>>619383
>>619413
>Why?
Because Italy is not really a country.
France, the Swiss and the Hapsburg made sure a long fucking time ago that they can go into Italy whenever they please but the opposite is impossible due to the fact that all the major pass and high grounds are on the French/Swiss/Austrian side of the borders.
Doesn't stop the Italians from trying…
>France June 1940
>French government has collapsed.
>French Northern armies have been obliterated, the German have taken Paris and only the eastern armies and the Alps army (the tiniest of the french armies with only 1 proper infantry division, 2 light mountains divisions and 2 colonial divisions technically assigned to it as reinforcements but were in fact in the north) are still in the fight.
>All the mobile forces of the Alps army have been sent to fight the germans (proper infantry, colonial infantry and most of the artillery). All that's left on the front are over 40 y/o conscripts and the dedicated ski/mountain units.
>Italy attacks the Alps army with two full fledged armies of 3 corps and 1 reserve corps each…
> French casualties: 37 or 40 killed, 42 or 62 wounded, and 145 or 155 prisoners.
>However of those: 20 killed, 84 wounded and 154 prisoner resulted from the fighting with the German forces advancing from Lyon.
>Italian casualties: 631 or 642 men killed, 2,631 wounded, 616 reported missing and as much as 1,141 prisoners. A further 2,151 men suffered from frostbite.
>The official Italian numbers were compiled for a report on 18 July 1940, when many of the fallen still lay under snow. since units operating in more difficult terrain had higher ratios of missing to killed, it is likely most of the missing had died.
>In most places didn't even reach the first defensive lines after 2 weeks of offensive.
>As in some places frontier guardposts that were defended by-section size units with 1 light-gun and 1 LMG and meant to be a simple tripwire literally at the frontier far away from the actual combat fortified areas (defense in depth), repelled entire companies of tanks and Italian infantry…