The 231st Division is easy to retreat, and it is difficult for the Italian army to leave the 231st Division, and in the general army, Eric can agree without hesitation, but the 231st Division is not ordinary, it is to promote it to the divisional model of the whole army, and it is difficult to set up a model again if it retreats in case of trouble.

"You also know my intention to form the 231st Division, it is easy to retreat, in a word, it is difficult to set an example, you and Rundstedt will discuss again, and try not to attack Italy too much while reducing the pressure on the 231st Division." Eric didn't say yes after all.

The reason for not attacking Italy too much was also to prevent the war from continuing to expand, otherwise Germany's economic development would be affected, and the form of the surrounding area would be changed, which would be very bad for the current situation in Germany.

Brauchitsch left his office alone, found Rundstedt by phone at the Hanseatic Palace, conveyed the president's intentions, and then told Hoffmann again.

"Weix is organizing a new round of defensive changes, but it is not difficult to draw strength to assist the 231st Division, but the terrain there is a little strange, because the original plan was to take the 2165 heights first, so the 231st Division that was blocked is at the foot of the mountain." Hoffman reiterated the current situation of the 231st Division, the terrain was not good, the position was bad, and there were a large number of Italian troops on the front and left and right.

"But you did say a key piece of information, the reason why the Italian army made a big move was because of Pershing's intervention, but I guess it's not that simple, there should be a killer feature." Hoffman never thought that Pershing was a mentally handicapped child, on the contrary, although the original US army was the first to collapse, the intensity of the attack was also the greatest, not because of Pershing's personal ability, but because the form of the battlefield he faced had changed, but the United States had no tanks and no countermeasures at that time, and could not stop it.

"I'll talk to Klug about the rest of the situation." Brauchitsch hung up the phone, and Hoffmann asked the communications corps to call Guderian's 502 tank battalion.

"Chief of Staff." Guderian did not know what was happening at the front, the 502 tank battalion was in the rear of Bologna.

"Can the 502 Tank Battalion fight now?" Hoffman was straight.

"No problem, where to hit?" As soon as Guderian heard that there was a task, he was motivated.

"Abetone."

"Abetone?" Guderian had some impression of this place, he just couldn't remember it, but he was sure that there would be no such place in the eastern part of the peninsula.

"Yes, in the west, Pistoia frontal." Hoffman prompted.

"Isn't that the main direction of attack of the 501 battalion? How do you get Battalion 502 to go? ”

"Less nonsense, go or not, don't go, I'll call Rommel." After saying that, Hoffman deliberately took the microphone away.

"Don't, I'll go. Immediately, immediately. After saying that, Guderian hung up the phone directly, not giving Hoffman time to react.

At the headquarters of the 231st Division, it was not yet very cold in Italy in October, and the makeshift tents were directly exposed to the ground.

The construction of the positions and trenches needed for the defense could not be done in a short time, and the Italian 59th Infantry Division on the opposite side did not intend to keep its opponent waiting too long.

"Sir, the artillery position has been constructed, and we are only waiting for tomorrow's attack."

Nothing was said all night.

At 5:15 a.m. on October 3, a gray light appeared on the dark horizon.

THE ITALIAN ARTILLERY POSITIONS WERE ALREADY IN FULL POSITION, AND THE 59TH INFANTRY DIVISION HAD A TOTAL OF 12 75MM MOUNTAIN GUNS, AND THE AMMUNITION WAS QUITE SUFFICIENT, CAPABLE OF FIRING MORE THAN A DOZEN ROUNDS.

Kant, who was standing on the high ground, looked at the positions of the German army with a telescope and saw it at a glance.

"Artillery bearing, add 200 yards." Kant commanded intently.

"Adjust the position of the troops! Add 200 yards! The herald next to him immediately relayed the order loudly.

The muzzles of the guns on the positions began to rise slightly in unison.

The adjutant beside him was a little puzzled, these gun emplacements had already been calibrated.

"Cutting off the enemy's supply route is the key, this force seems to have been forced to turn to the defense on the way to the march, the supply must not be in place, if we cut off their supply route, it can reduce our offensive casualties." Kant explained to his lieutenant why the artillery had been adjusted.

"Our purpose is to prevent the enemy from attacking, isn't it a bit reckless to take the initiative to attack?" The adjutant clearly remembered Pershing's instructions before leaving.

"The best defense is offense." Kant jumped on a stone and pointed to the German positions opposite. "We don't know how many enemy troops there are, and judging by their behavior, they certainly can't figure out what we are, and in this case, a tentative attack can make the enemy give up the idea of attacking us when they can't figure out the reality."

Then he looked at the sky, and then looked at the German positions with his binoculars, and by this time there was already some light.

He was greeted by three prominent defensive belts constructed by the Germans, and due to the lack of sufficient terrain advantages, some of the German defensive positions were exposed.

"That's where we're going to attack." Kant was referring to a natural defensive belt of bushes.

The adjutant was a little puzzled, but the boss often gave strange orders.

"Let and Furlong's second battalion attack the left, and leave it alone on the right, the defense there seems to be lax, but it is actually the focus of the opponent's defense." Kant analyzed without thinking.

If Drassy must have panicked when he heard Kant's analysis here, it was because Kant's analysis was all aimed at his weaknesses.

At 5:30, the sky was already slightly bright, and the attacking troops of the Italian army were ready to go, and at the head of the line was a group of veterans who had experienced the First World War, which was Kant's carefully selected knife troops.

At 5:40, the Italian army officially launched a charge, and just as the whistling sound was remembered, the sound of artillery followed.

The Germans, who had taken refuge in the foxholes, were ready to crawl at almost the same moment, but the result was not as they had guessed, and the shells fell behind them like a train passing at high speed. It was the main road between their battalion headquarters and the front line, which had been bombed to the ground.

Without waiting for them to think about it, the Italian army had already appeared in front of them.

"Damn! There are too many people! There's at least one battalion here! The commander of the 3rd Company, who was guarding the right side, lay on the bunker and looked at the Italian troops roaring on the opposite side, and instantly estimated the number of people.

"Contact the battalion headquarters! 3 companies need reinforcements, otherwise we won't be able to stop them if we die! Vader rolled back into the bunker and said to the sergeant beside him. Have 2 mortar crews aim at the woods and the open and shoot out the shells for me! ”

Then he said to the other one. "Tell someone to write down the heavy machine guns on the jeep and put them on the right side of the line of defense, the machine guns of the 1st and 2nd platoons were all transferred to the left, and the machine guns of the 3rd platoon were transferred to the right. Hurry up and transfer the ammunition to the current situation! After Vader's words, the Italian army was almost in range.

"Don't worry!" Vida clenched the MBZ20 in his hand and shouted loudly.

"Wait for them to get closer!" Vader gestured to the mortar crew behind him.

Bang Bang –

Two crisp explosions were followed by a piercing scream, followed by two shells that landed at the intended location, lifting the mud and scattering the sand and gravel.

"Don't worry!" Vader still did not give the order to open fire.

The second round of mortar fire came again. The Italian attack was sluggish by mortar bombardments, and some of them were forced to lie on the ground to take shelter.

"Steady!" Vader still hadn't given the order to fire, he was waiting for the machine gun to be ready.

After a few minutes, Vida saw the machine gun crew that was ready, and then looked at the Italian troops who had run to a position of 200 meters.

"Hit!" Vader pressed the trigger. An Italian soldier fell to the ground.

Immediately after that, the sound of gunfire broke out, and the sound of machine guns, rifles, submachine guns, and explosions resounded through the position.