"The Germans are very tenacious. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Zhang Cheng put the war report sent from the Italian front on the table in front of him, and his eyes swept over the many senior officers in the conference room.

The army generals in the conference room all had heavy faces, but the admirals had joke expressions on their faces. After shaking his head slightly, he said in a deep voice, "I have been fighting for so long, but I have never been able to break through the German defenses. When will we get to Rome if we go on like this? When will the Kingdom of Italy be forced to withdraw from the war? ”

High Command, high-level conference room. The week-long Battle of Cassino ultimately failed to break through the stubborn German defenses, and Zhang Cheng had to convene an emergency military meeting to discuss how to deal with the situation.

Hearing Zhang Cheng's question with a hint of dissatisfaction, the senior officers of the army were silent, but the navy had a leisurely look. When the Navy fought fiercely with the Americans in Hawaii before, the Army guys didn't see much jokes when they were counted down by Zhang Cheng because of the unfavorable battle. Now feng shui takes turns, and it's their turn to watch the jokes of the army's idiots.

"Your Excellency." In the face of Zhang Cheng's reproach, the army naturally wanted to defend itself, and the chief of the army general staff looked at the army commander and then got up and looked at Zhang Cheng and explained: "Although the Germans resisted stubbornly, our officers and soldiers on the front line fought bravely, and the losses of the Germans were not smaller than ours at all, and even surpassed ours!" ”

After a pause, Lu Zhiyuan's father raised his hand to cover his mouth and coughed, and then said, "As for the matter of capturing Cassino Peak and opening the road to Rome for the time being. The main thing is Cassino Peak, where the terrain is too restrictive for our mechanized corps. Neither superior firepower nor armor power can exert its full strength. When the infantry attacked on their backs, it was difficult to complete the attack in the face of heavy artillery fire and machine gun fire from the German army. ”

"What happened to the losses at the front?" Zhang Cheng narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "It's been more than a week since you beat it, what kind of situation is it now?" How much did we lose? And what are the results? ”

"There were great losses at the front." Chief of General Staff Lu raised his hand and pushed his gold-rimmed glasses a little unnaturally. After a pause, he spoke: "According to the preliminary statistics reported from the front, the casualties of our army during this period of attack are about 20,000. ”

"Hum ~~~" As soon as the words of the Chief of General Staff Lu fell, a low and suppressed discussion suddenly sounded in the huge conference room. The Ming Dynasty is not limited to Italy. There are many, many things that are responsible for the many major players on all sides, and it is impossible for all of them to focus on a particular battle on the Italian peninsula. Although I had heard the news that the battle of Cassino had suffered a lot of casualties, no one expected that it would only take a little more than a week to lose 20,000 horses! This is not a temporary garrison division of the Japanese, this is an elite unit of the Ming Dynasty that is fully armed to the teeth!

Hearing the discussion in the conference room, the expressionless Chief of General Staff Lu paused and then continued: "The losses of various vehicles, artillery and fighters are not small. But we also achieved great results. At least twenty or thirty thousand German troops were wiped out, and the number of German artillery vehicles and warplanes destroyed also exceeded our own losses. ”

"Can it not be exceeded?" As soon as Chief Lu General Staff's words fell, the Army's logistics supply and demand director, who was sitting not far from him, sneered and said: "In just over a week, more than one million shells of various calibers have been fired, and the consumption of bombs reported by the Army Aviation has exceeded 20,000. With so much ammunition, it can kill a lot of people if it is smashed. ”

The corners of Chief of General Staff Lu's mouth twitched slightly, but in the end, he didn't say much. He has always been at odds with the director of logistics supply and demand, and it is very normal for him to be dismantled. Originally, according to his temper, he had to push back hard. But now his most promising son, Lu Zhiyuan, is about to rise to prominence, and Chief of General Staff Lu, who has been in the army for so many years, will not leave a bad image for Zhang Cheng at this time. For Chief of General Staff Lu, what to do now is to keep a low profile and a low profile.

"Alright." Of course, Zhang Cheng knew in his heart the grievances and battles between these high-ranking generals, but he didn't care about this kind of thing at all. What he wants to know now is how to open up the situation in Italy. This war cannot go on endlessly, in the case that the Americans have two oceans as a barrier, and the Russian battlefield He Ziqiu is ambiguous. The opening up of the second battlefield promoted by Zhang Cheng has many significance.

"What I want to know now is what's next for the Army?" Zhang Cheng leaned forward, propped his hands and elbows on the table, and his gaze swept over the many senior generals like a torch, "How are you going to open the situation?" ”

"This." Seeing that everyone's eyes in the conference room were on him, Chief of General Staff Lu sighed secretly in his heart and said loudly: "The War Department believes that the first thing to do is to end the encirclement and suppression of the encircled German army in southern Italy. Free up the forces on the battlefield and devote yourself to the battle to break through the Cassino Peak. When the forces at the front were greatly strengthened, I thought that we would be able to break the resistance of the Germans. ”

“..” Zhang Cheng looked at Chief of General Staff Lu and was noncommittal about his plan. Turning his eyes, he looked at the many high-ranking generals around him, "Any of you can say what you think." ”

"Your Excellency, I have a different opinion." Hearing this voice, Chief of General Staff Lu raised his eyebrows slightly unconsciously, pursed the corners of his mouth and sat back in his chair, without saying anything. For he knew that he who spoke was his Son, the edge of the road.

"Tell me about it." Zhang Cheng took a sip of the water glass on the side, looked at the edge of the road, and said loudly, "What do you think?" ”

"Your Excellency." Among the high-ranking generals in the room, Lu Zhiyuan, who was definitely a young Zhuang faction, stood up, raised his chin, and said loudly: "I think we should first understand what the main purpose of this battle is, and then we should think about how to fight. ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng nodded and replied noncommittally.

"Ladies and gentlemen." The high-spirited Luzhiyuan looked around and said loudly, "What are we launching this massive battle for?" In order to kick the weak kingdom of Italy out of this war and open a door to victory from the soft belly of southern Europe! ”

"Everyone, please see." Lu Zhiyuan left his position and walked in front of the huge map, holding the baton handed by the combat staff officer on the side, pointing to Milan and Turin in northern Italy: "It's not that the Germans don't have the strength to fight us. It was only because of the blockage of the Alps and the bombing of various transportation hubs by the army that the speed at which they could mobilize their troops was greatly reduced. During this time, the Germans had gradually assembled a large corps near Milan and Turin by various means of transport. Once this army moved south to Rome, the campaign would turn into a huge, long war of attrition. Even if we can win the final victory, we don't know how long it will take to fight. ”

"I think everyone should have actually known that the Kingdom of Italy is no longer able to fight. Their economic and social order would have collapsed long ago, and if it had not been for the suppression of the German army, they would have been out of the war long ago. And what we have to do is speed up the process. I think that as soon as our army can reach the vicinity of Rome, the Kingdom of Italy will inevitably surrender. But we must seize the time and the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that the main army deployed by the Germans in Rome has moved south to fight with our army near the Cassino Peak, and the reinforcements in the north have not yet been assembled, and there is no good opportunity to support from the south in a short time to occupy the vicinity of Rome and kick the Italians out of the war. ”

"How do you get into the vicinity of Rome?" Questioning voices soon sounded from the side: "The main passage was completely blocked by the heavy German group near Cassino Peak. The Otona front road to the east was difficult to navigate, and it was impossible to conduct large-scale corps operations in a short period of time. We can't go to Rome, will the Italians dare to surrender under the noses of the Germans? ”

"We can go." Lu Zhiyuan's eyes were bright, and he smiled and said, "All roads lead to Rome, and we don't just have these options. ”

"Say it." Zhang Cheng put down the teacup in his hand, leaned back on the back of the chair, and asked with a chuckle, "What's your opinion?" In fact, Zhang Cheng already understood in his heart what Lu Zhiyuan's idea was. It's just that this kind of thing still needs to be said by Lu Zhiyuan himself, and Zhang Cheng no longer needs to prove himself through this.

"Landing Operations!" Lu Zhiyuan's face froze, and he pointed the baton in his hand to a small town near the sea south of Rome: "We will end the encirclement and suppression of the German army in the encirclement in southern Italy as soon as possible, and then quickly liberate our troops and enter the battle." But not on the front of the Cassino peak, which is obviously impenetrable in a short time, but also on the ships of Salerno and Naples to make a quick attack and land in this area between the Cassino and Rome! ”

"Hum ~~~" As soon as Lu Zhiyuan's words fell, a burst of discussion suddenly sounded in the conference room. The people who were able to enter this conference room were basically all carefully selected elite talents, and they immediately understood the idea of the edge of the road and the meaning of this battle.

Time difference. The heavy German groups were now engaged in fierce battles in the central part of the Italian peninsula with the Ming attacking forces from the north, while German reinforcements from the north were being assembled. This led directly to the emptiness of the German forces near the city of Rome. Only a small number of German troops remained in the vicinity of the entire city of Rome, and it was the Italian army that acted as the main force of defense!

More importantly, the Italians now want to fall to the Ming and surrender unconditionally!

I have to say that this fighter is really too accurate. Once the battle is successful, the primary combat goal of the Ming Dynasty can be achieved immediately, kicking the Italians out of the war. At the same time, he was able to stab the back of more than 100,000 elite German troops commanded by Rommel, cut off Rommel's retreat, and put him in his pocket.

Zhang Cheng narrowed his eyes, his eyes were firmly fixed on the small seaside town on the map pointed at the baton in Lu Zhiyuan's hand, Anzio! (To be continued.) )