Chapter 2 -- Seven Days in May (5/20/38 - 5/26/38)
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
-- Niccolo Machiavelli
Chapter 2 -- Seven Days in May (5/20/38 - 5/26/38)
Upon the fall of Yugoslavia, there was no time for celebration. Due to the build up of French forces on the French-Italian border, two infantry corps, including the Alpini Corps were taken out of the Balkan war and rushed to the French frontier. Meanwhile, a vacuum had been created between the furthest advance of the Italian lines and the old borders of Yugoslavia with its former Balkan neighbors. The other Balkan nations quickly moved to fill that vacuum by advancing into former Yugoslav territory that they now claimed as their own. Comando Superiore immediate issued orders to seize control of as much of that territory as possible and to establish defensible lines. The CCNN divisions that had been fighting the Yugoslavs along the Drin were transported by rail to the south to stop the advance of the Greeks. They would not arrive in time to save Skopje from falling to the Greeks, but a defensive line was established from Tetovo to Kumanovo then north along the western bank of the Morava river.
In Tetovo, the Spanish veterans of the Penne Nere, Fiamme Nere and Dio lo Vuole CCNN divisions under the leadership Gen. Giuseppe Musinu were fresh and dug into stout defensive positions in the mountainous terrain. At the same time, CCNN divisions 1a XXII Marzo, 2a XXVIII Ottobre, 3a XXI Aprile, 4a III Gennaio, and 5a I Febbraio all under the joint command Gen. Domenico Siciliani were transported to Kumanovo. The first and fifth CCNN divisions were relatively fresh, but the second, third and fourth were nearly warn out from prior combat and in need of some rest.
At 1100 hours on 20 May, the 5 CCNN divisions in Kumanovo were attacked by the 9th Bulgarian infantry division led by Gen. Vasil Tsankov Balarev out of Stip.
Also on 20 May, 1938, the Spanish veterans in Tetovo were attacked by the Greek mountaineers of II and XI Stratiotis Merarkhia out of Gostivar under Gen. Panagiotis Demestihas.
To the immediate north in Medveda the weary 2a Celere Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro under Gen. Vito Ferroni was trying to hold onto the west bank of the Morava River against attacks from the 4th and 8th Bulgarian infantry divisions under Gen. Aleksiev from Surdulica and Nis.
The 2a Celere would not be able to hold the river crossing, but the 1a Celere Eugenio di Savoia was on its way, and 12 hours later near midnight the 1a Celere appeared on scene and joined the battle. The Bulgarian forces immediately stopped the river crossing and both sides began to lick their wounds.
To the north of Medveda, the motorized 10a Piave under Gen. Giuseppe Asinari-Rossillon had rapidly made it across the Morava river into Krusevac. However, on 22 May, 1938 their advance was stopped when they found themselves confronted by a large concentration of Bulgarian forces, and soon they were on the defensive when at midnight on 23 May they were attacked by the 2nd, 5th and 14th Bulgarian infantry divisions under Gen. Konstantin Ivanov Bekyarov.
The next morning at 0700 23 May, Gen. Aldo Aymonino ordered an attack in an effort to relieve the hard pressed 10a Piave. The 7a CCNN Cirene in Cuprija and the 9a Pasubio in Petovac launched an attack against Boljevac from where the 14th Bulgarian Infantry division had been pressing south against Krusevac. However, Gen. Bekyarov had brought up some heavy coastal artillery from Varna to slow the counter-attack, and the 14th was able to continue its assault on Medveda.
Meanwhile, down south things were getting critical. The five CCNN divisions in Kumanovo seemed to have beaten back the Bulgarians, at least for the moment. However, in Tetovo the Spanish veterans were getting man-handled by the Greek mountaineers. Gen. Demestihas added a third infantry division -- the VII Stratiotis Merarkhia -- to the fight, tipping the scales. In the rugged terrain, the Greeks moved like goats and were steadily positioning themselves on seemingly inaccessible mountain summits. Soon the Italian positions would become untenable. The 5a I Febbraio in Kumanovo was dispatched to Tetovo, but it looked like it would be too little, to late. With the loss of Tetovo, the Greek front would crumble.
Nimble Greek mountain soldiers from XI Stratiotis Merarkhia direct mortar fire from an advantageous position.
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However, the Italian nation was a major power, with a major power's navy. It was not limited to fighting over inches, feet and yards of mountainous patches of dirt. Rather, it could move with celerity and project force by sea, just as Pericles might have suggested. And that is exactly what Italy planned to do. As soon as Yugoslavia fell, the IX Corps -- the Sbarco e d’Assalto corps that had spearheaded the invasion of the Dalmatian coast -- was transported in secret to the naval base at Dubrovnik. There they were met by the the First Transport Flotilla. The light infantry was loaded into the transports, and during the late night of 23 May the fleet silently slipped out to sea.
By the fortunes of war, the French navy was at the same time moving 3 squadrons of submarines into the Adriatic on a convoy raiding mission. The French subs stumbled upon the troopship and began to attack. However, the precious Italian cargo was well defended and 6 light cruisers and 9 destroyer divisions swarmed the submarines. Vastly outnumbered, the French subs attempted to disengage and dive, but it was too late. The destroyers were in their midsts, sinking subs left and right.
The encounter was a clear Italian victory and the sub squadrons were destroyed, but had word gotten back to the French naval headquarters concerning the movements of the Italian invasion fleet? Regardless, the troopship continued and rendezvoused with the Italian capital ships off of the Peloponnese coastline.
By 1800 May 24, the ships were in place and the invasion commenced. The initial objective was the Peloponnese port city of Patra. Submarine patrols had indicated that the port was defended by a Greek garrison division. This port was to be directly assaulted by Raggruppamento Rombola, an ad hoc unit of division size put together with special naval landing forces, including the commandos of Decima MAS, as well as two regiments of Italian light infantry under Gen. Antonio Rombola.
Decima MAS Commandos: The elite of the elite
To the south, the 3a Divisione Coloniale Eritreo supplemented to 4 light infantry regiments under Gen. Francesco Armellini was to land in Meligalas. Then, while the forces in Petra were occupied by the assault of Raggruppamento Rombola, troopships were to slip into the Gulf of Corinth. The 1a Divisione Coloniale Libica, also 4 regiments strong, under Gen. Italo Caracciolo, would land at Korinthos, while the 26a Assietta under Gen. Emanule Girlando was assigned Nafplio and the Isthmus towards Athens. Finally, corps commander Gen. Vincenzo Tessitore would land with the IX Corps headquarters along with 52 Reggimento di Fanteria Alpi on the island of Cephalonia.
While the invasion of the Peloponnese commenced, the situation in Yugoslavia went from bad to worse. On 25 May, Kumanovo was attacked by Bulgarian and Greek forces working in coordination under Bulgarian Gen. Theodosi Petrov Daskalov. The 7th Bulgarian division in Surdulica, the 1st Bulgaria division in Stip, and the VII and IX Stratiotis Merarkhia in Skopje converged on the weary CCNN divisions in Kumanovo. The 5a I Febbraio, which had been dispatched to Tetovo to relieve the hard pressed Spanish veterans, needed to be recalled. However, it looked like both fights were in the process of being lost, and there were no forces in the area with which to reverse the situation.
By 26 May, the entire front was crumbling. The Penne Nere division was the first unit to shame itself and abandon its position, but soon the entire front would be a full fledged rout.
To the north two Bulgarian infantry divisions attacked the 9a Pasubio in Petovac while it was attempting its relief attack on Boljevac. The 9a Pasubio was not ready for this eventuality, and Gen. Aymonino was forced to call off the relief attack as the 9a Pasubio was hard pressed to defend itself, just like the 10a Piave.
At sea, it did appear that the French navy was taking steps to interfere with the invasion of the Peloponnese. At 0700 hours on 25 May a large French squadron, including the battleships Courbet and Paris, was intercepted by an Italian cruiser squadron off the Sicilian coast near Trapani heading east toward the Ionian Sea. The Italian cruiser fleet included the heavy cruisers Trento, Trieste and Pisa. It was an unfair fight and the lighter Italian capitals were taking a beating. However, Italo Balbo’s 1a Aerosiluranti Centauro based out of the Catania air field provided crucial air support and caused the French squadron to turn back. The only French ship to make it to the invasion fleet in the Eastern Ionian Sea during the landing was the lone light cruiser Primauguet. However, it was promptly sent to the bottom in the dark of night, and no survivors were ever located. Later, the fleet would also be attacked by a lone French heavy cruiser, the Tourville. It was scared away by the Regia Marina and later sunk by Balbo’s 1a Centauro in the Narrows. The invasion was free to proceed.
Mussolini was heartbroken when he heard the news that on 26 May his beloved CCNN divisions in the Balkans were routed by the Greeks and Bulgarians. So, he was desperate for some good news. The Regio Esercito and the Regia Marina provided it. At 1600 hours on 26 May, the Italians had made landfall on the Peloponnese. Gen. Tessitore’s corps headquarters occupied the undefended Cephalonia, while Gen. Armellini’s 3a Divisione Coloniale Eritreo landed unopposed in Meligalas, as did Gen. Caracciolo’s 1a Divisione Coloniale Libica at Korinthos. The 3a Eritrean division was briefly attacked by a Greek infantry division moving out of Kalamata to block the invasion, but the Greeks called off their attack when the realized that Gen. Armellini’s Eritreans had already established themselves on land.
Raggruppamento Rombola's assault on the garrison at Patra was proceeding, but they still had not established a secure beachhead. Then at 2000 hours on 26 May, the 3a Eritrean division joined the fight from Meligalas, and the Greek garrison gave up their defensive positions and retreated inland towards Tripolis. Meanwhile the 26a Assietta’s landing in Nafplio had been held up up by irregular Greek militia moving into the Isthmus from Athens. However, the 1a Libica joined the attack over land from Korinthos to assist the 26a Assieta's amphibious assault, and the Greek militia in Nafplio gave way. Thus, the 26a Assieta was afforded an opportunity to establish its beachhead. The I Stratiotis Merarkhia in Athens tested the beachhead perimeter, but quickly called off the attack. Mussolini's CCNN might have been routed in Yugoslavia, but the Regio Esercito and the Regia Marina were now established on the northern half of the Peloponnese and had cut off the remainder of the Peninsula from the capital.
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The United Kingdom had always had warm relations with the Greeks. They condescendingly fancied themselves the heirs to the Greeks’ ancient glories -- as can be evidenced by all the ancient Greek treasures looted by the English aristocracy to decorate their stately mansions. Be that as it may, the British might have been willing to watch Mussolini invade the relatively new and unestablished tribal hodgepodge of Yugoslavia, but the same was not the case for the cradle of Western civilization. When news of Italians sweeping across the Peloponnese and threatening Athens reached England, classics professors across the country led a public outcry demanding action. Chamberlain and Bevin still wanted to avoid intervention, but both agreed that an Italian military presence in Greece could threaten to unbalance the eastern Mediterranean and threaten the British positions in that area. So, Chamberlain himself traveled to Rome to meet with Il Duce and delivered his country’s ultimatum. Make peace with Greece, or it is war.
It looks quite impressive.
