85th Regiment

The 85th Regiment is a combat unit whose capture of Mount Belvedere and Gorgolesco establishes the new front line for the next phase of the mountain offensive. Its gains must be held against counterattacks, while the casualties suffered by its Second unit shape the dangerous advance that follows.

Capture and Defense of the Gains

At dawn, after P-47S bomb the summit of Mount Belvedere, Ben’s company is ordered up the slope to secure itself behind the front. At 0700, the company commander announces that the 85th Regiment has taken Mount Belvedere; shortly afterward, Gorgolesco is also reported taken. General Hays orders the 85th’s Third and First units to defend the newly won ground at all cost against counterattacks. The capture therefore brings an immediate obligation: possession of the heights must be maintained under threat.

The Second Unit’s Losses

The 85th Regiment’s Second unit had been covering the ground ahead of Ben’s men, but it has taken considerable casualties. That attrition changes the role of Ben’s unit, the 86th Mountain Regiment’s Third, which is assigned to move through the front lines and attack Monte Della Torraccia as a second wave. The 85th’s losses are thus not just a measure of the cost of the advance; they leave the next assault force facing a defended crest after the first wave has already been depleted.

The Regiment’s Place in the Assault

As Ben’s unit moves forward under artillery fire, its men step over dead soldiers from the Second of the 85th Regiment as well as German troops. The 85th’s earlier action is consequently present both in the captured ground and in the casualties along the route. The regiment marks the transition between taking the heights and attempting to extend the advance to Monte Della Torraccia, while the cost of holding and crossing that front remains visible to the soldiers following behind.