Five Hundred and Three Attacks

Facts have proved that it is not only Patton and Montgomery who are thinking about attacking, Rommel of Germany is also planning an offensive operation. However, he was banned by the German High Command before he could implement it.

General Frederick is now in the conference room reporting to Rommel his campaign preparations for the last few days. Near this supply depot, he has divided the 7th Infantry Corps into three echelons, combining the 27th Division and some Italian troops. Put it on the first line, put the elite 7th Infantry Division and 17th Infantry Division on the second line of defense, and some fragmented assault guns and Italian tank units on the third line of defense, Be ready to reinforce the location attacked by the enemy at any time.

Although such an arrangement is very safe, but on the long line of defense, the German African Army only placed one army, which is obviously not enough. So, here comes a problem, excavator technology... I'm used to it, sorry. So the question is, where did the 7th Panzer Army that Rommel was supplemented and strengthened go?

This is not the small unit with only the 7th Armored Division half a month ago, but a huge armored unit with 3 armored divisions. If you count some tank destroyers and No. 3 tanks, Rommel probably holds There are more than 700 tanks in China, which is not a small number.

Troubleshooting and maintenance issues, Rommel can send at least 500 tanks into the battlefield at a time. For a battlefield like North Africa, this number of tanks is quite impressive.

You know, Patton, who was preparing to attack in a hurry, and the armored troops in Montgomery's hands in total were only 910 tanks. Of course, these tanks cannot be put into battle together, and the force that Patton can use to attack the battle is no more than 500 at most.

Therefore, the battle with the closest strength between the two sides since the start of the war is about to begin. What Rommel is confirming at this moment is precisely the amount of material reserves he can use in this battle.

"The number of fighter jets we can probably use is about 75. It is no problem to compete for air supremacy in the vicinity. The British have lost 7 planes in the past few days, and rarely send patrol formations to provoke them." The head of the air force helped Friedrich Ke reported the situation in the sky, and once again assured Rommel that they could win the air supremacy of the battlefield.

Rommel still felt that this was believable, because the Luftwaffe had rarely lost air supremacy since the start of the war. Even when they were desperately interfered by the British Air Force during the battle to land in Britain, they did not lose their advantage over the theater. The sky in North Africa has always been controlled by the German and Italian air forces. The me-fighters of the Italian Air Force are responsible for peacetime patrol missions, and the FW-190D of the German Air Force is responsible for killing the invading British Air Force.

But to be honest, except for a few brigades of Stuka bombers, the German-Italian Air Force's suppression of the ground battlefield is not high. Even under the cover of the German Air Force, Italian bombers only dare to drop bombs at high altitudes. Words are nothing but good wishes.

Therefore, Rommel did not expect the North African air force to defeat the British and American coalition forces directly from the air like their European counterparts.

The real confrontation still depends on the ground battlefield. Thinking of this, Rommel put aside the telegram in his hand that prohibited him from actively attacking the British and American coalition forces, and sneered as he listened to the officers of the Italian allies explaining the coordination of artillery support. In fact, there is nothing to arrange. The attitude of the senior German generals towards the Italian troops has always been very simple and rude, that is: you fight yours, and I fight mine.

"General Rommel, you have mobilized the entire 7th Panzer Army. Are you really planning to forcefully organize an attack in disregard of the order of your country's Supreme Command?" Italian General Garibaldi sat beside Rommel. He asked, "Could it be that you are going to disobey the order of the head of state again?"

"General Garibaldi, just a day ago, the Supreme Command changed the communication code and sent a telegram with the latest code." General Frederick handed a document to the Italian ally.

General Garibaldi took the document, read it carefully, and returned it to Frederick with a wry smile. The above is a telegram sent by Akado in his own tone, the content is not much: Rommel, I know that interfering with the command of a front-line general is a very dangerous thing, and the statement about your logistics supplies not being completed can not be attacked The command may have been deciphered by the enemy, how to deal with it depends on your own decision. Akado Rudolph.

This telegram can be said to have withdrawn the instructions of the Supreme Command that ordered Rommel not to attack. In fact, this is not that the head of state Accardo "changed the order overnight", but on the contrary that he "knows his mistakes and can correct them."

There are two reasons why Akado established the Supreme Command. The first is the need for the various military services to coordinate operations, and the second is to reasonably and legally hold the control of the army in his own hands. There is really no such thing as commanding troops. Because Akado set the bottom line for himself from the very beginning, that is, try not to interfere with the command of the troops.

He deeply knew what kind of disaster Hitler's random command, who didn't pretend to understand, had brought to the German army. It was precisely because of his stubbornness and arbitrariness that the German army was defeated in 1943. Restraining him to interfere in the military, many battles that could have been fought better were defeated.

Later, because the orders issued by the Supreme Command became more and more inexplicable, and because Hitler's mistakes became more and more unbearable, the senior German generals began to deceive Hitler and modify Hitler's combat deployment, which led to an even more disastrous situation. Consequences - the subordinates deceive their superiors, and the superiors miscalculate the situation and make wrong judgments. How can such a vicious circle be invincible?

For example, such a situation occurred in the later period of the war. Hitler ordered the expansion of the German army, but there were no weapons, equipment and personnel, so the generals had no choice but to deceive Hitler that these non-existent troops had indeed been formed and participated in the war. Naturally, Hitler would use these non-existent troops to counterattack. Naturally, there will be no results. The front line Troops without support will collapse faster. The collapsed troops did not dare to report to Hitler, so these troops have always existed, and will be taken out by Hitler to support other German troops next time.

Akado doesn't want to commit suicide in the basement like Churchill, and use grenades to destroy his body; he doesn't want to be like Hitler, who will be poured gasoline to light a fire after death... He still has three Beautiful women like flowers and jade are waiting for Lin Xing, and he still has a lot of money waiting to spend.

With Akado's instruction, Rommel naturally decided to fight an offensive battle that he was best at according to his wishes. He didn't want to stand in the trenches and wait for his opponent to come knocking on the door. This was not the way he dreamed of fighting, nor did it conform to his personal art of war.

attack! Only offense is the best defense! Only by defeating the enemy thousands of miles away can one's defense be as stable as Mount Tai! This is Rommel's creed, and this is Germany's most offensive general. As long as he has a liter of gasoline, he will use it on the road of attack. This is in line with his style, and this is in line with the classic "Attack, Attack, Attack!" in his book "Infantry Attack".

"Don't worry about fighting a battle you are familiar with. Here, General Garibaldi and I will stick to the last moment." Frederick said with a smile: "I remember you, General, mentioned in the book "Infantry Attack" Guo said: 'The stronger the firepower, the deeper the fortification, the smaller the casualties.', so we have prepared for a long time this time."

General Garibaldi of the Italian garrison also said: "I know that the Italian army's combat capability is really not very good in front of the German army, but this time we are deploying the most elite Italian troops on the front line, so we are not sure about attacking, but I still have confidence in defense."

While bragging about his troops, he pointed to the map and described the defensive configuration of the Italian troops. Cannons were deployed at many defensive points, and mines were laid between positions. Some important areas were even welded with steel plates. The lid was made into a fortress.

And this time Mussolini gave reinforcements to the black shirts of Garibaldi's first division. This unit is somewhat similar to the German SS. It is a young volunteer army with firm beliefs and loyalty. Its combat effectiveness can be regarded as the strongest in Italy. Troops up. Rommel also knew that what Garibaldi said was indeed true. The 1st Army in Italy and North Africa accompanying the German attack is now very powerful. At least there should be no major problems in defense.

However, there is still a problem that bothers Rommel who is preparing to attack, that is, there is indeed a problem with his logistical supplies. An Italian oil tanker carrying oil was sunk by a British submarine in the Mediterranean Sea. This caused 2,000 tons of gasoline and 1,000 tons of aviation fuel that should have been sent to Rommel to sink into the sea. This is why the Supreme Command prohibited Rommel from launching offensive operations. the most important reason.

The lack of fuel was the biggest problem facing the German army. If Rommel hadn't been captured for a long time by capturing a British fuel depot, he might have been chased by Patton and driven back to near Tunisia. However, after several days of fighting and the pre-reserve of spare fuel, Rommel found that the resources in his hands could only fight a short offensive. Although there is a lot of fuel, he also has more equipment to drink fuel in his hand. After all, tanks, aircraft, assault guns, and armored vehicles are all fuel tigers.

However, Rommel is still full of confidence. He firmly believes that his troops can approach Tobruk in this counterattack and win this important defensive node.