DRONE 4k Video Fortress FRENCH ITALIAN ALPS - Infernet - Janus - Chaberton - Assietta plateau IDTrek

This is a drone video of our trek. In it you will see from a bird's-eye view all the beauty, power and inaccessibility of the fortresses of the Alps. 1. Fort de l'Infernet is a fortification complex near Briançon in the French Alps. It was built as part of the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications in 1876–78 to defend France against invasion from Italy. It specifically overlooks the valley of the Durance behind and the fortress Gondran, closer to Italy. Built at an elevation of 2380 meters, the fort was accessed by an aerial tramway, which connected to the older Fort Randouillet at lower elevation. The garrison was accommodated in two barracks at somewhat lower elevation, La Cochette and La Seyte, with a portion of the total contingent rotated into the fort for duty. The aerial tramway was operated by mule power. In 1940 the fort was manned as a backup fortification to the Alpine Line fortifications of the Maginot Line program, and was bombarded on 21 and 23 June 1940 by mortars at Fort Mont Chaberton. 280 mm field mortars placed at Infernet replied, silencing the Italian battery. 2. Mont Chaberton is a 3 131 metres peak in the French Alps in the group known as the Massif des Cerces in the département of Hautes-Alpes. In 1883 Italy joined the Triple Alliance and started strengthening its defenses against France. Between 1898 and 1910, Italian troops built an access road for Pack animals, barracks for workers, and finally an artillery battery on the summit that pointed towards France, particularly at the town of Briançon, and the pass over the Col de Montgenèvre. The road to the summit was built from the village of Fénils in the Susa Valley by soldiers and engineers led by Major Engineer Luigi Pollari Maglietta. They flattened the summit by about 6 metres to provide a surface for the eight towers. Their height of 12 metres was designed to overcome the highest snowfall recorded. 3. Fort Janus The location was known from the end of the 18th century as the Château Jouan, occupied by a Vauban-era round tower. In 1883 a Séré de Rivières system fortification was begun on the massif, called the Fort du Janus. Work continued until 1889 with a blockhouse in top of the position and a rock-cut battery in the face of the mountain, which housed four 95mm naval guns. In 1891-92 the blockhouse was expanded to two levels for a barracks, and from 1898 to 1906 a subterranean barracks was excavated. The whole was surrounded by a perimeter wall. 4. Battle of Assietta The Battle of Assietta was a significant engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession and pitted a numerically superior French force of 25,000–40,000 men under the command of Louis Fouquet, Chevalier de Belle-Isle against a Sardinian army of 7,000–15,000 men led by Giovanni di Bricherasio. Although he outnumbered the French in the area, Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy was forced to dispatch forces to defend all the passes into his country while the French could concentrate their forces and needed attack only one mountain pass to enter Sardinian territory. The decision was made by the French to advance through Assietta. The Sardinians had fortified the area. French scouts had notified their commander that the Sardinians were fortifying the pass, and a decision to launch an attack immediately was taken. Numerous obstacles, redoubts and an eighteen foot high palisade had been built on the slope by the Sardinian defenders. The forces involved amounted to thirty two French battalions against thirteen Sardinian battalions. The attacks began at about 16:30 in the afternoon. After five hours of battle, the French made the decision to retreat. The French commander, Chevalier de Belle-Isle, was killed while raising the French flag near the top of the slope. What ensued in the late afternoon was celebrated as the most one-sided victories of the war. A retreat, which proved more orderly then the previous butchery, was portended. The one-sided character of the slaughter was apparent. French casualties totaled 6,400 killed and wounded including 400 officers, and for the first and the only times in the war the majority of them, 3,700, were fatalities while only 299 Sardinians were killed or wounded. The beaten French troops retreated from the field. This would be their last engagement on the Italian front as they entirely withdrew from Italy after it, although minor skirmishes continued between Hapsburg and Italian forces and the remaining Franco-Spanish troops in the region. Enjoy watching! If you like this video, please 👍🏻 and subscribe to our channel ! ` Follow us : Facebook :   / idtrek   Instagram :   / idtrek   Youtube :    / @idtrek   TIME STAMPS : 0:00:00 – Around Infernet fortress 0:00:58 – Infernet fortress 0:01:38 – Janus fortress 0:04:14 – Mont Chaberton 0:07:34 – Battery of Gran Moutass 0:08:12 – Assietta plateau 0:09:29 – Battery of Gran Costa 0:10:09 – Full panorama of our trek 0:10:41 – Outro