By the end of July, the Germans had pushed the Soviets across the Don River. At this point, the Don and Volga Rivers are only apart, and the Germans left their main supply depots west of the Don, which had important implications later in the course of the battle. The Germans began using the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies to guard their left (northern) flank. Occasionally Italian actions were mentioned in official German communiques. Italian forces were generally held in little regard by the Germans, and were accused of low morale: in reality, the Italian divisions fought comparatively well, with the 3rd Mountain Infantry Division Ravenna and 5th Infantry Division Cosseria showing spirit, according to a German liaison officer. The Italians were forced to retreat only after a massive armoured attack in which German reinforcements failed to arrive in time, according to a German historian.