"Looks like we're at a low point for the Italians, and Pescara is a bit of a prick." General Bock looked at the battle reports from the front and shook his head. According to their original plan, they occupied Pescara and used it as a base to attack Rome along the road. But judging by the current situation, even if they capture Pescara, they will only get a ruin, which will not serve as a base in the slightest.

"But we can't go around it, if we go around, the troops deployed by Pescara and Chieti will pose a threat to our rear, and we can't deploy our troops, and more importantly, the other side's troops are very mobile, and a rash attack will lead to very strict consequences." Colonel Guderian on the side handed over the new information and continued.

"The Americans and the French have concentrated their forces on the line of Boboli and Sulmona, and they have taken control of this transport hub, and if we want to take advantage of this traffic, then we have to storm it. But if you rashly attack in the face of unstable rear, nothing good will come of it. And the other side has another force in L'Aquila, which always threatens our flank. Pescara couldn't eat it, and he couldn't spit it out. ”

"What's going on in Ancona right now?" Suddenly, General Bock asked a question that seemed a little off-topic.

"The situation is good, we have occupied Ancona and controlled the surrounding area. The other side's deployment is similar to that in Pescara, there are not many troops deployed along the coast, and they concentrate their troops in a more backward position, but the only difference is that Ancona is far less difficult than Pescara. Guderian replied. He was a little confused, and Bock asked Ancona what he was doing. Do you want Ancona's troops to move south to support Pescara? It's a bit far away, right?

"Good. Tell me about the deployment of the other side's troops, and let me see if I can get some breakthroughs. General Bock seemed pleased with Guderian's answer, and immediately asked his men to pull out a large-scale map.

"The other side has established a relatively solid position in Gualdo Tadino. A multi-layered defensive line was also set up to the east, and almost the entire depth of the defense was deployed along the railway line. The surrounding terrain is quite complex, and it is difficult to make a detour or outflank. If we want to attack to the south, we can only break through these lines layer by layer. Guderian was quick to give a clear account of the deployment in the vicinity of Ancona and gave his opinion. There is a personal opinion, but it is not unbiased.

"According to the original plan, our troops in Ancona were only to pin down the American and French forces in the center from the flank, paving the way for an offensive in Pescara. At the same time, it can also defend the British army in the north from moving south. But it seems that things have changed a bit now and we have some trouble attacking in Pescara. That's not the most important thing, though. General Bock paused and pointed to the north and said, "The most important thing is that the British and Italian troops in the north do not seem to have any intention of going south to save their capital. ”

"Judging by the intelligence of the Austro-Hungarian Army. It seems that the landing of the Austro-Hungarian Army at the mouth of the Po River and in the port of Garibaldi has held back the southward movement of the other side, and if their intelligence is true, the Austro-Hungarian Army has established itself here. And I'm thinking that Rovigo and Ferrara are getting closer, and a lot of progress has been made. Two of the infantry divisions attacking Rovigo have already surrounded it. And it won't take long to take it, and then cooperate with another Austro-Hungarian force that landed at Kaleo and Jesolo to besiege Mestre and Venice. Guderian said.

"This is far from enough, the British are still very high in combat, although Austria-Hungary has the advantage of air force and navy, and it does not suffer in terms of strength, but considering the appearance of the Austro-Hungarian army in previous battles, I don't think they can progress so quickly." Bock shook his head, skeptical of Guderian's statement.

"If only a coastal attack. It was hard to work, but it was only part of the Austro-Hungarian plan. General Schrager is indeed very capable. And they do have a bit of a big appetite too. The main force of the Austro-Hungarian Army was to attack from Innsbruck, and while the attention of the British and Italians was drawn to the vicinity of Venice, under the cover of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force, 3 Austro-Hungarian divisions occupied Bressanone in northern Italy and routed an Italian mountain division. Although Guderian also looked down on the Austro-Hungarian Army in his heart, he still admitted that the other party had fought really well this time.

"I have ideas and I have great ambitions." Bock also said approvingly after listening to Guderian's introduction. But to be honest, deep down, the Germans were not satisfied with the victory achieved by Austria-Hungary, and although the two sides were allies, the Germans felt that Austria-Hungary wanted to take too much. Germany only wanted Austria-Hungary to give Venice to Austria-Hungary after recovering the territories abandoned in World War I, but judging from the actions of the other side, the Austrians intended to directly take all four districts of northeastern Italy into their pockets.

"But does it have anything to do with us? We are soldiers, and we only have to think about things on the battlefield, and the relationship between Germany and Austria is still left to the two emperors. Guderian said with some puzzlement, today he felt that General Bock had said a little too much.

"No, no, no, it has a lot to do with us, the military is a continuation of politics. If the British have already dragged their feet, then we will not have to think about going north to support Austria-Hungary, then our troops in Ancona will be rich, and since it is impossible to deploy a large army in Pescara, it does not matter, we can transport them to Ancona by ship. When the opponent defends us head-on, we can give them a sharp right hook! Bock drew a circle on the map.

"Since the other side has concentrated its forces on the Boboli line, then we can start from Ancona and conquer Foinho and Terney. Then whether we copy the other party's back road, or conquer Rome, although the road is a little farther, but we can definitely hit the other side by surprise! Bock said confidently.

"Do you mean those defenders along the way? It doesn't matter, we've already thought about it, didn't Marshal Richthofen want their airborne troops to show their faces? We give them an opportunity to have their airborne forces raid these two transport hubs. Then our army went up again. As soon as we can capture Terni, the war in central Italy will be over, and the enemy army in the whole of Italy will be divided into two parts. The north was handed over to the Austrians to clean up slowly, and then we went to raid the old home of the Italian navy. Bock continued.

"This ......." Guderian was stunned after hearing General Bock's words, "But what if the Austro-Hungarian Army can't stop the opponent's attack?" If the British attack our flanks, we will be on the passive. And will Field Marshal Richthofen's airborne troops be able to quickly take these two central cities? These are all problems, and even if the Airborne Forces succeed in capturing these two cities, if we can't break through the defensive line, the consequences will be unimaginable. Guderian said with some hesitation. After all, in the initial plan, there was no arrangement for the Airborne Forces to fight in depth with the enemy. Sending the Airborne Forces to the rear of the opposing side, the stakes are a bit big. And more importantly, will the Air Force agree to this risky plan?

"We can launch an offensive on the front line to force the other side to increase the first-line defenses, and then let the Airborne Forces raid these two cities, the Air Force is more mediocre in the previous paragraph, so they continue to have a chance to do this. You don't have to worry about whether the Air Force can hold these two cities. For his own people, Richthofen is absolutely willing to pay for it. Don't think that the Air Force only serves our Army, and people have their own business. If it's just to support front-line combat, why is the Air Force doing so many heavy bombers? There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Bock's tone.

Is it true that the German Army and the Luftwaffe are both German armies? However, the relationship between the two sides is one of cooperation in competition and competition in cooperation. The two sides have to compete for the budget, and sometimes on the battlefield they have to divide the priorities. What the Army wants to fight is not necessarily what the Air Force wants to fight. And the situation of the Air Force seeing that the situation is not good and throwing it to the Army may also happen. There will be no shortage of rifts between the two sides. Especially this time Richthofen's plan was not approved, which made the Air Force express the displeasure of the boss. Soon, this unhappiness turned into action.

Except for a few days after the outbreak of the landing battle, the intensity of the air force's front-line combat support declined rapidly, and the focus of the attack gradually changed to attacks on airfields and rear transportation hubs and cargo depots. With the exception of some airfields that were retained for special reasons, the remaining airfields were destroyed one after another under the continuous attacks of the Luftwaffe. Aircraft at the airport were either destroyed or forced to move to a further backfield. In some areas, there is even a "no-fly zone".

In the face of the air force's non-cooperative attitude, the German army's bigwigs have no choice, after all, when formulating the plan, the air force only promised to guarantee air supremacy and ensure that the army will be given the air support it needs within its capacity, the former air force has done it, and for the latter, the air force has also provided some. But most of them are single-engine attack aircraft and a small number of twin-engine bombers, on the one hand, because the army needs more accurate bombing, and a large number of bombers in the air force can only carry out horizontal bombing, and on the other hand, in order to defend against the possible actions of the Italian Navy, it is necessary to set aside a group of pilots with dive bombing capabilities and experience in attacking ships just in case, after all, now the Allied Mediterranean Fleet is injured, and the sea strike falls on the shoulders of the air force.

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