In the field of vision, dozens of amphibious vehicles painted in blue and white camouflage gradually approached the main island of Venice from two directions. The music section is the fastest to update

After the previous stage of artillery suppression and air strikes, the defensive firepower of the Italian defenders on the island was significantly weakened, and the number of water columns scattered on the battlefield was significantly reduced, but even so, about ten amphibious combat vehicles were still damaged by the defenders' fire on the way to the shore.

Seeing that the amphibious tank group arrived at the landing ground that the Austro-Hungarian soldiers desperately opened, the rear commander waved the flag, and two more squadrons of amphibious combat vehicle units entered the attack, coupled with the coalition fighters flying at low altitude, the rumbling roar echoed in the ears of everyone involved.

This low and majestic sound lifted the morale of the officers and men of the coalition forces and depressed the Italian officers and men.

The speed of the amphibious chariot crossing is not fast, but the waterways of the Venetian city are only a few hundred meters wide at the widest. Without a single smoke, the second echelon carrying the Marines to the main island successfully landed with minimal losses, and the Type III vehicles equipped with 75 mm guns continued to cover the Marines' advance in depth, while the Type II vehicles equipped with 12.7 mm machine guns retreated into the water and scattered towards the neighboring islands.

Seeing this, Maguire greeted his marines: "Gentlemen, our ferry is here, pack up your equipment and get ready to go!" ”

Without hesitation, the Marines picked up their weapons and equipment, and followed Maguire to the steps that extended into the water, and at this time, the Austro-Hungarian Army units that were fighting with them also came with a lieutenant and a non-commissioned officer.

"My ministry is ordered to fight alongside you." The lieutenant spoke fluent German.

"Yes." Maguire replied in slightly jerky German, "Let's fight together and win!" ”

The lieutenant just nodded slightly, and didn't say much.

After a while, two Raider II vehicles suddenly approached. The commander of the car in front leaned out of the open machine-gun tower hatch and yelled in Irish with a southern accent: "Hey, guys, how many passengers do you have here?" ”

Maguire replied loudly: "12 new United Kingdom Marines, Austro-Hungarian Army...... There were about seventy or eighty of them. ”

The commander replied: "We have a total of 50 seats, and we can only sell 50 tickets." ”

Maguire turned his head and said in German to the Austro-Hungarian official who was looking at him: "Sir, they can only hold 50 people, we have 12 people, you can go up 38, and the rest will have to wait for the next time." ”

This Austro-Hungarian official was not very old, but he was quite capable, and he wore a Karl Emperor Army Cross and a medal for excellent military service on his chest. He nodded politely and gracefully, and then explained a few words to the non-commissioned officer who was following him.

The non-commissioned officer ran back to the building and beckoned a group of Austro-Hungarian soldiers on standby to set off.

Unlike the well-armed new United Kingdom Marines, the Austro-Hungarian Army still had many units with obsolete weapons, including the M1895 Steyr-Manlisya rifle, which had entered service half a century earlier, the M-1905 heavy machine gun, which had been installed before the First World War, and the strange, mediocre Prague-II light machine gun, and only a few elite units were armed with high-performance weapons such as the Steyr M-1933 semi-automatic rifle and the Skoda M-1926 light machine gun.

Fortunately, the Austro-Hungarian Army unit in front of them belonged to the latter group, and the soldiers were strong and energetic, each infantry squad was armed with at least one M-1926 light machine gun with a straight magazine, two M-1933 semi-automatic rifles, and almost every infantry had a long-handled grenade hanging from his belt.

When the first Raider II amphibious vehicle approached, Maguire took the lead, jumped up, and then helped his Marines board the vehicle. Immediately afterwards, the Austro-Hungarian infantrymen wearing Berndorfer steel helmets and field gray military uniforms also climbed onto the amphibious combat vehicle with great agility. When the crew was full, the commander shouted "go", and the amphibious vehicle puffed out a large puff of green smoke from the tail and turned back to the main island of Venice with a sudden roar.

In the crowded carriages, marines from Ireland and infantry from Austria rubbed shoulders with each other. They occasionally looked at each other, leaving each other with a shallow smile or a low greeting, and most of the time, everyone was praying and waiting in silence.

The time it takes to set off, bump, and arrive is no more than three minutes. When the carriage shook violently, the roar of the engine suddenly intensified, and the operation of the amphibious combat vehicle soon became stable again, and the friction of the tracks, the sound of gunshots hitting the armor plates of the hull, and various shouts and gunshots made people feel that they had come from one world to another......

Landing, driving in, turning, and running on land for about 100 meters, the amphibious combat vehicle came to an abrupt stop. As the tail plate opened, a scorching air rushed in.

Despite the foul smell of death, Maguire took a deep breath and shouted hurriedly, "Hurry up, everyone get out of the chariot and look for cover!" ”

The Austro-Hungarian soldiers who arrived with the car, led by a bearded non-commissioned officer, left the carriage in an orderly manner, and began their combat deployment in a dispersed but not too scattered manner.

Maguire quickly observed the situation, and the "free battlefield taxi" sent them to the south of a collapsing building, allowing them to avoid the defenders' gunfire. As far as the eye can see, the island is littered with charred craters and unrecognizable fragments, which shows how brutal the battle was.

"Good luck, guys! Good bye! ”

The commander waved goodbye to Maguire and the others, then retreated back into the machine gun turret. The Raider-II vehicle immediately reversed backwards and retreated the same way it had been to the shore. No sooner had it driven out of the area of the collapsed building than it was hit by an oncoming machine-gun bullet, sending sparks flying from the front of the vehicle.

Just as the Allied soldiers were worried about the comfort of the amphibious combat vehicle, they saw it slightly adjust its direction to face the enemy's fire point, while continuing to retreat, and firing at the opponent, the roar of the twin 12.7mm machine guns completely overwhelmed the Italian machine gun fire.

For the caliber of machine guns, the Italian military has a special preference, whether it is the early Perino M1913, Fiat M1914 or later Breda M1930, all of which use 6.5 mm caliber, and the bullets equipped with them are less powerful than the machine guns equipped by the great powers, whether they are ordinary bullets or steel core bullets. In the mid-to-late 30s, the Italian military chose the 8 mm Fiat-Leviri machine gun as the standard weapon, but the new weapon did not bring any benefit to the Italian army other than causing logistical chaos.

When another amphibious vehicle arrived at the same position of 25 Austro-Roulet soldiers, Maguire began to lead his marines forward. After passing through the collapsed building, they spotted a destroyed Raider III amphibious vehicle not far from the right front, with a small group of marines and two crew members hiding behind it, and the oncoming gunfire put them in a dilemma.

After careful inspection, Maguire was able to confirm the location of the Italian machine-gun fire point - it was in a rather hidden corner, thus evading the artillery fire and bombs, but the bunker should not be strong enough to hold off the rocket fire. So Maguire and his soldiers made a sideways detour, and soon entered a building whose main body had collapsed, with only half of the north wall remaining.

These Irish Marines quickly set up their machine guns and prepared their bazookas.

"We still have the last four rounds of ammunition." The soldier responsible for carrying the rockets reminded.

The situation on the battlefield is chaotic and complex, and there is often no room for adequate preparation by the combatants. Maguire encouraged the bazooka shooter: "Hey, William, get a shot!" ”

The stocky shooter responded, "Do your best." ”

Before launching an attack on the Italian firepower, Maguire turned his head to look behind him. In the first half of the Battle of Venice, they crushed the Italian line in the eastern part of the city with an unstoppable momentum, but they also paid a very heavy price for it, and many companies with a full strength of more than 200 men were reduced to less than 100 men after two days of fighting. It was precisely because of the shortcomings of the Austro-Hungarian Army at the technical and tactical level that in the second half of the Battle of Venice, the allied forces were replaced by the New United Kingdom Marine Corps as the assault arrows, and the Austro-Hungarian ** team was responsible for follow-up support.

If none of the four rockets could destroy the Italian fire, Maguire thought, he would have to strike shoulder to shoulder with the Austrian soldiers.

"Ready." The loader reminded.

Maguire gritted his teeth: "Fire!" ”

The first rocket, with a piercing whistling sound through the bullet-ridden street, flew slightly higher and landed behind the Italian fire, failing to destroy it directly, but immediately alerting the Italians. The Italians in the bunker hurriedly turned their guns to this side, and in the blink of an eye, a few rounds of bullets swept over.

Although Maguire and his soldiers had not personally experienced real street fighting, they understood the brutality of street fighting through the experience of their predecessors and simulated drills. After firing the rocket, the shooter quickly switched positions and fired a second rocket under the cover of their own machine gun fire.

Because the Italian bunkers were seventy or eighty meters apart, and the silhouette was low, it was not easy to aim, and the second rocket was still a fraction of a millimeter apart. Fortunately, their successive attacks succeeded in attracting the attention of the Italians, and the marines and vehicle crews trapped behind the wreckage of the amphibious vehicles had to retreat and leave the open area, which was highly vulnerable to artillery fire.

"The last two rounds of ammunition!" The ammunition hand reminded again.

Maguire calmly observed the situation on the battlefield, and said without hurry: "It's okay, let's do it again!" ”

This time, the shooter lived up to his expectations, and the rocket hit the Italian firing point impartially.

The noisy roar of the Fiat-Leviri M1935 heavy machine gun finally ceased.

To Maguire's astonishment, the island seemed to fall silent, as if all the Italians' will to resist had collapsed with the destruction of this machine-gun fire point.