It was only after the meeting that the Allied forces in Sicily began preparations for the offensive. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In fact, most of the intensive preparations were made by the American troops, because they knew that they would most likely face the main force of the German Army Group A, that is, the troops commanded by Kesselring, when they landed in Italy.

The U.S. military is familiar with this force, because they are almost the same as the troops that were withdrawn from Sicily...... The German army's elite armored forces, mechanized units, and airborne troops.

The U.S. military had fought with them in Sicily, so they knew very well the fighting power of these Germans, so they did not dare to slack off and actively prepare for war, although while preparing for war they also kept complaining about the British, but they seemed to be used to things like this, and some American officers dismissed their soldiers like this:

"Boys, it's useless to complain, isn't it? What's more, the British did not take advantage of us in the Battle of Sicily, but what was the result? ”

The American GIs laughed for a while, and then quickly relieved.

Soon after, this phrase spread throughout the US Seventh Army...... The American officers were also very happy to see such words spread among the troops, because on the one hand, they could relieve the American soldiers, and on the other hand, the British troops would definitely hear such words, which was also an invisibly bad breath for themselves.

As for the British Eighth Army, they were almost unprepared.

Because the task given to them seems too simple...... Landings at Salerno and Taranto, one with only two battalions, the other with only one regiment.

You must know that the British Eighth Army has 200,000 men, as well as a large number of warships, warplanes, artillery and tanks, etc., so this is simply a joke target. So much so that the officers of the British army at the grassroots level couldn't believe it was true after receiving the order.

"This is the most disparity in strength I've ever experienced!" A British officer commented: "But I like it, because we have the advantage!" ”

Of course, this was good news for the soldiers who were going to go to war, so they were a little slack in their preparations, and even many British officers and soldiers thought that they could not even see the Germans at all, and only needed to land by boat and then build fortifications.

However, Montgomery had always been cautious, so he was strategically prepared: he concentrated nearly 600 guns and placed them opposite Salerno.

In this regard, the British officers were a little incredulous: "Is our commander crazy, six hundred guns aimed at the enemy position defended by only two battalions!" ”

It is conceivable that these artillery pieces could fire thousands of shells from the coast of Sicily, crossing the narrow Strait of Messina, forming an overwhelming barrage to the opposite shore to cover the British landing.

Even in order to concentrate these artillery pieces and reserve enough shells, Montgomery postponed the date of the attack by several days...... Montgomery's caution almost reached the point of paranoia.

However, it was later found that Montgomery was right, because the landing battle was not as easy as the British army thought, which even Montgomery himself did not expect.

In fact, the British side has another preparation that did not tell the American side.

This was important to the British, who had already met and reached an agreement with the Italians, and waited for the British to signal that the Italians would turn their guns on the Germans.

This move was Montgomery's preparation to win the bet.

After signing the bet at the last meeting, Alexander was at a loss.

"How do we fix this?" Alexander asked Montgomery.

"What?" Montgomery asked rhetorically.

"Please, Monty!" Alexander said: "We all know very well that the Chinese major general is right, and even the Germans have already built a defensive line around the Alps!" If, as the Chinese major general said, we were held back by the Germans in the Alps and could not advance...... Do you know what's going to happen?! ”

"I don't think we need to worry about that!" Montgomery said.

"Don't worry about that?" Alexander wondered: "God, this is my worst fear!" ”

"Haven't the Italians been negotiating with us?" Montgomery said.

"What do you mean......"

"The condition of the negotiation is to cooperate with us!" Montgomery said: "When the time comes, do you think the Germans will be able to hold the Alps against the German army inside and outside?" ”

Hearing this, Alexander couldn't help but nodded, even if the Italian army was no longer combative, it was an army of millions of people, while the German army only had more than 100,000 people, and more importantly, the Italian army attacked the German army from the inside...... When he thought of this, Alexander couldn't help but be relieved.

Alexander immediately sent someone to secretly get in touch with the Italian side and negotiate.

The negotiations went so well that Italy could even be said to have joined the Allied side instead of "capitulating", so the two sides hit it off and quickly reached a consensus.

Montgomery's plan was simple:

The first wave of easy battles was the landing battle, which was handled by the British army, and the pursuit mission was carried out by the American army...... Later, when the United States and Germany were almost fighting, and it was the turn of the British army, then let the Italian army and the British army cooperate with each other.

As a result, the American army was originally fighting very hard, but the British army won like a devastating victory, which was the effect Montgomery wanted, and he needed to use this battle to change the image of the British army in the eyes of the world, especially the humiliation suffered in the Battle of Sicily.

At the same time, Montgomery also knew that he could not miss again, if he did...... It is not only a matter of affecting one's own reputation, but also a matter of Britain losing its command and dominance.

Therefore, Montgomery could only be cautious and careful about this battle, and he even wished that every car could be placed in advance in advance.

But what Montgomery didn't know was that wars were never pre-arranged.

The enemy is not a fool, especially an opponent like the Germans, they will not sit idly by, so they will try to change their disadvantages and seize the initiative.

This determines that the battlefield will constantly change, and a good commander should be able to grasp the battlefield situation at all times and adapt to changes, rather than hoping to arrange everything before the battle.

In fact, Montgomery was smart enough, but he couldn't escape this strange circle, so he always played a bad game.

Strangely, Alexander was so confident in Montgomery's plan that Alexander even named it "Operation Avalanche".