Chapter 463

"The Italian transport ship has just set sail from the southern port and is expected to arrive at this time tomorrow." A staff officer stood behind Rommel and opened the document to report on the logistics supply process of the German African Legion.

"The oil is transferred from the first army in Italy. Tell the commander that my army will fight back in three hours and let them get all the oil for us!" Rommel replied, laughing and tapping the map with her fingers.

The deputy of the African legion, general Garibaldi of Italy, frowned and had to say, "general Rommel, all the fuel of the first army? Isn't our first Italian Army an empty shelf that can't move

"Or I'll give you all the fuel in my hand, your first army will attack, and we'll just short the shelf." Rommel said without looking back.

If Italy's first army could fight back, Mussolini, Italy's arrogant leader, would not send more than a dozen telegrams a day to Berlin to ask acardo for help. So general Garibaldi of Italy immediately closed his mouth.

However, some people who didn't want to see Rommel take risks stood up. The commander of the 7th armored division came forward and said, "general, the 7th armored division of SS is still in Italy, and the 17th infantry division is also on the road. Is it a bit too anxious to rely on us and the 7th infantry army?"

Frederick is now the commander of the 7th infantry. His old 7th Infantry Division has been expanded into the 7th infantry of the African Legion. Now he has many good things in his hand, even some good things that are not in the main infantry.

For example, in his infantry, the armored infantry division is the closest to the full size. The whole unit has seven armored battalions, equipped with the latest leopard tank, the new assault gun "cheetah" refitted from the site, and more trucks and 105mm self-propelled howitzer refitted from the No.2 tank.

If we add in 150 old-fashioned No. 2 tanks that were sent to Rommel for free, we can say that Rommel's African Army has higher mobility and flexibility than the general German army. Of course, the disadvantage is that this force is very fuel consuming, so in most cases, the forces in Germany have not been strengthened on such a large scale.

"General" Frederick looked at the map, pointed to the British defense line that Rommel was going to break through, and said, "the order from the general staff is to stabilize the situation in Africa, not to fight back."

Rommel no longer looked at the map, looked back at Frederick, and then asked, "do you think if the Fuehrer and the Supreme Command want us to defend, why don't we send the experienced Liszt or modle?"

As he said, he pointed to the map: "our scouts have found the junction between their two armies. As long as we tear it open, we can drive straight in. The British supply line is too long. When they hold their ground, we are all in Tobruk."

"What's the matter with the general staff of the army? We had just received a telegram from them asking us to stabilize the situation as much as possible, and then we started to attack... In doing so, we didn't pay attention to marshal brauchich. "

"We are here to bring the victory back to Germany, to reward the trust of the head of state with the victory... As for others, do I care what other people think?" Rommel sneered, then looked at the commander of the Italian army, general Garibaldi: "in two hours, I will have fuel and ammunition ready. Three hours later, at 5:30 in the morning, the African Army will attack on time."

"Yes Frederick and the commander of the 7th armored division answered at attention.

With the order, the German army was fully prepared for war. The 17th infantry division, which has just arrived in North Africa, is responsible for the protection of the flank, while the 27th infantry division is responsible for the security of the rear supply line. The front is handed over to the 7th armored division and the 7th armored infantry division. The two units will set out in the early morning and launch a comprehensive attack on the British army at dawn.

Since Rommel can win the reputation of Desert Fox in later generations, he is not a fierce general like Cheng Yaojin who only knows how to attack. He relies more on cunning and changeable combat means than brute force.

This time, he put the 7th Panzer infantry division, the main infantry division, on the front, and then handed over the large-scale detour task to the 7th Panzer Division, which had stronger mobility. What he was prepared to do was to use the 7th Panzer infantry division to cut into the joint of the two British troops and fight a classic Blitzkrieg.

In this way, the British defenders who did not know their real strength would certainly take a counterattack, and he knew that the best way to counterattack was actually to attack the 7th infantry division of the German army, which broke into the center. In this way, the two British troops were stuck by the 7th Panzer infantry division in the front.

Later, his main force, the 7th Panzer Division, would enter the battlefield from the south, cut the British troops on one side, save the dangerous 7th Panzer infantry division, and then cut into the British defense line on the other side to completely disrupt the deployment of the British garrison with an "unreasonable hand".

Once the plan is successful, Rommel's African Legion will destroy the British garrison on the front line, seize the other party's command hub and supply base, swallow up the collapsed British troops on the front line, and then join forces to go east to pursue and kill the remaining British defeated soldiers.

The 40 Stuka bombers will visit the defensive positions of the British garrison before the attack, while the Italian artillery will bombard the British positions 10 minutes in advance. As soon as they heard that they did not need their own troops to participate in the attack, the Italians immediately cheered, prepared hundreds of large caliber guns, and wholeheartedly opened the way for their German counterparts. After hearing Rommel's order, general Garibaldi nodded and said nothing. Since Mussolini had ordered the Italian army in North Africa to cooperate with the German African Army, and handed over the supreme command to Rommel, as Mussolini's confidant, he couldn't get along with his master. So he immediately ordered the fuel of the first Italian army to be transported to the German army, without even hesitation. Of course, he was not idle, but sent Mussolini a very vague telegram, which claimed that the general staff of the German army ordered Rommel to stick to the line of defense. After that, he didn't say anything else. He meant to let Mussolini analyze his priorities. What he didn't know was that the telegram, like other Italian messages, was intercepted by British intelligence. Just half an hour later, the message was placed on Montgomery's desk as a treasure“ Rommel was ordered to defend? No... according to the habit of the German head of state, if Germany is determined to defend, it will transfer more stable generals. It is not normal to use such a young Rommel. " Montgomery, holding his chin and staring at the intelligence, said suspiciously: "Rommel's performance in the war of Poland and in the war of France is famous for attacking. There's no reason."“ But the contents of this telegram can never be wrong, so Rommel can't violate the decision of chief of staff brauchich. We are safe for the time being. " Next to Montgomery, the commander-in-chief of the British North African expeditionary force is looking at the map with pride. His reinforcements will arrive soon, and then they will be able to stabilize the defense line near ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^“ It's been a month since the street fight in London, and the outcome is still uncertain. " Montgomery rubbed his nose and sighed: "if Churchill hadn't replaced me, maybe the front line had just arrived near Cambridge." The old general pointed to several areas on the map and said, "it's too late to say anything now. Only by fighting well in North Africa can Churchill stay at home for a longer time."“ The Americans are going to war? " Montgomery asked suddenly. The Veteran General nodded and said, "it's a telegram from Iceland. A fully armed U.S. Armored Division has boarded the ship a few days ago and is making a detour to Egypt. However, they still did not intend to declare war on Germany. The division was formed in the form of volunteers. At the same time, a British Infantry Regiment, a Canadian Infantry Division and an Australian volunteer division from Saudi Arabia have come to fight in Africa, with a force of more than 50000 people. " Montgomery was stunned, then nodded with satisfaction. A division in the United States has more "connotation" than a division in the hands of the British now. This division may have 30000 people, but the British, including the reinforcements, can barely make up more than 200000 people. Therefore, facing more and more German troops in Rommel's hands, Montgomery seems to have some confidence“ Because this coalition of more than 50000 people needs to receive and adapt to desert combat training. So the Icelandic government wants you to go back to Egypt and be responsible for the training and command of these soldiers. These troops, including the two tank divisions that the United States has assisted us to set up, will form a new group army, the eighth group army. " The old general said, "the commander is you, Montgomery... And these troops on the front line will be integrated into the 9th army."“ When do I start? " Asked Montgomery. Being able to command a group army independently is the most beneficial outcome Montgomery can think of now. If he keeps acting for others, he may feel crazy. After all, he now thinks that many of the operational plans of the British * team in North Africa are wrong, but he has no right to correct these mistakes“ Leave now. The plane is ready for you. " It seems that the old general also hopes that the subordinate who always gives advice will go away quickly.