My Italy

The undertow in Crete has not yet been revealed, but the dawn in Durrës can already be seen.

However, the dawn of Durres is more for the Italians, because the Italian troops who landed from Zinia, six kilometers away from Durres in the north, and Golemi, six kilometers away from the south, have already invaded the city of Durres. .

The 21st Ottoman Army Division, which is responsible for the defense, and the local security forces are fighting stubbornly in the city relying on buildings.

"Retreat, retreat!"

In front of a street fortification, the Ottoman officer leading the team shouted loudly for his soldiers to retreat. They had repelled three enemy attacks, but the cost was high. There were now only a dozen people left in the team of more than forty people, and they were even joined by the new recruits assigned to them.

As he shouted, more than a dozen soldiers wearing khaki Ottoman uniforms poured out from different buildings. They bent over and trotted toward the officer with their weapons in hand.

Behind them, several young men wearing civilian clothes also held weapons and ran with the soldiers. However, judging from the fact that they stood upright and had panicked expressions on their faces, they must be signs of local recruits.

"Snapped!"

There was a sudden gunshot, and a bullet fired from an unknown source hit one of them. The recruit who was shot in the thigh screamed and fell to the ground, which frightened the recruits behind him to stop. As for the soldiers running in front, they quickened their pace without any intention of stopping.

"Don't stop, hurry up and keep running."

Seeing the performance of the new recruits behind him, the commander shouted anxiously.

No one knows what it means to stop on the battlefield. It's just that these new recruits who have been in the army for less than a week should not go to the battlefield at all. It just makes the defenders too weak and there is no time to train them.

The officer's shout attracted fire from an unknown source, and there was only a gunshot, and a puff of smoke bounced off the ground in front of the officer.

This frightened the officer and he immediately rolled and crawled to hide behind the obstacle in the corner. This made an Italian soldier in a building 400 meters away shake his head and quickly turn his gun to other locations.

But thanks to the officer's shout, the recruits immediately imitated the other soldiers and hurried over here. There were even two people carrying the injured recruit, trying to bring him over.

Faced with such a man who suddenly appeared brave, the officer held back his words.

But while these two men were commendable for their courage, it was clear that they did something reckless.

"Snapped!"

There was another gunshot, hitting one of them in the neck, and blood spurted out from his neck in an instant, staining the ground under his feet red. But he could only fall to the ground helplessly without saying a word, and his whole body began to twitch.

Everyone knew that he was hopeless.

As for the other one, his face turned pale with fright. The sight that flashed before his eyes made him run towards the officer, not caring about the wounded soldier he had rescued before.

"The enemy is over there."

The sound of a gunshot caused one of the sharp-eyed soldiers to immediately spot the target.

Now that we know the enemy's location, it's easy to handle, and the officer immediately gave the order. "Shoot him immediately, and go to the other two to pull the one who is not dead over."

Following his order, there was a sudden burst of gunfire, making the Italian soldiers responsible for sniping unable to raise their heads at all. After knowing that he was exposed, the soldier quietly left with his beloved M88 Carcano rifle. He was unwilling to continue to stay in this exposed position.

After the wounded soldiers were picked up, the officer continued. "I received an order requiring us to immediately leave Waddell Street where we are stationed and retreat toward Walsh Street."

Some soldiers were puzzled by the officer's order. "Why are we retreating to the edge of the city?"

"Where's all the nonsense? Just follow the orders."

The complaining soldier was immediately silenced after being reprimanded by the officer.

The others, led by officers, retreated toward Walsh Street along the area still under their own control. The sound of guns and artillery fighting along the way never stopped, and the fighting on both sides was still going on.

Throughout the city of Durrës, there were many teams like this officer. They all continued to retreat after resisting for a while.

Faced with the actions of the defenders, how could Major General Pascal, the commander in charge of the attack, not feel it.

"It seems that the enemy wants to escape."

In a safe area set aside in the city, Major General Pascal looked at a newly hung map of the city of Durrës in the temporary headquarters and expressed his judgment.

Colonel Babol, the chief of staff of the Eighth Division beside him, asked. "So what do we do?"

Of course Major General Pascal knew what the Chief of Staff meant. This is asking him whether to keep or let go of the enemy?

If they stay, there's nothing much to say, just send troops to surround the entire Durrës. In this case, if the enemy wants to break through, they will have to pay the price with blood. However, surrounding the enemy will make it more difficult to capture the city and will also delay their time.

As for letting go, there's nothing much to say. Increase the offensive on the front and both wings to make the enemy feel that they can't stay any longer and flee immediately. Advantages, disadvantages and retention are the other way around.

However, this will also make Pascal feel a little unwilling. You must know that in the last war in the colonies, he led the 8th Division and achieved great military exploits, which made him famous in the army. In this war, he had very high expectations for himself. After gaining the trust of the military commander and being appointed as a vanguard by his juniors, he actually had little success. How could he bear it?

So when faced with the words of his chief of staff, Major General Pascal hesitated. One side is the mission, the other side is the military exploits, you cannot have both.

"Hey, forget it."

After a long time, Major General Pascal sighed. He had made his choice.

"Order the troops to increase their offensive and drive these Ottomans out of Durrës. In addition, send a message to the following 14th Division, asking them to speed up the pace, and the landing troops will be given priority to be reinforced."

In the end, he suppressed his expectations with the goal of completing the task.

"I'll give the order right away."

After obtaining Major General Pascal, the chief of staff immediately prepared to issue orders to the various units.

Following Major General Pascal's order, the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Division on the front line immediately launched a more violent attack. As for the Italian army's offensive, the defenders immediately felt it.

Facing the incoming Italian army, the defenders desperately used various weapons to fight back, but the Italian side had an absolute advantage in terms of firepower. Although the performance of the new Italian rifles in close-range street fighting was not much better than the old weapons of the Ottoman army, the Italian small-caliber artillery became a big killer after the army pushed it into the city.

Except for a very few fortress-like buildings, other buildings looked like paper in front of them. Two small-caliber guns, 37 and 57 mm, caused Ottoman officers and soldiers to suffer a lot.

Faced with such a situation, Major General Ataturk, who was defending the city, knew that it was time to retreat. So that night, the local garrison of more than 7,000 people withdrew from the west under the cover of darkness.

Faced with the retreat of the defenders, the Eighth Division had no intention of stopping them.

So the next morning the Eighth Division captured Durrës, and Italy gained its first port in Albania. This will greatly promote the next battle.