Five Hundred and Eighty-Two Troublesome to Go

Patton was hurrying, his troops stretching forward from Egypt. The dusty road that winds for several kilometers is full of American M3 half-track armored vehicles and trucks, as well as American and British soldiers walking densely on both sides of the road.

Since the United States declared war on Japan, the domestic wartime control has raised the production capacity of the United States to a new level. In just one month, the United States has launched many destroyers and cruisers, and counting the aircraft carrier in the dock, Almost another new Pacific Fleet has been produced by the United States. It's just that this time the core is no longer a battleship with complicated production processes, but an open topside aircraft carrier that is simple and easy to produce.

Of course, the army's equipment is so much that it makes one's scalp tingle. The United States has sent a large number of half-track armored vehicles and tanks to the Middle East to protect the increasingly fragile oil production areas in the Middle East. At the same time, it is also stepping up oil drilling in Mexico and at home to meet the needs of expanded production capacity.

In just one month, the United States put into service 200 new fighter jets and 30 bombers, and produced more than 200 m4 Sherman tanks, half of which were deployed to the Middle East. Patton was strengthened with at least 30 m4 tanks and 300 m3 stock tanks, and the number of tanks in his hand was not much less than that of Rommel. This was the capital he was eager to fight and his greatest strength.

Now the entire Eighth Army has 890 tanks, about 90 m4 Sherman tanks, and more than 400 m3lee tanks with 75mm guns. Most of the rest are m3 and a small amount of Matilda. These tank units are already the largest tank unit assembled by the Allied Forces, and even the American troops fighting the Japanese army in the Philippines do not have such a large number of tanks.

However, compared with the number of tanks in Rommel's hands now, the armor power in Patton's hands is slightly shabby. Rommel now has more than 70 Tiger tanks, nearly 700 Leopard tanks, and nearly 250 Panzer 3 tanks and other junk.

Unlike the last tank battle between Rommel and Patton, because the chassis of the No. 3 tank was occupied by the No. 3 assault gun, the German General Armament Department ordered the suspension of the No. 3 tank and turned to the production of better Leopard tanks and tanks. No. 3 assault gun. Therefore, the No. 3 tanks in Rommel's hands were not replenished, but the number dropped by a large amount. But the Leopard tank in his hand is the backbone of the German tanks, and the number is definitely so large that it is staggering.

So this time Rommel is confident to fight a larger tank battle, completely encircling Patton's armored forces on the outskirts of Tobruk. Once this armored battle is won, not only Tobruk will easily become the pocket of the German-Italian coalition forces, but even Egypt is just around the corner.

On the one hand, the German army was waiting for Patton to appear, and on the other hand, Patton was exhausted from thousands of miles of reinforcements. Rommel accurately calculated the loss of the armored troops in Patton's hands. He used the mature maintenance level of the German army to estimate the tanks in Patton's hands, and easily calculated that the tanks that Patton could use to fight outside Tobruk were not More than 500 vehicles,

This number is much less than the force that the German army can counterattack.

Because maintenance and repairs are very convenient, and no long-distance raids have been carried out, Rommel's armored troops are in very good condition. At the beginning of the battle, Rommel can call more than 800 tanks, which makes the German army in terms of quality and quantity. They all overwhelmed Barton.

The reason why Patton came in such a hurry, and was eager to fight Rommel's superior army with inferior forces, was nothing more than two reliances. One was that the production capacity of the United States was steadily increasing, and he was confident that he would use two tanks or even more tanks to fight. One of Rommel's tanks, he will definitely get more supplies than Rommel at that time; another reliance is the British defenders in Tobruk. Once the battle starts, the British troops in Tobruk will definitely take the opportunity to fight out. In chaos, Rommel will inevitably suffer losses.

He was here to give Rommel to eat these troops, just like sending a hot KFC lunch. It's just that this big meal is a bit hard, if you want to eat it, you may have to break a few teeth.

In fact, on the road full of yellow sand, Patton sitting in the command car was also repeatedly calculating Rommel's strength. The news he got made him feel very bad. Method.

The armored forces in Rommel's hands did not appear on a large scale in the battle against Tobruk. On the contrary, the main force attacking there was the traditional infantry with the naval artillery. This prevented Patton from rushing forward to start a decisive battle. Obviously, Rommel was waiting for him to slam into the front armor plate of the Tiger tank and the Leopard tank, and his head was broken.

What's more, the loss of air and sea control puts Patton, a brave fighter, in a difficult situation. The loss of sea control makes Patton's supplies have to be detoured through southern Africa. In order to ensure the absolute safety of this transportation line, the British And the United States acquiesced to de Gaulle's soldiers entering Somalia.

After all, it takes a big circle, because of this big circle, almost one-third of Button's fuel is always on the road, and almost one-third of Button's equipment is always on the road. Around the Cape of Good Hope, around the whole of Africa, through Somalia, and through Suez with fear, before reaching Patton's hands.

Dominance of the air can make people miserable. Don't dare to assemble and dare not attack in good weather. You have to wait for rain, sandstorms, and all bad weather that is not conducive to combat. Although the Luftwaffe in North Africa is far less brutal than in Europe, it is still a chilling and powerful force.

Patton really wanted to optimistically estimate how many troops he would have left after reaching Tobruk, but the report he was holding now clearly did not allow him to continue to be optimistic. The failure rate of the American m3 tank itself is higher than that of the German Leopard tank. After a rough estimate, he found that he was lucky to find 400 tanks to launch an attack after leaping thousands of miles.

If you count the interference of the German Air Force, the US tank force can have 300 tanks left, which is already very good. Of course, this is an estimation result, and it is very likely that the United States has traveled a long distance, and in the end there are only 200 or even less equipment left.

Use less than 300 backward m3lee tanks and m4 tanks to attack German Leopard tanks that are at least twice as strong as your own? What are you kidding? If this order is passed to the grassroots of the US military on the front line, then this battle will not have to be fought at all, and if it is not done, a mutiny will break out in the 8th Army tomorrow.

"Send a telegram to General Montgomery and tell him that our plan is about to change. If we bump into it in such a muddle, we might be eaten by Rommel." Patton frowned while holding an unlit cigar. Said to the staff.

His staff officer was obviously less optimistic about this battle than he was, so he simply said the truth: "General, if we drive all the way, half of our equipment will be lost halfway. Once the German army gains an advantage on the battlefield, they will chase us all the way. The equipment lost halfway will be thrown to the Germans..."

Patton didn't speak, so the staff sent a message. Montgomery's call back was not slow. Obviously, the other party had already considered the situation on the battlefield. After all, the decisive battle in North Africa was of great importance. If something went wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"I understand, but if we don't go, then the impact of losing Tobruk will be enough to surpass the annihilation of the entire Eighth Army. If Britain loses India and Australia is threatened by the Japanese army, then it is likely to withdraw from the war..." Holding the telegram, Barton fell silent again.

He doesn't understand politics, so talking about politics with him is worse than talking about military affairs directly. In his eyes, it is very unreasonable to send an army group to the opponent to eat. If baiting is necessary, more enemies must be killed to win.

But now his allies are holding back his military operations, which makes him a little annoyed, but because of the pressure from his superiors, he can't show it for a while. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the French government-in-exile, moved Vichy France's Somali colony under the pretext of protecting the route. As a result, the French battleships off the coast of Tobruk completely plunged the North African battlefield into a passive situation. In order to protect their Egyptian colony and the Suez Canal, the British also tried every means to make the United States and Germany fight to the death.

Patton was a little messed up, he didn't understand why the Vihifa troops in Somalia had never intervened in any Allied transportation operations, but de Gaulle insisted on moving that sloppy place at this time. He didn't understand why Montgomery would rather lose Tobruk and destroy the 8th Army than hope that Patton would lead his troops to die. Could it be said that war is not for victory?

The plan to rush to the rescue was indeed proposed by Patton himself, but at that time he didn't know that Rommel would hold his armored troops for 6 days and wait for him to come to fight. At least in Patton's script, it is time to stop and gather troops, and then find another way to rescue Tobruk.

These 50,000 American soldiers and 40,000 British troops cannot be buried in their own hands. This is what Patton is thinking about now. He finally raised his head, looked out the window of the car at the tank that was following the dust, and made up his mind.

"Order the troops to stop advancing, collect the stragglers, repair the tanks and vehicles, and wait for the next action instructions." Patton said to the staff: "Call Montgomery back and tell him that we don't want to die, let him find another way. At the same time Send a telegram back to China about our current situation, and let the big shots worry about it."

--------------------

Thank you for your support to the Third Reich! Today’s monthly ticket has inspired the Dragon Spirit for a long time! The Empire is with you! Long live the Empire! With your support, the Empire will never give up!