By 15:30, the Germans had been fighting at the Garda Bridge for 3 hours, and the shells had already been exhausted, but fortunately, due to the terrain restrictions, the Italian troops could not storm the German lines with tanks.

"I can't hold it..." There was only one thought left in Montofel's mind at this time.

The Italian offensive became more and more fierce under the decline of the German army, and although the Italian troops on the bridge were still blocked, a part of the Italian troops who forced their way across the shallows began to climb the dirt slope, and climbed over this last obstacle, and the German defense line was exposed.

The Italian artillery was still attacking the weak German defense line with all its might, and the mortars never stopped, and the Italian troops leaning on the hillside did not rush to attack, they waited for the friendly artillery to repel the German tanks and began to attack.

Under the fierce artillery attack, A122, A213, and A214 were all hit by howitzers one after another, and the car was destroyed and killed, and the commando team also suffered heavy casualties, but they did not wait for the order to retreat, no matter how big the casualties, Montofel did not dare to order a retreat, as a soldier, he would not allow himself to be a deserter in the first place. And now once it escapes, the 3rd Company, which originally needed to cover the flanks, will have to be cut off by the Italian army, and the consequences are unimaginable.

In a house in the city of Rovereto, Guderian looked at the armed car slowly moving forward on the street from the window and said to the soldiers beside him: "Let the 2nd Company attack, not too fast, leave an exit for the enemy." ”

The 2nd Company of the 501st Battalion then attacked again after a one-hour break, this time from both sides of the town to encircle the Italian troops and prevent the Italian troops outside the city from supporting the interior.

Guderian's tactics worked immediately, and the Italian army began to retreat under this large net, and it was not long before Guderian touched the other end of the city.

A herald panted and chased after Guderian and said without delay: "The 3rd Company has been withdrawn. What to do with the blocking forces? ”

After hearing this, Guderian was so angry that he smashed his steel helmet at the herald and scolded: "Idiot? And came to tell me? Tell them to retreat! ”

United Front Work Department of the Trento Army.

The arriving generals were arranged by Hoffman to enter a well-guarded room, which was a makeshift meeting room.

The battle map on the table, which was updated every five minutes, was the latest battle map available to the German army, and Wilhelm Loeb was interested in the current situation because he wanted his airborne troops to be able to fight in real combat.

Wilhelm Loeb plunged into the map, but Witzleben noticed the malice of the air generals present.

Toth had no direct contact with William Loeb and Erwin Witzleben, and although both were related to the Air Force, the Airborne Forces were still under the direct jurisdiction of the President and were not included in the Air Force. However, the military expenditure of the Airborne Forces is allocated from the Air Force, and if ordinary people are put aside, they may be arguing with the president, why? But Eric is not an ordinary person, and Toth doesn't have the guts to argue with a character like Eric, and is even afraid of Eric. It's one thing to be afraid of Eric, but it doesn't mean that Toth is afraid of Loeb and Witzleben.

"You're here." Hoffman walked in the door and politely said that he wanted to introduce William Loeb, because many people present may not know him well, and Witzler did not need to say that he had been a general of the National Army before the formation of the Airborne Forces, and there were many opportunities to show his face.

It's just that this atmosphere is not quite right, William Loeb also felt such an atmosphere after raising his head, and blamed him for being discharged from the hospital too late, and he didn't know much about the military spending and camp of the Ministry of Defense, if he knew that his military expenses were dug from the Air Force, he wouldn't be very arrogant looking at the map here.

"Ahem..." Hoffman was a little embarrassed.

"Everyone is a colleague, and some small things don't have to be like this." Hoffman tried his best to persuade him to resolve the embarrassment.

"Colleague? How did I not know that there were airborne troops in the Air Force? "Toth doesn't buy Hoffman's account at all.

Hoffman pinched his nose and didn't speak, although it was necessary for them to listen to him, but Hoffman really didn't have a chief of staff, not a person who liked to talk harshly, he expected that there would be such a thing, he pointed to the phone on the table and said, "That... The president is online, which of you picks up? ”

As soon as Toth heard the word "president", he immediately wilted and put his hands behind his back, but William Loeb was going to pick it up like a nobody, and Hoffman immediately took the lead quickly, pretending to say a few words and hung up. The adjutant next to him looked inexplicable, when did the president call? How did I not know?

"Guys, now is not the time to quarrel, I need the help of both of you..." Before Hoffman could finish his sentence, a herald ran in and said, "The president is on the line." ”

Suddenly everyone's eyes were on Hoffman, who suddenly blushed and couldn't say a word.

This was embarrassing, Hoffman had to respectfully pick up the phone.

"Mr. President."

"Well, everyone has arrived?"

"It's all here, right next to me." Hoffman just wanted to find a gap to get into.

"Okay, then let Toth talk to me."

Hoffman handed the earpiece to Toth along with the microphone.

"Mr. President, I'm Toth."

"I know, I want to tell you that from now on, the Airborne Forces will be temporarily divided into the Air Force sequence, the 11th Airborne Division, how about it?" Eric's voice is like a spring breeze to Toth, how can he refuse?

"Thank you! Thank you!···" Eric, who listened to more than a dozen thank yous, hung up the phone directly in disgust.

Of course, the air force generals present also heard it, and when they looked at Wilhelm Loeb and Witzleben again, they were as kind as their own little brothers, which made Hoffman particularly speechless, and he knew that he would not play this fox and fake tiger power.

Toth, who was in a good mood, said arrogantly: "Mr. Chief of the General Staff, what are the orders, you say, the Air Force will never blink an eye!" ”

Hoffmann immediately got into the groove, found a baton and tapped Modena away from the front lines of both sides and said, "I'm going to make an airborne landing here." Then he said to Loeb: "I also know your combat methods, I have seen your exercises and the president, but how much combat effectiveness you have, I don't know, after I ask a question later, you can answer truthfully, don't exaggerate, otherwise the final consequences are not something you can bear." ”

Then Hoffmann said to everyone: "According to reliable information, the army of Modena suddenly poured out of its nest and divided into two directions, an army of about 60,000 men to the east, an army of 20,000 men to the west, and a little faster to the east. He looked at the time and said, "I guess it's almost Ferrara." To the west, you should be near Parma. ”

"So detailed? Could it be fake? Toth asked.

"No, this is the information that Minister Kluge gave me, the accuracy rate is very high, and the information on the movement of the army will not be wrong." Hoffman gave the source of the information.

"The reason why there are so many troops stationed in Modena is because of the stockpiling of millions of tons of supplies for the Italian Army, as well as dozens of combat planes parked at the airport. This is where the difficulty of the airdrop comes in, and it may face an attack from the Italian Air Force. Hoffman asked the adjutant to come up with a detailed map of the town.

"Modena has material hoarding areas in the northwest and southwest, and the intelligence of the other two places cannot be extended, because it is the place where the former army and air force airfields are located, it is difficult to explore, and in the two areas that have been identified, there is 1 battalion stationed, machine guns, no artillery and tanks."

Hoffman asked William, "How many do you think are needed?" ”

"The two battalions, because the airdrop is very dispersed, cannot be assembled in a short time, unless they parachute at low altitudes, they are afraid that the enemy will have anti-aircraft fire, and the air force will also cause damage." Although William Loeb really wanted the Airborne Forces to fight, he would not joke with the lives of these people to make military money.

Garda Bridge.

"Let the commandos all retreat into the woods." Montofel issued a new order for the armed car.

The front line, which was already insufficient for firepower, suddenly became empty.

"I'm an A121, all tanks..." Montofel planned to let the tank hold out a little longer, and then abandon the car and blow it up before retreating into the woods, but the signal corps prompted him with new news.

"Lieutenant, the battalion headquarters said that our mission was completed and asked us to retreat." The communications corps did not hide his inner joy.

Montofel was not young, the Italian army was already approaching, and if he wanted to retreat calmly, he had to wait for the commandos to ride all the cars before he could leave.

After thinking for a while, he pointed into the microphone and said loudly: "The 3rd Company has returned safely, our mission has been completed, the commando team will go first, the 2nd Company and 3rd Platoon will follow, and the 1st Company and 2nd Platoon will be behind." ”

The German blocking force, which had already run out of ammunition, finally received the order to retreat, but the Italian army was already approaching, and it was obviously impossible to turn the head of the car and retreat directly at this time.

"Lieutenant, A124 just stay and block it! Go first. ”