Italian paratroopers landed behind the mountain pass, which was undoubtedly quite shocking news for the French army.

Because this will mean that the Carragher Pass, a very important pass, will be in a situation of being attacked from the back. And if the pass is lost, then the Italian army will continue to pass through it into the Savoy region.

This was definitely not good news for the French army. So on the day of getting the news, a regiment of the 39th Division of the French Army stationed in Modana hurried over.

I want to drive away the Italian paratroopers who fell from the sky.

At this time, the Vasco slope, which was an important location, was already occupied by Italian paratroopers. The valiant paratroopers relied on this slope to maneuver with the approaching French troops.

"Bang, bang, bang......"

The French infantry regiment, armed with artillery, pushed its proud 75-mm rapid-fire guns and launched an artillery attack on the Italian paratroopers entrenched on the slopes of Vasco.

However, the distance of the shelling was delicate, it was three kilometers from the position. This could not hit the most lethal grenade of the French army, because the paratroopers stationed on the slopes of Vasco also had their own artillery, which was 81mm mortars.

Although this cannon is not comparable to Miss 75 at all, it can at least prevent the French artillery from firing at close range.

That's right, the French army's 75mm rapid-fire gun is a special skill of shooting at close range, using the ultra-high rate of fire to tear the enemy apart at a distance of one kilometer.

Although these cowards did not dare to fight the heroic French soldiers hand-to-hand, this did not mean that the French army had no way to deal with them, and the use of artillery was played by the French army as early as the Napoleonic era.

Of course, the greatest role of 75-mm artillery now is to remove the most deterrent machine guns from the hands of paratroopers who are holding their positions.

True, for the French army, which currently advocates bayonet charge, the power of machine guns has long been understood. And for the French army, there is also a way to solve the problem of machine guns as a point of fire support, that is, to name them by virtue of the superiority of artillery.

This trick is still very effective for the heavy machine gun led by Makqin. After all, a Makqin heavy machine gun weighs nearly 100 kilograms, and the rain of bullets it fires is enough to make the bravest soldiers feel afraid.

Therefore, the French artillery needed to get rid of the machine guns that blocked the soldiers' charges first, and other targets secondary.

So this explains why the French artillery gave priority to firing at machine guns.

Of course, Miss 75 is essentially a cannon, and it also has the characteristics of a cannon, and its long ballistic range is its advantage, which is also destined to have a poor attack ability on trenches.

So after an artillery attack, there was not much less machine guns on the position.

"Let a battalion attack."

Seeing that the artillery was useless, Lieutenant Colonel Millerpi, who led the team, could only let the infantry attack. As for why only one battalion was put to attack, the reason is very simple, that is, the width of the battlefield is not enough, and only one battalion can be placed, and more is a waste.

Following his order, the black-pressed French soldiers rushed over the position with steps, leaning their bodies and trotting all the way to the position.

"Fire."

The paratroopers stationed in the position, under the orders of the officers, lay on their positions and fired at the attacking French soldiers.

"Woo ......"

The small-caliber 8 Carcano cavalry gun emits a crisp gunshot, although this Carcano cavalry gun is shorter than the rifle, but its accuracy has not decreased much, and the trajectory of the small-caliber is relatively straight, although it is weak in lethality, but it is still a very good gun.

In addition, the paratroopers are all trained by elite soldiers from various units, and their marksmanship is generally good. , not to mention the shooting of Reviri light machine guns and Maxim heavy machine guns along the way.

This also led to heavy casualties among the attacking French officers and soldiers during the charge. By the time they reached two hundred meters, more than half of the attacking French battalion had already suffered casualties.

The attacking French soldiers could not bear to suffer such huge casualties, and they ignored the officers' reprimands and retreated directly.

In fact, the officer who led the team was not much better, and it could even be said that under the accurate marksmanship of the paratroopers, the casualties of the officers were higher than those of the soldiers, so after pretending to scold a few words, the officers also retreated.

Looking at the retreating soldiers, Lieutenant Colonel Millerpi's face was gloomy.

"Order the second battalion to attack, the third battalion to prepare, attack immediately when the second battalion retreats, and the first battalion is ready to take over the attack of the second battalion."

Lieutenant Colonel Millerpi's words surprised the deputy regiment commander on the side.

"Commander Millerpi, it's easy to cause a backlash from the soldiers."

As a man who knew the soldiers, how could Lieutenant Colonel Millepie not know that he would be displeased with the incessant attack of the soldiers in this way, but now he had to do it.

"I know the soldiers are upset, but we don't have time to waste. The Italians have made such great efforts to cut off the Carragher Pass from us in order to take it. If we can't get through to the Carragher Pass today, then the Italians will definitely cross the pass, and then we will be blamed by our superiors. ”

Although Lieutenant Colonel Millerpi did not elaborate, the deputy regimental commander knew what he meant. If they don't work hard today, then the charge of ineffective rescue and watching friendly forces be surrounded and annihilated is very likely to fall on the heads of the two people.

In order to stop the enemy from breaking through the mountain pass, and for the sake of their rank, they must work hard, and even if they lose, they can justifiably say that they have done their best.

Lieutenant Colonel Millepie and others could do their best, but for Colonel Bielsa, the commander of the defenders of the Carragher Pass, he could not describe the current situation of his troops, and he had to describe despair.

That's right, today is really a desperate day for the defenders of the Carragher Pass. On the front, the troops of a division were attacking them in turns. The continuous offensive put a lot of pressure on the French troops defending the mountain pass.

However, the front can be described as pressure, and the attack from behind should be described as desperate.

More than a thousand Italian servicemen somehow bypassed the mountain pass and appeared behind them. In the face of a sudden enemy, the defenders were caught off guard and were captured by them with many fortifications behind them.

In addition to the enemies that appeared in front and behind, several airships were constantly hovering overhead in the sky over the mountain pass at any time today. The bombs and rain of bullets that fell made the French officers and soldiers on the defense tremble, and no one could ignore the threat overhead and concentrate on dealing with the invading enemy.

This ground-air integration of combat methods made the French defenders of the Carragher Pass not know what to do at all. Forget about being attacked in the back and abdomen, there are machine guns and bombs overhead, how can you let the officers and soldiers on the defense stand it.

Faced with this situation, not to mention ordinary officers and soldiers, even the commander of the position, Colonel Bielsa, was also at a loss, and he could only order the soldiers to resist desperately while sending a rescue telegram outward.

However, the distress telegram did not bring good news. The first was the nearest Modana, where the defenders had already approached, but they had been stopped by the Italians on the slope of Vasco and could not get closer.

As for the 39th Infantry Division, stationed in Grenobel, they were required to hold out for two days.

At present, the Italian army's posture of fighting for their lives, let alone two days, can hold out for one day in the siege on all sides, and it is all the officers and men of the position who fight for their lives.

After all, the officers and soldiers of the defenders are not Rambo, and they can hit the enemy steadily without changing their faces in the rain of bullets and bullets. When there are enemies in front and behind, mountains on both sides that are difficult to climb, and airships overhead, it is too difficult for everyone to respond calmly.

In such a desperate situation, it is normal for officers and men to be panicked.

So at four o'clock in the afternoon, the defenders finally could not take it anymore, and under the pressure of these officers and soldiers, the commander of the position, Colonel Bielsa, surrendered to him with more than 1,000 French officers and men, after the Italian side had assured that he would abide by the Geneva Convention.

True, now these French defenders have only more than a thousand people, you know that yesterday they had three thousand. In less than a day, more than half of its losses were made.

But if the French army in Yamaguchi knew about the preparation of the Italian military for them, then they should be proud.

In order to take the pass in a surprise attack, the Italian military prepared tens of thousands of troops, as well as thousands of tons of ammunition. In addition, most of the most elite paratroopers came, more than eighty airships.

In addition to preparations, in order to capture the pass, the Italian army suffered no small losses. In battle alone, 1,537 people were killed, 2,976 were wounded and 49 were missing.

From the comparison of casualties, it can be seen that even if the Italian army has a sufficient advantage, the attack on the mountain pass is much greater than the losses of the defenders.

This also fully shows that in such a dangerous place, if you don't think of some new methods, it is useless to rely on manpower consumption alone.

After receiving the news of the surrender of the defenders, Lieutenant General Pascal, the commander of the 9th Army, who was in charge of commanding the attack, immediately reported the good news to the commander of the army, Prince Filiberto.

Of course, in addition to reporting the news, Lieutenant General Pascal immediately ordered the 21st Division, which was originally preparing to take over the attack, to immediately cross the mountain pass and march towards Modana. He wanted to preemptively capture the first stronghold in the Savoy region for the Italians before they could react.

His order was timely, and when the 21st Division crossed the Carragher Pass and marched towards Modana, it first routed most of the French regiment that was attacking the slopes of Vasco.

Immediately afterwards, the division organized an elite unit and rushed to Modana overnight. They finally arrived at Modana at dawn the next day, and then wiped out the remnants of the French army in the town.

After the division occupied Modana, the vanguard of the 39th French Division appeared on the outskirts of Modana.

For Modana flying the Italian flag, the 39th Division, after a tentative attack, immediately retreated.

It was obvious that the commander of the 39th Division was cautious and did not intend to take advantage of the fact that the Italian army was not firmly established to recapture Modana.

Of course, no matter what, it is an indisputable fact that the tentacles of the Italian army reached out to the Savoy region.