Chapter 774： North Africa First Battle (End)

When the first line was attacked, General Katlu had received the news.

"The Romanian finally can afford it."

In the face of this telegram, Katlu's worries were finally let go. Because he is not afraid of Romania's emergence, if it does not appear again, then he will order the delay of the attack. He should have obtained the information that the Romanian army currently arriving in Tripoli is between 10,000 and 20,000.

As for the Romanian army, Katlu pays more attention than the Italian army. Because the record is there, the Romanian army’s record in the past two decades has been quite sturdy, fighting against Bulgarians, Austrian-Hungarians, Germans, Soviets, and Poles. Everyone has won.

Before the British also sent intelligence, saying that in the battle between Crete and Cyprus, the Romanian army had amazing combat effectiveness and could not be regarded as a presence lower than that of Germany.

So much information shows that the Romanians are not easy to deal with, how could he ignore it as a commander. In fact, after the Romanians landed in Tripoli, Katlu was already prepared. And now that Romania is showing up and showing off in an offensive manner, Katlu, as the commander, is naturally not polite.

It's time to use his methods to show Romanians that France is not afraid of them. The Germans who were so sturdy in the previous wars were dragged to death, and France was not afraid of the Romanians who had only dealt with second-line German troops.

I saw Katlu giving orders. "Now order immediately, Lazanhar’s defenders are ready to defend. Then Banluk’s 51st Division will be ordered to send out the remaining troops to Lazanhar for reinforcements. The remaining 21st division troops will also be sent there, and Colonel Jacques Send his troops to Lazanhar."

In the face of the incoming Luoyi coalition forces, Katlu had already chosen the interception point, and that was Razanhar. To the north of here is a cliff on the seashore, and its terrain is not suitable for vehicles. And to the south is a swamp, from a river called Madir flowing from here, making it a very rare swamp in Libya. So Razanhar in the middle is the point.

In addition, this is also the granary of Tripoli, and the grain produced here guarantees the living needs of the residents on the four floors of the city.

Prior to this, La Zanhar was also the focus of the Italian army's defense, but was captured by the French army. In view of the importance of this place, Katlu left a battalion of defensive forces. But now the offensive and defensive is in a different position, replaced by the Yi Luo army to attack.

This time, the backbone of the Italian-Romanian coalition forces was the temporary armored unit led by Colonel Jacques. This unit was specially prepared by Katlu. Romania liked to use armored assault operations so much in the previous battles. How could it not be possible for him to defend himself. And he has a lot of armor in his hands.

At present, in addition to the armored reconnaissance battalions owned by the divisions (equipped with Hutches H35 light tanks and Renault R-35 light tanks, 32), Katlu also holds a force in his hands, the Tunisian First Cavalry Brigade.

The brigade is called a cavalry, but it is actually an armored unit. At its core is the First Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has three medium tank squadrons equipped with S-35, and a squadron equipped with H35 light tanks. Each squadron has four platoons (5 vehicles), plus one command and two reserve vehicles. Each squadron is equipped with 23 tanks.

In addition to this regiment called armored cavalry, which is actually a tank, there is also a motorized infantry regiment and a mixed artillery regiment.

In addition to its own armored force, Katlu also drew nearly a hundred H35 and R-35 tanks from various divisions to supplement the cavalry brigade. Now the brigade’s armor level has already reached the level of a locally formed light mechanized division, and now is the time to use it.

Of course, as an excellent commander, how could he allow the Italian army to be so presumptuous. "In addition, send a report to the 19th and 28th divisions on the front line, so that they can send troops to regain the gap."

It is true that he intends to encircle and wipe out this bold force in the area of ​​Lazanhar, and will not leave them even to retreat. And as long as this force is annihilated, the morale of the Tripoli defenders must be greatly reduced.

While Katlu was full of expectations for the future, the two Luo Yi commanders were also planning for the next battle.

The Luoyi coalition forces, which had just broken through the front line, were advancing vigorously into the French army. Crowds of tanks are heading towards the next destination with cars full of soldiers, and the smoke and dust they raise can be seen from far away. And behind them there was a brigade of trucks pulling artillery and various materials, following in their footsteps.

In the command vehicle, Antonescu was explaining to General Messer.

"Lieutenant General Messer, next I expect to encounter the most difficult moment. The enemy will definitely stop us at this point in Lazanhar."

"So we need to speed up our pace before the enemy supports, take Razanhar."

General Messer was not slow to react, and he also saw the difficulties they might encounter next.

"Yes, so marching speed is very important to us."

"The report has just received the news from the reconnaissance plane that a large number of French troops are gathering in the direction of Lazanhar, including a large number of armored troops."

A communications staff took the newly translated text and reported it to the two generals who were talking.

"bring here."

Antonescu reached out and took the telegram and began to look it up, his brows drowning deeper and deeper with the telegram.

"Look at it."

After reading the telegram, he handed it to General Messer.

Messer received the telegram and saw that the reconnaissance plane found three groups of enemies approaching Lazanhar. One of them was a French army only eight kilometers away from Lazanhar. And these enemies are fully equipped, and one of them looks like a division-level armored unit.

"We should speed up."

After reading the telegram, Messer expressed his opinion anxiously.

"Immediately let the Armored Regiment and Motorized Infantry Regiment speed up their pace, let them take the first place in Razanhar, and report to the Air Force so that their airstrikes will hold back the enemy's reinforcements. Especially the enemy armored units, they should not be allowed to grab the enemy's reinforcements. Arrived in La Zanhar before us."

Antonescu also knows where the points are, and Razanhar must be given priority, or else he will die.

"Also let my troops keep up, at least to increase the offensive strength."

Messer also knows that now is the critical time, and also put forward his own views.

Following the unification of their opinions, the mighty force immediately divided into two parts. The armored regiment and the motorized force accelerated their pace. They had to rush to take the point of Razanhar before the arrival of enemy reinforcements.

...

"Woo~Woo~Woo!"

"Air strike, lie down!"

The screaming siren immediately stopped a French army marching in a hurry. They are a unit of the 51st Division, and they were ordered to immediately reinforce Lazanhar’s mission, but they did not go well with this reinforcement, and they encountered an attack by the enemy brigade air force not long after they set off.

The incoming fighters unscrupulously killed their comrades in their heads, making the officers and soldiers of the 51st Division extremely angry.

"Da, tower, tower..."

Fighters shot past mid-air, causing many French soldiers to fall in a pool of blood.

"Hurry up and organize anti-aircraft firepower, hurry up."

Without the shouting of the commander of the team, the French officers and soldiers immediately operated the 25mm anti-aircraft guns they carried with them and began to fight against these air strikes. It's just that there were too many incoming fighters. They only carried two companies with 12 anti-aircraft guns this time, and one of them was specially strengthened for them. This anti-aircraft firepower did not make the incoming aircraft feel jealous.

"boom!"

A 105mm howitzer was hit by an enemy aerial bomb, and even the artillery car was destroyed.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The bombing from the enemy caused them to lose more heavy equipment.

"Damn it, our air force is there!"

The commander’s shouting air force has been suppressed out of the battlefield by the combined air force of Romania and Italy. The MS.406 fighter jets currently equipped by the French Air Force are not the opponents of the Italian and Romanian fighters at all, and they are preparing for this air strike. After nearly two hundred battles, it is not the goal that it can solve.

If the 51st Division encountered airstrikes, it would be difficult for Colonel Jacques to lead the armored forces. The airstrikes they encountered were even greater, and these airstrike fighters not only attacked the troops, but also damaged the roads, which made Colonel Jacques feel helpless.

Originally, they should have arrived at Lazanhar in two hours, but now it is good luck to arrive in four hours.

La Zanhar, whom he has never forgotten, is now another scene.

The Loi and Italian forces, completely ignoring the follow-up forces, are attacking Lazanhar.

"Hurry up and fire."

Faced with the incoming enemy, the defenders could only rely on fortifications to resist them, trying to hold them back.

It's just that their idea was a bit unrealistic, and an R20 tank ran over a piece of rubble and appeared in front of the defender's position. Suddenly, the general sound of guns exploded, as if to prevent this tank from coming. It's just that these are useless. Neither the defender's machine gun nor the anti-tank gun can stop him.

Speaking of the French army is equipped with 25mm anti-tank guns at the battalion level. This anti-tank was developed in the 1920s and the main target was a wide variety of light tanks at that time. It's just that this anti-tank gun has long been behind now, let alone use it to deal with the world's most advanced R20 medium tank.

The sound of "Ping Pong Pong" is the sound of the gun shooting against the tank, but its power is not enough to penetrate the R20 armor.

"boom!"

An anti-tank gun was blasted into the sky.

"Bah, baah, baah!"

The vehicle-mounted machine gun also suppressed the firepower of the defenders.

With the advantage of tanks the accompanying soldiers rushed to the battlefield in one fell swoop.

This is the situation everywhere in Lazanhar, and the coordination between the foot and the tank is the most basic tactic, which was played very easily by the soldiers of the Italian and Romanian armies.

What's more important is that the defending army has only one battalion, and the attacking Luoyi armies have nearly 10,000 people, plus the advantage of armored artillery, which allows them to defend.

All after less than an hour of resistance, they threw their helmets and armors and escaped from this land that had become purgatory for them.

The news also stunned Katlu, because he did not expect Lazanhar to be lost like this. In this way, the three front-line divisions will be blocked from the back. Could this be the purpose of the Italian-Romantic coalition attacking.

Thinking of this, Katlu couldn't sit still, he immediately reported to the frontline troops, asking them to stick to it immediately. In addition, it sent a report to the reinforcements and informed them of the result, and believed that they knew the consequences.

In Lazanhar, a battle that decides to change hands between offense and defense is about to begin.