Berante felt a little lonely. Because of the damn Italian attack, he had to take his army south to strengthen the defense force on the Alpine border, thereby missing the opportunity to defend Paris.
And Berante led three better divisions southward, which also opened up the defense forces outside Paris. The German army easily defeated the French army in the north and rushed to Paris.
Now, Marshal Pétain finally suppressed Prime Minister Reno. With Reno taking the blame and resigning, the domestic resistance faction has been wiped out.
The French government desperately submitted an armistice request to Germany through Switzerland, hoping that the two countries could start negotiations on saving the war and reach a peace agreement as soon as possible.
The French government, which had made Paris an undefended city and moved to Tours, seemed to be operating again.
Although they were helpless against the German army in the north, Marshal Pétain, with a vicious eye, pointed out that there was no need to be afraid of the Italian army in the south, and quickly mobilized Berante's three divisions to deal with it.
Now, when he thought that Paris should have been occupied by the German army, Berlant felt sad.
After fighting desperately for so long, in the end, they still failed to defend the capital.
"Damn it!" Berlant punched the conference table hard.
Because southern France has never withstood the flames of war, the city of Moutiers where Berante's headquarters is currently located has relatively complete facilities, allowing him to have an empty conference room and all kinds of clean and orderly furnishings.
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However, the comfortable environment did not bring any relief to Berante. On the contrary, he was surprisingly angry inside now.
"Mussolini!" Berante chewed the name through gritted teeth, his face turned livid.
Unlike his admiration for the almost omniscient leadership and command of German head of state Reinhardt, Berante was contemptuous when mentioning the name Mussolini.
The confrontation with Germany was all face-to-face, head-on confrontation. Although they lost in the end, not only Berlant, but also veteran generals such as Weygand and Pétain admitted that France did not lose unfairly in this battle.
Berlante could be said to have witnessed the German army's methods throughout the entire process. Their commanders were resourceful and good at formulating eccentric but extremely precise tactical plans; their soldiers were brave and tenacious and capable of high-intensity pursuit missions.
It is not a shame to lose to such an opponent.
However, Italy, which was also at war with France, was different.
They were timid in the early stage and did not dare to take a step forward. When France was destined to fail, they jumped out impatiently and assumed a posture of fighting to the death with the French army.
This cowardly enemy, their shameless leader, Mr. Berlant despises him from the bottom of his heart!
However, it is not necessarily true that Italy has won a sure victory. In Berante's view, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army seems to be inversely proportional to their appetite.
"General Berante, it seems your people can take a good rest." A lieutenant general who was in charge of garrisoning here before the war smiled and said to Berante: "I just received the news that my people retreated.
After the three-pronged attack of the Italian Army, our defense line has stabilized."
Because of the urgent situation, the newly formed Second Army led by Berante actually rushed to the Alpine defense line non-stop via railway transportation. I originally thought that it would go into battle soon, but I didn't expect to find the battle situation on the front line after arriving.
It was not as bad as imagined, so Berante ordered the troops to repair it first and then check the situation.
"Repelled a three-pronged attack?" Berante walked to the battlefield sandbox in the combat conference room and asked thoughtfully: "I remember that the Italian army launched a total of four offensives. Is there another one?"
Judging from the situation marked on the sand table, the core defense line of the French army in the Alps has hardly received any blows. The Italian army's all-out attack has only occupied some areas outside the core defense line that are insignificant and have little strategic significance.
.This situation can be said to be very good.
"Yes, there is another Italian army, and they are launching an offensive with their Black Shirt First Division as the main force." The lieutenant general stationed by the loser introduced to the newly arrived Berante: "Before the war, during the war,
Among the Italian troops we faced, it was the First Division of the Black Shirt Army that was at the forefront. They claim to be the most elite troops in Italy and have a strong will to fight. In fact, among the five attacks, the only ones that put pressure on us were
Only the first division of the Black Shirt Army attacks the front line."
How arrogant the first division of the Italian Black Shirts is, as can be seen from their very first name. The very first name of this division was called "The Will of God". It is the will of God, how can it not be awesome?
Of course, because in the Spanish Civil War, the Italian troops entered the battle prematurely, Rommel's armored division stood still, resulting in heavy losses for the Italian Blackshirt Army. This led to the resumption of the First Blackshirt Division and the then Second Blackshirt Division.
It was merged and reorganized to become the current First Division of the Blackshirt Army.
"What elites? They are just a little better at fighting than other Italians. After all, even if they are so-called elites, there is still a gap in combat effectiveness compared with our army." Berante was obviously interested in the Italian Army's ace black shirt.
The army was dismissive.
Before coming to the southern front, Berlant had considered giving up border defense if it was no longer possible, and ordered the troops to resist step by step during the retreat, imitating what he had seen Manstein do during the Battle of the Buzula River.
, to engage in an encirclement and annihilation battle against the Italian army that was advancing deeply.
However, this idea disappeared without a trace the moment he came to the front line and saw the battle report.
Berante discovered that he had made a mistake at the beginning. Because he had faced powerful troops like the German army for a long time, he inadvertently overestimated the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.
Now it seems that the Italian Army's offensive is too weak, and it is completely different from the German offensive. Berante believes that if it was the German army that launched the surprise attack on the southern front, I am afraid that the reinforcements he led would have been lost before they could arrive in time.
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But now, the opponent is the Italian Army, so it is much easier to handle.
"These idiots don't even know how to take advantage." Berante sneered: "Order the 69th Division and the 72nd Division to jointly launch a confrontation in front of the first division of the Italian Black Shirts. Order the 69th Division
The 77th Division, with regiments as units, slowly compressed the enemy's activity space to the southeast, trying to entangle the enemy. Once the 69th Division and the 72nd Division repelled the first division of the Italian Blackshirt Army, I could
Combine the three divisions in one place and launch a counterattack from west to east!"