The Colin Bridge is a steel-framed road arch bridge from Southperle to Lescarenne.

With a total length of 83 meters and a height of 27 meters, the bridge spans a narrow valley and is a key point connecting the two places. If it were to be occupied by the Italians, the French troops at the Buro Pass would be doomed. So the French army attached great importance to this, and in addition to the strength of a battalion, a militia battalion was also deployed here.

For a point in the rear, it is already quite important.

However, despite the heavy deployment of troops here, it still did not escape the sharp eyes of Lieutenant General Cavilia, who keenly saw the benefits of seizing this place. Not only can he completely annihilate the two French divisions at the Burro Pass, but it can also reduce the pressure on him to threaten Nice from the flanks and occupy Levant.

After all, two infantry divisions are not a small number for the French Sixth Army, and if you want to replenish the combat effectiveness of at least one division in a short time, where will the Sixth Army be drawn from?

If the reserve team is drawn, what if there are other situations and he does not have enough cards in his hand?

It was also in consideration of the problems of the French army at the Brough Pass that Lieutenant General Caviglia decided to make a surprise attack and take the bridge in one fell swoop. Even if you can't take it, at least you need to blow up the bridge. And the goal that Lieutenant General Kaviglia has been obsessed with is already half accomplished.

"Fire and stop the enemy from crossing the bridge!"

"I'm asking how long it will be before reinforcements arrive."

"Also, report our current situation upwards."

When he said this again, Lieutenant Colonel Kaman, who was the commander of the Colin Bridge, was filled with remorse. Hate yourself for only focusing on the front and causing the rear to be attacked.

Speaking of which, Lieutenant Colonel Carman is not really responsible. His own battalion was placed east of the more dangerous bridge, and the militia battalion was placed west of the safer bridge, which was not a problem in terms of military deployment. However, Lieutenant General Cavilla made a surprise move, he organized thirty large and medium-sized airships, and took advantage of the cover of night to transport an elite reinforced battalion behind the Colin Bridge, for which he lost one airship.

Needless to say, the latter result was a surprise attack on the militia battalion lacking vigilance at dawn. Under the superiority of the enemy and the frighteningly dense firepower, the militia battalion was crushed. Even one of the reinforcement companies he sent to support was beaten back.

The officers who came back said that the enemy had an automatic weapon that could shoot in his hand, and after rushing into their positions, he fired at them, and they were crushed.

After listening to the report of the defeated officers, Lieutenant Colonel Carman gave up the idea of immediately retaking the west side of the bridge. At the same time, he asked his troops to be more vigilant to prevent the enemy from attacking from the east side of the bridge. In addition to this, he placed two companies at the bridge and aimed most of his heavy weapons on the west side to prevent the enemy from attacking through the bridge.

Of course, he also sent out the news of the bridge being seized to the west as soon as possible.

He then received a telegram from the 71st Division in Lescarreen that an infantry regiment had been sent to support and that another infantry regiment was preparing for departure.

However, as the side of the Buro Pass, which was most affected by the northern seizure of the bridge, he had no other news except the news that he was asked to hold on until he cooperated with reinforcements to recapture the west of the bridge, which seemed strange.

In fact, there is something strange about this, because there is really no force to be drawn from this side of the Buro Pass, and from dawn onwards, the enemy has launched a ferocious attack on it, trying to seize its last position, the western peak. In the face of the enemy's fierce attack, the French army at the Buro Pass counterattacked fiercely, and under the suppression of the enemy's superior aircraft, artillery and other weapons, the enemy attacked and repelled again and again.

To this end, the defenders threw the remaining 22 guns into battle, but these guns did not give the French a breather before they were destroyed by the enemy's huge superior artillery counterattack.

At this time, the French army in the Buro Pass had no support weapons, and could only resist the attack of the 11th Army with flesh and blood. For this reason, the defenders will mobilize all the troops they can to block the enemy and leave a way for themselves to survive.

Of course, its survival lies in when the 71st Division can recapture the western end of the bridge.

However, as the mastermind of this operation, how could Lieutenant General Kaviglia not know that his commando team would be attacked by the enemy's frenzied counterattack after success.

So at this time, in the open space two kilometers west of the bridge, airships are landing, and they are replenishing personnel and supplies for the assault battalion on the west side of the bridge. In addition to the airship, there is also a group of flyers circling vigilantly in the air, they want to protect the airship from the threat in the air.

This is the second batch of airships, which departed early in the morning. They bypassed the French defenses and took more than 3 hours to get here from Cuneo. The main reason is that the wind direction in the valley is changeable, so the airship can only fly slowly and carefully. Otherwise, in the flat land, this point would have been reached in more than half an hour.

"Quick, push the cannon out of the pod."

As soon as the airship landed, the officer shouted in the cabin to order his soldiers to push out the guns. At this time, the hatch door is opened, and the artillery is pushed by the artillery. Outside the airship, the officers and men who were also waiting outside immediately came in and moved weapons, ammunition, and other materials together with the officers and men who arrived.

Because of the limited space and the tight time, no one knows when the enemy will come, so the airship needs to transport the personnel and weapons and ammunition in the cabin as quickly as possible, leaving the field for the next airship. So how fast the uninstallation is and how to come.

At this time, on the side of the field, several officers were looking at the busy officers and soldiers. Lieutenant Colonel Arturo, the commander of the assault force, was holding a pocket watch and watching his soldiers busily carry the airship.

Behind him, two staff officers were observing the handling scene, trying to optimize it and improve the efficiency of the handling.

Although the airship was loaded with a lot of supplies, it was quickly emptied with the efforts of the officers and men. After the airship swayed left and right, Lieutenant Colonel Arturo looked at his pocket watch, and the minute hand pointed to 46 minutes, and it took them a full 8 minutes from the airship landing and unloading the supplies to the liftoff. It took half the time just to lift off and land.

"The damn wind makes the airship land too slowly, at least at noon, we don't have that long. Lieutenant colonel, is it possible to open a second stop? ”

Major Pitis, the deputy next to Lieutenant Colonel Arturo, spoke with a worried expression. Originally, they expected that the airship would take two minutes to lift off and land, but under the influence of level 5 winds, it was much more difficult to lift off and land.

Although the airship is easy to use, it will be difficult to use the airship above the force 7 wind. For example, in 1911, the giant airship White Swan encountered a force 11 gale over the Atlantic Ocean, which blew the White Swan more than 800 kilometers north of its course.

"It's too late, the other stops are far from the bridge, and it's even more inappropriate at this time."

In the face of the deputy's words, Lieutenant Colonel Arturo directly vetoed it.

He knew what his deputy was worried about, time was extremely precious to them at this time, this was the last replenishment of personnel and materials before they completed the mission, and at this time they must be able to take out as much as they could, and now one stop was not enough, and they did not have the energy to open another one now.

For Lieutenant Colonel Arturo, personnel, weapons and ammunition are the preferred choice, and other supplies can only be abandoned if they do not have enough time. Of course, he is also looking for ways to increase his time.

"Let the 2nd Company bring some mines, go to the front and set up a few positions to harass the enemy troops from Lescarenne, and withdraw after one round."

"Yes!"

After watching the herald leave, Lieutenant Colonel Arturo rushed to the position after watching the airship transport for a while.

They wanted to build a defensive position on the hill west of the bridge in a short time, although the time was tight, but the trenches must be available, otherwise how to defend the enemy's division of troops.

And with this air replenishment, the number of troops in the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Arturo can reach 2,000 people, plus weapons and ammunition and other materials, so that he can barely hold this place for three days. Of course, this is still based on air superiority. And whether the enemy can be completely annihilated and they can be saved depends on how fast the 11th Army attacks.

(End of chapter)