Word: swift
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Modern Visigoths. At midnight the ancient city gates were closed to prevent fleeing refugees from running into advancing Nazi columns. Then at dawn they came, the modern version of Alaric's Visigoths: grimy German warriors in swift, battle-stained tanks and armored reconnaissance motorcycles. They were Austrian soldiers led by General Edmund Glaise-Horstenau, famous quisling in the Schuschnigg Government. Hitler had once promised commiserating Edouard Daladier, "Oh, Daladier, you're going to get to know my Austrians. You're going to make their acquaintance." He was keeping that promise...
Italian divisions have but two regiments each, 10,000 men. Three semi-mechanized celeri (swift) divisions are built around light tanks, horse-drawn and motorized artillery, with Bersaglieri (sharpshooters) on bicycles, motor trucks, motorcycles. Three armored divisions, and six armored regiments have heavier (eight-to-twelve-ton) break-through tanks, besides assault tanks, infantry in trucks, an engineer company with bridging equipment, anti-tank and anti-aircraft units...
Cooing contentedly, the little girl toddled out the front gate and started down the road. A swift dark shape which had been wheeling in the blue sky plummeted down. It was an enormous eagle. The little girl saw the sinister shape, flinched and screamed, but the fierce talons closed on tender flesh, the child was caught into the air, and with powerful pinions beating, the eagle headed for its eyrie. At that moment the child's father spreng out the door with his rifle. Without an instant's hesitation, risking the child's life...
...steel prongs, composed of some 200 swift tanks each, followed by armored demolition units, pressed on to the outskirts of Rouen and to Gisors, only 35 miles from Paris. The evacuation of Paris began. The British announced they were rushing "important contingents" to France and sending more airplanes...
France, like her ally, is calm and proud." As he concluded, swift Reynaud made one last plea for speed: "Immense values are at stake and time is limited."Calm and proud. Someone has said that though most human bodies are composed of oxygen (65%), carbon (18%), hydrogen (10%), nitrogen (3%), calcium (1.5%), phosphorus (1%), the body of a Frenchman is a simple compound of pepper, garlic, pate de foie gras, common bread and good red wine of the land. The French are pungent people. Little things make them gesticulate wildly and pour maledictions like a flood: a bowl of soup...