 Although they intended to blow up bridges and tunnels and render the highway () and railway unusable, the commander of the 4th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Armando De Felice, threatened the German troops with retaliation to prevent demolitions.On 27 April, De Felice contacted Augusto Adam, the local leader of the partisans affiliated with the National Liberation Committee to secure his cooperation against any French invasion of Italian territory, which was given.The French first attacked the Redoute Ruinée on 21 December 1944.