The Zoaf Corps marched all the way and finally arrived outside Palermo before the early hours of the third day. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The whole journey is more than 100 kilometers, that is, the daily journey is only about 30 kilometers...... This doesn't seem fast, but for high and low mountain roads, more than 30 kilometers can be turned several times at will, so the marching speed is still quite amazing.

When he stopped to rest, Zhang Chi summoned Ku Keyi and the division commander Badar for a short meeting.

"General!" "The soldiers are too tired after a night's journey, and I advise them to give them more time to rest before attacking," said Badar. ”

"Maybe we can get them to sleep for an hour or two!" Cook said: "It's good to keep your spirits up and then attack!" ”

"No!" Zhang Chi shook his head: "They only have a twenty-minute break, eat something, drink some water, and be careful not to eat too much!" ”

"General......

"You know what?" Zhang Chi interrupted Badar's words and said: "Before dawn is the best time to attack, and the enemy at this time is not prepared at all. After an hour or two of rest, we were recuperating, but the enemy was also getting up and prepared, and when the time came, we would have to pay a greater price to take Palermo, which was prepared and outnumbered by us! ”

After thinking about it, Badal and Kukyi nodded in agreement.

Zhang Chi was obviously right, the biggest feature of this interspersed of the Zoaf Corps was a surprise victory, that is, a sudden appearance in front of the enemy at an unexpected time and victory.

Otherwise, how could the Zoaf Corps, which had neither tanks nor heavy equipment, capture Palermo, which was defended by more than 20,000 men?

What's more, the Zoaf Corps had been trained to fight at night, and now it was about to dawn...... The dawn of the day was obviously even more disadvantageous to the Zoaf Corps, because at that time it might have to face enemy aircraft and artillery.

"Let the soldiers prepare!" Zhang Chi ordered: "Twenty minutes, attack in two directions!" ”

"Yes!"

The reason for the two directions is that Palermo is a port located on the promontory, with the sea to the north and the east, and only the west and south sides of the landing.

Taking advantage of the rest time, Zhang Chi sent a telegram to the headquarters.

General Juan's telegram replied almost instantly: "God, you have finally arrived safely, what an ordeal!" ”

Then General Juan said: "The American side already knows, General Patton asked you to contact him!" ”

Zhang Chi was not surprised by this, and of course he was not worried, because since the Zoaf Corps climbed Mount Roy, this division has been like an arrow from the string, and no one can take it back.

However, Zhang Chi still sent a telegram to Patton: "Apologize, General! For all reasons, I had to do it! ”

"Glad to see your callback, Major General!" "Although I disapprove of your approach, because you have disobeyed military orders and kept me in the dark," Patton said, "I have to say that I like this plan." Go ahead, go and kick the Italians in the ass to get them up! ”

He was relieved to see Patton's call-back like this, and he knew that if the other party would say this, it would mean that the previous matter would not be investigated.

After finding a stone and sitting down, he took a few pieces of bread and water from Kukyi and ate it, and his relaxed eyes fell on the city of Palermo, a kilometer away...... Houses can be seen in the moonlight, a 2,800-year-old city that has been war-torn and has left some distinctive buildings in the city whenever someone invades, so that Gothic, Roman and Islamic buildings coexist in the city.

Now, it is inevitable that it will be attacked by the Zoaf Corps.

It's just that the arrival of the Zoaf Corps is only afraid that it will not be able to leave any buildings, and if there is anything left, it is only afraid of bullet holes and corpses.

"General!" Just as Zhang Chi was feeling emotional, Cook pointed to his watch at Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi suddenly woke up and realized that the time had come. So he tightened his belt and ordered: "Go!" ”

"Yes, let's go!"

The 1st Division was divided into three regimental units, the first regiment attacking from the west, the second regiment attacking from the south, and the third regiment being deployed outside the city as a reserve to prevent the enemy from counterattacking and to be ready to provide reinforcements to the attacking two regiments.

Zhang Chi and Kukyi led a group into the city along the coastline from the west...... One of the advantages of advancing along the coastline is that you don't have to worry about a sudden enemy attack on the left flank.

At this time, the sky was just dawning, and there were only a few early fishermen on the shore who were sorting out their nets and preparing to go to sea, and they simply ignored Zhang Chi's army, or even if they saw it, they only stared at it with curiosity for a while, and then went about their own business.

This is a common problem of the common people who have been in peacetime for a long time, and they always feel that war is far away from them, even if they already know that the British and Americans have invaded Sicily.

On the other hand, they thought it was either a German army or an Italian army, otherwise how could such a large contingent not arouse the alarm of the defenders?

So it's natural for them to just sit on the sidelines and ignore it.

So Zhang Chi and the others walked through the outskirts of the city almost unimpeded, without alarming anyone...... Walking a little further, Zhang Chi was surprised to find that he was already standing on the enemy's defensive line, because there was an unfinished trench under his feet, and there was even barbed wire in front of the trench, but there was not a single defender in front and behind, not even a sentry.

This trench was obviously dug recently, not only because the trench was full of new soil, but also because Zhang Chi did not have this trench in the information he received from the Italian prisoners.

Zhang Chi was even a little skeptical that this would be a trap for the Italians, so he couldn't help but slow down his pace to keep the Zoaf soldiers vigilant.

It was only in hindsight that this was simply redundant.

This is not a trap for the Italians, but the Italians think that the British and American forces are still far from Palermo, and there are Germans in front of them, so they don't need to rush at all...... For this point, Zhang Chi can only "hehe", the enemy is only a hundred kilometers from Palermo, no matter what, it is time to build trenches and fortifications and set up sentinels.

But the Italians did not do this, they only went out of the city symbolically during the day with hoes, dug for a few days and were only a small ditch, and at night they all withdrew to the city as they pleased, and even continued to live a life of romantic enjoyment.