After that, Montgomery and Alexander waited for five days in a very "graceful" manner. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Of course, the offensive of the American army can be said to have made no progress during these five days, and if there is any progress, it is that the two armies are pushing back and forth on an invisible line of defense, and this line of defense is constantly lengthening.

At this point, Eisenhower could not sit still, and he personally flew from the Allied headquarters in Sicily to the front line to inspect it.

However, it was not so much an inspection as to discuss a countermeasure with Patton and Zhang Chi, because the first thing he did after rushing to the front line was to call Zhang Chi to Patton's headquarters.

"How's it going?" Eisenhower asked Patton.

Patton shook his head and replied, "Although our planes and artillery are bombarding the enemy day and night, and our soldiers are bravely rushing forward, ...... All we can get are hills of 'activity', and we may get them during the day, but at night the Germans will take them back! ”

It seemed to be a reenactment of the battle between the American and Japanese forces in the Pacific, and the Japanese also used the terrain and darkness to resist the superior American forces.

The difference is only that the equipment of the Japanese army is at an absolute disadvantage, and now the American army is facing the German ...... Their equipment is not much inferior to the US army, and even surpasses the US army in some aspects, so this battle is difficult to fight.

"Is there anything we can do to change that?" Eisenhower looked at Barton, then fixed his gaze on Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi knew what Eisenhower meant, and Eisenhower wanted Zhang Chi to come up with some ideas.

"General!" Zhang Chi replied: "If you want to change the situation...... There were only a few methods, one was to penetrate the enemy's rear in a roundabout way, but this proved to be unfeasible, because the Germans knew the terrain of Italy better than we did, and they had occupied every choke point. ”

After a pause, Zhang Chi continued: "The second is to parachute to the enemy's rear, and the second is to land behind the enemy's defense line to open up a new battlefield and force the Germans to retreat...... But these methods were too risky, because the attitude of the Italians was not clear, our airborne troops and landing forces were easily surrounded by the Italians, and the Germans had two airborne divisions in Rome ready to reinforce them...... So, it is likely that the Germans will not need to mobilize the forces on the defensive line to prevent us from landing! ”

"I need a way to do it!" Eisenhower said.

Zhang Chi shook his head and replied, "I didn't expect it for the time being!" ”

"Gentlemen!" Eisenhower said displeasedly: "Do you know what the British are talking about? They told me...... If the American army can't get through that line, then let the British army come! You know, it's the British army, the British army that has just lost the battle...... But the look on Alexander's face told me that as long as the British army came up, he would definitely be able to take this line. Yes, I know they are playing tricks, I know that they have negotiated an agreement with the Italians, and our intelligence services have even investigated that the British were secretly in contact with the Italian government in Portugal, but it did not work. The British just waited, waited to come and harvest the fruit and trampled us under our feet! ”

"I don't think so, General!" Zhang Chi replied.

"What? What do you not think? ”

"I don't think the British can easily take this line!"

Eisenhower looked at Zhang Chi with some incredulous expression: "Why? The point is the attitude of the Italians, isn't it? ”

"Yes, the point is indeed the attitude of the Italians!" Zhang Chi replied: "Although their combat effectiveness is not very good, at this time, I mean that when the Allies and the German army are evenly matched, their attitude can play a decisive role!" ”

"And the British army made an agreement with Italy!" Eisenhower said, "Isn't that enough? ”

"If it was before, I believe it would be enough!" Zhang Chi replied: "Because before that, the German army in Italy was very weak, and there were only six divisions in the whole of Italy, and these six divisions were still the remnants of the defeated army withdrawn from Sicily. At this time, the Italians were absolutely confident that the Allies would be able to defeat the Germans, so they ...... If we attack as fast as we can, no matter where we attack from, this battle is likely to be won like the name of the battle, that is, like 'Avalanche'! It's just a pity that we didn't launch the attack in time......"

Zhang Chi smiled as he spoke, and said: "As you know, the British at this time were planning a plan that was only beneficial to the British, and they even hid this plan from us, and it was at this time that they made contact with Italy, and finally Montgomery even delayed the attack by preparing too much artillery for the landing that was not difficult, so the time passed little by little...... The British, because of their selfishness, once again missed the best opportunity to achieve a quick victory. ”

Patton nodded and said, "While we were wasting time, the Germans strengthened their military investment in Italy, first Rommel's Army Group B entered the Alps to build a defensive line, and secondly, two airborne divisions were transferred to defend Rome, a key point of transportation!" ”

"Yes!" Zhang Chi continued: "In this way, the confidence of the Italians, who were originally convinced that the Allies would win, will be shaken, especially when they see that the Germans can still make a beautiful counterattack at Salerno with inferior forces, and then block the offensive of the American army in front of this defensive line...... What will the Italians think at this time? God, it is still possible for the Germans to win this war, can we surrender to the Allies? What will be the consequences of our surrender to the Allies? Will the Germans cut us first? I'm afraid that the Allies haven't come yet...... Italy is already full of corpses! That's what Italians fear the most, isn't it? ”

Eisenhower nodded slightly: "I agree with this, the last thing the Italians want is the war to burn their country, and at the same time think that the more they resist, the greater the damage to their country, so ...... They are actually waiting and watching, and they will always be on the side of the winner! ”

"Yes!" Zhang Chi said: "Since this is the case, what if the British are allowed to come up? The British thought that the Italian army would flank the Germans with them in front and rear as agreed? This is an extremely naïve idea that the Italians will find an excuse to delay, otherwise they would not be Italian! ”

"So!" In the end, Zhang Chi came to a conclusion: "What if the British are allowed to attack this line of defense?" ”