Even though Pisa and Florence were monuments of European culture they were astride a military line, and that line the Germans were bent on holding if they could. Through both cities the Arno flowed between masonry banks, making it a perfect tank trap and barrier to infantry. The Allies held the south bank, the Germans the north. So the war in Italy became a peculiar kind of delicate slugging match among the museums, with world-famous art in no man's land (see ART).
Into Florence. The Fifth Army had been pinned in the southern...
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