Chapter 631 Georgia (19)

In the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Fred, who was preparing to have lunch, heard an engine roar in the sky. Looking up, he saw a formation of more than a dozen attack aircraft flying in the distance, flying towards the north of the mountains.

"This is already the fourth batch today." Deputy platoon leader Felix, who was sitting nearby, muttered.

"I heard that the Soviets have arrived at the other end of the mountains." The reinforcements dispatched by the Soviet Union from the Central Asian Military District and the Kiev Military District finally arrived at the other end of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, but they were already filled with landmines by the German army.

Demining itself is not an easy task. The Soviet army used minesweepers to clear mines, but they were easily destroyed by the German attack planes that wandered around from time to time. They sent engineers to clear mines, and finally cleared dozens of mines. That night, the Germans were able to lay hundreds of mines. .

Fred couldn't help but sigh. "Air supremacy is really a good thing." Without air supremacy, the Soviet army would have rushed over in a hurry, and this place would have become a fierce battlefield. How could we be as leisurely eating cans and drinking hot soup as we are now. "Julio Douhet was really prescient."

Felix, who was chewing on canned rabbit meat, asked casually. "What Giulio Douhet?"

Fred gave him a surprised look. "You don't even know about Giulio Douhet? Have you not read his book "The Dominance of the Air"?"

Felix shook his head. "No, what are you writing about? Are you talking about air combat?"

Fred clicked his tongue. "You should really read more books and stop looking at that "Playboy" all day long." Then he told him the life story of Giulio Douhet.

Giulio Douhet was born in Caserta, Italy, and graduated from the Military Engineering School of Turin and the Army University. Shortly after the advent of airplanes, he foresaw that airplanes would play a greater role in military affairs than balloons and airships. In his representative work "Air Dominance" (published in 1921), he systematically proposed the theory of air superiority for the first time and predicted that the air battlefield would be the decisive battlefield in future wars. Douhet's theory of air supremacy had an important influence on the air force construction of various countries during World War II, especially on the development of bombers.

After hearing this, Felix curled his lips in disdain. “Is there still such talent in Italy?”

Hearing his dismissive tone, Fred couldn't help but wonder. "You don't like Italy?"

Felix spat angrily. "That kind of treacherous, treacherous bastard."

This aroused Fred's curiosity, and upon closer inquiry he found out that Felix's father had been shot and killed while fighting the Italian army in the last war.

Death in war is a normal thing. As for why Felix said that Italy was eating the inside and outside, it was because before the start of World War I, Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary belonged to the Allied camp, and the name "Allied Powers" came from They signed the "Triple Alliance".

When Germany decided to launch a war, it did not have much hope for Italy, but it still consulted Italy for its attitude. Italy's answer was that it would remain neutral and use military strength to defend itself from aggression.

Italy is located in the southern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As the war progressed, the Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered repeated defeats. Germany realized that if Italy stabbed the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the back at this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would definitely collapse, so it persuaded the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Italy made concessions on territorial disputes. However, during the intense negotiations, Italy, the wallflower, resorted to duplicitous tactics and secretly flirted with the Allied Powers.

In April 1915, after receiving a large number of territorial carve-up promises, Italy secretly signed the Treaty of London to join the Allied Powers. On May 23, Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On August 28, 1916, after confirming that it would not be retaliated against, Italy Italy declares war on Germany.

When the news that Italy had defected to the Allies reached Berlin, Wilhelm II summoned Ludendorff and told him the news. Ludendorff was relieved. He said he thought what was coming was the bad news that Italy had joined the Central European Alliance to fight against the Allies. "Your Majesty, if Italy joins us, I need you to give me 80 divisions to protect it. But if it dares to fight us, I only need you to give me 40 divisions to completely defeat it."

On October 24, 1917, the 12th Battle of the Isonzo River began, also known as the Battle of Caporetto. The German-Austrian forces used nearly 2,000 artillery pieces and 1,000 poison gas applicators to bombard the Italians for 6 hours, and then launched an attack. It stands to reason that the Italian side has the numerical advantage and occupies a favorable terrain, but it collapsed at the first touch and was completely defeated on October 25.

Erwin Rommel, who was still company commander at the time, led 200 men on the mission. He fought hard all the way and appeared unexpectedly behind the Italian army. At that time, the Italian officers were eating and the soldiers were playing cards. Facing the German troops falling from the sky, they suddenly panicked. In this way, Rommel led 200 people and captured 5 Italian regiments, with a strength of nearly 10,000. Rommel became famous for his outstanding performance in the Battle of Caporetto.

"My father died in the Battle of Poreto." Felix couldn't help but smile bitterly when he said this. "But my father was also unlucky. A total of five people from his company died in that battle, and my father was one of them."

Fred comforted. "Isn't King Vittorio Emanuele III of the Kingdom of Italy beaten to death? Your revenge can be considered as revenge."

"Yes, but if Italy hadn't rebelled, maybe my father would have lived to see the end of the war. Alas, it's fate." After sighing for a while, Felix changed the subject. "Have you heard that in Georgia, many men have sex with prostitutes for the first time. When boys grow up to teenagers, they are taken by their uncles to buy prostitutes, which is a rite of passage."

Fred was stunned. "What an interesting custom."

As for how Felix knew it, there is a town not far from the foot of the mountain. Not long ago, each platoon took turns to select four or five people every day, and went down to the town to take a comfortable hot bath, and even "have fun".

As early as the time of Nicholas I, Russia legalized prostitution. In the Soviet era, prostitution was prohibited in the early days, and people who lived indecently might be regarded as public enemies and severely punished. In official propaganda, sexual life is regarded as a shameful thing, which is only needed for reproduction; spiritual love and female chastity are respected.

By 1936, the Soviet criminal law deleted the clause punishing prostitution. Women who provided prostitution on the streets at night were considered to be disrupting social order and were fined up to 15 rubles. Although the Soviet government was very secretive about the phenomenon of underground prostitution, it was never eradicated throughout the Soviet era.

There was no shortage of such industries in Georgia, and the paratroopers were able to release their vigorous energy.

As for the danger? The few Soviets in the town had been cleared out, and the rest were local Georgians, who regarded the German army as an ally who came to liberate them, and the relationship between the two sides was quite friendly and harmonious.