Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2304 The Second Battlefield
Half a month ago, The Times conducted a series of in-depth reports on the Allied forces in North Africa, many of which were used to report on the American soldiers who had arrived in North Africa.

The U.S. strategy is to put Europe first and then Asia. The number of U.S. soldiers who have arrived in North Africa is much higher than that in East Asia. It reached 25 last month, and the number of allied forces in North Africa is about 80, which is far more than 23. The German-Italian Allied Forces of [-] people.

More than three-quarters of the North African coalition forces led by Rommel were Italian troops.

Fighting broke out again in North Africa two months ago.

At this time, the North African Allied Forces possessed three times as many tanks as Rommel, 2.5 times as many aircraft, and about five times as many heavy artillery. In terms of the most important oil reserves, the North African Allied Forces were about [-] times more than the German and Italian Allied Forces .

Rommel had saved fuel for more than half a year, which could only supply the German and Italian coalition forces for about half a month.

The difference in troop strength is so great, but the pace of battle is extremely slow. The Indian 17th Division rushed from Marut to Tobruk for support. It traveled only 300 kilometers for a month, until the British army surrendered in Tobruk, and did not wait for the Indian troops. reinforce.

In the third stage of the North African campaign, the German army besieged Tobruk for nine months, but the British army in Tobruk did not surrender.

This time, the British army stationed in Tobruk has more troops and more abundant logistics. There are allied fleet support at sea, but Tobruk fell unexpectedly. This directly led to the resignation of the commander-in-chief of the British Eighth Army, Rich. Richie's was Montgomery who rose to fame during the French campaign.

It should be pointed out that while the British Eighth Army was fighting fiercely with Rommel, nearly 50 Allied soldiers stationed in French North Africa had nothing to do, soaking in baths, fishing and basking in the sun all day long, and scandals arose one after another.

After Spain surrendered, most of the Third Army in Southern Africa was transferred to Spain to station. The Allied troops stationed in French North Africa were mainly free French and American troops.

The army of the Free France is somewhat restrained in French North Africa, after all, it is the French's own land.

The American soldiers let go completely, and the spectacle of the barracks surrounded by tents was staged again. An American soldier triumphantly declared to the reporter of "The Times" that he could exchange a French woman with a piece of chocolate.

After the news about the American soldier appeared in the newspapers, it immediately aroused the indignation of the whole world, especially that the American soldier was African, which made it even more unacceptable for Europeans.

As I said many times before, Europeans have a long history of discrimination against Americans.

Discrimination against Africans is even more deeply rooted. Except for France, no other country in Europe is willing to accept Africans.

So when an African-American soldier spouted nonsense in the newspaper, one can imagine the sensation it caused.

Charities in southern Africa responded the fastest. After the words of the American soldier appeared in the newspapers, several charities in southern Africa allocated special funds to improve the living conditions of refugees in North Africa, focusing on women and children.

Leaving Rock's office, Alvin ordered Brad's office to secretly collect all kinds of black material about the United States, and prepare to make it public at an appropriate time, further deepening Europe's antipathy towards the United States.

There is no need to collect it at all. Americans have a lot of gossip. The key depends on whether the news media is willing to report. It has been less than half a year since the American soldiers arrived in North Africa. The collection of all kinds of negative news is enough to make a book, such as chocolate for women They are all relatively civilized, and the "Times" dare not report more serious crimes, for fear of affecting the morale of the Allied forces.

On January 1, the first batch of U.S. troops arrived in North Africa. Three days later, seven U.S. soldiers sneaked out of the camp, sneaked into a nearby refugee camp, and molested as many as 25 women. The youngest girl was only eight years old.

On March 3, the U.S. military took over a German-Italian prisoner-of-war camp. Soon after, a prisoner abuse scandal broke out, and some prisoners were even raped by American soldiers.

It should be noted that the raped prisoners of war and the US soldiers who were violent were all men.

In April, sporadic exchanges of fire broke out between the Allied forces and the German-Italian coalition forces. After a U.S. military unit fought, a reporter from The Times broke the news that U.S. soldiers had committed crimes and even robbed the property of local residents during the battle.

All these things made the editor of The Times couldn't help but lament that the discipline of some US troops is worse than that of bandits.

Just as bad as discipline is the combat effectiveness of the US military.

Don't look at the movies made by the Americans, the American soldiers are all kinds of brave and good at fighting, one can fight a hundred.

On the real battlefield, the performance of American soldiers is far inferior to that of the southern African army, even the British and Indian troops in the British army. It has only been half a year since the US military arrived in North Africa, and hundreds of American soldiers have been tried by military courts for fear of war. American soldiers deliberately caused injuries to avoid combat missions, and some even self-harmed in order to leave North Africa and return to the United States.

There are even more people who don't work hard. In a battle in Biskra, a regiment of U.S. troops was ordered to attack a position where only half a battalion of German troops were stationed. The battle lasted for nearly two weeks without making any progress. U.S. artillery provided fire cover. At that time, the artillery shells were hit on the heads of the US attacking troops, and the infantry accompanying the attacking tanks were actually run over by the tanks. After the reinforcements from the Free France arrived, the battle ended with the active retreat of the German troops.

It has never happened to the North African Allied Forces that infantrymen were run over by their own tanks, and they must be investigated.

The results of the investigation left everyone dumbfounded.

At that time, the attacking troops were hit by German anti-tank guns. The tankers backed up in a hurry, and the soldiers accompanying the attacking tanks had no time to dodge. One was run over to death, and the other two had to have their limbs amputated.

After this incident, even de Gaulle began to lower his expectations for the US military.

As a big country whose strength is similar to that of southern Africa, the performance of the troops of the two countries is very different on the battlefield. The current U.S. military is not as good as the troops of the Free France. U.S. troops from North Africa were transferred to Egypt.

Montgomery looked down on Americans even more.

Assisting the British army in defending Egypt was the Second Southern African Army. How could Montgomery think of the Americans? In Montgomery's view, the combat effectiveness of the Americans was not even as good as that of the Abyssinians.

The Abyssinians had persisted for more than three years in the face of the Italian attack. When the Second Army of Southern Africa invaded the Abyssinian Empire, the total number of Abyssinian Empire rebels had already More than 15 people.

After the restoration of the Abyssinian Empire, ten divisions were formed, and about 20 servants joined the Allied Forces, under the command of the Southern African military.

These ten divisions are all equipped by southern Africa. Although they lack heavy weapons, their training work is still very solid, and they are qualified as light infantry.

At present, four of these ten divisions have arrived in Egypt, preparing to participate in the offensive against the German-Italian coalition forces in North Africa.

"A United States like this simply doesn't have the strength to compete with us." After fully understanding the situation of the US military, Alvin dismissed the United States.

"Don't worry about it, as long as the American soldiers are qualified cannon fodder." Rock doesn't dislike it, as long as they don't perform well, Rock will be worried if the American soldiers perform well on the battlefield.

For Rock, the most important thing now is the ongoing Battle of Volgograd.

When the time came to July, the Battle of Volgograd broke out in full swing.

After the 4th Armored Army led by Huot was placed under the command of Army Group A, the 6th Armored Army led by Paulus had only two armored armies left. The whole army consisted of 14 divisions with about 27 people, equipped with 500 tanks, 3000 artillery, supported by about 1200 fighters from the Fourth Air Force.

Russia formed the Volgograd Front Army on the basis of the Southwest Front Army. Marshal Timoshenko served as the commander and had 38 divisions under his jurisdiction, but only 16 divisions could be used for front-line operations. The German army had a slight advantage in front-line strength.

The main advantage of the German army lies in the air force. The comparison with the Russian air force is about 3.6:1. Since the outbreak of the war, the Russian air force has suffered a lot of losses, especially skilled pilots. This part of the loss cannot be made up in a short time.

In mid-July, fierce fighting broke out between the German army and the Russians on the outskirts of Volgograd. Paulus used the 8th Infantry Army and the 14th Armored Army as the northern assault group, and the 51st Infantry Army and the 24th Armored Army as the southern assault group. Encircled the Russian 62nd Army and launched an attack in the direction of Karachi.

At the same time, some troops launched a feint attack on the Russian 64th Army to attract the attention of the Volgograd defenders.

On July 7, the German army broke through the right-wing defense line of the 20nd Army and encircled the two divisions of the Army. The forward troops arrived at the Don River on the west side of Volgograd.

Almost at the same time, the German army responsible for the feint attack also broke through the right-wing position of the 64th Army, attempting to forcibly cross the Don River near Karachi.

The Battle of Volgograd had just begun, and Russia was once again facing unprecedented difficulties.

On July 7, Roque sent a telegram to Winston, who was in the United States, hoping that the North African Allied Forces would launch operations against the German and Italian Allied Forces to appropriately reduce the pressure on Russia.

Winston may be busy, and Rock had not received Winston's reply by the night of July 7, so Rock sent a telegram to Arthur, authorizing Arthur to launch unilateral actions against the Greek German army.

Arthur had been waiting for this order for a long time.

After the Battle of Greece, part of the German troops went to support the Russian battlefield, and part of the German troops were transferred to North Africa. The Axis troops stationed in Greece were mainly Italians.

Just kidding, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army——

For the southern African army, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is indeed a joke.

After receiving Rock's order, Arthur still sent a telegram to Cunningham, reminding Cunningham that in the next period of time, the Cyprus Squadron will reduce its support for the British Army in North Africa and focus more on Greek direction.

After receiving the telegram, Cunningham was very anxious. He was not worried about the British army in North Africa, but worried that the influence of southern Africa around the Mediterranean Sea would once again expand.

The expansion of influence in southern Africa means that the influence of Britain is further reduced.

This time Winston's telegram came quickly.

In the telegram, Winston still hoped that Rock would remain patient and wait for the situation on the Russian battlefield to become clearer.

In other words, the Germans and Russians are not dead yet, and not enough blood has been shed.

Rock agreed to delay the time before because he knew the final outcome of the Russo-German war, so he could reach an agreement with Winston.

Now Rock's attitude has quietly changed. Since southern Africa wants to strive for a higher international status after the war, southern Africa cannot follow the British everywhere, and must gain the dominance of the war. People have the final say, but Southern Africa has the final say.

On July 7, the situation on the Russian battlefield further deteriorated. The 28th Army was forced to retreat across the Don River, leaving only the 64nd Army still fighting alone on the west bank of the Don River.

The bearded man was very disappointed with the old marshal Timoshenko, and he will be dismissed from his post, and he will be replaced by Lieutenant General Gordov, commander of the 64th Army, and will send General Vasilevsky, the chief of staff, as the Supreme Command The representative went to Volgograd to assist in commanding the battle. At the same time, the 1st and 4th tank armies serving as reserves were quickly transferred to Volgograd to participate in the battle.

In order to withstand the German attack, Big Beard issued Order No. 7 on July 28. All soldiers who disobeyed the order and left their combat positions or retreated will be severely punished, and strictly demanded that the Russian troops "absolutely not take a step back! "

In the early morning of July 7th, six divisions of the Southern African Fifth Army led by Arthur, with a total strength of 29 troops, under the cover of 9.6 warships of the Cyprus Squadron and 40 fighter planes of Army Aviation and Hainan Airlines, headed towards Crete, Greece. Island attack.

Last May, the last southern African troops were withdrawn from Crete and all of Greece fell.

No one could have imagined that only 14 months later, the Allied forces would launch a counterattack against Greece. King George II of Greece was ecstatic and came to Arthur's mansion in person, thanked Arthur in person, and promised to wait until the end of the war. Open all of Greece to southern Africa, allowing southern African troops to station.

This is a vote of honor, but also a talisman. George II has lived in Cyprus for more than a year, and has fully realized the sorrow of a small country with few people in this chaotic era. Greece alone cannot resist the invasion of a powerful country by force. Instead of spending huge sums of money to build a national defense system, it is better to find a thigh to hug it tightly, which is more conducive to the survival of a small country with few people.

Greece once pinned its hopes on the United Kingdom and France. As a result, war broke out and France quickly fell flat. The United Kingdom directly abandoned Greece in order to divert disasters to the north. The reason why Greece fell was of course the Greek government's own reasons, and Britain and France were more responsible.

Now George II finally understands that southern Africa is the only thigh, so after the fall of Greece, the British government and George VI repeatedly invited George II to the UK to form a government in exile, but George II did not agree.

So what if you go to the UK? The UK can’t help George II restore the country. It is southern Africa that can help Greece. Look at how many troops the southern Africa has hoarded around the Mediterranean Sea. George II is not blind, let alone stupid.

In the attack sequence of the Fifth Army, the [-]rd Airborne Division and the [-]th Airborne Division are particularly eye-catching. These two units will conduct an airborne landing on Crete to open the way for the attack of the follow-up troops.

(End of this chapter)