"We will keep it!" General Ludwig replied: "The Port of Messina is very close to Italy, and we can easily get support from Italy..."

"So!" Keselin interrupted General Ludwig's words: "Did you pin your hope on the Italians?"

A burst of laughter immediately sounded in the conference room. Until now, all German officials were reluctant to believe the Italians, including Ludwig, who felt that his statement was untenable, so he felt embarrassed on his face.

This can be said to be a sign that the German and Italian alliances are about to break up... If allies lack trust, they will be dead in name only.

"Gentlemen!" Kesselin concluded: "As you see, the British and Americans gathered in Palermo and Syracuse, forming a clamping attack on the Port of Messina. Our Catanian line cannot block them, because they landed from the sea and landed from the sky, but our navy and air force cannot block them effectively."

Speaking of this, Keselin shook his head. As the Air Marshal, he was deeply ashamed of being unable to seize Sicily's air supremacy. At the same time, he also believed that this was the most fundamental reason why the German army could not defend Sicily.

"Then next!" Kesseling continued: "Once the British and American troops successfully land in Port Messina, it will be fatal to us. Our four divisions will be trapped on this small island. Even if we defeat the British Eighth Army... it will not change this ending!"

"Yes, Marshal!" Staff Officer Wolf expressed his support: "We have only one choice, that is, to withdraw the two divisions that are attacking the British Eighth Army, to prepare for anti-landing operations, and to prepare for the Navy and Air Force to prepare for war in full, and to withdraw as many troops from Sicily as possible!"

Keseling nodded: "This is what I want to say, are there any questions?"

As he said that, Keseling looked around the venue and finally stopped his eyes on Ludwig.

"No, I don't object!" Ludwig replied helplessly.

He had to admit that this was a wise approach, and he hated the Italians who were really not good at it. Otherwise... he could hit the port of Messina even if he set up a cannon from Italy. There was no need to worry about the Americans landing, because the muzzle of Italy and the muzzle would be aimed at the back of the enemy landing troops.

But at the same time, Ludwig also knew that it would not be so simple if the battle was really fought. Of course, the Allies would think of this, so they might bomb and land on the Italian mainland at the same time. At that time, the Italians would be afraid that they would immediately raise their hands and surrender and point their muzzles at the Germans.

"Just do it!" said Keseling: "Execute now!"

So while the British Eighth Army was still waiting for the Germans to attack in fear, the Germans suddenly lost their figure in front of the defense line.

The British soldiers couldn't believe they were so lucky. At first they thought it was a trick by the Germans. They cheered loudly until they plucked up their courage to send scouts to confirm that the Germans had left. Many people suddenly burst into tears as they screamed... It is difficult for outsiders to understand their feelings of saving their lives, especially the British who had not suffered much and were used to being generous.

On the other hand, Kesselin found himself seemingly deceived shortly after withdrawing his troops, because he had just withdrawn his troops, and the British and American actions at the two ports were immediately slowed down.

This is obviously unreasonable. If the British and American troops had plans to land in Port Messina, they would not give up if they said they would give up... unless it was just a bluff, and the purpose was to withdraw their troops.

The more Kesseling thought about it, the more he felt it made sense, but of course he wouldn't say it out, because it meant admitting in front of his subordinates that he had been fooled by the Allies, so he pretended not to know anything on the surface.

But in my heart, I couldn't help but curse: "Fuck it, cunning Chinese!"

Kesselin knew that the Chinese named Zhang Chi would definitely think of this method... Before the war, he learned about the African battlefield from Rommel. Kesselin's conclusion on the African war situation was: he was disrupted by the Chinese troops, otherwise the African Legion would be likely to win.

Now, Kesseling believes that he was disrupted by the Chinese again, just like the French division's troops suddenly appeared and occupied Palermo, all of which were good things that the Chinese did.

But no matter how much I think about it, Kesselin can only organize Germany as planned. The Italian army retreated from Sicily, because even if the German army is sent back, I am afraid that the British army has built a line of defense.

The battle in Sicily caused a sensation all over the world.

This is not because of how big this battle is, or because of how many enemies have annihilated it and how much land it has occupied... In fact, this battle did not annihilate many German troops, except for the Italian army, and the land occupied is only a 25,000 square kilometers island.

The reason why it caused a sensation was that the British army, which was originally given great hope, encountered Waterloo in this battle, while the US army, which was originally just a "foil", made its mark. Among them, the French army, which was almost ignored by everyone before the war... it turned out from a beggar to a star.

This can be seen from the casualties data:

The US military traveled more than 300 kilometers in five days, with only more than 2,000 casualties... Most of these casualties were caused by accidental injuries during airborne and when the German army launched a counterattack. This also shows how well the US military uses equipment and supplies to preserve its lives.

The result was to kill and injure more than 6,000 enemy troops, capture 44,000 enemy troops, shoot down 190 aircraft, and seize 67 cannons.

The British army was blocked when they advanced to Catania in the past five days. The entire process was less than 100 kilometers, and they were beaten back by the German army... More importantly, the British army suffered more than 20,000 casualties in this battle.

The number of casualties was ten times that of the US military, but there were almost no results. Not only did they have no results, but they also lost a large number of tanks, artillery and supplies during the retreat and being interspersed by the German army. It can be said that they were defeated.

What the British people couldn't stand was that these casualties were all British, veritable British... In the past, most of the wars were fought by the colonial army, and if they were defeated, they could be said to be unsatisfied. Now the British fights like this, and these soldiers have many families in Britain, so they quickly flew to Montgomery like snowflakes.
Chapter completed!