On January 1, 1908, Verona, a city in northern Italy, was the top of the Allied defense line in Italy. This line of defense started from Lake Garda near Verona and extended southward to the Po River, and then relied on the Po River.
The broad river faces eastward to the Adriatic Sea. -{2}{3}{w}{x}] The defense line stretching for more than 200 kilometers is distributed from north to south and then eastward, including the First Army of Greece and the German Army.
There are four armies in total: the Sixteenth Army, the Austro-Hungarian Eleventh Army, and the Greek Second Army. There is also a Montenegrin Army responsible for mobile reinforcements. The one in Verona is the Greek First Army, whose headquarters is here because
The ancient city famous around the world for the story of Romeo and Juliet.
But today, this holy place of love is about to face destruction.
On the morning of the pouring rain, the Greek soldiers who were hiding in the mud of the trenches, shivering with cold and missing their relatives back home, were providing themselves with some heat with a breakfast that was barely hot. Their supplies were provided by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
After all, Greece was so poor that it almost dropped its pants after the Balkan War and naval competition. It definitely couldn't afford it. However, because Emperor Joseph was tight on money, the supply on the front line was inevitably also tight, and the distribution of materials was inevitable.
Divided into three, six, and nine levels, the German army is the main force, and the Austrian army is our own. They all need to be well supplied. Greece, which is lagging behind in terms of combat effectiveness, will inevitably save some money. It is obvious that more savings were made today, and most of the Greek soldiers did not eat.
full.
"You bastard, why are you eating less and less?" A soldier angrily pinched the neck of the cook who was delivering the food and yelled.
"I'm a food delivery person, not a quartermaster. What do you want from me?" the cook said without showing any signs of weakness, but the image of this guy's fat head and big ears was very dazzling.
The soldier was speechless. He glared at him and pushed him hard. The cook couldn't help but take a step back, but unfortunately his foot slipped and he fell to the ground. There happened to be a broken piece of wood next to him, and the wood stubble was in his face.
There was a cut on it, and blood immediately flowed out. As soon as the guy touched his face and looked at the blood on his hands, he immediately felt angry that he had been kicked early in the morning because the food was not to the general's taste. He jumped up without hesitation and shot the man in the face.
The soldier was punched in the face.
Naturally, the soldier was not polite, and the two of them started to fight quickly. This kind of activity was very popular in the boring trenches. A group of soldiers who had not eaten enough and were looking for something to distract themselves from their hunger immediately gathered around to watch the fun.
While they were cheering there, suddenly an older soldier was stunned for a moment. Then he let out a heartbreaking scream: "Shell!"
Before he could finish his words, he heard a sudden and piercing roar in the sky. The soldiers who had been on the battlefield for a long time were like springs under their feet. They rushed towards the nearest anti-gun hole as quickly as possible, but just
At this moment, a dazzling ball of fire exploded at the edge of the trench above their heads, and a dozen nearby soldiers instantly turned into countless stumps and disappeared.
And this was just the beginning. For the next three hours, the flames of shell explosions always shrouded the Greek positions. There was no need to guess what such large-scale artillery preparations meant. The Allies' top commander in the Italian theater, Bo
General Rojevich immediately mobilized the mobile Montenegrin Army and rushed to Verona for reinforcements. At the same time, he ordered the German 16th Army in the south of Verona to feign an attack on the opposite side to reduce the pressure on the Greek Army. Unfortunately, the Montenegrin Army had not yet waited.
Upon arrival, the First North American Army, secretly assembled opposite the Greek defense line, launched an attack.
Before the artillery preparations were over, more than 200,000 North American soldiers armed with Springfield rifles rushed towards the Greek defense line under the cover of more than 200 French tanks supporting them.
"Quickly, enter the post and fight back!" Chaotic shouts immediately rang out in the Greek trenches. The soldiers mechanically drilled out of the shell-proof holes one by one, climbed up the ladders that had not been destroyed by the shells, and lifted branches of Chinese products.
The rifles stretched out of the trenches, and at the same time, the machine gunners quickly cleared away the debris blocking the front. One after another, water-cooled machine guns spurted flames from the hidden bunker, and the charging North American soldiers opposite them fell in pieces.
However, these young men from the other side of the ocean were not afraid and continued to run forward despite the intensive firepower of the Greeks. At the same time, the accompanying light machine gunners began to look for bomb craters and lay down in them to shoot at the Greeks. On their own position behind them, a stream of
The heavy machine guns also sprayed flames, and at the same time grenade launchers and mortar crews also began to fire at the bunkers.
Among the charging North American soldiers, large and slow heavy tanks rumbled forward in the mud. On the Greek positions, 37-mm or 25-mm anti-tank guns were also moving at the fastest speed.
The fire continued, and tungsten alloy armor-piercing bullets hit the front of the tank. Some were directly missed, but some penetrated the armor. Flames poured out from the fist-sized bullet holes, followed by an explosion inside the tank.
, there is even a spectacular scene of the turret being blown away.
This procedure is already very familiar to both attackers and defenders. This kind of battle actually requires will and strength. If it is the Italians, it is already time to turn around and run back at this time. Those Greek soldiers
They were also waiting for this moment, but unfortunately they were facing North Americans. The soldiers who were stepping on the corpses of their companions did not flinch at all. There was no order to retreat from behind them, and the more than 200,000 people in front of them surged like a tsunami.
The North American soldiers were still shouting and running.
Beside them, there were companions who were beaten to pieces by bullets, then fell down screaming, or were blown to pieces by Greek shells, with blood splattering everywhere, but the remaining North American soldiers continued as if they had not seen it.
Moving forward resolutely, charging continuously in the barbed wire jungle.
"General, our casualties are too great!" On the US military position in the rear, an officer looked at the corpses of his own soldiers that had been piled up in a very short period of time in the distance, and said to the lieutenant general next to him with a pale face.
"Without sacrifice, there is no victory. The mountains of corpses and seas of blood are the most magnificent scenery. We must use our courage to let the world know that the free and democratic United States of America can no longer be humiliated by just any colonist.
Lieutenant General Bliss, commander of the Third North American Army, said with determination. As a veteran who had participated in the war since the first Spanish-American War, he was very impressed by the word humiliation.
The officer beside him couldn't help but sigh, there is no such thing as the United States of America, now it is a fake at best.
However, the bravery and tenacity of the North American soldiers were indeed rewarded. After paying huge casualties, someone finally rushed to the Greek trenches. The next step was hand-to-hand combat, but at this time the Greeks panicked. Their previous
The main opponent has always been the Italians. The battles between the two sides usually involve hitting them hard with artillery shells, and then using the courage at the beginning to rush for a while. When they find that the firepower on the other side is still fierce, they immediately turn around and run back. Everyone is like this.
We are very familiar with each other, but it is unprofessional for North American soldiers to do this now!
As soon as they saw the enemies jumping into the trenches with rifles with bayonets in hand, like spears in hand, the Greeks who had no fighting will immediately began to run away, and these North American soldiers were all equipped with revolvers.
After taking out their revolvers and shooting indiscriminately, the Greeks didn't want to fight anymore. They didn't have enough to eat, the lives of their relatives back home were uncertain, and they were soaked in the mud for endless periods. These had long ago worn out their courage, so they used guns to shoot at them.
It was okay, but when they saw the bayonet reaching their chests, they immediately lost all courage. As a result, the North American soldiers rushed to the trenches and found that they had almost won. The Greeks could only escape or surrender, and almost no one dared to fight with the bayonet.
The victory was so sudden that Lieutenant General Bliss was a little baffled. In his opinion, rushing into the trenches should be the most intense time of the battle, but he didn't expect that it would be over? Back then, well, the U.S. military he led was facing the Caribbean Sea.
The Allied Forces seemed to have done this as well.
A position was broken through, and a chain reaction immediately formed. After seeing the friendly troops in the trenches here begin to flee, the Greeks in other positions also made the same reaction after the North American soldiers rushed to them. The entire defense line was like
They collapsed like toppled dominoes, and countless Greeks fled in panic driven by the North American army.
But at this time, the Montenegrin army who reinforced them also arrived in Verona, but they were too late to counterattack and regain the positions lost by the Greeks. These tough or poor Montenegrins who had only one life left immediately made a decision
Making the wisest choice, they blocked the city of Verona and prepared for a street battle with the American army.
At the same time, after learning that the Greek defense line had been breached, General Borojevich immediately ordered the German Sixteenth Army to change the feint attack into an actual attack, break through the frontal Italian defense line and cut off U.S. supplies. In addition, the Po River front line
The Austro-Hungarian Eleventh Army and the Greek Second Army simultaneously launched a feint attack towards the south bank.
Suddenly the entire Italian battlefield was at war.
"General, you can't do this. There are countless Italian civilians in the city." Outside Verona, looking at the North American soldiers setting up 240 howitzers, an Italian official said to Lieutenant General Bliss with a pale face.
"Your Excellency, Mayor, my mission is to win, and other things are not within my scope of consideration. Maybe you don't understand the significance of this battle, but I do, so please don't hinder my work." Lieutenant General Bliss said.
He said impatiently, "How long has this happened? Who cares about your civilians?"
"You can't do this, you are committing a crime, and I will sue you!" the mayor roared angrily.
"Please take your Excellency the mayor to a place where you can sober up." Lieutenant General Bliss said to the soldiers beside him. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!