The German army occupied Yugoslavia in 11 days, and six encirclements and suppression were only injured in one hand. Weix had to consider changing his mind, looking for the possibility of beheading Tito with a small group of special forces, and began to seek cooperation with Bran

German troops and Chetnik

Brandenburg troops searched for Tito together with Chetnik, and finally determined that Tito was in Delva. This conclusion was confirmed by the German radio intelligence department. By early April 1944, combined with the intelligence of other German intelligence agencies, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Tito was in Delva. But they could not determine the specific location of Tito in Delva. From the photos taken by the reconnaissance aircraft, there was a relatively raised cemetery in the southwest of Delva, which was protected by the walls, and several anti-aircraft machine guns, , and a jeep. The German army suspected that Tito's headquarters was named "Castle".

F Army Group applied to the German Supreme Command for the "beheading operation" against Tito. After careful consideration, the Supreme Command decided to be feasible and sent Major SS Skolzne to perform the task. Skorzne is known as "the most dangerous man in Europe". In 1943, he became famous for rescuing Mussolini . When he arrived in Yugoslavia, he took a car to investigate and was convinced that Tito was in Delva. When he asked Commander Lessel, the 15th Mountain Army under the F Army, the latter ignored it because the F Army was planning its own plan at this time, and Skolzne left in anger.

The most dangerous man in Europe, Skorzne

0 The person responsible for formulating the combat plan was General Rendulik of the 2nd Armored Army. He planned to go in two steps, first sending a small group of special forces to raid Deval's Tito command, and then the German army pushed forward and attacked Deval from all directions, annihilated all nearby guerrillas in one fell swoop. The main participating troops are the 15th Mountain Army of the National Defense Forces and the 5th Mountain Army of the SS, plus the 202nd Armored Battalion and a regiment of Brandenburg units. In order to save troops, all public security tasks were handed over to the Ke army.

Stainless soldier

Weix reported the plan to OKW and requested to call SS 500th Paratrooper Battalion. He hopes to use paratroopers descending from the sky to raid Tito's command center to achieve unexpected results. SS 500th Paratrooper Battalion was the only paratrooper unit of the SS. As early as 1937, Himmler wanted to establish the SS's own paratroopers, but Marshal Goring , , refused to allow him to get involved in the paratroopers. Until 1943, Scholzne's "Operation Oak Leaf" was successful, and Hitler, who was obsessed with special operations, allowed Himmler to form a paratrooper battalion. Although

has been organized, the source of personnel is also a problem. Goering will definitely not allow him to dig out the corners of the army, although the paratroopers of the Luftwaffe have not participated in airborne operations since the Battle of Crete. Himmler turned his attention to SS's punishment camp , and these people were punished for violating military discipline. When they learned that they could join the paratroopers and make meritorious service, they signed up to participate. However, there were still not enough personnel, Himmler recruited soldiers volunteering to participate in the paratroopers from the elite SS. Although there were not many, he barely enough people.

These soldiers who violated discipline hope to return to the front line with crimes and make meritorious service

SS 500th Paratrooper Battalion was established in November 1943. At first, they trained in Czech . After all the personnel arrived, they trained in Serbia until February 1944. The 500th Paratrooper Battalion is larger than the National Defense Army Paratrooper Battalion. It has three paratrooper companies and one heavy weapon Company. It has one more reserve company than the National Defense Army Paratrooper Battalion, with a total of 5 companies, a total of 1,140 people, and is equipped with more than 100 cars for transportation. The heavy weapons equipped include 4 mortars, 4 heavy machine guns, 4 4 recoilless cannons, and two flamethrowers. The battalion's training was very strict and well-equipped, and was highly expected by the German army.

parachuting training

code name "Viver"

On May 7, the plan to use the 500th Paratrooper Battalion to raid Tito was approved, with the operation code name "Rösselsprung (Viver)". On the 21st, the specific plan for the entire operation was basically completed. The operation date is May 25, and it is specifically directed by the commander of the 15th Mountain Army. Coincidentally, this day is Tito's 52nd birthday, but in German information, Tito's birthday is not this day. In addition to the 500th Paratrooper Battalion, another 16,000 people were divided into 8 battle groups and rushed towards Delva from all directions.While they were eliminating the guerrillas and supply points along the way, they also had to withdraw from the battlefield with the 500th Paratrooper Battalion.

fully armed paratroopers

0 The battalion commander of the 500th Paratrooper Battalion Battalion Captain Ribka personally formulated the paratroopers' combat plan, and he estimated that at least 850 paratroopers would be required to be competent. However, he encountered the first trouble. The Luftwaffe in Yugoslavia was not enough to transport 850 people at one time, either the glider, the or the JU-52 transport aircraft. For this reason, Ribeca adopted a compromise solution, which is to move in two groups. The first group of troops landed on a glider plane, and the other group of troops landed on an transport plane and parachutes; the second group of personnel landed on an umbrella.

The first aircraft landing troops have a total of 340 people, composed of paratroopers, intelligence personnel, translators, air force liaison officers and other experts. They were divided into six brigades according to their mission, each glider was about 10 people:

"Panther" brigade, 110 people, responsible for capturing the "castle";

"Greifer" brigade, 40 people, responsible for capturing the British advisory group camp code-named "London" in the southwest of Delva;

"Sturmer" brigade, 50 people, responsible for capturing the Soviet advisory group camp code-named "Warsaw" one mile north of Delva;

"Breaker) "The brigade, 50 people, responsible for capturing the US military advisory group camp code-named " American " one mile north of Delva; the brigade of

"Beisser" brigade, 20 people, responsible for capturing a post-strike radar station southwest of Delva, and then supporting the attacker brigade; the brigade of

"Draufganger" brigade, 50 people, plus 20 people, including intelligence personnel, radio reconnaissance personnel, air force liaison officers, and translators, responsible for capturing the communication center next to the intersection in the western Delva. This is a building that is very easy to identify.

He-126 pulls the glider

The first parachute has a total of 314 paratroopers, divided into three brigades of red, green and blue. Battalion Commander Ribeka and the battalion headquarters follow the Red Team and they will take off from Najib Betscreek Airport. Among them, there are 85 people in the Red Team, plus 34 people in the battalion headquarters. The skydiving position is close to the Black Panther Team, and they will complete the most important task of killing Tito with the Black Panther Team; the Green Team will land in the north of the city; the Blue Team will land in the east of the city. These three brigades will assist the aircraft-landing troops to control the entire town of Delva.

If Tito is shot dead, a 10,000-character flag will be fired. If the attack fails, the Black Panther Team will fire a red signal flare, and the Green Team and the Assault Team will join the Black Panther Team and launch a second attack. The Marshals' Brigade was also responsible for finding intelligence from the guerrilla communication center and interrogating prisoners of war. The second parachute will be led by SS Captain Obemer, 220 people including the Preparatory Company and the Supply Company. They will also operate with two gliders that transport supplies.

He-126 light aircraft can be used for reconnaissance or tow gliders. In order to ensure the suddenness of the attack, the German army strictly kept the operation confidential, especially the movements of the paratroopers. When they gathered at the airport, they were wearing infantry uniforms. However, the guerrillas still learned from various channels that the German army would attack Delva. Some captured Chetnik soldiers revealed that the German army would take action against Delva. The German documents seized by the guerrillas contained a map of Delva, and German reconnaissance planes often flew over Delva. However, Tito and his comrades did not guess that the German army would fall from the sky. They believed that the most likely attack of the German army was air strikes.

Tito's headquarters is located in a natural cave on a cliff north of Delva. It is 15 meters away from the valley below. There is only one path leading to the foot of the mountain, but the cave is very wide and it is no problem to accommodate 20 people. Tito later ordered people to build a wooden house at the entrance of the cave, hanging above the river valley as his own office. To prevent German air raids, Tito opened a new cave on a cliff west of Delva. During the day, Tito works with the headquarters in the old cave, and at night, he takes a jeep to the new cave to rest. Coincidentally, on the evening of the 24th, Tito watched the movie with his comrades and lived in an old cave.

(To be continued)