In the eyes of military fans, the Italian military strength in history is far from enough, and there are too many failures. There is nothing but a drag on the Germans. But in real history, is this true for Italians?
One. Don't live in rumors
The first explanation is that Italians use precious water to boil pasta in the desert. The fact is that when the Alamein retreats, they took all the Italian supplies, from trucks to water.
The Italian ran out of ammunition and food, and retreated on foot. However, he met a general on the road. The general learned that fresh water and oil were snatched by the Germans. Before the last war, the general said to his guards: "Son, I think we can finally eat some macaroni from our hometown."
Another rumor is that 5000 Italian soldiers surrendered to a group of British soldiers. But the fact is that the Italians are dying.
Yes, it is the Battle of Alamein. The retreat line was 200 kilometers away, and the army retreated on foot. Many soldiers died of thirst or were killed by the British, and the German allies had gone before them. The Italians had no choice but to surrender.
The French are about to surrender, and the Italians are about to attack and be defeated, which is even more helpless. Unlike the Germans, the Italians must force through the Maginot Line. On the dying occasion, the Italians faced the strongest fortress of Vosges on the Maginot Line.
What is this concept? You can see the performance of the Germans in Brest Fortress and Sevastopol. How hard is it to attack a well-equipped fortress frontally? After all, it took the Germans a month to take down the Brest Fortress. Unprepared, they had to use aircraft cannons and even heavy aerial bombs.
Therefore, this is not a black spot, the Italians touched the Fortress of Vosges.
Another rumor is that 25 Englishmen defeated thousands of Italian soldiers in the Battle of Aliman. This is pure nonsense. In fact, the Italian army fighting at the time was the Elliott Armored Division of Italy, which was attacked by three British armored divisions.
During the retreat phase of the Battle of Aliman, three British armored divisions began to pursue them. Had it not been for the stubborn resistance of the Elliott Panzer Division, the African Legion would have been wiped out.
Regarding Italian pilots, they do not develop high-speed airplanes because they hate airtight cabins and heavy machine guns whose shells are recycled to protect the environment. In fact, the Italian industry was not good at that time. Fiat was a monopoly and did not pay attention to the introduction and development of technology. So this Italian plane has no airtight cabin at all.
When the Air Force commander sadly told the children that there are no airtight cabins, the pilots calmly said: "It doesn't matter, we like the wind." No pilot really likes to be blown by the wind, but what can they do? The machine gun, the Italian Breda M37 heavy machine gun, is extremely reliable, the barrel temperature is stable, the shooting speed is remarkable, and it is very effective, even after the war can still be used for a long time.
Two. What is the real combat effectiveness of the Italian army?
Of course, Italy’s poor performance at the beginning of the war was mainly due to the long-term lack of training for sergeants and lieutenants under Mussolini’s guidance, which led to the weakness of the army.
But in 1942, the Italian army quickly reorganized its own army. The five divisions in Libya were quickly reorganized. The arrival of armored units like the Rams Armored Division, including many veterans who participated in the Spanish War, also strengthened the Italian army.
End of 1941, The British, known as the ace of the 22nd Armored Brigade, awkwardly attacked the Italian Ram Panzer Division. The Rams Armored Division was ordered to guard Guby and the British 22nd Armored Brigade did not take the Italians seriously, so they went directly to the Rams Armored Division without any effective reconnaissance or fire preparation.
The battle lasted 4 hours and ended in a complete rout of the 22nd Armored Brigade. According to records, 79 tanks were captured by the Rams Armored Division.
The Ram Armored Division lost 42 tanks, not all of them were destroyed, and some were injured. You see, the Ram Armored Division is poorly equipped, far inferior to his enemy's well-equipped. At that time, a regiment of the Rams Armored Division was not in the area, and the British troop was also defeated when the two sides were evenly matched.
In the second battle of Alamein, two battalions of the 62nd Trento Division of Italy fought against the 9th Division of Australia. According to Rommel’s memory, the two battalions of the 6th Regiment of Trento Division fled directly.
However, according to the Australian war history, these two battalions were severely attacked by the 9th Division. The Trento Division’s 61st Regiment fought fiercely with the British 9th Armored Brigade and brought it into its own firepower network. The 9th Armored Brigade, which was hit hard, never moved forward.
The Italian Navy sank 229,000 tons in the Mediterranean, and the British Navy sank 442,000 tons. Italy’s frogmen, small submarines and blasting ships were particularly troublesome for the British.
On the evening of December 18, 1941, the British cruiser "Warrior" and "Elizabeth" cruiser "Segona" exploded in Alexandria, Egypt. This is the British Navy’s own port, and the Italian frogmen blew up the warship. Throughout the war, Italian frogmen and submarine forces blew up many British navy ships. In that operation in Alexandria, the Italian army used fewer than ten frogmen.
In addition, the Italian army in the Soviet Union is more brave and fierce. On December 16, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet army counterattacked. The Italian Safoi Cavalry Regiment relentlessly humiliated the Soviet army with a saber. More than 600 cavalry regiments launched a fierce attack on the Soviet army. The Soviet army was defeated by two battalions and annihilated by one.
In the siege, the Italian army fought hard with the Soviet army four times its size, and ran out of ammunition and food. In the end, an infantry division split the Soviet defense with a bayonet, and most of the Germans were captured.
Three. Why can we fight, but the results are not good?
In fact, the reason for the poor performance is simple: allies are unreliable. In fact, when Germans choose to believe in Italy, they actually don't believe it.
For example, Rommel was responsible for the failure of North Africa. Rommel gave up the opportunity to attack the Maltese Islands and control the Mediterranean. In the end, the Italian Navy had to deliver supplies for the German Axis Army to fight against the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, and the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force caused most of the ship damage.
In North Africa, it is normal for Germany to annex the logistics vehicles and materials of the Italian army. The Italian army often fights without ammunition, fuel or even water.
Rommel often sends Italian troops to hot spots to defend Britain, and withdraws some Italian troops to strengthen his offensive. As a result, the Italian army is often more vulnerable to allied attacks and eventually be breached, no matter how strong the defense is.
But the situation in the Soviet Union was even worse. The Germans did not give the Italians enough supplies and even tried to take them. With The Battle of Stalingrad, for example, the Italian army guarded the vast front line, but the Germans did not give them an anti-tank gun. so that when facing the Soviet counterattack, the Italians used their weak anti-tank guns to fight Soviet tanks.
Despite this, the Italian army was still able to break through the siege, but Paulus's army was forced to log in Siberia. The division stabbed the Soviet front with a bayonet, and the Germans were mostly captured.
On the other hand, the Italians were not prepared for war, especially in armor. Italy is a peninsula country with many mountains and tanks that are too heavy to be used effectively. So for a long time, the Italian army was equipped with small tanks, which made it easy to drive, which is still the case today.
Secondly, Italy is a maritime power. As a peninsula country, they are better at navigating at sea, which is also the main trade mode in Italian history. So we can see that the Italian navy is much better than the German navy, and until today, the Italian navy is still the advantage.
As for the Army, for a long time, it has always favored light infantry units, such as mountain infantry. Because they fight in the mountains, they have low combat efficiency against armored combat sites such as North Africa or the Soviet Union. But the Italian army is still a powerful army, performing well in the deserts of North Africa and the snow of the Soviet Union.
Conclusion
In general, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is not bad, and even stronger than the German army in many aspects. Just because of my lack of preparation, coupled with the German teammates, always hurt the Italian army. So the Italian army is often defeated. In modern times, there are many "German sticks" boasting about the Germans' fighting, which creates an illusion. However, the real Italian army in history is very good and brave.
Reference: "War History of the Second World War"
