"Avalanche operation" refers to the fact that under the attack of the Allies, the German defense will collapse like an avalanche...... Alexander's idea turned out to be ridiculous, because the reality was exactly the opposite of what the name meant. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Then came the build-up of Allied navies, which included British, American, and French fleets.

The fleet was divided into two parts, one was the French Toulon fleet, which was responsible for providing fire cover and naval support for the British forces attacking Salerno.

The other part was the British and American fleets, which were responsible for providing cover and support for the British troops who landed in Taranto.

The reason why the French army was assigned to Salerno was because the attack on Salerno was coordinated by 600 artillery guns deployed in Sicily, so only a small number of warships were needed.

And in the Taranto direction, dozens of warships with a total of 160 naval guns were put into battle.

The battle undoubtedly began in the midst of a burst of artillery, and regardless of whether there was anyone or no one on the other side, the British artillery bombarded Salerno, and it was the warships and warplanes that joined the bombardment.

For a moment there was the sound of artillery all over Sicily, and across the Strait of Messina, I saw radiating smoke and dust blowing up on the opposite shore, and then soon there was no such thing, because the smoke and dust had obscured everything.

Montgomery's order was: "We're going to blow up everything on the other side, barricades, mines, and the enemy!" ”

In this regard, the US military's evaluation of Montgomery's arrangement is that "the chicken is killed with a knife."

But this is actually incorrect, because the landing operation is a knife used, but there is no chicken to kill......

After an hour of bombardment, two divisions on assault missions...... The British 5th Division and the Canadian 1st Division rushed to the opposite shore like schools of fish on the ships of Higgins.

This looked a little ridiculous in Zhang Chi's eyes, because these Higgins ships were all provided by the United States...... What the British are doing now is to use the equipment reinforced by the United States to compare the United States on the battlefield.

The result of the landing was not at all unexpected, the beach was empty, not even mines and barbed wire...... They were not destroyed by British shells, but not before, because no one saw the wreckage of the barbed wire.

A Canadian soldier joked: "The fiercest resistance that day was a cougar who escaped from the Lezzo Zoo, and our brigade commander seemed interested in him!" ”

Then the British advanced as planned...... They had to advance five kilometers and then build another defensive line.

This distance is even carefully studied and explored...... The British had received information before the battle that the German two battalions were ten kilometers from the coastline.

So, Montgomery was using all his ingenuity to avoid fighting the enemy, or arguably pitting allies.

The whole result of the British army on this day was the capture of five stranded German soldiers and 3,000 Italian civilians, and these Italians were even happy with the arrival of the British army and offered to help the British army unload the supplies on the transport ship.

The battle in the Taranto direction was similar, with two German regiments withdrawing before the Allies could attack...... They knew that the two regiments were simply powerless to resist, and of course they would not make senseless sacrifices.

Therefore, it can be said that the tens of thousands of shells poured down by the British and American forces on these two places are a waste, a complete waste.

Montgomery, however, was pleased with the day's results.

"As I said!" Montgomery concluded: "As long as we deploy properly, we can take the position at the least cost!" ”

When he said "properly deployed", he was of course referring to himself.

Then, Zhang Chi received a call from Barton: "Are you ready?" Our landing time is five o'clock tomorrow morning! ”

"Are you sure?" Zhang Chi asked rhetorically.

"Of course!" Patton asked, confused, "What do you mean by that?" ”

"I'm not sure I'll be able to land in the early hours of tomorrow morning!" Zhang Chi said: "Because this is an opportunity for the Germans! ”

"You mean...... Will the Germans counterattack? ”

"Yes!" Zhang Chi replied: "Maybe the Germans didn't plan to counterattack, because they didn't know whether it was the American or British troops who landed. For the US military...... Their counteroffensive has proven ineffective, as the U.S. forces can quickly move heavy equipment, especially tanks, to the other side! ”

Zhang Chi refers to the "Donald Duck", don't look at the "Donald Duck" in the sea is very slow, but it not only saves the extremely valuable space of the transport ship, but also saves the extremely difficult loading and unloading process.

"You know!" Zhang Chi said: "Tanks can build a steel defense line in front of the defense line, coupled with the cover of artillery fire, such a defense line is difficult to break through, and even if it breaks through, it will pay a great price!" ”

"Yes!" Patton agreed.

In fact, this is also one of the reasons why the US military's combat effectiveness is not weak, although its quality and discipline are not good.

"But the British are different!" Zhang Chi said: "They didn't unload many tanks today!" ”

"They were going to ship fifty tanks!" Patton replied, "But because of the destruction of the port, they only managed to get twenty tanks ashore!" ”

"That's what I'm talking about!" Zhang Chi said: "The evening is the chance of the Germans, and the British are still their defeats...... Unless their troops have all been withdrawn! ”

"Uh-huh!" Patton said, "Then let's wait and see, you won't tell the British, will you?" ”

"Tell what?" Zhang Chi replied: "I don't know anything!" ”

Zhang Chi was right, in fact, Kesselring was very surprised that the landing troops were all British, especially when he got the information that the British only had about 20 tanks landing.

"What are the British doing?" Kesselring said.

"Perhaps......" the staff officer guessed: "The British thought that their artillery was enough to provide them with cover, and that they also had air and sea supremacy!" ”

"But none of these things do much at night, do they?" "Especially when the exact location of friendly forces is not known shortly after landing," Kesselring said. ”

For the latter point, Kesselring guessed wrong, Montgomery asked the British troops to report the detailed location of the first time, and even did a good job of test firing the artillery...... Montgomery also feared that the Germans would launch a counteroffensive.

But Montgomery was the only one who remained cautious, and the vast majority of the British army had a desire to underestimate the enemy because the battle was going too well during the day, believing that the Germans had long since run away, and the next thing was for the Americans to chase the Germans and beat them in the ass.