has led to the German armored soldiers looking forward to the future.

Because the No. 2 tank had low requirements for roads, it was arranged in the fields on both sides of the highway to undertake the reconnaissance and alert tasks on both wings of the marching column. Cooperating with these No. 2 tanks were also six six-wheeled medium-sized armored reconnaissance vehicles affiliated to the 9th Reconnaissance Battalion. This enhanced armored reconnaissance platoon happened to have not received a new task, so it was pulled by the armored regiment to strengthen the slaughter.

Bernefeni did not expect to encounter the German tank troops. His original target was the German infantry on the other side of the road. The two infantry companies of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the 9th Brigade were waving shovels to build a defensive position. The Italian colonel was preparing to take advantage of the fact that these German troops were not yet firmly established and launched a raid to give the Germans a profound lesson. Perhaps the Italian infantry battalion would suffer heavy losses, but it was also expected that he did not expect to rely on these light infantry to defeat powerful enemies.

The Italian colonel's tactics should have been successful in the early stages. They moved to less than one kilometer away from the German positions, and the German army knew nothing about it at this time.

The Italians lined up scattered soldiers and strided through the woods, but after the soldiers walked out of the bushes, they found that the road not far away was lined with German tanks, and the several wheeled armored vehicles located in the field were less than two hundred meters away from them. They could clearly distinguish the number of the vehicle and the iron cross logo.

At this time, the Italians had already exposed their whereabouts. The German scouts, who were highly vigilant, hurriedly turned the machine gun trunk on the reconnaissance vehicle, and fired several short shots to warn the large army.

A No. 2 tank that was driving too far began to turn the body and aimed the front armor at the woods. Who knew whether these unidentified enemy troops carried anti-tank weapons? The No. 2 tank's armor was too thin and could only barely resist the shooting of heavy machine guns.

At this time, the Italian soldiers by the jungle, including Colonel Bernefeni, who was standing in the first row, were all stunned by the sudden situation in front of them. They stood by the bushes like wooden stakes and didn't know whether to retreat or move forward now. As a result, the Germans were not sure what happened, so the two sides did not react in the first few seconds, and they stared at each other with big eyes.

The one who broke this stalemate was Bernardini. He now regretted that he had not sent out the vanguard, which ended up in such an embarrassing situation. These are real tanks, not street trams, and the angular armor reflected cold light in the sun. He could even see the face of the German soldier on the machine gun tower of the armored reconnaissance vehicle. The young and tender but particularly hideous face because of tension. Bernardini estimated that his current expression would not be much better than the other party.

"Charge! Long live Italy!" Bernefeni raised his command knife and pointed forward, then rushed towards the German armored group with one horse in the first place.

"This is the ending I want!" The old colonel waved his saber and rushed forward. He saw the German machine gun facing him constantly spitting flames, and bullets passed by his ears and made a sharp roar. Death was about to approach, but his heart was extremely peaceful at this moment. Isn't this the moment he was looking forward to, and he died heroically on the battlefield like those heroes in tragedy.

The Italian infantry first watched their regiment commander launch a man's charge, and then watched the brave old man be shot overturned on the lawn by the German machine gun, and the blood splashed everywhere was as bright red as flames.

"Go forward! Long live Italy!"

The German tank No. 2 began to shoot at the Italian infantry. As the comrades around them fell one after another under the German bullet rains, the inescapable despair and anger towards death occupied the soldiers' thoughts, and the flames of tyrannical fill their chests. The Italian infantry roared madly. They danced the Carcano rifle in their hands, held the *********************** they had just made before departure, and launched a final charge towards the German army.

ps: Sorry, it's a bit late today, thank you for your support.

Thank you. (To be continued.)

...
Chapter completed!