Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2327 Untimely
When the Allied Forces in East Asia began to attack Saigon, the Allied Forces in North Africa were also planning a counterattack against Rommel.

At the beginning of this year, Rommel organized the third large-scale attack on the British army in North Africa. While forcing the British army back into Egypt, he forced [-] British troops to land in Tobruk, once again seizing the initiative in the North African battlefield.

Rommel's biggest problem was a serious lack of logistics. In the middle of the year, Mustache launched the Volgograd campaign, reducing reinforcements to Rommel, and Rommel's offensive was forced to stop.

Due to the situation, the United Kingdom agreed to the southern African troops entering North Africa to participate in the war, and at the same time asked the United States to increase its troops in North Africa.

In this way, North Africa is very lively.

The North African Army on Rommel's side was composed of German and Italian troops.

The Allied Forces concentrated the British Army, the Southern African Army, the American Army, and the Free French Forces. How to coordinate and unify them became the most troublesome issue.

To be more specific, the British Army is composed of British and Indian troops, Australian troops, Egyptian troops, and New Zealand troops.

Among them, the British and Indian troops with the largest number of troops have the weakest combat effectiveness.

The New Zealand army has only one division, which is not easy for the sparsely populated New Zealand.

The composition of the Southern African army is more complex, there are not only the Southern African Defense Forces, but also the Southern African Union Army, where the Union Army is composed of armies from six countries, including not only the Marine Division from Brazil, but also the Cavalry Division from Nejd .

Najd’s cavalry division is not a cavalry division in the traditional sense. Like the First Southern African Cavalry Division, Najd’s cavalry division is equipped with a large number of modern weapons such as tanks and armored vehicles. This is thanks to the crazy investment of the royal family of Najd regardless of cost. Almost all the profits Chi made from oil fields were used to purchase weapons and equipment for troops in southern Africa.

As of the end of July, the total strength of the Allied forces in North Africa had exceeded 70.

The total strength of the North African Army led by Rommel is about 24.

The 60 troops of the Allied Forces were scattered. Most of the British Eighth Army in Egypt had a total strength of about 11. Adding the Egyptian army and the southern African army that entered Egypt to fight, the total strength was about 35.

On the side of French North Africa, after the main force of the Third Army went to Spain, there were only four divisions of the southern African army remaining in French North Africa with more than 6 people, while the number of troops in Free France remained at about 19. This includes the newly established Free French Navy.

The biggest variable is the US military.

After the United States entered the war last year, it first sent two marine brigades to the British mainland to assist the United Kingdom in strengthening its defenses.

The Americans fully supported the British government's invitation. In April, the U.S. military had only one division in North Africa, but by the end of July the number had increased to nearly 10.

On August [-], high-level Allied forces held a meeting in Algiers to discuss organizational and coordination issues in the North African campaign.

Representing the United States at the meeting was Major General Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the American Expeditionary Force.

Representing Britain at the conference was Lieutenant General Harold Alexander, returning from a disastrous defeat in Burma.

Representing Southern Africa at the meeting was Admiral Patton, Commander of the Indian Ocean Theater who hastily returned from Pretoria.

Representing Free France at the meeting was Charles de Gaulle.

This combination is honestly a bit miserable.

Eisenhower's promotion speed can be called a rocket. In March last year, he was just promoted to the chief of staff of the U.S. Ninth Army. In June, he became the chief of staff of the Third Army. On the fifth day after the Pearl Harbor incident, Marshall called Eisenhower to return to Washington immediately , He was first appointed as the deputy director of the war planning department, and soon the planning department was upgraded to the war department, and Eisenhower was appointed as the chief of the war department. At this time, his rank was promoted to major general.

Alexander began serving in India ten years ago. Before the outbreak of the World War, he joined the British Expeditionary Force and went to France to fight. During the Dunkirk retreat, he was promoted to the commander of the 1st Army. He was praised by Winston for successfully organizing the withdrawal of the 1st Army to the UK. .

Alexander then went to Burma to command the Burmese British army against the Japanese invasion.

Alexander suffered a tragic defeat in Burma. This is not Alexander's problem. No matter who commands the British and Indian troops, it is impossible to defeat the Japanese army in 1941.

On the first day of the meeting, all parties involved successfully reached a consensus to set up the North African Allied Forces Command in North Africa to command unified operations of the North African Allied Forces.

Immediately afterwards, controversy began to arise over the candidate for the Allied Commander-in-Chief.

Alexander believed that North Africa was the main battlefield of the British army, so the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces should be a British.

Eisenhower also wanted to be the commander-in-chief. The reason was that the strength of the United States in North Africa was increasing rapidly, and it could reach more than 30 by the end of the year. The United States was the biggest factor leading the Allied forces in North Africa to victory.

While introducing himself, Eisenhower implicitly expressed his contempt for the British army, the southern African army, and the Free French army.

Even without the participation of the US military, the strength of the Allied forces in North Africa far exceeds that of the German and Italian forces.

The battle has been fought like this and dragged on for so long, Eisenhower very tactfully said that everyone here is rubbish.

Patton must be doing his part. One of you is a major general and the other is a lieutenant general. Let me, the general, follow your command?

Who do you look down on!
De Gaulle had the most stable mentality. He knew that it would never be his turn, so he firmly supported Patton as the commander-in-chief of the North African Allied Forces.

The benefits of wooing Free France began to appear, 2:1:1, Patton, who received the full support of de Gaulle, successfully became the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa, with Eisenhower and Alexander serving as deputy commanders.

No sooner had the commander-in-chief's problem been solved than a new one arose immediately.

Alexander believed that the scattered forces of the Allied forces were not conducive to the counterattack against the German and Italian coalition forces.

Considering that Rommel's German-Italian coalition forces had strong combat effectiveness, Alexander suggested launching an attack on Rommel's North African Army from the direction of Egypt, on the grounds that the attacking force could get the cover of the Cyprus Fleet in Southern Africa and the British Mediterranean Fleet, so even if the attack distance was relatively short long, and there is no need to worry about insufficient logistical supplies.

Now that the war has been fought, logistics has become the most critical factor affecting the direction of the battle. If Rommel hadn't been short of logistics, he would have successfully occupied the Suez Canal long ago.

Alexander's proposal was opposed by all.

The starting position of the Allied forces in French North Africa was obviously closer to the core area of ​​Rommel's North African Army than starting from Egypt.

At the same time, the Allied forces in French North Africa also had more troops than in Egypt. The Free French Army received training from southern African instructors, and their combat effectiveness was significantly higher than that of the British and Indian troops.

At the same time, the Allied forces can also get fleet cover from French North Africa.

In French North Africa, the Allied forces still have a powerful land-based aviation force, and there are very few fighter jets that Rommel can dispatch.

From August 8th to 5th, for ten days, the Allied forces were arguing endlessly about the issue of starting the offensive.

A new situation suddenly appeared on the 16th. The reconnaissance plane of the Southern African Air Force discovered that Rommel's North African Army was mobilizing troops, and it is likely to launch a new attack on the Allied forces in the near future.

The theme of the meeting immediately changed from offense to defense.

This time the focus of the debate is on the direction of Rommel's main attack.

Alexander insisted again that Rommel's main attack direction must be Egypt.

De Gaulle had a different opinion. The direction of Rommel's North African Army's mobilization indicated that multiple German divisions were moving to French North Africa, so it was obvious that Rommel's main attack direction was French North Africa.

As we all know, the Italians made up the number of the North African Army under Rommel, and the main force has always been the German army.

Therefore, if Rommel wanted to attack Egypt, the German army should move to Egypt on the eastern front instead of to the western front.

It was not convenient for Patton and Eisenhower to express their opinions, and there were also serious conflicts of interest within the Allied Forces. Both the British and the French were worried that southern Africa and the United States would expand their influence in North Africa, which would affect the colonization of North Africa by France and the United Kingdom. rule.

France has lost East Asia.

Britain had lost southern Africa.

North Africa has always been the traditional sphere of influence of Britain and France.

The day's quarrel was fruitless, and in the evening Eisenhower offered to ask Patton to have dinner, and Eisenhower was accompanied by another Patton at the dinner.

Patton of the United States is currently the commander of the 1st Armored Army of the United States. He is an admirer of Rock. Rock's use of tank troops during the First World War left a deep impression on Patton. In the first half of this year, Patton has been Worked at Dior Training Center and was responsible for building America's tank force.

Patton in southern Africa is also an expert in commanding armored forces. Like Major General Patton in the United States, Admiral Patton in southern Africa also admires Rommel's command. The two quickly found a common topic in Rommel.

"Rommel's biggest weakness lies in logistics. If Rommel had the sufficient logistics of the British army, the Allied forces might have suffered a crushing defeat in North Africa." Major General Patton was very eager to fight Rommel. The only regret is that Rommel is not Rommel in the strongest form.

"You are wrong. Even if Rommel is given sufficient logistics, Rommel cannot succeed—" Admiral Patton only admired Rommel, not to the extent of admiration: "—this is not due to Rommel's personal ability It is determined by the overall strength of the Allied Powers and the Allies. Rommel did not have more than 800 tanks when he had the most tanks. We can dispatch 8000 tanks at any time as long as we want, and [-] if we are not enough.”

Major General Patton had nothing to say. This was not a weapon-only theory. If the gap in equipment was to a certain extent, no matter how strong a person was, it was useless.

One power down ten sessions.

"The news from Washington shows that Rommel's mobilization of troops is not offensive, but defensive. We can adjust our offensive direction in a targeted manner according to Rommel's deployment, and choose the weak side to attack." Most of his military career has been Eisenhower, who served as a staff officer, had no feeling for Rommel.

Given the choice between the two Pattons, Eisenhower preferred Admiral Patton's statement.

The situation on the Allied side is complicated, and the situation on Rommel's side is even more dangerous.

The Allies were divided only because of different directions of attack.

The problem Rommel faced was how to allocate his forces to defend against attacks from two directions.

Rommel's 24 people had less than 700 tanks, of which the German army had only about 8 people and 300 tanks, and more tanks were equipped in the Italian army.

"Rommel is trying to equip the German army with tanks, and has requisitioned cars and armored vehicles from the Italian army. Even so, there is still a clear gap between the strength of the North African Army and ours. Therefore, we can launch attacks from the east and west at the same time. Rommel was completely driven out of North Africa." Admiral Patton also had his own intelligence channel, and there was also a clear gap between the North African Army and the Allied Forces in terms of intelligence.

On the Russian battlefield, the German army stole the tanks and armored vehicles equipped by the Italian army in order to strengthen its strength.

In North Africa, Rommel was also welcome. The combat effectiveness of tanks in the hands of the Italians was completely different from that of the Germans. It would be a waste to hand over the tanks to the Italians.

The intelligence gap is even more pronounced here.

After Rommel came to North Africa, he formed a radio detection company, which played a certain role in previous operations, and did a good job in intelligence detection of the Allied forces.

The Allied forces have done a better job in this regard. The German military code was deciphered by the Allied forces last year. In the hands of the Allies.

In order to confuse Rommel, the Allied forces often sent some extremely easy to decipher telegrams, which made Rommel deeply involved.

At the same time, the Allied forces can also obtain a large amount of intelligence through the Italians, which will pose a fatal threat to the actions of the North African Army at a critical moment.

"The navy must strengthen its control over the waterway, reduce the oil reserves of the North African Army, and continue to magnify Rommel's weakness." Eisenhower wanted to cut off Rommel's lifeblood.

"If necessary, we can send marines to land directly in Venice to cut off Rommel's retreat." Admiral Patton was also insidious. The southern African army was not invincible, but was working hard to cooperate with the Russian battlefield.

The southern African army is serious. The second, third, and fifth armies all have the strength to defeat Rommel.

It can even be said to be easily defeated.

Rommel is best at mobile warfare, and his weaknesses are actually obvious.

Mobile warfare can play an important role when attacking, but it is of little significance when defending.

The key point is that the strength gap between the two sides is too great, and the Allied forces can launch an attack directly on the core area that Rommel must protect, forcing Rommel and the Allied forces to fight a decisive battle, so that Rommel will lose the space for movement.

Armored troops are not infantry, and they rely heavily on logistics. Without oil tanks, they are just lumps of iron.

"The German army squeezed the Italians very seriously. We can turn against the Italians. No Italian is willing to die for the Germans—" Eisenhower's words made Admiral Patton feel a little guilty. Southern Africa is secretly contacting Italy. He is really a hero. I see the same thing.

On the other side of the dining table, Major General Patton was in a very sad mood.

Each of the two old foxes made a clear arrangement for Rommel. This is also the tragedy of the famous general. Not only was he born at the wrong time, but he was also born in the wrong camp.

(End of this chapter)