Chapter 196 Volume Six Chapter Six Italy and the Riviera Landing

Allied forces cross Rome in pursuit Operation Sacrifice Anvil Gothic Line Fifth Army loses 100,000 men Advances towards the Arno I fly to Naples and meet with Tito Balkan Strategy and Istria Tito, Communism and King Peter The allied military government will be established in Istria My next meeting with Tito I inform the President of a pleasant holiday I fly to Corsica and land on the French Riviera August 17 My telegram to the Emperor August My telegram to General Eisenhower on the 18th Summary of Dragoon Operations My Summary of Anvil|Dragoon Operations Correspondence with Smuts Hopes for Vienna.

After Rome was captured on June 4, Kesselring's remnants retreated northward in chaos. The continuous attacks of the air force and the close pursuit of the ground troops made them confused and confused.General Clark's U.S. Fifth Army headed straight for Pisa along the coastal road, and our Eighth Army pursued across the Tevere River, advancing towards Lake Trazimeno (Lake Perugia).Progress is rapid. Prime Minister to General Alexander June 9, 1944 All the information we have here corroborates your estimate that you destroyed the German troops in Italy.Your whole progress is brilliant and I hope to clear up all that was once the German Army.

Alexander was eager to set aside his plans for an anvil landing in southern France and allow him to keep his battle-hardened and victorious troops intact.If so, he is sure to break through the Apennines and enter the Po River Basin or further within a few months.It seemed certain that he would have been able to finish the Italian campaign by Christmas, had it not been for the depletion of troops to meet the demands of Operation Anvil, which would have missed the mark.The narrative in this chapter will illustrate this point. In any case, an uphill battle lies ahead.Nineteen German divisions fought in May and early June.Three of the divisions had been wiped out, and most of the rest retreated northward in a panic after being hit hard by me; but Kesselring was a good general and had an able staff.The problem before him was to stall our advance until he could regroup his troops and hold his next prepared position, the so-called Gothic Line.This line of defense began on the west coast above Pisa, ran through the mountains north of Florence, and then turned into Pesaro on the Adriatic coast.The Germans had been building this line of defense for more than a year, but it was still incomplete.Kesselring had to buy time to finish and man it, and to accommodate the eight divisions that were being transferred to him from Northern Europe, the Balkans, Germany, and Russia.

After our ten-day pursuit, the German resistance began to increase.The famous Trazimeno (Perugia) shores were so strong that the Eighth Army would have to fight a tough fight to break them.It was not until June 28 that the enemy was driven out and retreated towards Arezzo.On the west coast, elements of the U.S. Fifth Army captured Cecina on 1 July, not without difficulty, and the French Army on its right (also under General Clark's command) soon reached Siena.A corresponding retreat by the enemy on the Adriatic coast allowed the Polish Army to quickly capture Pescara and advance rapidly towards Ancona.At the same time, a French colonial division was transported from Corsica. With the strong support of the navy, after two days of fierce fighting, it also captured Elba Island and captured 2,000 enemy soldiers.

In early July, as a result of our consultations with the United States, Alexander was ordered to draw troops for Operation Anvil, which would eventually amount to seven divisions.The Fifth Army alone was reduced from about 250,000 to 153,000.Despite such a blow, Alexander still insisted on his pursuit mission and battle plan with great vigor.The Germans had been reorganized and rebuilt to the equivalent of fourteen full divisions, on a front from Rozignano to Arezzo, and from Arezzo to the Adriatic south of Ancona, with These troops came to confront Alexander's army.This was one of a series of covered positions which the enemy held with increasing tenacity in order to prevent us from reaching their Gothic lines.After heavy air bombardment and heavy artillery bombardment, Arezzo fell to the British on 16 July.On the 18th, the American army reached the Arno River east of Pisa and entered the port of Livorno the next day.Meanwhile, Polish troops advancing along the Adriatic coast captured Ancona.These two ports, although severely damaged, relieve the pressure on our now overstretched supply lines.During the last week of July, the American advance continued, occupying the entire Arnaud Line from Ampoli to Pisa.The Eighth Army cleared the entire mountainous region south of Florence.After the New Zealand troops broke through the enemy's defenses, they forced the enemy to withdraw from the urban area.They destroyed all the bridges as they retreated, leaving only the ancient Ponte Vecchio in disrepair.

In less than two months, the Allies had advanced two hundred and fifty miles.The first two weeks were said to be smooth, but the battles along the way were arduous, and there were many annoying supply problems.The Germans had their same difficulties.All traffic behind them had to cross twenty road and rail bridges across the broad Po River.Towards the end of July, the bridges were repeatedly attacked by Allied air forces and all were cut; however, thanks to the skill of Kesselring's sappers, they were still able to bring in some supplies. Now I have decided to go to Italy in person. Many problems can be solved locally, which is much more convenient than communication.There are also many advantages to meeting the commanders and soldiers, because we demand so much from them after taking so much away from them.Operation Anvil is about to begin.Alexander, though badly weakened, was still preparing his troops for another offensive.I am eager to meet Tito, who can easily come to Italy from the island of Vis, where we are still protecting him.Mr. Papandreou and some of his colleagues could come from Cairo.We can make plans to help the Germans return to Athens when they leave.Finally, there is the current political dispute in Italy centered on Rome.On July 30th I telegraphed General Wilson at Caserta:

I hope to come to Italy on August 6 or 7 for ten days or half a month, if the (unmanned bomber) bombings here do not break out untimely.I am indeed ready to discuss various political issues with Tito, and I will regret it if I miss this opportunity to meet him.So can you arrange to see him first so that he can come to Caserta on a date that includes the eighth or the ninth? On August 4th, I also called General Alexander: I think it would be best to wait for my arrival and we make plans (of my visit) together, being careful not to let me get in the way of your work.I don't need a busy schedule, and I don't plan to meet anyone except you, Wilson, and Tito.Once I get there, there will no doubt be a lot of things to do.

Due to the busy cabinet affairs, I had to postpone my trip.On August 9th I telegraphed Mr. Duff Cooper, hoping to arrive at the Baicha Airport on the outskirts of Algiers at about 6:30 in the morning on Friday, August 11th, and stay there for three hours before proceeding to Naples.I added: if de Gaulle would like to meet me at your residence or at the villa of the admiral, you can tell him that I am coming.This visit is entirely informal. We arrive on time.Duff Cooper came to pick me up and show me to his house, which his wife made very comfortable.He told me that he had conveyed my invitation or proposal to de Gaulle, but the general declined.He said I was on a long trip and should take a break during a short layover and he didn't want to bother me.I thought it was unnecessarily arrogant, given all the things we had pressing on at the time and how much we could have told him, but he was still annoyed by what had happened in Operation Overlord.He sees this as a good opportunity to express his displeasure.In fact, I didn't see him again for several months.

That afternoon I arrived in Naples, where I stayed in the magnificent but somewhat shabby Villa Rivarta, with a beautiful view of Vesuvius and the bay.General Wilson told me that everything was arranged and that the next morning's meeting with Tito and Subasic (the new Prime Minister of the Yugoslav King Peter's government in London) was held here.They have arrived in Naples and will have dinner with us tomorrow evening. On the morning of August 12th, Marshal Tito came to the villa. He was wearing a gorgeous blue uniform embroidered with gold thread lace. The collar and the uniform were too tight, which seemed particularly inappropriate for the hot weather.His uniform was sent by the Russians, and I later learned that the gold lace came from the United States.I met him in the hallway, accompanied by Brigadier General McClain and an interpreter.

I offered to give the Marshal a tour of General Wilson's operations office, and we went in.The Marshal's two menacing looking guards, both armed with automatic pistols, wanted to bring them in in case we tried to kill him.We managed to dissuade him, but suggested that he take them to defend him while he was eating. I lead the way into a large room, the walls covered with maps of the various fronts. I first showed him a map of the Allied front in Normandy and outlined our strategic operations against German forces on the Western Front.I pointed out that Hitler's tenacious policy had left many German divisions besieged in Norway and the Baltic coast; I said that Hitler's correct strategy would have been to withdraw troops from the Balkans and on-line.Allied pressure in Italy and the advance of the Russians from the east may force him to withdraw, but we should also consider the possibility of his persistence.While talking, I pointed out the Istrian peninsula on the map and asked Tito, if we could attack this peninsula from the east coast of Italy, where could his army be sent to fight with us.I explained that if a small port could be opened on the coast of Yugoslavia, it would help us bring in military supplies by sea.In June and July we had airlifted nearly 2,000 tons of supplies to his troops, and if we could have a port, we could have shipped much more.Tito said that although the resistance of the German army has intensified recently and the losses in Yugoslavia have also increased, he can still recruit a large number of troops in Croatia and Slovenia. one action.

We then walked into a small living room, and I began to ask him about his relationship with the Yugoslav Kingdom government.He said fierce fighting continued between the guerrillas and Mikhailovich's forces, which relied on Germany and Bulgaria for support of his regime, and a compromise was unlikely.I replied that we had no intention of interfering in Yugoslavia's internal affairs and that his country would become strong, united and independent.Dr. Subasic is very true to this belief.Besides, we shouldn't let the king down.Tito said that he understood our obligations to King Peter, but he could not take this matter into consideration now. After the war, the people of Yugoslavia will make their own decisions. I turned the topic to the future of Yugoslavia, and suggested that the correct solution for Yugoslavia should be to implement a peasant-based democracy, and perhaps to gradually implement land reform, because the land holdings there are too small.Tito assured me that he had publicly stated that he had no intention of importing communism into Yugoslavia for one reason, namely that most of Europe would probably live under democracies after the war.The development of a small country depends on its relationship with a big country.The continuous improvement of these relations must bring benefits to Yugoslavia, enabling it to develop along democratic lines.The Russians sent a delegation to the partisans, but its members, far from expressing any intention of introducing the Soviet system into Yugoslavia, said something against it. I asked Tito if he would publicly reiterate what he had just said about communism in a statement, but he was unwilling to do so because it might appear as if he was being forced to.He agreed that the issue would be discussed during his first meeting with Dr. Subasic that afternoon. We then had lunch and it was arranged that if his negotiations with Dr. Subasic went well, we would meet again the following evening.At the same time I was working on a memorandum on Yugoslav affairs, and Marshal Tito promised to write to me on certain details concerning the supply. In the early morning of the next day, Tito met with General Gammer, General Wilson's chief of staff, and received an important memorandum on the Allied combat plan in and around Istria.The full text is as follows: Once the Allies occupied northern Italy, Austria, or Hungary, the Allied Commander-in-Chief intended to establish an Allied military government in areas that had been under Italian jurisdiction at the outbreak of the war, thereby automatically ending Italian sovereignty in that area.The military government is headed by the Allied Commander in the area.The area is under the direct jurisdiction of the military government of the allied countries until the relevant governments decide on the way to deal with it through consultation. 2. In order to ensure the safety of the bases and lines of communication of the Allied occupation forces in Central Europe, this direct control of the Allied military government is necessary. 3. Since the Allied occupying forces had to obtain their supplies from the port of Trieste, it was necessary to secure for them the line of communication on the road Ljubljana|Maribor|Graz protected by the British. 4. The Supreme Allied Commander expects the Yugoslav authorities to cooperate with him in carrying out this policy and intends to maintain the closest ties with them. Tito complained about these proposals in one of his letters to me.When we met again on the afternoon of August 13th, our ambassador to Yugoslavia, Mr. Stevenson and Dr. Subasic, were both present. I told him that this was a question of military operations, which required careful study, and we also had to discuss with Close consultation with the President of the United States.Istria remained Italian, and its status could not be pre-determined.It might be a good thing to free Istria from Italian sovereignty, but the matter must be decided in a peace conference or, if there is no such conference, in a conference of the principal powers, where Yugoslavia can present its own Require.The United States Government is opposed to changes in territorial sovereignty during war; and Italy is making a useful contribution to the war, and we should try not to discourage them.The best solution may therefore be to place the area under the jurisdiction of the Allied military government once it is liberated from the Germans. Tito said he could not accept the Italian civil administration, and pointed out that the forces of his National Liberation Movement had controlled many areas here, so they should at least participate in the administration of these areas.He and Subasic agreed to send us a joint memorandum on Istria, and the matter was put on hold. We then discussed how to build a unified Yugoslav navy and how to send light tanks, gunboats and artillery to Tito.I said we were all willing to do whatever we could, but I warned him that if the fighting in Yugoslavia turned into a mere civil war and the fight against Germany became a side issue, we wouldn't be interested . On August 12th I submitted a memorandum to Tito mentioning the above.We now consider the far-reaching significance contained in this document, so we publish its full text: His Majesty's Government is eager to see a united Yugoslav government with representatives of all Yugoslavs who resisted the enemy, and a reconciliation between the Serbian people and the national liberation movement. 2. Now that the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the National Liberation Movement have reached an agreement, His Majesty's Government intends to continue to supply military supplies to the Yugoslav troops, and if possible, the quantity will be increased.His Majesty's Government expects that, in return, Marshal Tito will make positive contributions to the unification of Yugoslavia.This positive contribution would be to include in the manifesto he and the Yugoslav Prime Minister had agreed to issue not only a statement that he had no intention of imposing communism on the country, but another statement to the effect that he The armed forces of the National Liberation Movement will not be used to influence the will of the people to freely choose the future regime of the country. 3. Another contribution that Marshal Tito can make to the common cause is to agree to meet King Peter, preferably in Yugoslavia itself. 4. In case His Majesty's Government delivers any large quantities of arms not for self-defense but for the Battle of the Wall, it will affect the whole question of the supply of military supplies by the Allies, because we do not want to be involved in the political disputes in Yugoslavia go. 5. We would like to see the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's navy and air force go all out for national liberation, but agree to do so unless there is first concern over the status of the King of Yugoslavia, the flag of the Constitution, and closer unity between the government and the national liberation movement Give it due consideration. 6. On the one hand, His Majesty's Government regards Marshal Tito and his brave soldiers with great admiration, but on the other hand, it does not think that they have fully recognized the power and rights of the Serbian people, or that His Majesty's Government has and will The continued assistance is fully appreciated. The Yugoslavs object to my idea of ​​separating the partisan movement from the Serbian people.I do not insist on this, especially since Tito has said that he will later publicly state that communism will not be imported into Yugoslavia after the war.We then discussed the possibility of a meeting between him and King Peter.I said that democracy had already flourished in Britain in the form of a constitutional monarchy, and I thought Yugoslavia's international status would be stronger under a monarchy than under a republic.Tito said his country had an unfortunate experience under the king, and that it would take time for King Peter to start a new life and sever his ugly ties with Mikhailovich.He had no objection in principle to a meeting with the king, but believed that the time had not yet come.We therefore agreed to leave the matter to him and Dr. Subasic to discuss in due course. Later, when I hosted a banquet for Tito, he still wore the tight jacket embroidered with gold lace.I myself prefer to wear only a canvas suit. I will now inform the President of the outcome of the aforementioned talks. prime minister to president roosevelt August 14, 1944 In the past two days, I had several talks with Marshal Tito and the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.I told the two Yugoslav leaders that we want nothing else but hope that they can unite all their human and material resources so that the Yugoslav people can be closely united and become a whole in the fight against Germany.Our goal is to promote a stable and independent Yugoslavia, and the establishment of a Yugoslav coalition government is a step towards this goal. 2. The two leaders reached a satisfactory agreement on many practical issues.They agreed to unite all Yugoslav navies to fight under a common flag.The agreement between the Yugoslav Prime Minister and Marshal Tito will make us more confident in increasing the supply of military supplies to the Yugoslav army. 3. They agree with each other to issue a statement at the same time within a few days.It is my hope that this action will strengthen and intensify Yugoslav combat efforts.The two of them set off today to the island of Vis to continue their negotiations. 4. I will soon inform Marshal Stalin of the results of this meeting. During my three days in Naples, my work and my joy were mixed together.Admiral Morse, who commanded the navy, took me out every day in his galley, chiefly to bathe.The first day we sailed to the island of Ischia, where there is a hot spring.On our way back, we passed through the huge convoy carrying American troops to land on the Riviera.All boats are packed with people.They cheered enthusiastically as we sailed past their fleet.They didn't know that if I had my way, they'd be heading in the other direction.Still, I proudly wave to these brave soldiers.We also visited Capri.I have never seen the blue hole [1], it is indeed a miracle, the vivid dark blue water is clear and sparkling.We bathed in a warm cove, then went to a cozy little hotel for lunch.My mind was trying to recall what had happened to the Roman Emperor Tiberius.He had chosen a place like Capri as a headquarters for commanding the world, and it was quite satisfactory. 【1】A scenic spot on the shore of Capri Island, the cave is full of dazzling blue light.translator In addition to work, these three days can really be called a sunny holiday. On the afternoon of August 14, I flew to Corsica in General Wilson's Dakota to observe the landing at the site of Operation Anvil.With regard to the anvil I tried my best to stop it, but now I wish it every success.We took a pleasant flight to the port of Ajaccio, where General Wilson and Admiral Sir John Cunningham were on board a British command ship.Because the airport is too small, it is not easy for planes to fly close to it.The driver's skill is very high.He had to fly the plane over two cliffs into the airport, and our left wing was less than fifteen feet from one of the cliffs.The general and the admiral took me aboard.We spend a long night attending to our business.I was scheduled to depart early next morning on the British destroyer HMS Kimberley.I took with me two officers of the United States Government, General Somerville and Mr. Patterson, Assistant Secretary of the War Department, who had come to see their venture.Captain Allen (for whose assistance I thanked in the foreword in the writing of these volumes) was sent by the Admiral to guard us from troublesome accidents.It took us five hours to reach the line of battleships bombarding fifteen thousand yards off shore.Colonel Allen told me at this time that we could not sail beyond the ten thousand yard cordon for fear of hitting the mines.If I had known this, I could have asked for a patrol boat to take me ashore as we passed the Ramie, which was bombarding intermittently.In this case, we made no further progress until we were about seven thousand yards from shore.From here we watched long lines of ships loaded with American commando troops enter the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.As far as I could see and hear, the enemy fired neither at the approaching flotilla nor at the beach.The battleships had now ceased firing, as the coast appeared to be unguarded, and we sailed back to Ajaccio.I at least showed due courtesy to Operation Anvil.Indeed, I thought it was good that I showed interest in the operation by going to the front.On the return voyage, I stumbled across a moving novel called "The Grand Hotel" in the captain's cabin. But they all stayed in the stern cabin and spent the same boring whole day. On August 16th I returned to Naples and spent the night there before going to the front to meet General Alexander.I called Emperor because I had received a very kind message from him. prime minister to king August 17, 1944 From my observations of the dragoons' operations from a distance, the landing seemed to go very well.As for how much time it will take to advance to Marseilles first and then go up the Rhone River Valley, and how this operation is related to the far grander and possibly decisive combat operation in the north (Normandy), these are now emerging. The problem. I am going to General Alexander's headquarters today.It is very important that we ensure that Alexander's forces are not diverted and disrupted so that a plan or plan cannot be formulated.The matter did require a conference on the scale of Operation Quadrant, still in place (Quebec). The change of surroundings and activity, together with the warm weather, has greatly restored my strength.I hope to come to Rome on the 21st and meet various people, including Mr. Papandreou. Thanks to Your Majesty for your encouragement, I would like to express my thanks. My telegram to General Eisenhower: Prime Minister to General Eisenhower (in France) August 18, 1944 I watched with excitement the splendid development of the operations at Normandy and Anjou.Once again, I sincerely congratulate you on a truly amazing military achievement and wish you even greater victories.Among other achievements, you have indeed accomplished the vitally important operation of diverting the enemy from the attack of my dragoons.I watched the landing yesterday from a distance.Everything I learned here made me admire: the landing was carefully planned and the coordination between British and American forces and organizations was very close.I hope to see you and General Montgomery at the end of this month.By then the situation will be greatly developed.It appears that our victories will greatly eclipse the Russian victories hitherto.I wish you and Biddle all the best. This chapter could end with an overview of Anvil | Dragoon combat operations. General Patch's Seventh Army was formed to carry out this attack.The army consisted of seven French and three American divisions, plus a mixed American-British airborne division.These three American divisions formed General Truscott's Sixth Army, which had been a significant part of General Clark's Fifth Army in Italy.In addition, four French divisions and a considerable number of allied air forces were drawn from the troops under Alexander's jurisdiction. This new expedition set out from both Italy and North Africa, using Naples, Taranto, Brindisi, and Oran as principal ports of shipment.We have spent a whole year doing enormous preparations to convert Corsica into a forward air base and the port of Ajaccio into a transshipment port where the landing fleet from Italy can concentrate its rearward attack points advance.All these arrangements are now in effect.Under the command of the Commander in Chief, Admiral John Cunningham, Vice Admiral Hewitt, who had extensive experience in similar campaigns in the Mediterranean, served on the naval attack mission.U.S. Army Air Corps Air Force Lieutenant General Eck commanded the Air Force, with Air Force Lieutenant General Slesser serving as his deputy. The landing craft could only accommodate the first three divisions to land, with the more experienced American units at the vanguard.The fortifications along the coast are strong, but the number of enemy troops is insufficient, and some troops are of poor quality.In June, fourteen German divisions were still stationed in southern France, but four of them were drawn to fight in Normandy.Now there are no more than ten divisions remaining to guard the 200-mile coastline.Only three of these divisions were defending near the beach where we landed.The enemy also lacks aircraft.We had 5,000 planes in the Mediterranean, 2,000 of which were based in Corsica and Sardinia, while the enemy could muster only 200 planes, all of which had been badly damaged before we landed.Among the German army in southern France, more than 25,000 armed men of the resistance organization are preparing to revolt.We have supplied them with weapons.As in so many other parts of France, they were organized by a group of dedicated patriotic men and women.They have been training for this purpose in the UK for the past three years. The enemy's fortifications are strong, and heavy bombing is required beforehand.So the air force took on the bombing of the coastal area in the first two weeks; immediately before the landing, the air force joined forces with the allied navies to bombard the beachheads that were about to land.At least six battleships, twenty-one cruisers, and a hundred destroyers took part in the operation.Early on the morning of 15 August, the three American divisions, together with the American and French commandos to their left, landed between Cannes and Hyères.Our casualties were relatively few due to artillery bombardment, successful deception schemes, continuous bomber cover, and excellent staff work.On the eve of landing, the airborne division had landed near Le Mouil, and soon joined forces with the sea landing force. By noon on the 16th, the three divisions of the U.S. Army had landed, one of which moved in the direction of Sisteron in the north, and the other two divisions attacked in the direction of Avignon in the northwest. The Second French Army landed after them, advancing towards the ports of Toulon and Marseilles.The defense of the two places was strong, and although the French army had five divisions, they did not capture all of these two ports until the end of the month.The port facilities were severely damaged, but the port of Booker remained intact when it was taken, thanks to the assistance of resistance groups.The influx of munitions immediately began.This was a valuable contribution of the French army under the leadership of General Rattle de Tasini.Meanwhile, the American forces had been advancing rapidly, and by August 28 had crossed Valence and Grenoble.The enemy made no serious attempt to stop our advance.Only one German armored division ever made a single stand at Montélimar. Allied tactical air forces attacked them heavily, disrupting their transports.Eisenhower's pursuit force from Normandy, having reached the Seine at Fontainebleau on August 20, was now cutting into the enemy's rear.Five days later they were far beyond Troyes.No wonder the defeated remnants of the German 19th Army, which nominally has five divisions, are in full retreat, and 50,000 people have become our prisoners.Lyon was captured on September 3, Besançon on the 8th, and Dijon was liberated by the resistance on the 11th.On this day, the troops carrying out the two operations of dragoons and overlords joined forces at Sombernon.The more than 20,000 remnants of the German First Army were besieged by our army in the triangle area of ​​southwestern France, and had to surrender obediently. Now let's summarize the whole story of Anvil | Dragoon's operation.The original proposal at the Tehran conference in November 1943 was to invade southern France to help relieve the pressure on Operation Overlord.The time was set for a week before or after the day the attack was launched, but all this was changed by intervening circumstances.The potential threat from the Mediterranean alone was enough to keep ten German divisions at bay on the Riviera.Anzio alone deprived the enemy of four divisions that could have been used to reinforce other lines.When our whole line, advanced with the help of Anzio, took Rome and threatened the Gothic line, the Germans hastily dispatched eight more divisions to Italy.Due to the delay in capturing Rome and the dispatch of landing craft from the Mediterranean Sea to support Operation Overlord, Operation Anvil | Dragoons was also postponed to mid-August, which was two months later than originally proposed.Therefore, it does not affect Overlord combat operations in the slightest.When the operation finally began too late, it failed to draw the enemy from the Normandy field, so that none of the reasons that had been in our minds at the Teheran meeting had anything to do with what was done, but Operation Dragoon did not have any deterrent effect on the German forces who were confronting General Eisenhower head-on.In fact, it was not Operation Dragoon that helped Eisenhower, but Eisenhower's offensive that threatened the rear of the retreating German forces along the Rhône Valley, thus helping Operation Dragoon.This does not deny that the military operations thus carried out ended up being of great help to Eisenhower, for he added an army to his right flank and opened up another line of communication leading there.We paid a heavy price for this.Our troops in Italy were deprived of the opportunity of dealing a very heavy blow to the Germans, otherwise we might well have reached Vienna before the Russians, and had all the advantages which might have come from it.Although I have tried my best to prevent and reverse the dragoons' actions, once the final decision has been made, I can only support it with all my strength. At this time, I received some meaningful letters from Smuts, who had returned to the Cape of Good Hope.His views on the actions of the dragoons have always been exactly the same as mine.But, he said in his letter dated August 30: Please do not allow strategic issues to absorb all your attention and distract you from more important problems which are beginning to emerge. From now on, it would be wiser to pay close attention to all events related to the future settlement of European problems.These are the great questions concerning the world for generations to come.Your vision, experience and huge social influence will be a major factor in solving this major problem.在戰後的年代裡，有人指責說：在德黑蘭會議以後特別是本章所談的幾個星期裡我竭力催促盟國共同對巴爾幹地區各國發動一次大規模的進攻，來和美國全面的戰略思想相抗衡。下面，從我對史末資來信的答覆中，可以看出我所一再提出的觀點的精神實質何在。 首相致史末資陸軍元帥： 一九四四年八月三十一日 龍騎兵作戰行動在當地所取得的勝利使美國人感到十分高興，因為他們想靠這條路線投入一切增援的力量。當然，他們已經抓了四萬五千名俘虜，更多的還在後頭。他們的信念（任何東西都不能使他們改變這個信念）就是通過這些奪得的港口來運進整整一個集團軍群的兵力，而大西洋岸上的便利得多的那些港口，反而不去使用。 我說：我現在的目標是維持我們在意大利現有的力量，由於敵人已經從那裡抽走了他們最精銳的四個師，我們在那裡的兵力是足夠的。我希望用這支力量，來包抄和突破哥特防線，插入波河流域，最後通過的裡雅斯特和盧布爾雅那地峽進抵維也納。我已經告訴亞歷山大說，縱使戰爭要早日結束，他也要作好準備用裝甲車向目的地猛衝。