Compared with the various crushing defeats of the British army on the battlefield, the offensive of the American army was smooth sailing. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Not only did the U.S. forces advance without being blocked by the enemy, but they did not even have the expected number of mines, which allowed the U.S. forces to advance an average of 30 kilometers a day.

The reason why it is only 30 kilometers is because Italy is a country of mountains, hills, rivers and lakes, and mountains and hills account for 80% of the country.

Such terrain was obviously unsuitable for the advance of mechanized troops, especially since the Germans also blasted roads and bridges during the retreat.

But what the U.S. military didn't know was that much of the reason why their march would go so smoothly was because Hitler was still undecided.

At this time, Hitler was faced with two choices: withdraw his troops from Italy and hold on to the northern Alps, or not withdraw and control Italy as much as possible.

If Hitler had not hesitated before that, it would have been to withdraw Kesselring's Army Group A from Italy, and Rommel's Group B was already ready in the Alps to cover their retreat.

Because the situation was so dangerous for the Germans, Kesselring's Army Group A had only six divisions, and all six of these divisions had fought in Sicily, all of which were seriously understaffed, and there were pitifully few tanks.

The enemy that the Germans had to face was the British and American allies, who were well supplied...... Its strength even reached more than 400,000, and it had a five-to-one advantage over the German army.

In particular, the Germans had another hidden danger, that is, the Italian army could surrender at any moment and turn its guns on the Germans.

This is one of the reasons why Hitler sent Rommel to lead Army Group B into the Alps...... Once the Italian army surrendered, Army Group A's retreat back to Germany would be cut off from the middle, and Army Group A would only be encircled and annihilated in southern Italy.

Nevertheless, the situation of Army Group A was extremely worrying, because there was still a gap of more than 200 kilometers between Army Group A and Army Group B, and the Italian army could at any time cut off the connection between the two armies and form an encirclement of Army Group A with the Allies.

So it was clear that it would be wise to quickly withdraw Army Group A from Italy, and although Kesselring was strenuously opposed, Hitler did not take Kesselring's words to heart.

However, when Kesselring inadvertently launched a successful counteroffensive against the British, Hitler was tempted...... The weakness of the British army in front of the German panzer divisions gave Hitler hope of victory, and Hitler would not give up any victory, and if he could, he would not want to give up Italy, because it was Hitler's hope for a comeback, and if the Luftwaffe gained air supremacy again one day, Hitler could control the Mediterranean through Italy.

So Hitler secretly summoned Kesselring and Rommel back to Berlin for a meeting.

Kesselring and Rommel stood silently in front of Hitler, who was hunched over the map, and the look of his devotion made them feel as if the prime minister had forgotten their existence.

But Hitler asked, without looking up, "I want to know...... We hold the possibility of Italy! ”

Rommel chose to remain silent because he had always advocated a withdrawal from Italy, so the question should be answered by Kesselring, who advocated perseverance.

"I can't give you an exact number, honorable Führer!" Kesselring replied: "If I do this, it will be clearly self-defeating, because accidents can happen on the battlefield at any time." All I can say is ...... The terrain in Italy is very defensive, and it is possible that we will be able to keep the battlefield out of Germany! But if I decide to do so, I'll need more troops and supplies, or my soldiers will have to fight the enemy with stones! ”

Kesselring was right, and until then all Italian supplies had been focused on shipping to Africa, and there were almost no reserves of supplies within Italy...... At that time, Hitler and Mussolini ordered that supplies be transported to Africa, no matter how difficult it was.

Then, with the rapid fall of Sicily, a large number of German supplies fell into the hands of the Allies, and the German army's supplies soon reached a state of starvation.

Hitler did not raise his head until this time, but did not speak, just looked at Rommel.

Rommel understood what Hitler meant, and replied: "I always insist that we should withdraw from Italy, honorable Führer!" ”

"Even after the victory in Salerno?" Hitler asked rhetorically.

"Yes, of course!" Hearing this, Rommel understood that it was Kesselring's brilliant counteroffensive at Salerno that made Hitler waver in his determination to withdraw his troops.

But Rommel replied anyway: "Salerno's victory was only an accident, although it can also be said to be an inevitability...... I understand the British, they are too decent, so we can even guess where they landed and prepare in advance! The problem is that holding on to Italy would give us too much potential danger and more troops...... We are already slightly underwhelmed in forces, and I think we should shrink the line of defense and not waste our precious forces on land that does not mean much to us! ”

"Italy is not a land without meaning to us!" Kesselring retorted: "It can be our southern barrier, and we can use the mountains and rivers there to hold off the Allied offensive. ”

"The same can be done in the Alps!" Rommel said.

"We can't pin all our hopes on a line of defense!" Kesselring retorted: "We all know very well that the enemy has many more planes, artillery and tanks than we do, and they can use these to blow up any fortifications on the defensive line, so we need to use the space to defend and retreat at the same time, and delay the Allied offensive in a planned way!" ”

"The Italians probably don't agree with you!" Rommel said, "I just want to know...... How should we deal with a possible mutiny in the Italian army? As soon as they turn their guns on us, not to mention any defense, delay, the supply lines and retreats of the entire Army Group A will be cut off! ”

Hitler also looked at Kesselring, which was also Hitler's concern. Kesselring's forces were dwarfed by the Allies, not to mention the control of the Italian army and even the civilian population.

"Of course, I agree!" Kesselring replied: "It is indeed a threat, but I know these Italians, they are not really going to take up guns against us, and they are not trying to fight for so-called liberation." They just think we're going to lose the war, so they're on the winning side. So...... It's not impossible to control them, is it? ”