Ligari cautiously swayed through the rubble, his eyes vigilantly watching the movement around him, ready to use his rifle to fight back against enemies that might emerge from his surroundings.

Originally from Florence, as the second son in the family, Ligari accepted the country's conscription and became an honorable soldier. After a short recruit training, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion and 4th Company of the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 31st Division as a herald in the company. He is now carrying out the instructions given to him by the company commander, Captain Bobby, to convey orders to the second platoon.

Ligari cautiously walked through a half-collapsed building, and when he saw that nothing was going on, he immediately rushed through the empty street with a brisk stride, and then hid in a corner to calm down a little.

The reason for him to do this was simple, the open space was too dangerous, it was a warning from the veteran, and it was also a lesson in blood, and such a living example appeared before his eyes. Worf, who had been with him for more than three months and was also a herald, was shot in an open area, but fortunately he survived and was sent back to Durrës, in the rear.

Ligari, of course, didn't want that to happen, so he had to be careful. Although this can't be called Laotan Tiger's Den, he must be treated as Longtan Tiger's Den, which is the way of survival taught by veterans.

After a short rest, Ligari continued on his way, passing through an alley and turning into an inclined alley, and when he came out of it, he breathed a sigh of relief that he had arrived at his destination.

"Ligari, it's time to deliver orders again."

On one of the buildings, someone was calling him. Ligari knew him, this was Polk in the second platoon, the third shift, and like him, he was from Florence.

"Polke, where's Ensign Folley?"

Facing his fellow countryman, Ligari immediately asked about the position of the second platoon commander, after all, the task was important.

"The second lieutenant is resting, you come in."

Knowing the position of the platoon commander of the second platoon, Ligari immediately rushed over, and after he entered through the doorway, Ensign Forley appeared in front of him with a sleepy face.

"Ligari, what is the matter with the company commander sending you this time?"

After seeing Ligari, the bearded and disheveled Folly did not forget to yawn while greeting Ligari.

"Company Commander Papel orders you to transfer half of your forces to cooperate with the third platoon to take Terda Square."

"What? To hit Telda Square! ”

After hearing Ligari's words, Folly felt like he had been pricked with a needle in the ass? Almost jumped. Because of the importance of the square's location? Located at the junction of the west and south of the city, in order to prevent the 14th Division from being connected with the 8th Division? The Ottoman army put a battalion here, and it was also equipped with 4 small artillery pieces? Their battalion had fought twice before, and both of them had lost. So after hearing Ligari's words? No wonder Faorley jumps to his feet.

"Second Lieutenant Forley is the company commander's order, and I won't let you die." Ligari as a herald? Back to the company? The news was naturally more well-informed than that of Folley, the platoon commander.

"An hour ago, a unit of the 8th Division had already reached Via Sarco, and now they are going to make a move on Plaza de Telda, and they need our help? And it's not just us four times this time? Other companies will also draw troops. ”

Under Ligari's explanation, Faorley's expression was much better, but he couldn't help but complain. "Hell, I'm going to clean up those rats with round caps in the neighborhood in the next two days? Now it seems that it will not work. ”

"Don't worry if you have time, wait to take down Telda Square? There will be time then. ”

Unbeknownst to Ligari, the defenders of Telda Square, where they were discussing, had smelled danger? The commander of the Ottoman army, who was guarding the area, had already asked for help from his superiors, and was now anxiously waiting for the herald to bring back news.

Didn't wait long? I saw that the herald he sent out rushed back out of breath. "Battalion commander? The regimental commander told you to retreat? There's no need to stick here. ”

The commander breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the news that the herald had brought him back, and he called another herald. "Immediately give me the order to let everyone retreat in turn according to the number of each company, and move quickly."

Situations like the one for this defender have often arisen in these days of fighting. The Ottoman army defending Tirana would seek to retreat when they sensed that the situation was not good.

Although they had lost nearly half of the city in three days, the casualty rate was well controlled.

As the commander of the city's defenders, the two major generals Hashim and Halder were still satisfied, at least their strength was well preserved.

The current command system of the Ottoman defenders has been moved to a new headquarters in the northeast corner of the city.

The headquarters was only moved today, and the old headquarters in the center of the city could no longer be used because the Italian army was approaching, so they had to choose to give up. Of course, the old headquarters, which had been converted from the town hall, would not have cheapened the Italians for nothing, and a battalion of defenders had already been stationed in it, and they would rely on the sturdy construction of the town hall to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

As for the new headquarters, the two major generals are discussing the deployment of the battle situation.

"On this side of Leman Street, you can't give up for the time being, let them hold for one more day, and then retreat to the defense area of the 3rd Regiment of your 31st Division."

"That's no problem, I'll send a message to the three regiments and ask them to pick it up."

Then the two continued to discuss which positions needed to be held today, and which ones needed to be abandoned. Basically, the casualties are not small, and the location that is not important will be considered first, and those locations with important positions and strong troops will be slowly abandoned. Anyway, on the whole, it is a practice of exchanging space for time, and of course, this needs to be filled with the lives of officers and soldiers of the two armies.

Simeone, as the commander of the attacking side, was also clear about the Ottoman army's approach. Although he was very dissatisfied with this, considering the morale of the two armies' troops, equipment, and morale, he could only choose to acquiesce. After all, the cost of siege warfare personnel is not small, unless you encounter the kind of defenders who are defeated without a fight.

It's just that it is clear that the Ottoman army will not reach the point of collapse without a fight, and there will be no bargains to pick up.

So what can be done about it?

You can only fight a war of attrition with the defenders.

Of course, there are differences in a war of attrition, and as a good commander, Simeone has his own understanding even if he fights a war of attrition.

What advantages does your side have, of course, in addition to morale, the advantages in equipment can also be used. In view of the previous role of small and medium-caliber artillery in urban warfare, this time he distributed both small and medium-caliber artillery to all units. Even company-level troops can have direct support from small-caliber artillery such as 37 and 57 mm, which can be said to increase the firepower of front-line troops to the maximum.

And this approach seems to be very good, many times the Italian officers and soldiers who attacked, relying on the superiority of artillery to open the gap, and then expand the results of the battle, shaking the confidence of the defenders.

But even so, the Italian army still fought hard, although it was not a house-by-house struggle with the Ottoman defenders for control, but at least it was a battle for the entire street and alley.

However, this kind of competition consumes a lot of ammunition, morale and other aspects, so basically the two armies grit their teeth and support it.

Of course, this situation was difficult for the Italian army, and even more difficult for the Ottoman army, after all, they did not have an advantage, both in terms of firepower and equipment, or in numbers.

Then, after seven days of fighting, the Ottoman army finally withdrew from Tirana and retreated towards Elbasan.

The Battle of Tirana, which lasted for a week, involved nearly 100,000 men (with local recruits recruited by the Ottomans) and was won by the Italians.

However, the price of this victory was not small at all, with 7,478 wounded, 2,835 killed, 312 missing, and more than 10,000 casualties.

Of course, Italy suffered many casualties, and the Ottomans, as the defeated side, were also not easy. It suffered 8,421 wounded, 5,179 killed, 3,891 captured and missing, and more than 17,000 casualties captured and missing.

In any case, the battle showed both the fighting power of the Italian army (somewhat inflated) and the ability of the Ottoman army.

Of course, the end of the Battle of Tirana did not mean anything, it was just the first large-scale decent battle between the two armies. There's still a long way to go, and there's too much time to fight.

While the rest of Europe may not be very interested, within the Balkans, the repercussions are extraordinary.