The train station is the main point of transportation in Nice, from which people travel to and from Nice. Stunning sunshine and comfortable temperatures make Nice the perfect place for a winter holiday in France.

Although this is the beginning of the 20th century, there are not many tourists who come to Nice.

However, after the outbreak of the war, few people came to Nice for tourism, and the train station was much cleaner. Today, the train station is bustling with crowds of people and vehicles inside and outside the station.

At this moment, a rumbling train sneered to the station, and the platform that had just been emptied was about to welcome a new crowd. When the train stopped, the soldiers on the platform immediately opened the doors of the boxcar, and the officers and soldiers who had spent most of the day sitting from Marseille immediately descended to the platform.

The officer who led the team looked at the time and loudly ordered his soldiers to line up and count the numbers. After spending three minutes solving these problems, the lines walked briskly outside the station under the guidance of others.

The officers and men who came down from the train were all from the 23rd Division, and it was this division that General Ebert sent in reinforcements.

Outside the station, there are all kinds of vehicles arranged by the Supreme Commander of the Nice area, Lieutenant General Fast, who is also the commander of the 16th Army, including the most advanced Sofia trucks and horse-drawn carriages that rely entirely on charge. These vehicles were intended to allow them to make their way to Lescarenne more quickly, where they were to join up with their defenders and hold off the fierce enemy 11th Army.

At this time, Lieutenant General Fast was talking with Major General Costa, the commander of the 23rd Division, on the second floor of the station.

"Major General Costa, this is the intelligence about the enemy's 11 Army as of two hours ago. In addition, I have sent a regiment of troops to reinforce Lescarenne, and I hope it will be helpful to you. ”

At this time, Major General Costa took the document containing the intelligence, and did not hesitate to open it directly. At this time, saving the danger is like fighting a fire, and it can't stop for a moment, so there is not much time left for him. And Lieutenant General Fast was quite understanding, so he was not dissatisfied with his approach.

However, when Major General Costa saw the information, he suddenly said with a condensed expression. "The Italians are already less than eight kilometers away from the Colin Bridge, why hasn't the bridge been blown up yet?"

Faced with Major General Costa's words, Lieutenant General Fast looked for it, took out a stack of telegrams, and handed it to him. "Look, it's a telegram from the commander of the defenders who occupy the east side of the bridge."

After receiving this stack of telegrams, Major General Costa finally saw the reason why the bridge was not blown up. At first, the bridge was not blown up, with the intention of recapturing the bridge and ensuring the retreat of the defenders of the Buro Pass, for which it prevented the suspicious actions of the Italian soldiers several times in a row.

And when the Brough defenders were defeated and defeated, they wanted to blow up the bridge again, but the Italians on the opposite side were unwilling. Let's put it this way, the Colin Bridge is only a little more than 100 meters apart, and this distance determines that whoever wants to have an idea about the bridge will be stopped by the other party. Even at night, when flares on both sides turn night into day, no one has a chance.

After reading this stack of telegrams, Major General Costa finally understood why the Colin Bridge was not blown up. At this point, he only sighed and said. "I hope that the 71st Division will be able to capture the Italians who cut the bridge and save the defeated friendly forces."

After reading the latest information, Major General Costa of course knew the battle situation of the 71st Division, which failed to overcome the enemy's position in several successive attacks, and suffered relatively large losses. Although there was a complex structure of the enemy's position and air superiority, this was enough to prove that it was impossible for the 71st Division to conquer the enemy's position in a short time.

Then in the latest intelligence, the enemy is only eight kilometers away from the bridge, then the fate of the French army east of the bridge is already doomed.

While Major General Costa, commander of the 23rd Division, was talking with Lieutenant General Fast, the side east of the Colin Bridge was in a new situation.

At this time, in the col east of the Colin Bridge, a large number of French officers and soldiers with gray faces and the smell of gunpowder were sitting here to rest, and there were nearly 1,000 of them. If you look closely, you will find that these people are basically bare-handed, and very few have weapons in their hands. In addition, there are almost no heavy weapons, and the real number is miserable.

That's right, this was the vanguard of the defeated army of Burrow, which carried no heavy equipment, low morale, and panic, all caused by the fact that there was no way back and that it was pursued by the 11th Army.

For the defeated French troops who are now gathered at the Colin Bridge, if they want to get out of such a predicament now, they can only start from two aspects.

The first is to open up the Colin Bridge so that the troops have a way out. However, this is not easy, although the 71st Division is attacking on the opposite side, and they can cooperate with the Italian army on the west side of the bridge, but now there are two more problems.

Due to a topographical constraint, it would have been best to take the west side of the Colin Bridge and pass over it, but the bridge is only 10 meters wide and has a limited width. If you attack from here, you will surely suffer heavy casualties. Attacking from the valley under the bridge, the terrain is very steep, and the difficulty of attacking from the back is not much better than attacking from the bridge.

The other is time, even if it is a broken tail to survive and leave a lot of troops to defend, it can drag on for up to 6 hours. It was very difficult for the French troops on the east side of the bridge to capture the Colin Bridge in this time frame.

In addition to opening up the bridge passage, there is another way, that is, to climb the mountain. Climb over the remnants of the Alps on both sides to avoid the danger of total annihilation. However, the path up the mountain is not easy to walk, and some people may leave behind (abandonment).

These two methods also represent radical and conservative, and the now defeated French army does not know how to choose between these two options. And the main reason why the army does not know how to choose is that there is a disagreement between the two commanders.

"Major General Beckett, I don't agree with you, the terrain to the left of the bridge is too inferior. I had learned from Lieutenant Colonel Carman before that the enemy on the opposite side was very fierce, and coupled with the limited access to the attack, it was too difficult to overcome in a limited number of hours. Don't forget, the soldiers are very tired, they can't fight at most three attacks, they will definitely riot. ”

"Major General Achino, I know what you think, and I know the danger, but do you understand the danger of climbing the mountain? In our location, the mountains are full of trails and there is no way to use vehicles, so we have to bring all the food and ammunition we need. And the path also means slow movement, as long as the enemy is fast, there is a good chance of cutting off our path.

In addition, the slow movement also determines that taking the next path will not only increase the risk of being annihilated by the enemy. In addition, if we plunge headlong into the mountains, then the next battle has nothing to do with us, Major General Achino, do you know what the consequences of this will be for us? ”

"Of course I do."

Faced with Major General Beckett's words, Major General Achino immediately retorted. "It's better to do that than if we were prisoners. Look at our soldiers, they were defeated through the mountain pass and had no confidence, and many of them lost their weapons. You rely on them to help you seize the position on the opposite side, I think you are thinking too much. As soon as the pursuing enemy behind them appears, they will definitely surrender immediately. And our two divisions were all captured by the Italians. This is not good news, and even if we return to China in the future, there will be no good fruit to eat. ”

It is clear that Major General Achino does not think that Major General Beckett's method of attacking is effective, although he is only a deputy commander, but he will not stand idly by in the face of the life and death of the troops.

"Major General Achino, your opinion is too pessimistic."

"No, that's the result of my comprehensive consideration based on our current situation."

At this time, the dispute between the two commanders allowed the defeated troops to rest here for the time being. However, both of them knew that continuing to argue like this would not end well for them, so both tried to speed up the way of persuasion.

At this time, a piece of news brought the argument between the two to a conclusion.

"Report, Lieutenant Colonel Giray has sent a message that their blocking position has been breached by the enemy."

The news immediately silenced the two generals who were arguing. The two battalions under Lieutenant Colonel Giray were their second line of defense, and if the enemy broke through the third line of defense, which was 3 kilometers away from them, they would be turtles in the urn.

"Now order the troops to retreat by the trail, let the defenders here withdraw as well, carry three days' rations each, and we will evacuate from the northern trail to Levao. And inform the 71st Division on the opposite side of the news of our withdrawal. In addition, let the soldiers destroy all the heavy weapons that we could not take away, and leave them not to the Italians. ”

At this time, in the face of a series of orders from Major General Achino, Major General Achino did not refute, and it seems that the radical general also agreed with this.

The defeated troops of the Buro Pass did not wait for the road to be opened, and chose to go over the mountain.

(End of chapter)