Udine.

Colonel Diego was not in a very good mood. The battle of Caporetto was still in the preparatory stage, and he had already repeatedly reported to General Kadolna about various deployment mistakes.

But instead of getting General Cadnar's attention, this reprimanded him. General Kadolna asked Colonel Diego to do his own thing and not to make irresponsible remarks about the deployment of senior generals at the front.

Attention, it's a high-ranking general!

Colonel Diego was sent to Udine, and the reinforcements and supplies he asked for have not been seen until now.

Colonel Diego knew that he had been ostracized from his colleagues, but this was a war! Fight for Italy!

Have their colleagues forgotten the glory of Italy? Were the officers of Italy indifferent to the ridicule of the enemy country, and even the allies?

They are not real military men, no!

The German-Austrian forces were already on a massive offensive, but until now no one had come to inform Udine of anything about the front.

Udine seems to have been forgotten by the Italians

"Colonel, I heard that the Germans launched an offensive in Tormezzo," Stino, the commander of the Bolza Infantry Regiment, walked in.

"I heard?" A sneer appeared on the corner of Colonel Diego's mouth, and he didn't know if he was laughing at himself or what: "A colonel, intelligence on the battlefield can only be obtained by hearing and hearing, Lieutenant Colonel Stino, is this ironic?" ”

Stino didn't know how to comfort the Colonel, who was too isolated in the 2nd Army. A colonel, there is not a single officer who supports him

"Forget it, let's not talk about that." Colonel Diego came to the map. He looked at it carefully for a moment: "Colonel Stino, I think that General Cross may be able to hold out in Tormezzo for another week, and I will use this time to be tough enough to ask General Cadorna for reinforcements again." If Tormezzo had fallen into the hands of the enemy, then they would have crossed the Tagliamento River and attacked directly towards Udine! ”

Colonel Diego still overestimated the fighting power of the Italians, and in his imagination, Tormezzo had a whole division. Even if the enemy attacked, General Cross could hold out for a week no matter how incompetent, but what he never expected was that Tormezo was lost in less than two days

And the vanguard of the German army - the skeleton commandos. Coming to Udine now!

"I'm afraid General Kadolna won't agree"

As soon as Lieutenant Colonel Stino finished speaking, a staff officer hurriedly walked in and handed over a piece of information to the lieutenant colonel. The lieutenant colonel glanced at it, and his face suddenly changed greatly: "Colonel." A stream of Germans had already crossed the Tagliamento River. Marching in the direction of Udine! ”

"What?" Colonel Diego was shocked, snatched the information and looked at it, and said in disbelief: "Could it be that Tormezzo really lost it?" Impossible, impossible! Cross has a whole division, and so many artillery, mortars and machine guns! ”

"But there were Germans who arrived"

Colonel Diego's eyes stared at the map for a long time before he scolded: "These damn them! I have repeatedly begged General Cadorna to place even one company of troops on the Tagliamento River, and the Germans will not dare to cross the river easily! ”

But it's useless to say anything now.

What's even more ridiculous. Intelligence only says that "a gang" of Germans crossed the river, but it does not say how many Germans there were. This made Colonel Diego helpless to the extreme.

How did such intelligence work allow the Italian army to achieve victory on the battlefield?

"Colonel, we only have one brigade, and we don't have a lot of weapons and ammunition. My regiment even had only a couple of heavy machine guns"

"Udine must not fall into the hands of the Germans!" Colonel Diego said firmly: "Lieutenant Colonel Stino, I order your Bolza regiment to be the first echelon to block the German attack, and I will give you as many machine guns as I can." At the same time, arm all those who can be armed in Udine. Immediately report the terrible situation here to General Kadolna and ask him for immediate support! ”

"Yes, Colonel!"

Looking at Lieutenant Colonel Stino, who left in a hurry, Colonel Diego had a look of confusion in his eyes.

He had only one brigade in his hands, how many Germans were coming? Will he be able to hold Udine? Colonel Diego was completely unable to give his own answer.

It's just that he didn't know that he still had a brigade to use, but the Germans who came, but there were only 1,200 people, and two of the detachments had not yet arrived at the battlefield

Udine is already in sight!

It is a very large city located in northeastern Italy. It is less than sixty kilometers from Austria. It is inconceivable that in such an important city, the Italians could have placed only one infantry brigade for defense.

What was going on in General Cadorna's head?

"Maybe he thinks the front line is enough to defeat the German-Austrian forces." Rommel smiled and said, "One hundred and forty thousand Italian troops, that's a huge number. ”

"Stupid Cadnar." Wang Weiyi sneered disdainfully: "If we have a million troops, it is enough to do a lot of beautiful things." Even if they rely on Udine to defend stubbornly in the face of Caporetto's defeat, they will not necessarily fail. ”

"Hey, Ernst." Rommel cried out: "The battle of Caporetto is not over yet, do you think we have been able to achieve victory?" ”

"Yes, I firmly believe it." Wang Weiyi's answer was very affirmative: "The victory in the battle of Caporetto must belong to our horsepower, you persuaded Cross to surrender, now, go to Udine, let Colonel Diego lay down his arms and surrender, don't threaten him this time how many people we came, with Colonel Diego's temper, I'm afraid I won't eat this set and tell him, as long as he is willing to lay down his arms, we will give him and his soldiers the greatest security guarantee." ”

"Yes, Colonel."

Watching the horsepower leave, Rommel smiled. Ernst was really a madman, with only a few people in his hands, who would actually go and order the commander of an infantry brigade to surrender

"Steck, set up all our mortars, I hope you have brought someone with you, and let Colonel Studra move closer to me at once, and then go to Manstein and Guderian, see where they are, and go to the front to reconnoiter the situation"

One order after another came from Wang Weiyi's mouth, and the soldiers quickly got busy.

In Tormezo, the Skeleton Commandos had seized too much material, and a large number of mortars were a good thing. The performance of the cannons and mortars made by the Italians is quite reliable.

What would it be like if Colonel Diego on the opposite side knew that the enemy was using Italian-made mortars to hit the Italians?

About an hour later, the second lieutenant returned, but with no good news, Colonel Diego refused to surrender, and told the German commander that Udine would fight to the last man for the honor of his country.

"It's not like an Italian officer." Moder on the side muttered.

"I saw in Udine that a large number of troops were being mobilized, and some civilians were armed, and it seems that the Italians are ready to fight here this time." Ma Li then said.

"Colonel, I'm back." Guo Yunfeng also returned to Wang Weiyi's side: "The first echelon positions of the Italians are very well deployed, and a large number of soldiers are ready for battle. There are also some heavy machine guns coming in from the direction of Udine, and it seems that this time we are preparing for a fierce battle. ”

"That's not good news." Rommel frowned: "Ernst, we have too few men, according to estimates, Studera's infantry regiment will not arrive until the day after tomorrow, do you really think that we alone can occupy Udine?" ”

"I can't say for sure." Wang Weiyi raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of Udine: "Colonel Diego has a strong determination to resist, but his soldiers may not want to do this. I now have to wait for Guderian's tanks to arrive, which may be a crucial factor in determining whether this battle will be won or not. ”

With a few officers, he walked to the forefront of the battlefield, and when he looked closely, he found that those Italian soldiers were indeed different from those he had encountered before.

They did not panic because of the arrival of the Germans, on the contrary, the positions were arranged very layered. If we attack now, I'm afraid the skeleton commandos will suffer a lot of casualties.

"Order, all mortars are aimed at the enemy, don't stop, and shoot the last shell out of me! Rush Manstein and Guderian, tanks, trucks, hurry up and get me there, I need a lot of shells and bullets! Wang Weiyi gave his own order: "Light and heavy machine guns are all assembled and fiercely strafing the positions of the Italians." Colonel Diego is determined to defend against Udine, but I hope that shells and bullets will break the resistance of his men! ”

"Yes!"

"Thirty minutes later, start shooting!"

"Yes, Colonel!"

"Hey, boys, get moving!"

"Sean, where's your heavy machine gun team? Now it's up to you! ”

"Steck, you slacker, what are you doing there? Mortars are all concentrated! ”

One by one, the officers roared louder and louder, and one by one the shrill whistles sounded.

Udine, soon overwhelmed by shells and bullets.

This will be the first tough battle the skeleton commandos have encountered since the Battle of Caporetto! (To be continued.) )