Although the defeated army at Bulo Pass went up the mountain to avoid being annihilated, it also made way for the 11th Army and cleared an obstacle.
Of course, the 11th Army would miss this opportunity. After opening the Colin Bridge, its forward 24th Division caught up with the retreating 71st Division in the valley five kilometers away from Les Carrennes.
Speaking of which, the 71st Division was also unlucky. It wanted to respond to the defeated army at Buro Pass, but was unable to capture the Colin Bridge for a long time. Then the target they wanted to respond to told themselves that there was no need to wait for them, and they had to leave via the mountain road.
The commander of the 71st Division was so angry that he vomited blood. He had lost a lot of troops to ask for help from them, and now he left with just one word, leaving them messy in the wind.
As a result, they were caught up by the 24th Division because they were slow to carry a large amount of heavy equipment.
At this time, facing the pursuit of the 24th Division, the 71st Division had no choice but to stop and prepare for a counterattack. As for leaving the troops to cut off their tails to survive, this was simply impossible. If they cut off their tails to survive, the commander of the 71st Division could only be ordered to retire.
Of course, the 71st Division also knew that it would be difficult to stop the enemy 24th Division with its own heavy losses, so it immediately asked for help from the 23rd Division that had just arrived.
Faced with the request for reinforcements from the 71st Division, Major General Costa, as the front-line commander of Les Carrennes, immediately sent a brigade for reinforcements.
At this time, faced with the increase in enemy strength, the commander of the 24th Division, Major General Odolovan, performed very well. He first sent the vanguard to hold back the enemy, and then deployed two regiments to slant into the mountains on both sides, posing to encircle and annihilate the enemy.
The posture of the 71st Division.
Although the 71st Division also sent two regiments to block this, they fell into the trap of Commander Odorovan. The mountains are not easy to walk, and it is not easy to retreat. Especially for those with mortar bonuses.
For the Italian army, mountain warfare is a required course.
Previous battles have shown that the performance of French officers and soldiers in mountain battles is far inferior to that of Italian officers and soldiers. At this time, letting the two regiments watch the enemy's two regiments is a bargaining chip for the 24th Division. If the enemy retreats, they will lose money on the mountain.
of two groups.
Of course, the 24th Division also paid a price for this. The 71st Division, which was reinforced by the French 23rd Division, tried to push back the 24th Division. However, the 24th Division did not take a step back despite huge casualties, just to stick to the enemy and not let it leave easily.
The actions of the 24th Division finally proved to be in vain. The 17th Division arrived a day later, and more importantly, various heavy weapons also arrived. At this time, the 17th Division, which had received reinforcements, was too late to retreat.
When the enemy is pressing heavily, it is actually not a good choice for the inferior side to retreat, because it can easily lead to a defeat. At this time, the commander of the 71st Division, Dulan, made a serious wrong decision. He saw that the enemy's strength was constantly increasing.
, wanting to use the cover of night to gradually withdraw troops from their positions.
This was discovered by the vigilant enemy troops. Therefore, under the fierce enemy attack, the position of the short-numbered major general was quickly broken through, and a rout was inevitable. Of course, the officers and soldiers of the 11th Army would not miss the opportunity to beat the drowned dog.
As a result, under the pursuit of 11 officers and soldiers, these defeats became larger and larger. A large number of French officers and soldiers also fled, driven by the defeat.
The offensive force composed of the 17th and 23rd divisions used the help of the broken troops to attack Les Carrennes in one fell swoop. Driven by these broken troops, how could the low morale of the French army in Les Carrennes withstand the ferocious force?
11 officers and soldiers. Even though Major General Costa, the commander of Lescarene, repeatedly encouraged his soldiers, how could the soldiers fight with peace of mind when they saw the steady stream of retreating troops.
As for these broken troops, Major General Costa also wanted to collect them, but it was useless in front of the panicked broken troops. He sent a gendarmerie and two companies of soldiers to be directly dispersed by them. For this reason, there were dozens of gendarmerie
was killed.
Now these broken troops have no morale and want to escape. Anyone who wants to stop them is their enemy. The failure to collect the broken troops makes Major General Costa feel that something is wrong. But now facing the approach of the 11th Army, he is helpless and can only attack
Lieutenant General Fast asked for help.
Faced with the telegram from Major General Costa asking for help, Lieutenant General Fast must have mixed emotions after reading it. The person who was given high hopes failed to fulfill his instructions. Although the main responsibility was the commander of the 71st Division, he was
How could Major General Costa, who is the commander, have no responsibility?
His biggest responsibility was that he failed to hold the key point of Lescarene. The 11th Army captured it in only 18 hours. The reinforcements sent by Lieutenant General Fast could only fight against the defeated troops of Lescarene.
Retreat to Tult.
This is a fork in the road, where a stream flows into the Parno River. It is also the intersection of the road from Les Carrennes to Nice and the road from Coaraz to Nice. It is also one of the most important points in the northeast of Nice.
Using the terrain to dig fortifications is a basic skill of the army. As long as they are given three days, a well-equipped field fortification can be built. But it is a pity that Lieutenant General Cavilla did not give them a chance at all.
Early the next morning, officers and soldiers of the 17th Division first appeared in front of them, and a fierce battle began.
In the next two days, the large force of the 11th Army also arrived. With its superior strength and firepower, it took only three days to conquer Tourt. Tourt was able to be conquered so quickly, except for the fierce offensive of the 11th Army and its powerful firepower.
In addition, it was also because Lieutenant General Fast did not send any more reinforcements.
As for why no more reinforcements were sent, it was because the reserves in his hands had already been sent to more important places. Is there any place more important than Tourt?
That is the small town of Eze, a small town located on a coastal mountain. Not only is it located on the top of a mountain, but it is also only 7 kilometers away from Nice in a straight line. It can be said to be the gateway to Nice. This place was taken over.
Nice's influence is far stronger than that of Tourt, because the large-caliber artillery of Army Group South can directly bombard the city of Nice.
From this point alone, we can see who is more important, not to mention that Army Group South is the main force in the heavy troop concentration. The 11th Army is just a partial division. Although it can fight, it is far less important than Army Group South.
Of course, Lieutenant General Fast paid enough attention to Army Group South. Two-thirds of his troops were defending the opponent. However, its equipment was too good and its personnel were much higher than our own. With the dual advantages of firepower and manpower,
, solid positions, fortresses, etc. were captured one by one.
As for conquering these positions, fortresses and other defensive facilities, Army Group South has nothing to say. It just needs to attack them step by step, using firepower and draining its troops.
In more than a week, Army Group South consumed 200,000 tons of ammunition, which has caught up with the consumption of previous border battles. Such a large consumption of ammunition even aroused the vigilance of General Simeone, who also specially
Send a telegram to Admiral Baxter to inquire about the situation.
For this reason, General Baxter immediately sent the details to the army chief. After seeing that most of these artillery shells were consumed by attacking various solid and permanent fortifications, General Simeone later warned him.
Ammunition consumption.
The reason why the head of the army attaches so much importance to the consumption of ammunition is that ammunition reserves are being rapidly depleted. Before the war, the Italian military stockpiled 1.35 million tons of ammunition, but now only 650,000 tons of ammunition reserves remain.
Although the Italian military industry could produce 3 million rounds of ammunition per month at this time, it was still not enough for the military. The Army consumed the most, and the battles on the Italian-French border were the heaviest among the Army. This is normal, Italian
The continuous mountains on the French border determine that the effective damage effect of artillery shells is far less than that of other terrains.
In addition, the War Department was already preparing for the Egyptian campaign at this time. In order to prepare various materials, the War Department was very busy, and it must be extremely sensitive to key materials such as ammunition. Therefore, it was appropriate for General Simeone to send a telegram to inquire.
meaning.
With the breakthrough of the Italian troops on both fronts, the situation in the Nice area became favorable to Italy. Taking advantage of the favorable situation, it was natural to strike while the iron was hot, so the 11th Army began to do things.
At this time, the 17th and 31st divisions that had just captured Conte, led by Lieutenant General Caviglia, rushed westward along the road to Levan. They had to climb two mountains and cross a long valley to reach Levan.
The total distance from Lewang to Conte is only 9 kilometers. You can imagine the complexity of this terrain.
This also creates many dangerous places along the way, which are very suitable for enemies to block attacks.
However, it is not without good news. According to intelligence, the road from Conte to Levan is basically filled with militia groups, and there is only one regiment of French troops in Levan.
For the 11th Army, this good news is enough to defeat all other news.
