16-20 Dicembre 1942: G I O R N I_D I_G L O R I A16.12.1942 Nella Battaglia di Stalingrado, la Divisione Cosseria e la Divisione Ravenna, nei pressi del fiume Don fu attaccata dall'intero 17 Corpo Corrazato ruso (
600 carri armati!!!). La Cosseria e Ravenna resistette alle forze nemiche soverchianti per ben 5 giorni, finché il 20 dicembre e non verrebbe rafforzato come previsto con i rinforzi panzer tedeschi arrivano molto tardi nella battaglia.
Video"On 17 December, Kuznetsov committed General-Major Pavel P. Poluboiarov's 17th Tank Corps, General-Major Boris S. Bakharov's 18th Tank Corps and General-Major Petr R. Pavlov's 25th Tank Corps into an infantry support role and finally broke through the front of the Italian II Army Corps (Sforzesca', 'Ravenna', 'Cosseria' Inf Divs)."
(
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942, Robert Forczyk, Pen and Sword, 2014)
"From the Soviet bridgehead at Mamon, fifteen infantry divisions supported by no less than one hundred tanks attacked the Italian Infantry Division Cosseria and Ravenna and advanced against Sforzesca, too. Outnumbered 9 to 1, the Italians resisted for two days.
(
A Military History of Italy, Ciro Paoletti, p. 177, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008)
"In spite of the unfavourable balance of forces – the 'Cosseria' and the 'Ravenna' faced eight to nine Russian divisions and an unknown number of tanks – the atmosphere among Italian staffs and troops was certainly not pessimistic.... The Italians, especially the officers of the 'Cosseria', had confidence in what they thought were well built defensive positions." (
All or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust 1941–43, Jonathan Steinberg, p. ?, Routledge, 2003)
"Contrary to German efforts to paint the Italians as scapegoats, the Cosseria and Ravenna divisions put up unexpectedly tough resistance, forcing Valutin to commit three of his four tanks corps before he finally got his breakthrough."
(
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942, Robert Forczyk, Pen and Sword, 2014)
"During this phase, the Germans praised the steadfastness of Italian infantry, who held out tenaciously even in isolated strongpoints but eventually reached their breaking-point under this constant pressure." (
The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers, Rolf-Dieter Müller, p. 83-84, I.B.Tauris, 2014)
"The attack at dawn failed to penetrate fully at first and developed into a grim struggle with Italian strongpoints, lasting for hours. The Ravenna Division was the first to be overrun. A gap emerged that was hard to close, and there was no holding back the Red Army when it deployed the mass of its tank forces the following day. German reinforcements came too late in the breakthrough battle."
(
The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers, Rolf-Dieter Müller, p. 84, I.B.Tauris, 2014)
"On the Don river front German and Italian troops were said to be "still engaged against strong Soviet infantry and tank formations." (
Nazis Admit Heavy Blows In Russia, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 21 December 1942)
Grazie per la pazienza, ha perso la password di Gmail.Edited by giovannipasino - 30/5/2016, 13:13
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