The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1151 - 866: The Annoyance of a Pig Teammate

Compared to the Franco-German border, where gunfire and cannons roared only occasionally, the situation at the Franco-Italian border was decidedly more active at this time.

The French and Italian armies had deployed a large number of troops on their respective borders, engaging in a 1v1 mode within France and Italy.

Clearly, the French had a significant advantage when it came to the war with Italy.

To the west of the Franco-Italian border lay the vast territory of France. Numerous French soldiers were continuously gathering toward the southern border, which was not good news for Italy.

In Italy, the native land resembled a T shape, along with two islands—Sardinia and Sicily—that faced the mainland across the sea.

This made it difficult for Italy to deploy a large military force along its northwest border, and they always had to be wary of a possible surprise attack from the French.

After all, France's Corsica was just over 200 kilometers from Rome. If the French deployed a large air force on Corsica, their planes could attack Rome at any time, something the Italians were not eager to see happen.

Unlike Italy, the French capital, Paris, is inland. An air raid on Paris from any direction would have to pass over hundreds of kilometers of French territory.

As long as the land in those directions remained unoccupied, the French could use radar systems all around to detect any air raids and prepare in advance.

But that was not the case for Italy. Rome was an urban city by the coastline; Italy simply couldn't deploy a large number of radar systems in the middle of the sea to detect potential French attacks.

Moreover, with the British joining in, the Italian navy was still at a disadvantage in the Mediterranean Sea. For a country whose entire coastline lay within the Mediterranean, this was a severe blow to Italy.

Austria was on the brink of annihilation, and this made the French government anxious. Under the orders of the French government, a massive amount of military supplies, including tanks and airplanes, were being continuously sent to the Franco-Italian border.

In the French government's telegram in response to the Austrian government, it was mentioned that the French government indicated its willingness to launch a full-scale offensive against Italy at any cost, to resolve the Italy issue promptly, and to extricate the Austrian people from the quagmire of fighting on two fronts.

To compensate the Austrian government, Britain and France assembled another shipment of weapons and equipment and strategic supplies, which were transported to Austria by the air force via South Slavia.

After the massive mobilization of the French army, the Italians finally became panicked.

The French forces split into two groups: one set out from Annecy in the north of the border, making a frontal assault on Turin in the western part of Italy.

The other group departed from the harbor city of Nice in the south, advancing along the southernmost coastal plains toward the Genoa region of Italy.

The first group mainly comprised infantry and airplanes; they had the arduous task of directly confronting a large number of Italian troops.

The second group consisted mainly of tanks and infantry, supported in firepower by the navy. Their main mission was to break through the plains quickly, threatening the Genoa region of Italy and completing the encirclement of the entire Turin area.

Once Genoa was captured, the so-called military stronghold of Turin would become isolated. This was the strategy of the French General Staff, drawing inspiration from the German combat philosophy in the Polish region, to distract on one front while breaking through rapidly and encircling on another.

In order to confront the French head-on, Italy had gathered more than 1,500 airplanes, of which 1,200 were the latest models of fighter and reconnaissance aircraft.

Simultaneously, a vast number of troops were also marching toward Turin and Genoa, and Mussolini, before deploying the troops, declared that the Italian Army would not fear any enemy.

In the first three days of the war's outbreak, the Italian casualties exceeded those of the French, yet the Italian troops displayed remarkable tenacity.

The southern coastal plains were pushed back several kilometers by the French military, but this was trivial. More significantly, on the northern border, that is, to the west of Turin, the Italian army resisted staunchly against the French onslaught, managing to prevent even the first defense line from being breached.

Mussolini, upon learning of the battle results, sent even more strategic supplies and food to the front-line troops, and he even generously provided a large amount of liquor and cigarettes, distributing them free to every soldier.

But on the fourth day, the situation on the battlefield took a dramatic turn.

The French army brought out even more airplanes, many of which were even produced in Britain, with the Union Jack clearly visible on the tail wings.

This caused the number of French planes to instantly surpass that of the Italians, even briefly making France the European country with the highest number of airplanes.

This also reflected the advantage industrial superpowers like Britain and France had when facing massive-scale wars—they could produce a large quantity of airplanes, tanks, and other vital weapons and equipment in a short time.

In the encounter with the French Air Force, the Italian Air Force suffered significant losses for the first time, with over half of their planes damaged.

Although the French Air Force also suffered considerable damage, the French had a greater number of planes. With the balance of power shifting, the French Air Force quickly secured air superiority on the battlefield.

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With the protection of a large number of planes, the French military reinitiated a large-scale offensive. Having gained air supremacy, the French forces also organized the first major bombing of Italian territory.