The German offensive was carried out by the 18th Mountain Army, consisting of two mountain divisions, which made little progress due to stubborn resistance, and the German report on the first day showed that the German 5th Mountain Division was unable to break through the fortress of Rupel despite heavy casualties with strong air support, and only 2 of the 27 fortresses on the Metaxas line were captured, and they fell only because they were destroyed by the defenders.

After three days of fierce fighting, the Germans, supported by artillery and dive bombers, finally captured all the fortifications, thanks mainly to the German 6th Mountain Division, which climbed 7,000 feet above sea level and broke through the weakly defended positions of the Greek army.

They arrived at the railway line to Sessoloniki on the evening of 7 July, and another division of the 18th Mountain Corps advanced in the face of stubborn resistance, and the 5th Mountain Division, together with the reinforced 75th Infantry Regiment, broke up the defenses of Stromon and attacked across the river, and captured the pillboxes one by one as they passed, but they withdrew from the battle when they reached the predetermined area due to heavy casualties.

The German 72nd Infantry Division attacked from Prague Yevgrad and crossed the mountains, and despite the lack of pack animals, medium artillery and mountaineering equipment, they reached Seres and broke through the Metaxus line on the night of 9 July, and after Lieutenant General Bakokolos decided to retreat from the line, the isolated fortress held out for seven days until the German heavy artillery arrived, and some isolated defenders continued to fight, allowing the retreating Greek army to retreat from the sea.

On the evening of July 8, 1940, the 30th Infantry Corps on the left flank reached its intended target, the 16th German Army. The 7th Panzer Division captured Sardinia, the German 50th Infantry Division crossed the Nestvez River after crossing Komotini, they met on the 2nd day, and with the collapse of the defenses on the east bank of the Vardar River, the Greek 2nd Army decided to surrender unconditionally.

Based on the 9 July estimates of the situation, Field Marshal Liszt believed that his corps had taken a favorable position to advance into central Greece after breaking through the enemy's defenses on the Vardar River due to the rapid advance of motorized units, and based on this estimate, he ordered the 5th Panzer Division to be transferred from the 1st Panzer Group to the 7th Panzer Corps, on the grounds that he had a new mission to pass through the Monastil Pass. He reorganized 2 offensive units. To the east is the 18th Mountain Army and to the west is the 7th Panzer Army.

On July 10, 1940, the military deployment was made in the Florina Narrow Valley, with the Wavi and Credi Pass in the upper middle half, the Australian 19th Brigade Headquarters in the middle and the Ayun? The command of the G. McKee troops in the village of Poldicka, in the lower middle half, on the morning of 10 July. The 7th Panzer Corps has completed preparations for the continuation of the offensive and is moving in the direction of Kozzani.

Exceeded all expectations. The Monastdir Pass was completely undefended. The Germans seized the opportunity, and at 11 a.m. they made their first contact with the Allies north of Wevy, which the 1st Panzer Division of the Command occupied on 11 July. But to the south of the town, it was blocked at the Credi Pass, which was home to Commonwealth and Greek troops, named Aiyun? G. McGee's troops, which General Wilson had placed here, were to prevent a lightning attack on the Florina Narrow Valley.

On the second day, a regiment of the 1st Panzer Division of the General Headquarters reconnoitred the enemy's position and launched an attack on the enemy, and after fierce fighting, the Germans eliminated these resistances and broke through the defenses, and on the morning of July 17, the German 9th Panzer Division reached Kozani in advance.

On July 15, 1940, when the German 7th Panzer Army flanked through the Monasdir Pass, Wilson faced the German attack from Thessaloniki, he decided to withdraw all Commonwealth troops to the narrow mountain pass of the Haryakmon River and Thermopylae Pass, and on July 17, the 9th Panzer Division built a pontoon bridge to cross the Haryakmon River, but their attempt to attack further was blocked by the enemy's dense artillery fire, which came from 3 directions: in the Platamon tunnel area between Mount Olympus and the seaside, The Olympus Pass and the Sevia Pass to the southeast faced strong counterattacks on these three routes, and only a small number of troops could pass through, including the 7th New Zealand Battalion, the 5th New Zealand Battalion, and the 16th Australian Battalion at Olympus and Sevia Pass, and for the next three days, the 9th Panzer Division struggled to advance.

On the night of July 15, 1940, a German motorized battalion attacked this pack with the support of a tank battalion, but was repelled by the soldiers of the New Zealand 21st Battalion commanded by Colonel Mackay, and the New Zealand soldiers suffered heavy casualties, on the second day, a German armored regiment arrived and attacked the two flanks of the New Zealand 21st Battalion, but the New Zealand 21st Battalion still held the fort, and after 15 and 16 days of fierce fighting, the Germans transferred a tank battalion. Reinforced by an infantry battalion and a motorized battalion, the German infantry attacked the left flank of the New Zealand Army as the tanks attacked the coast for several hours.

After retreating from Wevi for several hours, the Australian anti-tank artillery was resting and the New Zealand 21st Battalion was forced to retreat, crossing the Pinios River and reaching the western exit of the Pinios Gorge, with only minor casualties, Colonel McGee was ordered to hold the gorge until 19 July 1940, when he ordered all the defending soldiers to sink all the ships at the western exit of the gorge and begin to construct fortifications.

The 21st Battalion was reinforced by the 2nd Company of the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Company of the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Battalion that arrived later. Summi? Brigadier General Aaron, under the command of Brigadier General Aaron, the 5th Company of the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Battalion and the 11th Company of the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Battalion, were moved to Larissa, southwest of the gorge, and ordered to hold the place for as long as possible for 3 to 7 days.

On 16 July 1940, General Wilson met with General Pagos at Lamia and informed him that he had decided to withdraw his troops to Thermopylae, and that General Bupomet separated the duties and responsibilities of McGee and Freiberg in the evacuation of Thermopylae, and McGee was responsible for protecting the flanks of the New Zealand Division and directing the troops to withdraw through Domocus to Thermopylae as they passed Nanisha to the southeast; The British 1st Armoured Brigade covered the retreat; Freiberg commanded Aaron's forces to retreat.

On the morning of July 18, 1940, the attack on the Pinios Gorge began, the German armored infantry crossed the river by boat, and the 6th Mountain Division attacked the New Zealand battalion from the hill down, completely routed it, the 18th Mountain Army entered Nanisha and occupied the airfield, which was the main supply base of the British army, and seized the same 10 wagons of supplies and fuel so that the forward troops could continue to advance, and the port of Volos fell on July 21; In this case, the Germans seized large quantities of valuable diesel engines and raw oil.

George? General Tsolaglu was the third and last protocol for the surrender of the Greek army at Iberus with Alfred of Germany? Admiral Jodl and General Ferrando of Italy at the point that the German army was in deep danger to the operations of the 1st Greek Army in Albania as the Germans penetrated deep into Greek territory, and General Wilson described them as fetishistic and did not want to see the courtyard on earth.

They were reluctant to back down to the Italians, and it was not until 13 July that the 1st Greek Army began to retreat towards the Bandus Mountains, where the Allied retreat route through the Bandus Mountains to Thermopylae Pass might be threatened by the Germans flanking the Greek army, and a regiment of the 1st Panzer Division of the Command carried out the task of passing through the Meraon Pass to Ioannina to cut off the retreat route of the 1st Greek Army.

On 17 July, heavy fighting broke out at the Castria Pass, where the Germans blocked the retreat of the Greek army, and the blockade extended to the entire Albanian front, while the Italian army pursued slowly.

…… (To be continued......)