The Days of Fighting: from the Capture of Sicily to the Liberation of Italy, 1943-44

This book combs the war process from the Allied invasion of Sicily to the final capture of the city of Rome, recreating the magnificent Italian campaign: the rallying horns accompanied by the rushing waves sent the assault boats to the golden coast of Sicily, the roaring steel chariot tracks rolled over the solid defense lines of the Salerno plain, and the roaring fighter planes dropped bombs like raindrops at the Port of Taranto... A picture that is both majestic and tragic slowly unfolds. The overwhelmed Eisenhower, the fearless but conceited Mark Clark, the genius Patton, the paranoid and passionate Churchill, the strategizing Cunningham, the embattled Mussolini... From generals to soldiers, from politicians to civilians, countless life trajectories converged and burned in this period of history. This was the second stage of the attack on the Third Reich. The wars in Sicily and Italy forced the United States to shoulder more and more battlefield responsibilities, and also sharpened the combat effectiveness and willpower of the US military. With rugged terrain, harsh climate, and powerful enemies, the battlefield situation is already clear: kill the enemy or be killed. It was on the Italian battlefield that the American military transformed from a novice into a powerful force that dominated the situation in World War II.