At one point in Italy, he became aware of an entire German division garrisoned in a medieval mountain town. A division would have well over 10,000 men. In contrast, Popski had only a couple dozen. So, his usual traditional guerrilla hit-and-run ambush tactics wouldn’t do much, especially because the Italian mountains did not offer the same escape and evasion opportunities as the enormous desert of North Africa, where he had developed his tactics. But then, he had one of his crazed brainstorms.
The whole strategic point was taking real estate, forcing the enemy back. What if he just scared them off? And, maybe, say, stole their trucks?
This occurred about the same time he’d met a local Italian partisan commander, a Major Ferri. He and Popski immediately agreed to throw in together, and an audacious plot was hatched. Many partisan commanders often executed captured Germans, but Ferri had instead held his as prisoners.