With Carlo's strict orders and various urging orders issued from Rome, all parties in the kingdom had to speed up the progress, the most eye-catching of which was the Italian Army in Albania.
The headquarters is located in the headquarters of the Balkan Army in Tirana. As the commander of the army, the Chief of General Staff, General Cadorna, has just dropped a telegram.
This was sent by General Saraguet, the Minister of War. It mainly contained King Carlo's requirements and asked him what else he needed.
Facing this obviously urging telegram from the Secretary of War, General Cardorna couldn't help but rub his somewhat swollen temples and smiled bitterly.
I originally thought that this location was a good job, but after arriving in Tirana, I realized that it was a hard job.
As the Minister of War said, the Ottoman defenders relied on the dangerous terrain of the Dinara Mountains to defend tenaciously. Due to the limitations of the mountains, the heavy firepower of the Italian army could not enter the mountains at all, and they could only attack them with light artillery.
However, although Italy's light artillery had an advantage in quantity, the limitations of mountainous operations meant that it could not suppress the opponent's artillery like plain terrain.
Therefore, in the absence of artillery suppression effect, the Italian officers and soldiers had a particularly difficult time fighting.
Basically, it was a battle with the Ottoman defenders on various hills. Just climbing the mountains took a lot of energy.
But when they finally captured the hilltop and drove the enemy away, they found that there were still more positions and fortifications to fight for behind. This sight made many officers and soldiers feel really discouraged.
Moreover, the Ottoman defenders were not stupid either. They used night attacks and cold-blooded attacks on the Italian officers and soldiers from time to time, which made everyone even more nervous.
Therefore, the attack speed cannot be increased at all, and we can only advance steadily and gradually at a speed of one or two kilometers per day.
However, this time the urging telegram sent from Rome put great pressure on Admiral Cadorna. He felt that he could no longer fight like this.
At this time, the previous suggestions of Lieutenant General Simeone, commander of the Third Army, immediately came to his mind.
Cardorna was also a decisive person and immediately picked up the phone. "Immediately send a person to find Lieutenant General Simeone and tell him that I have something important to see him."
Fortunately, the Third Army had just retreated in the past two days, which allowed him to quickly find Simeone.
About an hour later, Lieutenant General Simeone hurried to the headquarters. After a briefing, he finally came to Admiral Cardorna. However, the Admiral had a lot to do, and someone was still reporting.
Sitting on the bench outside the office, Simone faintly heard the sound coming from the door.
"Your progress is too slow. The heavy artillery must be transported to Ermeniti as soon as possible."
"I don't want to hear your explanation or your reasons. You only have two days. If you can't get it, I will personally send you to a military court."
General Simeone was extremely surprised when he heard the powerful voice of General Cadorna penetrate the door. This chief of general staff rarely gets angry, let alone such a big one.
But even though he heard these angry voices, Simeone was not worried about himself at all. You know, his third army? The one with the best performance on the entire front? Even if it is to make a decision, it is not his turn.
After a while, a general with the rank of major general came out of the office with a depressed expression on his face.
Simone knew him. Is this Major General Gardner, the commander of the Second Heavy Artillery Brigade? This person is in charge of only dozens of artillery pieces, but the minimum caliber is more than 150 mm. However, due to the restrictions on heavy artillery in the mountains,
Let it have no chance to perform in this war.
Of course, according to the news he just heard, it seemed that Admiral Cadorna was going to forcibly drag the heavy artillery into the mountain.
After saying hello to this nodding figure, Simeone was invited into the office.
"Simone? You're here."
Admiral Cadorna, who served as the commander, smiled when he saw Simeone coming in, and it was completely impossible to tell that he was so angry just now.
"Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff, here I come."
Faced with the friendly greetings from the Chief of General Staff, what else could Simeone do? Naturally, he had the same friendly attitude.
After waiting for both of them to sit down, Admiral Cardorna continued. "Simone, the plan you proposed last time? After some consideration, I think it is feasible."
After hearing that the Chief of General Staff said that he wanted to consider his own plan? Although Simeone did not say it on the surface, he was excited inside. In fact, almost a week had passed since he made the suggestion.
"So when does the program start?"
Simone's inquiry was not a problem for Admiral Cadorna. He took out a plan and said, "Let's start tomorrow. This is my slightly modified plan based on your plan. You
Let’s take a look first.”
Simonyi took the plan and read it seriously without saying a word. Admiral Cardorna did not disturb Simonyi, and for a while the only sounds in the office were the sound of the pendulum and the turning of books.
This plan is really based on Simeone's previous proposal. It concentrates Italy's four mountain brigades in Albania and his third army to form a powerful offensive force. Then the independent second heavy artillery brigade will also attack in two days.
Join in, gather superior troops and supplement them with powerful artillery, force their way through the enemy's heavy troops deployed at the Kicevo Pass, and invade the Macedonian area.
The Kicevo Pass is the closest pass from Tirana to Prilep, an important town in Macedonia. There are currently five such passes from Albania to Macedonia, but the most important three are the ones leading to Prishti, the future region of Kosovo.
The Kuks Pass in Nadu, the Gostivar Pass leading to the core Macedonian city of Skopje, and the Kicevo Pass leading to Prilep.
The reason why Admiral Cadorna chose the Kicevo Pass is that Prilep is in an important position. It can not only threaten Skopje on the flanks through here, but also continue to threaten Macedonia's largest port Saloniga to the west, with its allies.
Bulgarian troops converge.
Of course, this is just the general outline of the plan. In addition, it also covers various aspects such as troop assembly, attack direction breakdown, artillery configuration, etc. This content has twenty or thirty pages and requires at least an hour to read, and Simeone is enough.
I watched it for an hour and a half.
During this period, Admiral Cardorna was sitting in his office, waiting for him to read the plan.
After he put down the plan, Admiral Cardorna asked, "How is it?"
"It's much more complete than I thought before. I feel that according to the plan, we will definitely be able to break through the enemy's interception within five days."
After hearing Simone's words, Admiral Cardorna held out three fingers. "There are only three days."
Simone was stunned by these words. Time must be too tight.
Seeing Simone's expression, Admiral Cadorna still didn't understand, so he directly told Carlo about giving him five days.
Since this is a forced order from the king, it seems that there is no room for negotiation in terms of time, and Simeone simply said, "That's okay, but I still need some supplies and equipment."
After hearing Simone's words, Cardorna smiled. "Whatever you want, as long as it is available in Albania, I will find it for you."
While the two of them were discussing the next battle plan, a large fleet was sailing towards Thessaloniki in the warm Aegean Sea.
