The scene of blocking Guderian's 501st tank battalion occurred on the afternoon of October 4, and Guderian, who had finished his rest, received an order to pursue the Italian army to assist the 231st Infantry Division, and then followed and surrounded the Italian army with 140,000 men.

It's just that God likes to joke with Guderian, and the old rival of Lake Garda, the Italian 59th Infantry Division, became an obstacle for him to continue to pursue the Italian army, and without waiting for the coordinated attack with the 231st Infantry Division, he directly exposed the tank in front of Kant's carefully prepared anti-tank position.

The 501st Tank Battalion, which had never had an opponent in the field, rushed forward without hesitation, followed by a burst of artillery covering the tank group, without any accuracy, the charging tank group did not have the slightest fear, but the infantry battle group that followed closely was blown up by the shells and lay on the spot without moving.

The tanks without infantry cover were still advancing, and Kant was not in a hurry, waiting for the 501st Tank Battalion to rush in front of him before letting the anti-tank guns hidden behind the bunker open fire in unison. Just the first salvo made the first few tanks of the 501st Tank Battalion collectively mute, but Guderian did not give the order in time to let the tanks return the same way, and at this time he was also blocked out of the circle of fire, and the vanguard troops who were beaten were eliminated one by one without having time to be notified.

After ten minutes of roll call, the tanks that could be shot in front of the Italian position could not find a single one that could still move, and Guderian finally received the news from the front, and he was angry and exposed to the artillery fire regardless of his own safety to see what was going on, but he was really unfortunately affected by a shell and fainted to the ground, and he was dragged back to the rear by the guard squad for treatment.

On the other side, the 231st Infantry Division, which continued to attack, was not much better, the previous advantage in firepower and numbers was gone, and the retreating Italian army was left with 340 howitzers of various types and calibers of the 59th Infantry Division, and most of the ammunition was left to replenish the lost soldiers. In order to speed up the return, the Italian army kept rations for a few days, and the rest were left on the 2165 heights.

The heavily replenished 59th Infantry Division immediately expanded its defensive line, hiding more than 300 guns in all corners of the heights, and the 231st Infantry Division suffered counterattacks from the heights with every shelling.

Under these circumstances, Hoffmann, who had not taken Heights 2165 seriously, also began to pay attention to this place, and after his confirmation, Heights 2165 had become a key point to contain the German attack on Rome through the west bank.

The capture of Heights 2165 was no longer a weapons test task, but became a top priority for the German army, and Hoffmann immediately telegraphed Weix to change the attack plan of the First Field Army, and 2165 became the primary goal.

It's just that although there is only one reinforced infantry division on the 2165 heights, the firepower is fierce, and there is a lack of sufficient offensive terrain around, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. ONLY THE 150MM MEDIUM GUN WAS ABLE TO PLAY A ROLE, AND THE 105 MM CALIBER LSF105 BECAME AN UNUSABLE CHICKEN RIB.

In order not to lose the effectiveness of a large number of LSF105s, many generals let the jeep remove the top to reduce its own weight, and quickly dragged and evacuated after the LSF105 guns were fired, but such fire could not form dense firepower, and crowding together was not conducive to transfer.

At the foot of Hill 2165, the German soldiers huddled in their trenches were disgraced and listless, and the three-day attack was declared a failure, and the idea of attacking from the flank was abandoned as the 59th Infantry Division was replenished.

"When do you think we'll be able to get out of this place?" A first-class rifleman plucked out his ear with a dried branch in his hand.

"I don't know, but it's starting to get colder, and we'll all have to freeze to death here if we don't get winter clothes." The one who spoke was also a rifleman, but on his shoulders were two bars, second class.

"Hurry up and get more sleep, it's too noisy at night to sleep." Curled up on the side and trying to sleep was a corporal, the commander of a mortar group.

The reason why the corporal said that the night was too noisy was mainly due to the aerial bombardment of the 2165 heights by the Luftwaffe at night, which was not very intensive, but would last all night to ensure that the Italian troops on the high ground did not get a good mental state, this method was very effective, and Kant was helpless.

"What did the headquarters say?" Kant asked, looking at the herald.

"Sir, the commander said that the air force can't fight at night, so we can only figure out our own way." After speaking, he lifted a piece of cloth and pointed to a few machine guns. "The commander said that he added 20 machine guns for us to defend the aircraft."

", if the machine gun can take the bomber down, I'll cut off the head and give it to him!" Of course, Kant tried machine gun air defense, but the air force did not blink an eyelid, and threw aerial bombs on the machine gun without changing the route, and in addition, every air defense operation exposed itself, and then was plowed by German artillery fire.

Kant wanted air supremacy in the air by the Air Force, even if there was no air defense at night, but what about during the day? This commander was afraid that he would give away a few of his planes in vain.

"It's not a way to go on like this, and sooner or later you'll be trapped by the main German forces that are rushing in." Although Kant repelled the German 501st Tank Battalion, it will not be so lucky next time, and the German army is not stupid, can it not remember for a long time if it suffers losses?

The 231st Infantry Division in front was also not good at stubble, although it was defended in many two-day attacks, but his 59th Infantry Division suffered more casualties, and if it was not replenished, it would not be able to hold it at all.

With the loss of more than 1,000 people on October 3 and more than 2,000 on the 4th, Kant was frightened by the strong combat effectiveness of the 231st Infantry Division, despite his good psychological quality.

On the other hand, the 231st Infantry Division on the opposite side, the more ruthless it became, the more experienced it became, the more it was well armed, the non-commissioned officer class had rich combat experience, the officer class had strong execution, flexible thinking, and a lot of fighting styles.

Even if it weren't for the anti-tank guns left behind before Pershing retreated with a large force, the 501st Tank Battalion would have taken the high ground.

While Kant was still struggling with the defensive strategy, the 322nd Infantry Regiment at the foot of the mountain began a new round of attack.

"The first battalion is the main attack, and the second battalion is sweeping." The lieutenant colonel arranged for the 1st battalion, which had the strongest combat effectiveness, to attack the frontal Italian position, the 2nd battalion to follow closely behind, and the 3rd battalion and the command company to stay in the position to prevent the Italian counterattack.

Delasea left all the artillery at the battalion headquarters at the regimental headquarters, and this time he only took the whole regiment with 27 60-mm mortars, 12 80-mm mortar groups, and 30 120-mm mortar groups, and took all the mortar belongings of the 322nd Infantry Regiment with him.

"The 60-mm mortar squadron and the 80-mm mortar squadron acted with the company and received direct requests for fire from the company commander. A squadron of 120-mm mortars followed the battalion headquarters, ready to provide fire support. Drassy stood in the command center of the battalion headquarters to arrange tasks, and there were more than 40 backbone non-commissioned officers of the battalion sitting below, and they were the main force in this operation.

In the military, the non-commissioned officer class is often the core part of the combat effectiveness of this force.

"The colonel's order to our regiment is to seize this path to the high ground and establish a forward position to open the way for the brethren of the 323rd Infantry Regiment." Drassie drew a curvy route against the high map with his whip.

"I don't think it's so troublesome, it's enough for our battalion to take it, what do you think?" Draxy quipped.

"No problem!"

"It's okay~"

"I'll see it."

After two days of running-in, the recruits of the whole battalion have become veterans, and there is no command obstacle, and all non-commissioned officers feel that they can fight.

"Then it's decided, 3 companies took the lead, your defense played beautifully, and even the division commander personally wrote a commendation report for you, this time to see how your offensive ability is, are you confident?" The 3rd Company appointed by Drassy was the only unit in the regiment to engage the 59th Infantry Division four times in this battle.

"Give me 40 mortars, 3 base shells, and I'll have 3 companies set up camp on the high ground and wait for you." Vader stood up and said proudly to the non-commissioned officers of the rest of the troops.

"No, 30 mortars, 1 base number of shells, I let 1 company be responsible for the delivery of ammunition this time, how about it?" Considering that mountain supplies need to be carried by manpower, if the number of mortars brought by 3 companies is too large, it will cause a lot of pressure on the supply and attacking troops, 1 base is enough, a base of 60 mm mortars is 120 rounds, 80 mm 100 rounds, 120 mm 60 rounds.

After a moment's thought, Vader said, "Okay! ”