Four Hundred and Sixty-Three Generals

"The Italian transport ship has just set sail from the southern port, and it is expected to arrive at **** by this time tomorrow." A staff officer stood behind Rommel, opening a document to report the logistical progress of the German African Army.

"The fuel was transferred from the 1st Army in Italy, and told the commander, my troops will counterattack in 3 hours, and let them get all the fuel out for us!" Rommel smiled and tapped the map with his fingers, side replied.

The deputy of the African Army, the Italian general Garibaldi, frowned after hearing this, and had to persuade: "General Rommel, all the oil for the 1st Army? Then our Italian 1st Army has become An empty frame that cannot move?"

"Either I will give you all the fuel in my hand, and your 1st Army will attack, and we will be empty." Rommel said without looking back.

If the Italian 1st Army could fight back, the arrogant leader of Italy, Morini, would not send more than a dozen telegrams to Berlin a day, asking Akado for rescue. So General Garibaldi in Italy immediately shut his mouth.

However, some people who did not want to see Rommel take risks stepped forward, and the commander of the 7th Armored Division stepped forward and said: "General, the 7th Armored Division of the SS is still in Italy, and the 17th Infantry Division is also on the way. And the 7th Infantry Corps... are you a little too anxious?"

Frederick is now the commander of the 7th Infantry Corps. His old 7th Infantry Division has been expanded into the current 7th Infantry Corps of the Afrika Korps. Now he has a lot of good things in his hands, even some of the main force Good things that are not available in the infantry army.

For example, in his infantry army, the configuration of the armored infantry division is the closest to full strength. The entire army has 7 armored battalions, equipped with the latest Leopard tank modified new assault gun "Cheetah", and equipped with more Many trucks and 105mm caliber self-propelled howitzers modified from the No. 1 tank.

If you count the 150 old-fashioned No. 2 tanks that were given to Rommel for free, it can be said that the African Army in Rommel's hands has higher mobility and flexibility than the average German army. Of course, the disadvantage is that this force is very fuel-intensive, so in most cases the troops 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 about to break through and said: "The Army General Staff ordered us to come here, and the order issued was to stabilize the situation in Africa, not to ask us to fight back. "

Rommel stopped looking at the map, looked back at Frederick, and asked, "If the Führer and the Supreme Command want us to defend, why don't you send experienced Liszt or Model to come?" ?”

He pointed to the map as he said: "Our reconnaissance troops have found the joint between their two armies, we just need to tear it open,

It will be able to drive straight in, the supply line of the British is long, and when they stabilize their position, we are already in Tobruk. "

"How did the Army General Staff explain it? We just received a telegram from them asking us to stabilize the situation as much as possible, and we started to attack... Doing this is not taking Marshal Brauchitsch seriously."

"We came here to bring victory back to Germany, and to repay the trust of the head of state with victory... As for the others, do I, Rommel, care what other people think?" Rommel sneered, and then looked at Italy General Garibaldi, the commander of the army: "I have to prepare fuel and ammunition supplies within 2 hours. After 3 hours, that is, at 5:30 in the morning, the African Legion will attack on time."

"Yes!" Friedrich and the commander of the 7th Armored Division stood at attention and answered.

With an order, the German army is fully prepared for war. The 17th Infantry Division, which has just arrived in North Africa, is responsible for covering the flanks. The 27th Infantry Division is responsible for the safety of the rear supply line. The front is handed over to the 7th Armored Division and the 7th Armored Infantry Division. An all-out attack on the British Army.

Since Rommel can win the reputation of the desert fox in later generations, he is naturally not a titan like Cheng Yaojin who only knows how to attack. He relies more on cunning and changeable combat methods in organizing attacks than brute force in deadly battles. .

This time he put the 7th Armored Infantry Division, the main force of the infantry, on the front, and then let go of the task of large-scale detours to the 7th Armored Division, which is more mobile. He was preparing to use the 7th Armored Infantry Division to cut into the British At the junction of the two forces, fight a seemingly classic armored force blitz.

In this way, the British defenders who have not figured out their true strength will definitely take a counterattack, and he knows that the best way to counterattack is actually to pinch the German 7th Infantry Division that broke into the center. In this way, the two British troops were stuck by the frontal 7th Armored Infantry Division.

Subsequently, his main 7th Armored Division surrounded by a large circle will enter the battlefield from the south, cut through the British troops on one side in one fell swoop, save the dangerous 7th Armored Infantry Division, and then cut into the British defense line on the other side. Go in and use an "unreasonable hand" to completely disrupt the battle deployment of the British defenders.

Once this plan is successful, Rommel's Afrika Korps will destroy the British defenders on the front line, seize the opponent's command hub and supply base, swallow the collapsed troops on the British front line, and then move eastward to hunt down the remaining British defeated soldiers.

40 Stuka bombers are on standby and will patronize the defensive positions of the British defenders before the attack is launched, while the Italian artillery will bombard the British positions 10 minutes in advance. When they heard that their own troops will not be involved in the attack, the Italians immediately rejoice , prepared the large-caliber artillery for the door-to-door, and opened it for the German colleagues wholeheartedly.

After General Garibaldi heard Rommel's order, he nodded and said nothing nonsense. Since Mellini has strictly ordered the North African Italian army to cooperate with the German African Army, he also handed over the highest command to Rommel. Then, as Melini's confidant, he can't make trouble with his master. So he immediately ordered the fuel of the Italian 1st Army to be transported to the German army station without even the slightest hesitation.

Of course, he was not idle, but sent a very vague telegram to Morini, which stated that the German Army General Staff ordered Rommel to hold the line of defense. After saying this, he didn't say anything else. He meant to let Morini analyze the priorities by himself.

What he didn't know was that this telegram, like other Italian telegrams, was intercepted by British intelligence agents. Only half an hour later, the telegram was placed on Montgomery's desk as a treasure.

"Rommel was ordered to defend? It shouldn't be...According to the habit of the German head of state, if Germany is determined to defend, it will call in more stable generals. It is not normal to use such a young Rommel." Montgomery helped He stared at the intelligence with his chin down and analyzed with a puzzled face: "This Rommel became famous for his offensive operations no matter what he did during the Polish War or during the French Battle. There is no reason."

"But the content of this telegram will never be wrong, so it is impossible for Rommel to violate the decision of Chief of Staff Brauchitsch. We are still safe for the time being." Beside Montgomery, the commander-in-chief of the British North African Expeditionary Force looked proudly. According to the map, his reinforcements will arrive soon, and then he will be able to stabilize the defense line near the ****.

"London street fighting has been going on for a month, and the outcome is still unclear." Montgomery rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed: "If Churchill hadn't replaced me at the beginning, maybe the current battle line has just reached near Cambridge."

The old general pointed to several areas on the map and said, "It's too late to say anything now. The only thing we can do is to fight the battle in North Africa well so that Churchill can last longer on the mainland."

"America going to war?" Montgomery asked suddenly.

The old general nodded and said: "A telegram from Iceland said that a heavily armed American armored division had boarded the ship a few days ago and was making a detour to Egypt. However, they still have no plans to declare war on Germany. This division is based on volunteers." At the same time, a British infantry regiment, a Canadian infantry division, and an Australian volunteer division came to Africa to fight in Saudi Arabia, with a strength of more than 50,000 people."

Montgomery was taken aback for a moment, then nodded in satisfaction. An American division has more "connotation" than a division currently in the hands of the British. This division may have 30,000 people. Now the British can barely gather more than 200,000 troops including reinforcements. Therefore, in the face of the increasing number of German troops in Rommel's hands, Montgomery also seemed to have some confidence.

"Because this coalition force of more than 50,000 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 include the two tank divisions that the United States assisted us to form. , will form a new group army, the 8th group army." The old general said: "The commander is you, Montgomery... and these troops on the front line will be integrated into the 9th group army."

"When shall I go?" Montgomery asked. Being able to independently command an army group is the most beneficial ending Montgomery can think of now. If he keeps letting others do it, he feels that he may go crazy. After all, he now feels that many combat plans of the British army in North Africa are wrong, but he himself has no right to correct these mistakes.

"Let's go now, the plane has been prepared for you." It seemed that the old general also hoped that this subordinate who always raised opinions would get out of here quickly.