Bismarck

Did Tope really say that?

Eugen's expression became even more confused.

Besides, hasn’t the relationship between this deputy captain, himself and Top always been ordinary?

and……

Is this a fraternity, or a party?

Top knew that he didn't really like parties that were too lively, or even noisy parties...

But before Eugen could react, the deputy captain actually took a half step forward, put on a smiling expression, and looked at little Eugen's big eyes full of confusion and astonishment...

"Of course, we'll go together later."

The deputy captain's smile was as sincere as it could be.

Seeing the deputy captain's face almost reaching his nose, Eugen nodded in confusion...

.....................

The venue of the fraternity was full of lights and even a few strings of colorful paper flags were hung. Several large tables were filled with various Norwegian local snacks: pickled and smoked salmon, soda fish, reindeer meat, air-dried ham, brown goat cheese, beer, wine, and even a Norwegian specialty liquor called "Aquavit". German officers and soldiers from the front line of the German Navy, Army and Air Force, together with female soldiers from the rear communication station and military hospital, and even female staff from the German resident agencies, were drinking and laughing in the venue.

Some even took advantage of the alcohol to jump out and sing a song at the top of their lungs, or approached some pretty women and chatted with them directly. There were even many who flirted and then walked out with their arms around each other...

After all, it was a wartime era, and no one knew if they would be transferred to a distant place tomorrow, or if they would survive the next second on the battlefield. So some attitudes and things were simpler, cruder, and more direct...

However, in Eugen's eyes, this place is so messy...

Eugen, who was sitting in the corner of the meeting room, hid his head behind the table, feeling quite uncomfortable.

Looking at the soldiers and women around him, drinking and chatting unscrupulously, and bragging which caused the women to exclaim and laugh, Eugen said he was not used to this noisy, chaotic atmosphere similar to that of a bar.

She really didn't like this kind of atmosphere.

Even if I hid in the corner, there were still a few people who wanted to come over and chat with me...

The deputy captain beside him sent these people away one by one. Then the handsome deputy captain turned around and kept finding topics to chat with and show his courtesy...

At least on the surface, he looks like a real flower protector.

However, Eugen could see that this deputy captain seemed to be quite experienced in dealing with such situations...

Maybe he is actually a frequent visitor to places like this.

But she felt that this was someone else's private matter and she shouldn't interfere too much...

However, this did not stop Eugen from showing his dislike for such places clearly on his face.

"What's wrong? Don't you like it here?" The deputy captain also noticed Eugen's disgusted face, and came over to ask with concern.

"Well... I want to go back." He lowered his head and looked at Eugen expressionlessly and nodded.

While she was saying this, although her eyes were not looking in the direction of the deputy captain, she could sense that the deputy captain's face seemed to have a hint of anger...

Although it took less than a second... Eugen still noticed that deliberate attitude.

"Why does this person seem to be approaching me on purpose..."

The deputy captain didn't know that his pretense had been exposed. He continued to put on a gentle expression and approached to show his caring attitude. He stretched out his hand and said, "...Well, well, we won't stay here anymore."

The deputy captain politely led Eugen out of the noisy crowd in the venue, walked to the parking lot, and opened his car.

"Miss Eugen, what kind of music do you like to listen to?"

The deputy captain started the car and chatted with Eugen, turning on the car radio to see if he could play some songs to find common ground between himself and Eugen.

Soon, melodious music came from the radio. Eugen leaned against the car window, looking at the surrounding scenery boredly.

The small city of Tromsø in the Arctic Ocean is located on a small island in the middle of the fjord. The continuous snow-capped mountains, cliffs and forests of the Scandinavian Mountains on both sides stand beside the deep blue strait under the blue sky. Under the soft sunlight of the Arctic Circle that is not glaring even at noon, it seems as if you can feel a kind of intimacy from nature, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.

Even Eugen, who had always been unhappy, couldn't help but feel a little better after seeing the wonders of nature and listening to the melodious music on the radio.

"Yes, it's possible. It seems that this girl likes light music and natural scenery!"

The deputy captain secretly watched Eugen's expression and was delighted. He began to deliberately slow down the car and deliberately drove towards the coastal roads with more beautiful scenery. While driving, he began to look for Eugen for no reason and started to chat with him about natural scenery and music.

Although Eugen was still a little unhappy, she was too naive to know how to reject such a conversation...

Although they were just acquaintances, this person was still his deputy captain after all. He would see her every now and then, so he should at least be polite to her...

The result was that the vice-captain was talking excitedly, but Eugen seemed to have no interest...

"Tsk, he's really stubborn... Never mind, just take your time and cater to his preferences!"

only……

Just when the deputy captain was about to start a conversation over the music, the music on the radio was suddenly interrupted by the announcer.

"This is Radio Berlin, this is Radio Berlin! Now for a news story!"

"What's going on?" The deputy captain was a little annoyed. Eugen, who was not very interested at first, was quickly attracted by the news broadcast by the announcer...

"…This station just received news! This morning, our Mediterranean Fleet, under the command of Admiral Lütjens, together with its Italian allies, launched a new offensive against the British troops who were fighting stubbornly in Egypt… Click!"

With a click, the radio was rudely turned off by the deputy captain. Eugen, who was listening with great interest, looked up in surprise. He didn't know when the deputy captain, who had been pretending to be polite and gentle, had become a little ugly...

"What are you doing? Let me finish listening to the news!"

Eugen said somewhat dissatisfiedly.

"Sister Bismarck and her team have won another victory. Let me hear it all!"

But soon, she discovered that as soon as the words "Sister Bismarck won another victory" came out, the deputy captain, who originally had a rather grim expression, instantly turned pale...

It was only a moment before he returned to normal, but Prince Panci had already seen her expression clearly.

To oppose my sister is to oppose her!

Chapter 495: War breaks out again

Mussolini dreamed of restoring the glory of the Roman Empire, but in his eyes, Italy, trapped in a corner of the Mediterranean and with its economy controlled by others, could at best be regarded as a semi-colony under the British, nothing more.

Although the Italian army performed extremely incompetently in the Ethiopian War, the War against France, and the Balkan Wars, this did not hinder Mussolini's determination to force his way into the war even against opposition from the military.

Under normal circumstances, given the average combat effectiveness of the Italian army, the best outcome of Mussolini's gamble on the country's destiny would be that he would stumble to El Alamein with the support of the German African Corps, and then fall back home.

but……

Looking at the half-controlled Port of Alexandria, and then looking at the Suez Canal which seemed to be within reach only 200 kilometers away, Mussolini was completely excited.

Although Hitler was busy attacking the Soviet Union and had no more forces to provide to his Italian ally, it was not too difficult to squeeze out some troops.

In addition, the supplies and reinforcements that had been rushed here from ports such as Tripoli, Benghazi, Tobruk, and Matruh on a 1400-mile supply line, including elite troops such as the German 164th Infantry Division, the "Rahmke" Reinforced Airborne Brigade, and the Italian "Vogel" 185th Airborne Division, were also arriving at the Alamein front little by little.

On the naval side, the main fleet of the Italian Royal Navy that had arrived at the battlefield, the huge fleet of the battleship Veneto, the battleship Littorio, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and fifteen destroyers under the command of Admiral Iachino, had firmly occupied the daylight of the Gulf of El Alamein under the air cover of Deba Airport!

Although the Gulf of El Alamein was still threatened by British Air Force night fighters and bombers equipped with search radars at night, the Italian destroyers still carried large amounts of jamming foil and went to the blind spot on the east side of the seawall of Alexandria Port at one or two o'clock, or three or four o'clock every night under the threat of British radar bombers and flares of the east port of Alexandria. They used lifeboats and transport boats to deliver reinforcements, ammunition, drinking water and food to the beachhead that was holding on to their positions.

Although four destroyers and five transport ships were sunk or damaged by night bombers from the British Mediterranean Fleet and submarine and light cruiser raiders from Haifa Port in Israel during the ten-day supply operation, the British also lost three submarines and three destroyers. However, the maritime lifeline of Alexandria Port still persisted without interruption!

In the air force, 600 aircraft of the Second Air Fleet led by Field Marshal Kesselring himself have also arrived in Italy and Crete.

Although there were more than 200 transport planes, and a large part of the remaining 400 planes had to be stationed in Sicily to block Malta and block the British and American naval reinforcements that might force their way through Gibraltar, in the end, only a few hundred planes could be deployed to Matruh Airport and Deba Airport...

But, this is enough!!

At least the Matruh Airport and Debba Airport, which had suffered heavy losses due to the continuous fighting in the past few days, are now crowded with planes again!

Moreover, there were even several BF-110 fighters with "unique noses"! The noses of these twin-engine fighters had their cannons removed and replaced with a pointed wooden fairing. The numbers of these BF-110 fighters were NJG, which was specially designed for night fighters...

On the other side of the battle line, the current military strength of the British Middle East-North Africa theater is a bit insufficient...

In the previous Battle of El Alamein, the British army suffered heavy casualties under the cover of naval guns!

The Indian Fourth Division suffered a devastating blow. Under Rommel's continuous assault, the entire unit was even broken up! Although the stragglers have been taken in, most of the weapons and ammunition have been lost. Even if they were not lost, it would take a long time to "inject" the colonial thug spirit into these frightened fleeing soldiers and turn them back into the red-headed Indians who were invincible with batons in Shanghai and other British colonies.

In addition, the British 1st Armored Division and the British 7th Armored Division were also crippled. The combined loss rate of these two armored divisions has reached

The Australian 6th Division and the New Zealand 2nd Division also suffered heavy casualties. More than one-third of these two Oceania-born vanguards were killed or wounded. Although they still had combat effectiveness, they had to retreat to rest. What was even more disturbing was that, because Japan had declared war on Britain and the United States, the Governor-General's Offices of Australia and New Zealand strongly requested that the troops be withdrawn to defend Southeast Asia, which was so close...

Although the Free French 51st Armored Division, South African st Mechanized Infantry Division and British st Infantry Division that came to reinforce were basically intact, the overall situation of the war was not optimistic...

The South African 51st Mechanized Infantry Division and the British st Infantry Division were separated by Lake Mareotis, staring at the western port of Alexandria occupied by Rommel from the east and west.

After all, the Port of Alexandria is guarded by the seawall and has narrow roads, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Meanwhile, in the small town of Alamein, reinforcements arriving from Matruh, Tobruk, Benghazi and even Tripoli are strengthening Alamein's military strength bit by bit!

Moreover, this also includes the three Allied armored divisions that have been attacking El Alamein in the past few days, causing considerable casualties to the German-Italian coalition forces!

However, the British army suffered much heavier casualties than the German army!

In order to respond to the Prime Minister's death order to retake Alexandria, and with the precedent of Auchinleck as an example, although Litchi knew it was not a problem, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight on.

The result is naturally predictable...

The British 1st Armored Division and the British 7th Armored Division had both been crippled by naval gunfire in previous battles, and the remaining forces of the two divisions combined were only equivalent to one original division. Although the Free French 1st Armored Division was still intact, it was difficult to break through the defenses of El Alamein with just this amount of troops.

After all, on the Alamein line, the several key points held by the Axis forces were all commanding heights in the mountains or valleys with a single road since ancient times. Moreover, the terrain in the Alamein area was divided by those mountains, and there were even countless mines scattered around.

It is easy to defend but difficult to attack!

In addition, although there is a railway on the south side of Lake Mareotis that can bypass the western port of Alexandria occupied by Rommel, that railway is within the range of Rommel's artillery attack!

So the British troops in Alamein found that their logistics seemed to be a little short every time...

More importantly, Lieutenant General Li Teqi's command ability is completely inadequate for such large-scale battlefield coordination...

So now, even the 1st Armored Division of the Free French, which was originally intact, has been destroyed...

In the Battle of El Alamein, the original eight divisions of the British Middle East-North Africa Theater of Operations had 120,000 soldiers, but now less than 100 were left. They could only sit outside the defense line of El Alamein and the eastern port of Alexandria, staring at the German troops inside...

Of the 120,000 British troops, there are now less than 80,000 left!

As for the 20,000 garrisons that were to guard Cairo and the Suez Canal...

"Well... let's just wait for September 10th, when the three reinforcement divisions will arrive in Suez..."

Looking at the report of his own casualties, Li Teqi shook his head helplessly.

.....................

Back in Alexandria, the British were in the same predicament.

Under Rommel's personal command, the African Corps, which consisted of less than 3,000 men, fought on the easily defensible seawall of the western port of Alexandria with a gun in one hand and a shovel in the other, while building defensive positions and temporary docks.

Relying on the personnel and supplies provided by the Italian destroyer fleet through the "Rome Express" every night, as well as the desperate cover of the German and Italian Air Force at Deba Airport, they were able to hold their position firmly.

Even the German engineers who were brave enough to do something took advantage of the excellent infrastructure along the seawall road and built a temporary airport!

Although this runway is always under the threat of the 234mm railway guns in the village of Dawar...

Although the aircraft at Deba Airport had suffered heavy losses due to the fierce fighting over the past few days, and the temporary airport at Alexandria in the war zone was temporarily unusable, the strength of the Allied Air Force was also a problem.

On the day when Rommel made his desperate assault, he lost more than 37 of the 88 planes. And then, in order to carry out the Prime Minister's order, he rushed to the German position and fought against the mm anti-aircraft guns and the mm anti-aircraft guns with VT fuses...

Although new flying squadrons have been transferred from the Middle East, Admiral Arthur Tedder, commander of the British Air Force's Middle East-North Africa Air Force, is now going crazy looking at the average loss rate of more than ten to twenty aircraft per day.

The losses alone are so great, what about those that were damaged and need repairs?

2333

………………

September 4, 1941…

Under the bright sunshine of Crete, Admiral Lütjens and his secretary, Lieutenant Commander Bismarck, climbed up the gangway to the Zeppelin aircraft carrier and walked into the command, control, communications and intelligence center on the bridge. The captain of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Rear Admiral Bonte, was standing at the door of the command, control, communications and intelligence center, waiting for his immediate superior to arrive!

This aircraft carrier is once again packed with carrier-based aircraft!

三十六架BF-109T2战斗机，四十八架FW-190T战斗机，以及二十七架JU-87C2俯冲轰炸机！

The Greater German Empire Mediterranean Fleet, the only large warship that can still go into battle, is fully loaded with carrier-based aircraft, aviation fuel and bombs. It is about to depart from Souda Bay on the Mediterranean Island of Crete and set sail again, heading for the North African battlefield where flames of war are raging and bullet holes are everywhere. Both sides are holding back their last breath and plan to fight it out as soon as the time comes! !

Chapter 496: Beware of the Instructor's Girlfriend

In the Mediterranean Sea, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, accompanied by several Italian cruisers and destroyers, was heading towards Alexandria Port.

However, looking at this peaceful seascape, neither Lütjens nor Bonte looked very optimistic...

"…It seems that Mussolini has put all his resources on the line this time…"

Bangtai leaned against the railing, looked at the calm Mediterranean Sea, and sighed.