Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2352
On the Russian battlefield, every step forward of the German army will be met with desperate resistance from the Russians.

Several well-known urban offensive and defensive battles were all fought for an inch by inch, and both sides paid a huge price.

There is a reason for Molotov to despise the Allied forces in North Africa. The fighting intensity in Kalamata is not even as good as the small-scale encounters of patrol troops in Russia. As soon as the bombs in southern Africa were dropped, the Italian army in charge of defense immediately coaxed And scattered, so that the landing troops did not encounter any resistance at all during the landing process, and many pre-war plans did not come in handy.

Under normal circumstances, the landing battle should avoid port cities, choose a suitable landing site, first establish a beachhead, send heavy weapons ashore, and then launch an attack step by step.

Kalamata is an important port in southern Greece. It has relatively complete port facilities and there are forts nearby. If the Italian army resists tenaciously, it will probably take a lot of effort.

When Arthur and Mike Tolan formulated the battle plan, they had different plans for different situations.

If the Italian army resists tenaciously, the landing force will give up landing in Kalamata and choose to land in Cariofolk, about 20 kilometers away from Kalamata, where there is only about one company of defenders.

After the fleet arrived at the port of Kalamata, it was not attacked by the battery at all.

Mike Tolan was still cautious, and took the initiative to send the marines to take the landing craft to attack the fort first.

Inside the landing craft No. 22521 was Second Lieutenant Ford from Bechuanaland and his landing craft team.

The landing craft of the Cyprus Squadron can take about 24 people, and the standard is two squads.

Each landing craft squad has a designated commander and an alternate commander.

If both commanders are killed, then the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer will take over the command, or be merged into other landing craft squads.

Different from the establishment of the army, the landing craft squad is equipped with flamethrowers and blasting tubes to meet various needs in the battle. In addition to combatants, the squad is also equipped with communication soldiers and medical soldiers.

The landing craft team led by Lieutenant Ford, the alternate commander is the third-class sergeant Ferrari, equipped with two general-purpose machine guns and two rocket launchers. A precision shooter.

The space inside the landing craft is so narrow that the marines could not sit down and had to stand.

The speed of the landing craft was not fast, only about 20 kilometers per hour. Today's luck was not good, the sea was a bit rough, and a soldier's head accidentally hit the steel plate of the hull. Fortunately, he was protected by a helmet and was not injured.

At this time, several fighter planes roared past in the sky. These were carrier-based fighter jets that took off from the "Cyprus" aircraft carrier, and they were responsible for providing cover for the landing troops.

In fact, it didn’t matter, the landing craft didn’t come under any attack after they set off, and there wasn’t even a single person on the fort at the port. I don’t know if all the defenders had fled, or Italy just abandoned the fort knowing it was invincible.

The landing point is the beach not far from the fort. The scale of the Kalamata fort is not large. This has a lot to do with Greece's status in the Mediterranean Sea. It is actually just a show.

Greece is weak in the Mediterranean Sea. The current Britain, France, Italy, Southern Africa, and the former Ottoman Empire, all of which cannot be offended by Greece. If they are invaded, there is not much room for resistance, so the fort is not very meaningful. .

The team of 24 people successfully landed on the beach, divided into two teams under the leadership of Ford and Ferrari, and began to advance in depth.

There are still bunkers around the fort, Lieutenant Ford did not dare to be careless, and sent Ferrari to lead the riflemen to launch an attack, with general-purpose machine guns and precision shooters in charge of covering, ready to stand.

As a result, it didn't take long for Ford to see Ferrari waving beside the bunker, and there were no defenders at all.

"No one, no one in the whole position, probably all the Italians have run away--" Ferrari had a strange expression, both rejoicing that he survived the catastrophe, and regretting that his ambition was not fulfilled.

"As expected!" Ford was not surprised. The Italian army in Greece was a garrison army, and there was still a gap between them and the elite troops.

There are many bomb craters on the bunker, which were not caused by the Marine Corps, but the traces left by the bloody battle between the Allied forces and the German army during the Greek campaign.

The Italians didn't even fix it, no wonder they gave up so easily.

The fort was not empty either. When the marines entered the fort, an old man in uniform came to open the door.

The old man looked at Ford neither sad nor happy. When Ford came to the old man, the old man took the initiative to speak, and Ford did not understand Greek.

"He said be careful, don't break things—" The translator's expression was tangled, and this request was a bit high.

"Ask him, where are all the Italians?" Ford couldn't believe the fight was going to be so easy.

"Gone, he left a few days ago, and he doesn't know where he went—" The interpreter completely relaxed, this is the normal Italian army.

"Search here thoroughly—" Ford also relaxed, and looked back at the old man: "Be careful not to break things, unless it is absolutely necessary."

Ford still can't believe that victory is so easy.

Roosevelt didn't believe it either.

Southern Africa launched a counterattack in Greece, occupying most of the Peloponnese in just three days.

The Italian defenders were on the verge of collapse, and there was no decent battle at all. The southern African army has suffered less than a hundred casualties, most of which were non-combat losses.

Greek civilians played an important role in the battle. They took the initiative to guide the southern African army and attacked the Italian soldiers who were alone. In Marathon, hundreds of local farmers and hunters organized to occupy Marathon before the Italian army retreated. Southern African troops captured 4000 Italians.

Thanks to the well-developed communication system in southern Africa, Greece's daily battle reports can be delivered to Casablanca immediately, and everyone has different reactions.

Winston was very dissatisfied with the private actions of the southern African army. It was agreed that there would be 13 of them pretending to be together. Unexpectedly, Rock rushed to attack behind Winston's back, which made Winston feel abandoned.

Molotov was even more dissatisfied.

On the Russian battlefield, whether it is the Germans or the Italians, they are as tough as granite, fighting to the death with the Russians, never retreating an inch.

The Italians on the Greek battlefield were real noodles. Some Italian troops even gave up fleeing and did not dare to leave the camp voluntarily, because they could survive by surrendering to the southern African army. If they left the camp and fell into the hands of the Greeks, they would wait to be killed Hang the cross.

In connection with the completely different battle reports of the Russians and the Germans, Molotov has reason to believe that southern Africa has also tampered with the battle reports.

The traffic situation in Greece is worse than that in Russia. Russia is a flat plain. Greece is mountainous and has inconvenient transportation. The advancing speed of armored forces is greatly restricted.

This is not the case in the battle report.

On March 3, the southern African army launched an attack on the mainland of Greece and landed in many places in the Peloponnese Peninsula. Athens was recovered the next day, and Marathon was recovered the next day. At this time, there was still a part of the Peloponnese Peninsula Control is in the hands of Italy.

With reference to the advance speed of the Russian army, even if there is no delay, there is no battle along the way, and it is impossible to run from Kalamata to Athens within three days. After all, Kalamata is more than 200 kilometers away from Athens.

Roosevelt was skeptical.

The Americans had determined before that they would launch a landing operation in Sicily as soon as possible, and Eisenhower and Patton Jr. were ready.

As the conditions were not negotiated, Roosevelt postponed the attack time and stood still.

Now there are frequent good news from Greece, and southern Africans hitting Italians are like adults hitting children, effortlessly.

Roosevelt had reason to suspect that this was southern Africa releasing smoke bombs. The casualties in southern Africa must have been much higher than those reported in the battle report. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the fierce Italians on the Russian battlefield became soft when they arrived in Greece.

"The Italian army in Greece, no matter in terms of training level or fighting will, is not the same as the Italians in the Russian battlefield. The southern Africans took a big advantage. The fat and bald head noticed our army's mobilization and paid more attention to it. Concentrating on the mainland of Italy gives southern Africans a good chance.” Giro hoped that Roosevelt would launch a landing campaign as soon as possible, so that Giro’s prestige in Free France would quickly increase as the commander of the Free French Army.

Although Giraud received the support of Roosevelt and Winston, in Free France, Giraud received far less support than de Gaulle.

After all, de Gaulle was the founder of a free France.

If the Free French army can perform well in the landing battle, then Giro's reputation will rise sharply, and it will truly have the ability to counter de Gaulle, which is what Roosevelt and Winston hope to see.

"If our army lands in Sicily, will it encounter stubborn resistance from the Italians?" Roosevelt hesitated, completely confused by the performance of the Italians on the battlefield.

You say that the Italians can't do it, right? In Russia, the Italians have done things that the Germans have failed to do.

Roosevelt himself did not quite believe that the Italians could fight. The performance of the Italians in the German-Italian coalition forces in North Africa and the Italian garrisons in Greece was not even considered a third-rate army.

"Definitely not, the Italians have no fighting spirit. Without the German army, the Italians would be vulnerable." Giro despised the Italians seriously, and did not miss any opportunity to slander the Italians.

"Then let's start. Your two 'Richelieu' ships will also participate in the attack and cover the landing force." Roosevelt made up his mind that what the southern African army can do, the American soldiers can also do.

Regardless of the size of the army or the level of equipment, the US military is no less than the southern African army.

What American soldiers lack is experience.

In the southern African army, there are a large number of senior mercenaries from the umbrella company. These mercenaries accumulated experience in the umbrella company in peacetime. When the war broke out, they became officers or sergeant majors in southern Africa. Under their leadership, the recruits grew rapidly.

The quality of recruits in southern Africa is already very good. For a long time, southern Africa has advocated the spirit of martial arts. Schools and units at all levels often organize military training. Even many children’s games have a military nature, so recruits can quickly integrate into the army after enlisting. environment, it doesn't take too long to become a qualified soldier.

The United States is a little bit worse in this regard. One is that the education level of recruits is relatively low, and on the other hand, it also lacks experienced officers. Therefore, the US military relies more on its overwhelming firepower advantage over the enemy.

The number of machine guns equipped by the U.S. Army Division is similar to that of the Southern African Army. The individual weapons are semi-automatic rifles and pistols. Among the Allied forces, only the U.S. Army and the Southern African Army can do this, and the British Army cannot.

The U.S. Army Division is also equipped with a large number of cars and tanks. According to European standards, U.S. troops can be regarded as mechanized troops, at least motorized, so Roosevelt was not surprised by the speed of the southern African army.

In the Mediterranean, the only weakness of the US military is the navy.

This point has also been greatly improved after the addition of the two "Richelieus". The Italian Navy is seriously short of fuel and has not left port for several months. This reassures Roosevelt that at least the US troops will not be attacked when they land Attack of the Italian Navy.

"Yes, I will send all the warships to fully cooperate with the landing operation." Giro made a desperate bet. If he failed to make any achievements, Roosevelt and Winston would change to support de Gaulle.

De Gaulle has the full support of Roque and the support of the Free French Army. Giraud can only pin his hopes on the French mainland.

Stimulated by the actions of the southern African army, on March 3, Roosevelt issued a combat order, and the US military was allowed to launch a landing operation in Sicily.

Eisenhower and Patton Jr. were ecstatic. The U.S. First Army, which had been hit hard before, has now recovered its strength, and it is better than before. In addition to the Shermans made by the United States, the tanks equipped by the troops also have 100 Patton Jr. Never forget the southern African "leopard" style.

This is a true Leopard, not the castrated version that the southern Africans sell to European countries.

It was a bit of a coincidence that this batch of "Leopard" tanks was originally supported by the Free French Army. After getting these tanks, Giro was forced to transfer these tanks to the Americans. The opposition of the military, and the strong dissatisfaction of the Free French Army.

The opposition of the southern African military is normal. Although the leading edge of the "Leopard" tank cannot be maintained forever, it is a day to be able to lead for one more day.

The Free French Army was originally dissatisfied with Giro's airborne, but now they are more disgusted with Giro, especially the [-]st Armored Division of the Free French Army. The division commander Andrew publicly declared that the [-]st Armored Division will no longer accept Jiro from now on. Any order from Luo.

This statement is almost tantamount to open rebellion.

But this kind of thing is normal for the French army.

(End of this chapter)