The outermost troops were therefore withdrawn in order to reduce the perimeter. Heavy casualties were inflicted, as the Allied troops were too thinly spread to be able to resist concentrated attacks. Over 12–14 September the Germans organized a concerted counterattack by six divisions of motorized troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British Eighth Army. They linked up by the end of day two and occupied 35–45 miles (56–72 km) of coastline to a depth of 6–7 miles (9.7–11.3 km). Both the British and the Americans made slow progress, and still had a 10 miles (16 km) gap between them at the end of day one. It caused heavy casualties but was beaten off. Around 07:00 a concerted counterattack was made by the 16th Panzer Division. The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were captured. The Salerno landings were carried out without previous naval or aerial bombardment in order to achieve surprise. Simultaneous sea landings were made by the British 1st Airborne Division at the port of Taranto ( Operation Slapstick). This was a landing by the British Eighth Army, under General Sir Bernard Montgomery, in Calabria in the 'toe' of Italy, on 3 September. In order to draw troops away from the landing ground, Operation Baytown was mounted. Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping the Axis troops further south. 82nd Airborne Division, a total of about nine divisions. VI Corps, the British X Corps, and the U.S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W. The landings were carried out by the U.S. Planned under the name Top Hat, it was supported by the deception plan Operation Boardman. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area defended by German troops. Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II.
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