The battle of Morava–Ivan was the first major Greek offensive in the Greco-Italian War of 1940-1941. It took place on the eastern flank of the Greek-Italian front, where the Italian forces had remained on the defensive during the initial Italian invasion toward Epirus. It was a major success for the Greek forces, not only on operational terms, but also as a morale boost, as the breaching of Morava–Ivan line led to the fall of the city of Korçë to Greek hands, and made news internationally. Prelude Initial conception The plans for the offensive had been laid by the Greek General Staff before the start of the war. Following the torpedoing of the Greek cruiser Elli by an Italian submarine on 15 August 1940, the Greek authorities became certain that an Italian invasion was imminent and started to assess the situation. Greek intelligence had revealed fairly accurately the Italian disposition of forces in Albania, which showed that the Italian forces planned to attack towards Epirus while keeping a defensive posture on the Macedonian sector. The Greek plan was finalised in the second half of September. The Greek forces in North-Western Macedonia would keep a defensive posture, potentially improving the positions with limited attacks in Albanian ground, until the necessary forces arrived. The objective of the offensive was to boost the morale of the Greek forces and the nation in general, as well as to capture the important transportation centre that was Korçë. 28 October – 13 November The Greek forces available on the sector were the 9th Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Brigade (soon expanded into the 15th Infantry Division), under the III Army Corps. In the first three days of the war, they were not attacked in any appreciable scale. From 1–6 November, they began their own limited offensives, entering in some places Albania. During these clashes, it was revealed that they faced the Parma, Piemonte and Venezia divisions of the Italian XXVI Corps. Terrain The terrain was very favourable for defence, although it afforded little strategic depth. The Greek and Italian positions were separated by the Devoll river valley. North of the valley lay the Morava mountain, a continuation of the Gramos mountains, with a maximum altitude of . North of the Morava is the Korçë plateau. The Morava massif provided good defensive positions for the Italians but the lack of depth meant that if the defences on