Cassino to the Alps - US Army Center Of Military History

The Fifth Army's immediate goal
beyond the Po, 27 miles away, was the
fabled city of Verona astride the Adige
River on the main road to Trento, the
Alps, and the Brenner Pass. The swiftly
flowing Adige River was at this point
300 to 500 feet wide, potentially a
fixmidable obstacle. Even so, the possibility
of a sturdy German defense here
or elsewhere gave Allied commanders
little pause, for the enemy's final collapse
was obviously imminent.
As the 10th Mountain Division led
the IV Corps and the Fifth Army
across the Po on 23 April, Truscott
assigned his two corps commanders
missions that aimed at reaching the
Alps and clearing northern Italy of the
enemy. General Keyes' II Corps, after
crossing the Po at Ostiglia, was to
continue as the Fifth Army's right wing
along the axis of Highway 12 to occupy
the south bank of the Adige between
Verona and LehJTlano, 20 miles to the
southeast. General Crittenberger's assignment
was more complex. He was to
send three divisions of the IV Corps
northward along the axis San Benedetto-Mantua-Verona,
with Verona
and its airfield in the suburb of Villafranca,
ten miles to the southwest, as
initial objectives. At the same time, the
IV Corps commander was to round up
the enemy forces in northwestern Italy.
That job he was to accomplish by
sending tank-infantry task forces to the
Po Valley'S northern edge, thence
northwestward along the base of the
CHAPTER XXIX
To the Alps
Alpine foothills to block exits from the
Po Valley leading to the Italian lakes
region and the Swiss frontier. General
Crittenberger was also to send the Brazilian
Expeditionary Force and the 34th
Division northwest\vard astride Highway
9 along the southern reaches of the
valley to seal the II Mountain Corps and
its three divisions in the Apennines. 1
In that assignment the BEF and the
34th Division were to be assisted by the
92d Division on the Fifth Army's left
flank unit, which by 23 April had
passed through the last of the Gothic
Line defenses along the Ligurian (Oast
and sent columns northwestward and
northeastward. One consisting of two
infantry regiments raced along the
coastal highway toward the port of
Genoa 35 miles away, while the other
composed of one regiment moved
along Highways 62 and 63 on the heels
of the 148th Infantry and the I talia
Bersaglieri Divisions as they withdrew
from the mountains toward Highway 9
and into the trap to be f()rmed by the
Brazilians and the 34th Division.
For the main drive to the Adige,
General Crittenberger again called on
General Hays' mountain division to lead
the. way. Screened on the left by the
9Ist Reconnaissance Squadron, the 10th
Mountain Division was to bypass Mantua
and cut the highway connecting
Verona with Lake Garda. On the right
'Fifth Army History. Part IX, pp. 108-22; II Corps
AAR, Apr-May 1945. Unless otherwise indicated
the following is based upon these references.