"Report the Führer! Patton's troops had also completed their withdrawal, and Commander Guderian requested instructions for the next step! ”

Just as Chen Yanlong was concentrating his energy on the battlefield on the Eastern Front, a naval operations staff officer hurriedly came to the door of his cabin and reported loudly.

"So fast! What about the battle damage of Barton's troops? How many divisions did we annihilate them? ”

Hearing this sudden report, Chen Yanlong also stood up in surprise, hurriedly opened the hatch and asked the other party.

"According to the telegram sent by Commander Guderian, he only said that half of Patton's most elite 1st Division, the 45th and 3rd reinforced divisions, and the 82nd Airborne Division had been disabled!"

The naval operations staff officer replied nervously.

"Alright! I see, since Patton escaped, let's evacuate immediately! You go and tell Field Marshal Dönitz to evacuate the aircraft carrier fleet immediately, and as for Guderian, I will now send a telegram to the telegraph room to get an in-depth understanding of the situation with him! ”

After thinking about it for a while, Chen Yanlong gave an order concisely.

"Yes! Monarch! ”

The naval operations staff officer respectfully saluted.

Chen Yanlong also raised his right hand and returned a military salute, and then he was accompanied by several guards; Walked to the telegraph room on the aircraft carrier, ready to send a telegram to communicate with Guderian.

And at this time, in the Bay of Salerno.

The U.S. 5th Army, commanded by Admiral Mark Wayne Clark, was sitting on a large fleet of transport ships, escorted by an aircraft carrier fleet.

Their tactical objective was to carry out a landing operation in the Gulf of Salerno, and then, in cooperation with the British 8th Army, to carry out assaults on German defensive positions and occupy areas east of the city of Bologna and to its southwest.

Then, immediately after breaking through the German defenses, the living forces of the German 10th and 14th armies were crushed and Bologna was captured.

This was followed by a general assault on Bondino, advancing to the Po River and forcibly crossing it, then advancing along the Gulf of Venice with the forces of the British 8th Army, capturing the city of Trieste, and then advancing to the Yugoslav border.

Then the main force of the US 5th Army occupied northwestern Italy, as well as Milan and Turin, the large industrial centers of Italy, and then advanced north with a part of its forces, and occupied the Brenner Pass.

In short, the main combat mission of the army group was to complete the landing operation in the Italian Gulf of Salerno, codenamed Operation "Avalanche".

The Fifth Army Group was under the command of the British 10th Army and the American 6th Army, and the Eighth Army was not formed in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 10, 1944; With more than 200,000 troops, Lieutenant General Eikelberg's U.S. Eighth Army was the British Eighth Army, the British Eighth Army Group commanded by Patton.

However, the current Admiral Clark did not know that Patton's troops had been defeated and evacuated by Guderian's troops in the Battle of Sicily.

As for this information, I don't know if it was because the battle in Sicily was lost too quickly, and it made the British and American top brass sad and disappointed, so for a while, whether it was Eisenhower, Alexander, or the British and American top brass, it seemed that they had forgotten the existence of General Clark and the US 5th Army Group under his command.

For this reason, Admiral Clark still calmly commanded his US 5th Army Group, and continued to march to Salerno Bay for landing operations with great momentum and majesty.

However, he did not know that Kesselring had already dispatched the 16th Armored Division and some of the elite troops of the newly established 10th Army Group to wait for the arrival of the US 5th Army Group in accordance with Chen Yanlong's orders.

"Your Excellency! We're almost at the bay of Salerno! ”

An operations staff officer named Thompson, standing next to Admiral Clark, reported to him with a smile on his face.

"Hmmm! Then you will give me the order to prepare all the boats needed for the landing operation later! ”

Admiral Clark replied calmly as he stood on the foredeck of the aircraft carrier, using his binoculars to gaze at Salerno Bay, which was getting closer and closer to his eyes.

"Yes! Your Excellency! ”

Operations Staff Officer Thompson replied with a smile.

"By the way, is there a telegram from our general headquarters about the battle situation over there in Sicily? I wonder if it's already occupied by our army! ”

Admiral Clark suddenly had a bad premonition in his mind.

"I haven't received it yet! A few days ago, however, we had received a telegram from General Patton that the Sicilian campaign was going well, that the Germans and Italians were retreating, and that our troops had successfully advanced inland! In short, there are many good news and surprises! ”

Thompson, the combat staff officer, said with a smile.

"Tsk! Do you believe Barton's nonsense? You'd better believe only half of what he says! However, this guy's command and combat ability is still very strong, and the German and Italian troops are definitely not his opponents, but I don't know how many troops he has to lose in order to completely occupy the whole of Sicily! ”

Admiral Clark shook his head and smiled wryly.

"Your Excellency Admiral is right, I just trusted the other man too much; However, no matter what his record is, we will not lose to them, especially if we can create an even stronger and more amazing record under the wise command of His Excellency the Admiral! We'll be able to put Patton's troops in the dust! ”

Thompson, the combat staff officer, hurriedly changed his tone and echoed.

"Of course, we must have self-confidence as officers, or we can't accomplish anything big! We need to learn from Admiral MacArthur! ”

Admiral Clark was so praised by the other party, and his eyebrows immediately fluttered, and he said happily and proudly.

"Admiral wise, Admiral wise!"

Thompson, the combat staff officer, continued to slap his ass.

Hearing this, Admiral Clark smiled even more happily and brightly.

It's a pity that even he doesn't know that he will become a model of incompetent generals in the US military in the future.

Because the Fifth Army under his command in the future Battle of Cassino in 1944 accounted for 90 percent of the casualties of the entire Anglo-American Allied forces after the war, Clark was immediately angrily called a "murderer" by his soldiers and officers.

And he didn't know that he was also defeated by the Germans in the "avalanche" operation in 1943, and he had to ask Eisenhower to send the 15th Army Group to the rescue.

So the ignorant have no fear, and are happy.