When Rome decided to carry out the Battle of Nice, the Italian army began to prepare for the battle.

At this time, Camporosso, eighteen kilometers from the front line and also a small town on the Italian border, was a lively scene at this time. The town, which used to have only a few hundred inhabitants, is now crowded with thousands of soldiers, which makes the residents feel a little inconvenienced, but they all understand that this is a fight to regain the country.

The best thing in the town is a small three-story building, which was the headquarters of Army Group South and the main force of the Battle of Nice, and now it is a busy scene.

"Your ministry won't be there until the day after tomorrow...... What is this going on, isn't it the order that tomorrow is the deadline...... It took two days to repair the bridge that was washed away by the flood, what did you do earlier, and there was no extra time left on the road. ”

"Hey, I'm the command of the group army, your ammunition transport team has arrived, okay, I'll arrange someone to come over immediately."

"Is it the military headquarters of the 15th Army, I will arrange someone to send you a battle plan, it is expected to arrive tomorrow, you pay attention to sending someone to take over."

……

At this time, the officers in the small building were busy with their feet on the ground, because there were only three days left before the start of the battle, and they were making final preparations at this time.

The officers on the first floor were busy, and the others were similar, even the commander of the army group, General Baxter, was also receiving his subordinates at this time.

"Lieutenant General Kaviglia, welcome to your 11th Army."

At this time, in the general's office, he was warmly receiving Lieutenant General Kaviglia, the commander of the 11th Army, who had been newly transferred to their group army.

There is a saying that gold shines everywhere, and this sentence describes Lieutenant General Kaviglia very well. Born in Liguria, he entered the Royal Military Academy of Turin in 1880 to study artillery. In the war against King Johannes IV of Abyssinia, he was promoted to captain for his good performance.

In the War of Intent, he served as the commander of the artillery battalion of the 7th Division, but because he did not participate in major battles, he did not perform well.

Later, he served as a military attache in Japan and also served as a military attache in the Russo-Japanese War. In 1908, he returned to China as the commander of the 2nd Division, and later served as the deputy commander and commander of the 11th Army.

Although the 11th Army did not participate in the previous battle, it was pinched by Rome as a reserve. At this time, the reserve was full of talents, in addition to the 11th Army, there were also several old powerhouses such as the 3rd Army, the 6th Army, and the 8th Army, which could be said to hold the elite of the Italian army in their hands and be ready to support at any time.

However, it is a pity that all fronts are progressing smoothly, so these elites can only watch the other troops make achievements.

However, the Battle of Nice was about to begin, and the Alps had combed the Italo-French border into mountains and ditches. Therefore, for the battle in this place, it is more dependent on elite officers and soldiers and abundant firepower.

Therefore, the Southern Front Army, which was the main force of the campaign, needed more elite troops at this time, and in the face of the needs of the Southern Front Army, the 11th Army was transferred from Rome. Although the army is not as famous as the 3rd and 6th armies, the combat effectiveness of the 11th Army in the past two years has exploded, and it has defeated its opponents in many confrontation exercises, and there is no shortage of strong opponents like the 6th Army, so the 11th Army, as a new elite who dares to fight, was sent to the Southern Front Group Army.

This is why General Baxter is so enthusiastic when he sees Commander Kavilia, how can he be slackened with this reinforcement?

"Your Excellency, Commander, our 11th Army is very pleased to be able to join Army Group on the Southern Front. Whatever task the commander has to give us, our 11th Army is guaranteed to complete it. ”

Admiral Baxter was very pleased with his new subordinates, who were eager to fight, and saw him pull Lieutenant General Kaviglia and say. "Don't worry, you've worked hard all the way, how about taking a break?"

"No, I've already rested on the road, and I'm only three days away from the fight, so I'm impatient."

Seeing that Lieutenant General Kaviglia was really reluctant to rest, Baxter pulled him to the battle map and began to explain. "Your 11th Army is not a light task."

As he spoke, he pointed to the location marked by a small green flag on the map. "The mission of your 11th Army is to attack the enemy's Levan in the middle of the Wa Valley, from Southperle, in order to ensure that it can be threatened from the flank of Nice. In addition, if you still have extra troops, then attack upstream along the Wa River and reach Entlevo upstream, and your 11th Army will be the first merit of the Battle of Nice. ”

Listening to Admiral Baxter's narration, Lieutenant General Kaviglia looked at the map and thought. Admiral Baxter gave him a task of no small difficulty, although from the map it was only 20 kilometers in a straight line from Southperer to Levan. But this road is all river valley mountain beams, and the actual distance is more than 40 kilometers.

There were three small towns along the map alone, and there were seven or eight mountain passes and points along the way, and he didn't believe that his opponent would not take advantage of these excellent terrains. Fighting enemies here is very difficult, and it is easy to get into trouble if you are not careful.

"It's not a good fight."

Although Lieutenant General Kaviglia and the 11th officers and soldiers had a very strong desire to fight, it was really a bit hesitant to rely on his 11th Army for this terrible terrain.

Perhaps seeing Lieutenant General Cavelia's difficulties, Admiral Baxter said at this time. "As long as you take over the offensive task in the north, I can just open my mouth if you need anything, as long as there are some in the group army, I will give you immediately, and if there is not, I will apply immediately, and let the army dial it immediately."

The reason why Admiral Baxter opened his mouth like this is also because it is too difficult to fight on the northern front. Just look at how far Southper, currently occupied by the Italian army, is from the border between the two countries, which is a full five kilometers.

The border battle was fought for so long, and it was fought for five kilometers, how difficult is this northern front. You must know that the French army was defending only one division at that time, and the Southern Front Army gathered two divisions and an artillery regiment to take Southperle at the cost of more than 10,000 casualties.

As for the capture of the Savoy area, it all relied on sneak attacks and never-before-seen airship air transport, which allowed the Northern Front Army, whose supplies were not limited by terrain, to take the area in one fell swoop.

And if you want to capture Nice, a sneak attack is no longer possible. You can only use the consumption of troops, and fight one mountain after another.

Lieutenant General Kaviglia, who also understood this truth, also expressed his needs at this time.

"I want two squadrons of airships, a bunch of wagons, a lot of mortars, and ......"

At the request of Lieutenant General Kaviglia, it can be seen that he has a very clear understanding of mountain warfare. All you want is a light weapon, and of course an airship that can be transported by air, that is essential.

"No problem, I agreed to all the conditions you said. Now the army group has three squadrons of airships, I'll give you two, the logistics department has the number of carriages, you send someone to pick it. Do you see enough mortars in the munitions depot, not enough for me to let Turin send them, and the ammunition will be approved for you......"

Faced with a series of demands from Lieutenant General Kaviglia, Admiral Baxter agreed. Sure enough, as he said, some of the group armies were given directly, and those that were not enough were asked for by the rear.

Lieutenant General Cavilla knew that he had to accept this set of conditions, that is, he had to capture Levan and then be able to threaten Nice along the Wa River and put enough pressure on the defenders of Nice.

"Thank you very much for the support of the general, our 11th Army will definitely complete the task."

At this time, Lieutenant General Kaviglia's words made Admiral Baxter smile. "Lieutenant General Kavilia, I await your good news."

(End of chapter)