Editing Gothic Line (section)

==={{anchor|Coriano}}Coriano taken and the advance to Rimini and San Marino===
{{Further|Battle of San Marino}}

With progress slow at Gemmano, Leese decided to renew the attack on Coriano. After a paralyzing bombardment from 700 artillery pieces<ref>Orgill, p. 124.</ref> and bombers, the Canadian 5th Armoured Division and the British 1st Armoured Division launched their attack on the night of 12 September. The Coriano positions were finally taken on 14 September.

Once again, the way was open to Rimini. Kesselring's forces had taken heavy losses, and three divisions of reinforcements ordered to the Adriatic front would not be available for at least a day. Now, the weather intervened: torrential rain turned the rivers into torrents and halted air support operations. Once again movement ground to a crawl, and the German defenders had the opportunity to reorganise and reinforce their positions on the Marano river, and the salient to the Lombardy plain closed. Once more, the Eighth Army was confronted by an organised line of defence, the Rimini Line.

Meanwhile, with Croce and beyond it Montescudo secured, the left wing of the Eighth Army advanced to the Marano river and the frontier of [[San Marino]]. The Germans had occupied neutral San Marino over a week previously to take advantage of the heights on which the city-state stood. By 19 September, the city was isolated and [[Battle of San Marino|fell to the Allies]] with relatively little cost.<ref>Orgill, pp. 140–141.</ref> {{convert|3|mi}} beyond San Marino lay the Marecchia valley running across the Eighth Army line of advance and running to the sea at Rimini.

During the night of 19/20 September, Brigadier [[Richard Goodbody|Richard W. Goodbody]], commanding the [[2nd Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|2nd Armoured Brigade]], ordered (with many doubts) the [[2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)]] to attack Pt 153 at 10.50. The German antitank gunners, using the renowned [[8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41|88mm guns]], had a field day. All but three [[M4 Sherman|Sherman tanks]] of the two squadrons that took part in the attack were destroyed. The Bays lost 24 tanks and, more important, 64 highly skilled tank crewmen. Fortunately for the [[9th Queen's Royal Lancers]], who had been ordered to pass through the Bays, their attack was postponed after strong representations had been made to higher HQ.<ref>War Monthly - Issue 34 (1977). ''Gothic Line 1944'', by E. D. Smith, p. 28. {{ISSN|0307-2886}}.</ref>

On the right the I Canadian Corps on 20 September broke the German positions on the Ausa river and into the Lombardy Plain and [[3rd Greek Mountain Brigade]] [[Battle of Rimini (1944)|entered Rimini]] on the morning of 21 September as the Germans withdrew from their positions on the Rimini Line behind the Ausa to new positions on the Marecchia.<ref>Jackson, p. 296.</ref> However, Kesselring's defence had won him time until the onset of the autumn rains. Progress for the Eighth Army became very slow with mud slides caused by the torrential rain making it difficult to keep roads and tracks open, creating a logistical nightmare. Although they were out of the hills, the plains were waterlogged and the Eighth Army found themselves confronted, as they had the previous autumn, by a succession of swollen rivers running across their line of advance.<ref>Orgill, p. 161.</ref> Once again, the conditions prevented Eighth Army's armour from exploiting the breakthrough, and the infantry of British V Corps and [[I Canadian Corps]] (joined by the 2nd New Zealand Division) had to grind their way forward while von Vietinghoff withdrew his forces behind the next river beyond the Marecchia, the Uso, a few miles beyond Rimini. The positions on the Uso were forced on 26 September, and Eighth Army reached the next river, the Fiumicino, on 29 September. Four days of heavy rain forced a halt, and by this time V Corps was fought out and required major reorganization.

Since the start of Operation Olive, Eighth Army had suffered 14,000 casualties.{{Refn|group=nb|The British Official History gives V Corps casualties as 9,000 and Canadian casualties (referencing the Canadian Official History) as just under 4,000 up to 21 September. In addition, losses to sickness in V Corps were 6,000 and 1,000 in 1st Canadian Division with no figure given for [[5th Canadian Division|Canadian 5th Armoured Division]].{{Sfn|Jackson|2004|p=303}} Leese reported battle casualties totaling 14,000 and 210 irrecoverable tanks.{{Sfn|Jackson|2004|p=303}}}} As a result, British battalions had to be reduced from four to three [[Company (military unit)|rifle companies]] due to a severe shortage of manpower. Facing the Eighth Army LXXVI ''Panzer'' Corps had suffered 16,000 casualties.<ref>Jackson, p.304.</ref> As the Eighth Army paused at the end of September to reorganise Leese was reassigned to command the [[11th Army Group|Allied land forces]] in [[South-East Asian Theatre of World War II|South-East Asia]] and Lieutenant-General [[Richard McCreery|Richard L. McCreery]] was moved from commanding British X Corps to take over the army command.<ref>Carver, p. 243.</ref>