 As the Allies advanced north, they encountered increasingly difficult terrain, as mountains offered excellent defensive position to Axis forces.The final Allied victory over the Axis in Italy did not come until the spring offensive of 1945, after Allied troops had breached the Gothic Line, leading to the surrender of German and Fascist forces in Italy on 2 May shortly before Germany finally surrendered ending World War II in Europe on 8 May.It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945 some 60,000 Allied and 50,000 German soldiers died in Italy.