through the desert. During the march, a column of retreating German vehicles passes by without stopping; a German soldier warns the Italians that they "will die here". An overloaded Italian truck also passes by, again refusing to take anyone on board. They encounter a general (Silvio Orlando), who is burying his orderly, killed by an air strike. The general refuses any help, and is left alone; later, at sunset, he finishes burying his orderly and then commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. The platoon reaches Qaret el Khadim, but only finds a field hospital; a medical officer (Giuseppe Cederna) informs them that the new orders are to retreat to Fuka and says that he will wait for the Allies to come, because they will have better means to care for the wounded. The platoon manages to board a truck, but while on the road they are attacked and strafed by a Supermarine Spitfire; they stop near a shelter, push aside the sentries trying to stop them, and take shelter inside, finding there a colonel (Roberto Citran) who says that their retreat is a "strategic disengaging manoeuvre" and that "reinforcements will come". When they leave the shelter after the raid has ended, they discover that their truck has been destroyed. Lt. Fiore’s platoon begin once more their march in the midst of the desert. A sudden cloudburst gives some relief to the dehydrated men. They encounter a bersagliere on a motorcycle, who tells them that the British forces have already occupied Fuka, and the order is now to retreat to Marsa Matruh – 100 more kilometres on foot through the desert. The platoon settles near an old cemetery for the night. During the following night, however, some Bren carriers find them, and capture all the survivors except for Fiore, Rizzo, and Serra, who have placed themselves farther away, and are not noticed. In the morning, the three start up again their march, but Fiore is weakened by an untreated wound, and can barely walk. They reach some vehicles abandoned in the desert; a truck turns out to be unusable, but Serra manages to power up a motorcycle. Fiore is in too bad a shape to get on the motorcycle, so he tells Rizzo and Serra to leave him and save themselves. Rizzo, however, decides not to abandon Fiore; when Serra says that he won’t go without them, Rizzo forces