A class oil tanker with a deadweight of more than 50,000 tons capsized and 17 crew members were killed (most of them were burned or suffocated). Judging from the war situation and the consistent performance of the warring parties, the Italians are indeed very suspicious of causing this tragedy, but the Italian military categorically denied that they had sent submarines to ambush the coalition ships in the Strait of Gibraltar, and the weak Spanish navy failed to catch the stolen goods on the spot, and the Spanish government failed to come up with convincing clues.

The aftermath of the "Spanish Incident" has not yet ended, and the Spanish rulers still have not made up their minds to enter the war. Under the pressure of public opinion, the Royal Assembly approved the government's proposal to urgently increase military spending for the Spanish Navy to purchase 2o destroyers, 6o submarine hunters and 1oo anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

For nearly three decades, Spain has maintained economic alliances with the new United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary, and military cooperation has become increasingly close. More than half of the weapons and equipment in service of the Spanish army are either ordered directly from these two countries or produced in the country in the form of technical cooperation or technology transfer, but this time, due to the restrictions of the Hague international convention, the Spanish military can only order ships from its own shipbuilding enterprises and shipyards of neutral countries, or purchase spot ships from neutral countries.

Before the Spanish Navy could bid for the Spanish Navy, the Germans approached the door, saying that they had a large number of mothballed ships that could be transferred at a low price and could provide a full range of technical support, including training officers and sailors for the Spanish Navy.

Seeing the list of offers from the German government, Spanish government officials and military generals were all moved, and this "full of friendship" ship transfer plan was soon sent to the desks of Prince Juan and **** Alfonso, and even King Alfonso XIII, who lived in the palace of St. Ildephonse in his old age, heard about it. However, things did not go as smoothly as the Germans expected, and the progressives led by Prince Juan saw the purchase of additional ships as an opportunity to stimulate local shipbuilders in Spain, as well as the radar and sonar industries, and for long-term considerations, at least half of the orders should be reserved for domestic companies. Alfonso did not fully agree with Prince Juan, but he did not want to put all his eggs in one basket, and if the war between the three countries could be ended in a relatively short period of time, then he might as well continue to follow the previous model of cooperation with the new United Kingdom.

The Spanish Navy's purchase of aircraft and ships is still inconclusive, and the idea of the Spanish rulers to enter the war is still wavering, but the situation of the Mediterranean War is changing with each passing day: as reinforcements continue to move from the mainland to the Mediterranean, the new United Kingdom Navy has firmly occupied the initiative in the western Mediterranean, and the Italian General Staff originally wanted to rely on Sardinia to block the enemy's fleet from approaching the home seas, but after a few rounds, their military deployment in Sardinia has been destroyed to the point that it is not in shape, With the Northern Front tight, the Italian Air Force had no choice but to relocate their precious squadron of jets home, and the Navy withdrew its few large and medium-sized ships to Sicily and Taranto Bay.

On the Western Front, which was dominated by naval combat operations, the Italian Navy and Air Force were repaired by the opponent to the point of losing temper, while on the Northern Front, which was dominated by air and 6 combat operations, the Italian army was also deeply passive and exhausted. At the beginning of the war, the Italian air force was still able to compete fiercely with the new Austrian coalition forces in the northern border area, but with the arrival of the new United Kingdom's strategic bombing force in Austria-Hungary, the Italian fighters had to fight the coalition air forces that repeatedly attacked the industrial cities of Modena, Milan, Turin, and other industrial cities at night. Although equipped with airborne radars and air-to-air rockets, the Italian fighter units still won fewer and lost more in the face of the coalition bomber group with many escort fighters, and the situation of air defense operations continued to deteriorate because the number of new fighters in service was small, the maintenance technology was not high, and the consumption could not be replenished.

Compared with the unsatisfactory performance of the navy and air force, the stubborn resistance of the Italian 6th Army in the border fortification area finally earned some face for Italy. In fact, the Italian-Austrian border is located in the mountainous and inaccessible Alps, and no matter which direction the opponent attacks, it must overcome the problems of easy terrain and difficult to attack, difficult to deploy large armies, and poor transportation of supplies and baggage.

In the face of the ground forces of the coalition army, which has gradually increased its troops and the intensity of the offensive, the General Staff of the Italian army has successively transferred more than 20,000 troops to the Trentino and Veneto regions, making the strength of the border defense line close to 60,000 people. The northern flank of the battle line was the Austro-Hungarian region of Tyrol and Salzburg, the eastern flank of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Illyria and Trieste, the southern flank was the Adriatic hinterland, and only the western flank was connected to the Italian region of Lombardy. As long as the allied forces moved south from Tyrol and Salzburg to break through the Italian lines and reach the Adriatic coast as quickly as possible, the 60,000 Italian troops could be surrounded!

In the plan of the Coalition Operational Staff, the Piave River, which flows from Mount Peralba and flows through the Belluno Basin and the Venetian plain, was chosen as the assault route for this crucial battle, and the towns along the river and the bridges across the river were the tactical support points on this assault route, which had to be taken and firmly controlled......

On the day of the battle, as soon as the sky was bright, more than 26oo allied fighters were divided into more than ten waves to carry out a large-scale attack on the airfield in the deep zone of the Italian army. It was the largest tactical bombardment campaign by the New United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary on the northern Italian front. Due to the enemy's electronic jamming of the 6-base early warning radar, the response of the Italian fighter unit was still a beat slower, so that many Italian fighters were destroyed on the airfield before they could take off, and the air defense facilities around these Italian airfields were also attacked by strong attacks in the air raids and suffered heavy losses.

Early in the morning, twin transport planes painted with the clover logo mixed in with the huge fleet and flew southwest. In its cabin, filled with the roar of machinery, 22 heavily armed paratroopers speculated about the unknown fate with a nervous expression. One of them was the 27-year-old Sergeant Horvat, a young man from Carinthia who had served in the prestigious Royal Ireland 1st Airborne Division since 1946, and who was supposed to be discharged in the summer of 1949, but the sudden war disrupted all previous plans. The great love and longed-for career can only be put aside for the time being, and once it is issued, he will come to the dangerous battlefield with his companions who get along day and night without hesitation.

More than an hour had passed since takeoff, and Horvath was not sure exactly how the flight path of the transport planes had been determined, and judging by the sway of the cabin, they had made at least two turns in the air, presumably to avoid areas where enemy air defenses were strong.

Seeing that the red light near the cockpit position flashed twice, the platoon commander, Second Lieutenant Brian, shouted loudly: "The last quarter of an hour! Check out the gear! ”

Struggling to resist the dizzying sensation, Horvath turned his head to look out of the porthole, the soft morning light reflecting the huge group of transport planes, and there should be groups of fighters in the air to escort them. As time passed, the fears remained unrepresented, and Horvath wondered uneasy: Was it the weakness of the Italian army's defenses in depth, or did it leave a huge trap for the Allied airborne forces?

"Guys, last five minutes, get ready to stand!"

The officers in the cabin shouted again, and in front of them was the target area of the airborne landing, the small Italian city of Colernano, which was located north of Venice and was a quiet and peaceful place.

Before parachuting out of the cabin, Horvath heard a comrade in front of him shouting and teasing, "Guys, see you in Rome!" ”

Horvath didn't have time to think about it, and his companions in front of him jumped out of the hatch one by one, and finally it was his turn, and he quickly made a cross on his chest, and jumped out with a mixture of determination and apprehension.

The brave man is not afraid of the psychological pressure caused by altitude and wind, and once the parachute is opened, Horvath stabilizes his body and observes the situation below. Before taking off, the commander told them the order of attack after landing: the target was the Italian field airfield south of the small city of Colernano, then the railway station and various commanding heights in the city, and then the steel bridge across the river.

During the parachute, Horvat saw large gray-brown wilderness, a noticeably lighter airfield, heavy fires and smoke obscuring the runway and hangars, and the coalition paratroopers falling like snowflakes. On the ground, Italian soldiers were firing at the air with various weapons, but fortunately, their small numbers and weak firepower did not pose too much threat to the densely airborne coalition soldiers. In fact, before the first coalition paratroopers landed on the ground, their aviation units had already carried out a fierce suppressive bombardment of the Italian airfields, railway stations, and the concentration areas confirmed by aerial photographs, which greatly restricted the degree to which the Italian troops could organize defenses and counterattacks.

Although they were not met with heavy ground fire from the Italian army, the wind was stronger than expected, so that the paratroopers were scattered to land. After landing, some of the paratroopers gathered near the field airfield of the Italian army, and some of them quickly broke into the city after testing the fire. According to the previous day's aerial reconnaissance information, about a squadron of fighters was stationed at the Italian airfield, with occasional transport planes taking off and landing here, and a company of Italian air defense alert troops was stationed around the airport, while the Italian troops deployed in the city were only one infantry company......

(End of chapter)

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