Spy situation in World War II: Allied forces floated a corpse on the sea, deliberately letting Germany find false information.

During the Second World War, the allied forces of the United States and Britain carried out a large-scale landing operation in Sicily, Italy from July to August in 1943. The purpose is to capture Sicily, ensure the smooth flow of the allied Mediterranean routes, and force Italy to surrender. The supreme commander of the Allied Campaign was D.D. Eisenhower, with a total force of 478,000, about 2,600 ships (about 2 100 transport ships and about 500 other combat vessels ships) and about 4,000 aircraft. On the island, the German army and Italian army *** 12 division (including two German armored divisions), with about 260,000 people, have poor combat effectiveness; Surface ships do not participate in the war, and 16 submarines are active in the middle of the Mediterranean; There are about 1400 German-Italian planes in Sicily and its nearby airports. Because of the wrong judgment of the situation, most of the defenders are deployed at the western end of the island; The fortifications are weak. According to the campaign plan, American and British troops landed and airborne in the south and southeast of Sicily respectively, seized important ports and airports, and then captured the whole island. Allied forces bombed military facilities such as air bases and ports in Sicily, Sardinia and Italy nearly two months before landing, and the bombing was the fiercest one week before landing, which captured pantelleria island, gained the forward airport and won the air superiority. In addition, large surface warships and submarines were sent to cover the battle to prevent the attack of Italian surface warships. In order to cover up this campaign attempt, the American and British troops took a series of deceptive measures, such as sending out false information and airdropping a body named "Major Martin" to the Spanish coast with false combat documents. A. Hitler mistakenly thought that American and British troops would land in Sardinia or Greece after obtaining the documents; During the flight, the landing formation did not sail directly from the coast of North Africa to the landing area, but bypassed Bangjiao, turned south, and then turned east, creating the illusion of attacking somewhere east of Sicily. Don't prepare fire for the landing zone in advance.

1At the Casablanca meeting in June, 943, the leaders of the United States and Britain decided to launch the Sicilian landing war immediately after the Battle of Tunisia, so as to clear the main obstacles on the Mediterranean traffic line and force Italy to withdraw from the war. 1in the summer of 943, the allied forces assembled a large number of troops in the coastal ports of North Africa and prepared to implement the Sicilian landing operation plan code-named "Eskimo". The 15 Army Group, under the command of General Alexander, has jurisdiction over the British Eighth Army and the American Seventh Army, *** 13 Division (including 10 Infantry Division, 1 Armored Division and 2 Airborne Divisions) and three independent brigades, with a total strength of 478,000 and 40 combat aircraft. The British Eighth Army was commanded by Montgomery, whose mission was to land at Paccino in Siracusa, southeast of the island, and to advance to Messina; Commanded by Barton, the 7th Army of the US Army landed in Gera, southwest of the island, cut the enemy in half through the center of the island, and wiped out the enemy in the northwest corner of the island. The landing time is set at 1943 July 10.

Before landing, the allied forces carried out a plan to bully the enemy code-named "meat stuffing". A body that looks like an allied staff officer floats on the coast of Spain, with documents on it about attacking Sardinia and Greece. After receiving the information from the German intelligence service, Hitler made a wrong judgment on the possible landing sites of the allied forces and transferred the main German forces to Sardinia and Greece. However, Marshal Kesselring, commander-in-chief of the Denan Line, was still aware that the Allies might attack Sicily, so he sent the German armored division Goering and 15 armored infantry division to Sicily to strengthen the island's defense. 1June, 943, the Italian 6th Army defending Sicily had 9 Italian divisions and 2 German armored divisions, with a strength of about 255,000 people, under the command of Italian general Guzzoni.

In June 1943, 1 1, in order to gain a forward base for attacking Sicily, the allied forces landed on Ban Treglia Island between Sicily and North Africa, and captured more than ten thousand Italian troops 1. 1. Opened the prelude to the battle of Sicily. Two days later, Italian troops from two neighboring islands also laid down their weapons. Battle picture

Allied forces bombed Sicily and Calabria strategically before landing. The allied forces dispatched 4000 planes to bomb the airports and facilities in Sicily day and night three weeks before landing. On July 1 day, the allied forces gained the air superiority in Sicily and southern Italy, and the German-Italian Air Force 1400 planes were evacuated to central and southern Italy and Sardinia.

On July 5th, the Allied attack fleet set out from six ports in North Africa, such as Oran and Algiers, and sent troops to join forces in malta island. At the same time, the British navy dispatched large warships such as "Invincible" and "Fearless" and six battleships to cover the attack fleet. The aircraft carrier also pretended to move in the direction of Greece to confuse the enemy.

On July 9, the allied fleet assembled on the east and west sides of malta island. When preparing to land, the weather changed suddenly, the wind roared and the waves were sky-high, and the German and Italian troops relaxed their vigilance. At 2: 40 a.m. on June 5438+00, airborne troops took the lead. 5400 officers and men of the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army and the British/KLOC-0 Airborne Division set off from Tunisia by 366 transport plane and glider and flew to Sicily. At 3: 45 am on June 5438+00, the 16000 American and British landing troops under the command of Barton and Montgomery landed in the southwest and southeast of Sicily under the cover of 3200 warships and transport ships. The Italian army on the coast was demoralized and only made a weak resistance. By noon, Barton and Montgomery's troops had successfully landed on their respective target beaches and kept on attacking.

On July 1 1 day, Sicilian defenders began to fight back under the command of Italian Lieutenant General Guzzoni. Germany's 15 armored division was transferred from the west of the island to the east coast to prevent Montgomery's British Eighth Army from moving to Augusta in the north; Goering, a German armored infantry division, and two Italian motorized infantry divisions launched a counterattack against Barton's American 7th Army. The German Air Force dispatched 48 1 planes to bomb the allied beachhead troops frequently, and the allied planes came to intercept them, causing scuffles, and the allied ground air defense weapons shelled both the enemy and us. The fierce battle lasted for a day, and the German tanks almost advanced to less than 2 kilometers from the beachhead position of the US Seventh Army. Barton personally went to the front line to direct the American troops to counterattack, and the navy also bombarded the German tanks with heavy artillery. By the end of the war, the Germans lost a lot of tanks and were forced to retreat. American troops took advantage of this situation and occupied Gera city. 12 June, the 8th Army of the British Army in the East conquered Siracusa.

After the defeat of the German and Italian armies in the first counter-offensive, Kesselring knew that the tide was gone, so he had to scuffle with the Allies, delay the time, contain the Allies, and then retreat to Calabria, Italy through the Messina Strait. Hitler personally approved Kesselring's plan to transfer the 29th German Armored Division in Calabria and the French 1 Airborne Division to Sicily. The German and Italian troops stepped up their mobilization while strengthening their forces to prevent the British Eighth Army from threatening Messina. De Goering armored division was transferred to Catania in the east; German 1 Airborne Division also airborne Catania; The German 15 armored division stopped the northward advance of the American Seventh Army near Enna; The newly transferred 29th armored division is deployed in the southwest of Edna volcano. In this way, the German and Italian troops built a solid defense line from Enna to Catania.

13 On July 3rd, Montgomery's 13 Army rushed to Catania, and the Allied 145 aircraft carried 1 900 soldiers from the British1Airborne Brigade parachuted into Catania from Tunisia to cooperate with the ground forces in a joint attack. The Germans firmly controlled the coastal highway from Catania to Messina with the tenacious resistance of Degolin Armored Division and 1 Airborne Division. Montgomery's frontal attack was frustrated, and he was forced to mobilize the 30th Army to bypass the west side of Edna volcano and attack Messina with the support of the 7th Army of the United States.

Barton didn't want Montgomery to play the leading role alone. His troops were divided into two ways: one was led by Bradley to support the British army in central Sicily, and the other was led by General Keith 1 temporary troops to Palermo, the capital of Sicily. On July 22nd, the American army won Palermo without fighting, and captured 53,000 Italian troops. Barton's vanity was greatly satisfied, and Eisenhower was also in high spirits for the victory of the US military. Meanwhile, Montgomery got into trouble in two important directions. His 13 army was blocked in Catania, and the 30 th army, which detoured westward, was also blocked in Adrano. Six divisions can't cope with three German divisions and some Italian troops.

Barton and Bradley see Montgomery blocked, determined to turn the assists into the main attack, grab Messina before Montgomery, and wash away the taunts and curses of the British propaganda machine. After Bradley's 2nd Army captured Petria in the north, it quickly turned east and headed straight for Messina along the North Coast Highway. /kloc-in August, 2000, the American Red 1st Division under the command of Allen launched an attack on Trina. At the beginning of the attack, Allen underestimated the strength and fighting capacity of the German army, resulting in a large number of casualties and defeat. Before leaving the city, the Germans fought in Trunell for seven days until they died. On August 5th, the British Eighth Army finally conquered Catania and began to advance along the East Coast Highway to Messina. The Germans fought and retreated in a planned way, crossing the river and blowing up bridges along the way, and burying tens of thousands of mines. On August 10, German and Italian troops retreated to the vicinity of Messina. Because the Allies had no plan or action to cut off the Messina Strait, 40,000 German troops and 70,000 Italian troops completed the Dunkirk retreat to Italy in six days and seven nights.

The Allied March on Messina became a competition between American and British troops. On the evening of August 16, the vanguard troops of the US 3rd Division arrived at the gates of Messina. At 6: 30 am on August 17, the American contingent entered Messina. 10: 30, Barton took the command car and led a motorcycle team into the city. 1 hour later, a group of British troops also entered the city. A British officer walked up to Barton, shook hands with him and said, "This is an interesting game. I congratulate you on your success. " On the same day, all resistance on the island stopped and the landing war in Sicily ended. Allied forces occupied Sicily, and since then they have freely traveled in the Mediterranean, opening the door to landing in Europe.

During the landing campaign in Sicily, the allied forces suffered 228 1 1, of which 5532 were killed, 4/wounded 14, and 2869 were missing. German and Italian troops suffered 33,000 casualties and captured132,000 people. In addition, they also lost 260 tanks, 500 cannons and 1700 aircraft. Although this campaign failed to destroy a large number of German effective forces, it achieved the political goal of forcing Italy to withdraw from the war. On July 25th, Mussolini stepped down, and his successor Bardoglio secretly contacted his allies to discuss the possibility of surrender. On the surface, he continued to resist the allies because he was afraid that the Germans would occupy Italy. But Hitler rudely occupied Italy.