Chapter 771： North Africa First War (Part 1)

The weather in Tripoli was still hot at the end of December. Although it was on the Mediterranean Sea, it still made the newly arrived General Antonescu very uncomfortable.

That's right, Antonescu met the Lord Mussolini from Rome only two days after he arrived in Tripoli. When meeting the leader in Rome, Antonescu was still fresh in his memory. The Italian leader seemed to be summoning his subordinates, and asked Antonescu to see that the posture seemed to put his North African Legion under the jurisdiction of Rome.

It's just that Antonescu didn't take that set. He directly pointed out that the Romanian army was here to help Italy repel the British and French forces that invaded Libya, so he would formulate a battle plan based on the actual situation on the battlefield. He pushed back Mussolini's hand stretched out without being soft or hard.

The Romanian North African Army Corps is currently being transported. The troops that have been transported to Tripoli are only one of the Second Armored Division, one of the 29th Division, and one of the 48th Motorized Infantry Division. In total, there are more than 10,000 people, more than 200 artillery, 25 self-propelled artillery, 97 tanks, and 49 anti-aircraft guns of various types.

Although there were not many troops coming, it greatly encouraged the morale of the Tripoli defenders, at least let the Tripoli defenders know that they had reinforcements.

Of course, the reinforcements are not only the North African Army led by Antonescu. Italy’s own reinforcements have also landed a lot, but their reinforcements are more in Benghazi and Tobruk. Especially in Tobruk, there are currently more than 60,000 Italian troops in 8 divisions.

In fact, when Antonescu's North African Army was deployed to Tripoli, Italy also had its own selfish intentions. Although the previous attack on Egypt suffered a disastrous defeat, it still did not dispel Italy's ambitions for Egypt. After all, the Suez Canal is so tempting, no one wants to control this traffic arteries.

Of course, Italy will not be too obvious. Troops were also brought in from Tripoli, and the Ram Armored Division, one of the only two armored divisions in Italy, was also transported to Tripoli. As for the other armored division, Trento division was transferred to Tobruk.

In fact, Antonescu prefers Master Trento to support him than Master Ram. Because of the huge gap between the two divisions, the Ram Division is equipped with Italian tanks, while Trento Division is a Romanian tank.

Let's see what tanks are there in Italy?

The first to appear is the first Italian tank Fiat-3000, which is an imitation of Renault-17, but the performance is not very different.

The second is the well-known armored Alto CV33 ultralight tank. This armored Alto is only 3.2/1.4/1.28 meters in length, width and height, and has a combat weight of 3.2 tons. It is really a small loli in the tank.

There is also the M11/39, the strongest medium tank in the hands of Italy. This tank has a total length of 4.72 meters, a height of 2.23 meters, and a weight of 11.0 tons. One more sentence, its M11 represents 11 tons. And this tank still uses rivet bolts, and its armor is the upper part of the front: 30, the lower part: 14, the side: 14, the top of the car: 8, the bottom of the car: 8, the front of the turret: 30, and the side of the turret: 30.

In addition, the layout is somewhat similar to the M3 Li tank, and the 37mm tank gun is equipped on the left car body. (If you are interested, you can check it out, this tank is very confusing)

How can Antonescu feel at ease with such a new tank. But fortunately, I heard that Italy is improving its own medium tank. After they got the Romanian R10 light tank, after testing it, they found that it was much better than their own tank. (Italy: Can anyone tell me why this R10 light tank is 6.9 tons heavier than my medium tank?)

However, the new prototype has not yet been developed, so Italy’s own tank is still the M11/39.

Although Antonescu looked down on Italian tanks, he still had to admit that this time Italy chose to cooperate with its own commander. Lieutenant General Giovanni Messer is responsible for commanding the Italian army in the Luo Italian coalition army, and in Antonescu's view, this Lieutenant General is one of the few officers in the Italian army who can use tanks.

At present, Italy has also transported two divisions to Tripoli. In addition to the Rams Armored Division, there is also the Brescia Infantry Division, and it may be worried about the safety of Tripoli. Basically all of the two divisions have been transported to Tripoli. The division has been incorporated into the Italian Army North African Army. In the future, the strength of the North African coalition formed by the two armies will be as high as 240,000.

Facing the continuous influx of reinforcements from Tripoli, General Katlu, as the commander of the French army, is now somewhat shaken in the confidence of Tripoli, because the French army is still 15 kilometers away from Tripoli. Although we can see this most important city in Libya, it is difficult to take it one step further.

General Catroux has sent a report to Paris, hoping to get more reinforcements. He feels that he is only one step away from Tripoli. As long as there are reinforcements, he can take the city by himself.

So the French attack began early in the morning. In response to the French artillery bombardment, the defenders ate their breakfast, and then the day's battle began again.

Antonescu got off the plane in a hurry. He just took the plane to inspect the battlefield. This is quite risky, as long as it is discovered by a French fighter, the RY58 transport plane he is riding will definitely not be able to run. Although four RF20 fighters are escorting them, as long as it is known that a Romanian lieutenant is sitting among them, the danger is too high.

"Hi, Messer, why are you here?"

Antonescu, who had just got off the plane, saw Messer waiting for him at the airport. He greeted with embarrassment.

"Lieutenant General Anthony, have you inspected the battlefield again?"

As soon as he saw Antonescu's figure, Lieutenant General Messer became a little bit angry. He thought he was bold, but he didn't expect this one to be bolder, and he would dare to inspect the battlefield. It doesn’t matter if he is dead, but the morale of the army is not wonderful at all Seeing the resentful Lieutenant General Messer, I thought that yesterday I promised not to fly on the battlefield again. Donnescu couldn't help touching his nose.

"Lieutenant General Messer, don't be sullen and happy. From another angle, I'm back."

"..."

"Listen to me. During my inspection, I found a loophole in the French army."

"What, did you find a loophole in the French army?"

Now Messer couldn't put it on anymore, he asked directly, almost writing a few words on his face.

"Yes, I found several loopholes in the French army. If we make good use of it, not only will we be able to eliminate the disadvantages of the current war situation, but we may also be able to keep most of the French army here."

Having said this, Antonescu also showed a sharp desire in his eyes, that was his desire for military exploits.