"We'll hold it!" General Ludwig replied: "The port of Messina is very close to the Italian mainland, and we can easily get support from the Italian side......"

"Say so!" Kesselring interrupted General Ludwig: "Are you pinning your hopes on the Italians?" ”

Laughter immediately erupted in the conference room, and all the German officers did not want to believe the Italians until the battle had been fought, including Ludwig himself, who felt that his statement was untenable, so there was a feeling of embarrassment on his face. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

This can be said to be a sign of the rupture of the German-Italian alliance...... If there is no trust between allies, they are already in name only.

"Gentlemen!" "As you can see," Kesselring concluded: "The British and Americans massed in large numbers in the ports of Palermo and Syracutz to form a flanking attack on the ports of Messina. Our Catanian defenses could not stop them, because they landed from the sea, from the sky, and our navy and air force could not stop them forcefully. ”

At this point, Kesselring shook his head, as an air marshal, he was deeply ashamed of not being able to seize air supremacy in Sicily, and he also believed that this was the most fundamental reason why the Germans could not hold Sicily.

"Then next!" Kesselring continued: "Once the British and American forces have successfully landed in the port of Messina, it will be fatal for us, and four of our divisions will be trapped on this small island, even if we defeat the British Eighth Army...... It can't change this ending! ”

"Yes, Marshal!" Staff Officer Wolf expressed his support: "We have only one choice, and that is to withdraw the two divisions that are attacking the British Eighth Army and prepare them for anti-landing operations, and at the same time let the navy and air force be fully prepared for war and withdraw as many troops as possible from Sicily!" ”

Kesselring nodded: "That's what I'm trying to say, any more questions?" ”

With that, Kesselring looked around the room, and finally stopped at Ludwig.

"No, I'm not against it!" Ludwig replied helplessly.

He had to admit that this was a sensible thing to do, and it was really not a matter of hating the Italians, otherwise...... Artillery from the Italian mainland could reach the port of Messina, and there was no need to worry about the landing of the Americans, because the muzzles and muzzles of the guns on the Italian mainland would be aimed at the back of the enemy's landing force.

But at the same time, Ludwig also knew that the battle would not be so simple if it was really fought, and the Allies would of course think of this, so they might bomb and land on the Italian mainland at the same time, and then the Italians would immediately raise their hands and surrender and turn their guns on the Germans.

"Just do it!" Kesselring said: "Execute it now!" ”

So when the British Eighth Army was still waiting for the Germans to attack in fear, the German army was suddenly lost in front of the defensive line.

The British soldiers could not believe that they were so lucky, and at first thought it was a German trick, until they were emboldened enough to send scouts to confirm that the Germans had left, and then they cheered loudly, and many of them screamed and suddenly burst into tears...... It's hard for outsiders to understand their mood of picking up a life, especially the British, who haven't suffered much and are used to pampering.

On the other hand, Kesselring found himself seemingly deceived shortly after the withdrawal, because as he had just withdrawn his troops on the front foot, the British and American movements in the two ports were immediately slowed down.

This is obviously unreasonable, and if the British and American forces had planned to land in the port of Messina, they would not have given up just yet...... Unless, this is nothing more than a bluff, the purpose of which is to get the troops out of their own country.

The more Kesselring thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense, but of course he wouldn't say it, because it would mean admitting in front of his subordinates that he had been fooled by the Allies, so he pretended to know nothing.

But in his heart, he couldn't help but scold: "Fuck, cunning Chinese!" ”

Kesselring knew that the one who would think of this solution must be the Chinese named Zhang Chi...... Before the war, he had learned about the African battlefield from Rommel, and Kesselring's conclusion on the African war situation was that it had been disrupted by the Chinese forces, otherwise the Afrika Korps would have won the battle.

Now, Kesselring believes that once again the Chinese have stirred up the situation, just like the sudden appearance of a division of the French army and the occupation of Palermo, all of which was a good thing done by that Chinese.

But after all, Kesselring could only organize the German and Italian troops to retreat from Sicily as planned, because even if the German troops were sent back now, they were afraid that the British army had already built a defensive line.

The Battle of Sicily caused a sensation all over the world.

It's not because of how big the battle was, or how many enemies it annihilated and how much land it occupied...... In fact, not many German troops were annihilated in this battle, except for the Italian army, of course, and the land occupied was only a small island of 25,000 square kilometers.

The reason why it caused a sensation was that the British army, which had been given great hopes, encountered Waterloo in this battle, and the American army, which was originally only a "foil", came to the fore, especially the French army, which was almost ignored by everyone before the war...... It's like a beggar who has become a star.

This can be seen from the casualty data:

The U.S. military traveled more than 300 kilometers in five days, with only more than 2,000 casualties...... Most of these casualties were caused by accidental injuries during the airborne landing and when the Germans launched a counteroffensive, which shows how good the American military is at using equipment and supplies to save their lives.

The results were more than 6,000 enemy soldiers killed and wounded, 44,000 captured, 190 planes shot down, and 67 artillery pieces captured.

The British advance to Catania was blocked in five days, the entire advance was less than 100 kilometers, and they were also beaten back by the Germans...... More importantly, the British suffered more than 20,000 casualties in this battle.

The casualties were ten times higher than those of the American army, but there were few results, not only did they not achieve any results, but they also lost a large number of tanks, artillery and supplies in the process of retreating and being interspersed by the German army, which can be said to be a complete defeat.

What makes the British people a little unbearable is that these casualties are all British, worthy of the name of the British...... In the past, most of the wars were fought by the colonial army, and if they lost the war, it could be said that the colonial army was not strong, but now the British are fighting like this, and these soldiers still have many families in the UK, so soon all kinds of reproaches and doubts flew to Montgomery like snowflakes.

As for the French army, it was undoubtedly a dark horse in this battle: there were only more than 300 casualties, most of them wounded on the march, but the result was more than 30,000 prisoners and an important city!