The news of the disappearance of Colonel Alibiz was bad news for Major General Hashem. Of course, what made him even more worried was that the First Brigade suffered a lot of losses.
At present, there are only about 4,000 troops left in the brigade. In addition to 800 casualties in the two-day battle with the Italian 8th Division, the remaining casualties came from the retreat at night.
Of course, Colonel Abriz, who was missing among them, must bear a great deal of responsibility. After all, he was the commander of the unit, and such heavy casualties cannot be justified.
Of course, considering that he is missing, Major General Hashem cannot pursue the case further. For him, the most important thing at the moment is to withdraw the Second Brigade in Wachali.
However, compared with the 1st brigade in Worla, Vachari did not encounter the Italian attack because it was on the road farther away from Durrës and Tirana, which also gave the 2nd brigade enough time to evacuate.
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Major General Hashem has already ordered the Second Brigade to return to Tirana with its troops.
As for the 1st Brigade, its chief of staff is temporarily taking over for the time being. Letting it recover first will also be conducive to the subsequent defense work. Therefore, the 1st Brigade gained a precious two days of rest after returning to Tirana.
As for Lieutenant General Simeone in Durrës, he became more confident about his plan after receiving the news that the Eighth Division had captured Vola in two days and opened the road to Tirana.
Apart from the performance of the Eighth Division, there were of course other reasons that gave him such confidence. The most important reason was that in addition to the fact that all the Fourteenth Division had landed, the Fourth Mountain Brigade had also landed.
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Being able to send the 14th Division and the 4th Mountain Brigade ashore within four days was naturally inseparable from the hard work of the engineering troops.
Now Simeone holds two divisions and one brigade with 40,000 troops, and he has full confidence in capturing Tirana. After all, in Tirana, the Ottomans only have two and a half divisions with less than 40,000 troops (I don’t know
The enemy's 21st Division has been withdrawn).
Not only does it have an advantage in troops, but it also has an absolute advantage in equipment. Currently, there are 67 artillery pieces with a caliber of 100 mm or more on board Durres, including 31 artillery pieces with a caliber of 150 mm or more. As for the opponent, according to intelligence, its 100 mm artillery piece
There are 24 artillery pieces of caliber and above, all of which are 105mm howitzers. There are no cannons above 150mm and with a longer range.
The reason for this is still the same problem. The Ottoman army does not intend to defend here, so the heavier large-caliber and cannon artillery that is very unsuitable for transfer? It has no choice but not to carry it. After all, compared with the lightweight artillery below 100 mm
? Large-caliber and cannons all start at least 1.5 tons. In this era of only accumulating power, it cannot be considered at all (there is no railway in Tirana).
Of course, it is not yet mature to attack Tiran? Because we need to be more prepared, among other things? We always need to have enough ammunition.
In the past, the port was rushing to transport personnel and equipment, so ammunition transportation was ranked behind? Of course, this refers to the scale of ammunition needed for a big war? And small and medium-sized battles do not require so much preparation.
At present, Simeone has a goal and is preparing to occupy Vachari first. Because according to his judgment, after capturing Wola, the Ottomans should not continue to stay here? Because the road to Tirana has been
Got through.
Information from the investigation soon confirmed his judgment.
"Vachali's enemies are packing their bags. It seems that the enemies are not stupid either."
Seeing the latest information from Vachari, Simeone muttered to himself.
"Then shall we send the Fourteenth Division there?"
Faced with Chief of Staff Bartlett's words, Simeone thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, it's not appropriate to send another 14th Division? Let the 4th Mountain Brigade pass. It just so happens that the terrain of Wachali is also suitable for the 4th Mountain Brigade.
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As for Simeone? Bartlett also agrees. The terrain in Vachari is indeed slightly more complicated than that in Walla, which also results in the road conditions there being not as good as Walla. Let the mountain brigade go there? It can just take advantage of the lightness of its equipment.
Characteristics. Besides, retaining the strength of the Fourteenth Division? It will be better able to cope with various situations in the future.
And following Simone's order, the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Mountain Brigade who had not fully recovered less than two days after disembarking from the ship, immediately packed up their luggage and prepared to set off after receiving the order. As the Fourth Mountain Brigade
Colonel Ellance, the commander, also immediately arranged for the troops to set off.
"Let the first regiment set off first, the second regiment after, and the headquarters and affiliated troops at the end."
Following his order, the 4th Mountain Brigade set off one after another.
Of course, there were basically no battles in the Fourth Mountain Brigade on its way to Vachari this time. Even if there were, they were just sporadic spontaneous actions by local Albanians. However, these battles may be more appropriately called clearings, and they were simply not possible.
Delaying the steps of the 4th Mountain Brigade. In the evening of the same day, Simeone received a message from Brigadier Ellance that they had occupied Vachari.
When the Fourth Mountain Brigade occupied Vachari, in the headquarters of the Second Macedonian Army, Lieutenant General Jawad Pasha looked ugly after receiving a piece of intelligence.
"Damn it, the Italians confused us with their actions."
That's right, the information about the Italian army being restrained by the French exercises was finally known to the Ottomans.
Lieutenant General Javad Pasha, who received this telegram, had mixed feelings. This telegram came at a really bad time. If he could have known it four or five days in advance, he would have had other ideas. As for now, this is really not good.
manage.
Because he had just received the news that Vola and Vachari had been abandoned, the garrison stationed in Tirana was already on the absolute defensive. If he wanted to change this situation, he would have to increase his troops, which was in line with what he had decided at the beginning.
The policy is in the opposite direction.
Perhaps seeing Javad Pasha's hesitation, Major General Kahraman, the chief of staff of the army group, asked, "Then can we send a surprise reinforcement when the enemy attacks Tirana?"
, let the enemy not be so presumptuous."
Of course Lieutenant General Javad Pasha understood the meaning of the Chief of Staff's words. He wanted to take this opportunity to mobilize troops to give the Italians a hard blow. And it was not unreasonable to choose it when the enemy launched an attack on Tirana.
Gao Ming Javad Pasha was naturally a little moved in his heart, but after carefully observing the map, he gave up the idea.
"Chief of Staff, although your idea is good, it is not easy to achieve such an effect. First of all, how to hide it from the enemy's sight. And even if we hide it, how can we defeat the enemy quickly instead of being entangled by it?
.besides……"
Lieutenant General Javad Pasha asked several questions in succession, leaving Major General Kahraman at a loss as to how to answer them.
Seeing the look of the chief of staff, Javad Pasha could tell that he was just like himself, wanting to use this news to gain something. But he had not calculated the risks involved.
"We should still prepare as before, continue to strengthen our positions and wait for the enemy's attack. It will be much more difficult for us on the transportation line than our opponents."
Seeing that this news would not bring him any benefits, Lieutenant General Javad Pasha was of course unwilling to accept it. However, the risk involved in drastically changing the plan was too great and it was not worth it. As a group army officer, Javad Pasha was cautious.
Commander, of course you need to consider all aspects, so it's better to be cautious.
However, although Lieutenant General Javad Pasha chose to be cautious, the Italian side was not cautious at all. After five days of preparation, Simeone led the 8th and 14th Divisions and the 4th Mountain Brigade
Most of them drove to the outside of Tirana.
The first decent battle between Italy and Turkey was about to break out.
