Nine Hundred and Sixty Nine

In General Mountbatten's office, a group of staff officers were busy. v≦网≠.┼┼.┮c╊o┭m╳After the oil line of defense was ignited, the US troops were quickly retreating to the third line of defense. All the front-line airports have buried bombs, and oil has been buried where there are no bombs. In short, there is one sentence-leave nothing for the Germans.

A large number of American soldiers and British soldiers are stationed in the oil-producing areas in the rear. This is also a targeted plan based on the tactics of the Germans in the previous battles. Mountbatten read the reports and battle records of the Soviet-German battlefield and the North African battlefield and analyzed it. He believed that the main reason for the failure of the British and American coalition forces was that the German army often used innovative tactics to induce the opponent to make wrong judgments.

For example, the German army likes to use helicopters, a new type of technological weapon, to quickly project troops and sweep occupied areas. For example, the German paratroopers often appear in the deadliest places unexpectedly. The means of the next three indiscriminate sudden use of cold arrows.

It's actually very simple to put together. The Germans extended a linear battlefield, blurring the front line and the rear, forming a new tactic of air-ground integration and deep assault.

After reaching this conclusion, the senior commanders of the United States and the United Kingdom realized how terrible the Germans are. In just two decades, they have completed the transformation of future warfare while breaking the restrictions of Versailles and understanding. ≥∧∈∥≤.╬.

Although there is no generational difference between the two sides in terms of weapons and equipment, the German generals are indeed a generation ahead of other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States in terms of the command form of the two sides and the understanding of the capabilities of the opponent's troops. This generational difference in command awareness has achieved The undefeated myth of the German army on the battlefield.

After analyzing the means of German warfare, Mountbatten drew up a new set of defense plans. He no longer concentrated his forces on the Suez Canal defense line. After all, there were too many loopholes for the German army to take advantage of.

In fact, the Allied forces had no hope of defending the Middle East. The original plan of Roosevelt and other high-level Americans was to prevent Acador from using the oil fields in the Middle East to further strengthen the war potential of the Third Reich. Therefore, the Allies' understanding of the Middle East defensive war is actually very simple: rather than defending, it is better to say destroying.

So Mountbatten was determined to prevent the German special forces from raiding and seizing the oilfield facilities, and also to prevent the German paratroopers from suddenly airborne and other means from occupying the oilfield area. To this end, he scattered his troops throughout the Middle East, rather than concentrating them near the lines of defense. This effectively prevented the German army from using new tactics to raid the oil fields, but it made the troops too scattered to resist the German army's frontal attack. ≈≠∥≧Net v.┮.

Fortunately, Mountbatten never expected to hold the Suez Canal defense line. All he has to do is stall for time, giving him a chance to turn the entire Middle East into a sea of ​​flames. Burning oil can not only slow down the pursuit of the German army, but also consume oil resources, destroy oil-producing equipment and factories, and let Germany occupy the Middle East.

In a short period of time, it is completely impossible to use Middle East oil to expand its production capacity.

What's more, after the burning of oil, it not only pollutes the environment and destroys equipment, but also has a lot of toxic gases permeating the burning area. In this way, it will take at least two years for Germany to use Middle East oil. It's hard to say what the world situation will be like in the UK and the US for two years.

Judging from the current situation, it will be a matter of time before the allied forces composed of the United States, Iceland, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China defeat Japan. It is important to have two years, the United States that defeated Japan will have more warships, and it is not impossible to defeat the German fleet in the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the United States needs these two years, and Iceland and Britain, which happen to hold the thigh of the United States, also need it.

"Report! The entire second line of defense has now been ignited, and the parts that were not accidentally ignited have also been ignited by ourselves. 40,000 tons of crude oil can definitely keep the Germans at bay for a long time. ≦≮≮≈⊥≈≈.” A staff member reported triumphantly. It is a very proud thing to be able to stop the advance of the German army. The generals who can do this are all high-profile generals in the Allied army sequence. Mountbatten's first battle after arriving in the Middle East was able to deflate the Desert Fox, which has exceeded everyone's expectations.

Mountbatten was not overwhelmed by the advantages he had already achieved. His mind was mature and stable enough to be the leader of the Asian theater of the British Empire. He looked at the map in front of him, pressed his finger on the red line representing the flame, and didn't speak for a long time.

He was thinking about Rommel's countermeasures. After all, the fire after the oil was ignited was not so easy to extinguish. If Rommel attempted to pursue quickly, he would have to rush out of the flames from a few preset positions.

He had already laid mines in those places, which was an important reason for the chaotic and slow retreat of the American and British troops. Coupled with the blocking of the British Death Squad and the U.S. rear troops, the German army should not be able to get a bargain.

Thinking of this, he withdrew his finger, then turned around and ordered to his assistant: "Let all the air defense troops go on alert, and the oil field defenders also immediately go into combat mode. As long as there is any disturbance, there is no need to ask the headquarters." , you can directly execute the blasting plan.≦≥.┭╊.”

After speaking his order, Mountbatten finally felt a little relieved. The German army did not strategically bomb the oil fields in the Middle East, but it was considering the possibility of seizing the oil fields. Mountbatten drew up a defense plan for the oil field tit-for-tat, so for him, Rommel couldn't get any cheap this time anyway.

In the distance facing the Mountbatten headquarters, on the embankment of the Suez Canal, next to Rommel's command vehicle, the atmosphere in the German army headquarters seemed a bit heavy. The operation to forcibly cross the Suez Canal planned by Rommel the Desert Fox was successfully completed, but everyone was unhappy.

The sudden oil-burning war by American local tyrants made the German army, which was short on oil resources, realize the cruelty of the battle. The original combat plan now seems to be basically unusable.

Rommel looked at General Frederick, an infantry warrior who had just rushed back from the frontline battlefield, and asked the topic he was most interested in: "Is there a problem with the strength of the US defense line...?"

General Frederick clamped his steel helmet, stroked the golden thread on his forehead, pointed to the map and said, "Marshal. According to my experience in fighting the US military, the US military has only about 4 to 7 divisions on the front line. , and there are not many firepower configurations. This is not a preparation to stick to the defense line, but a way to delay our army's attack."

Rommel nodded. Frederick is the most tough general under his command and the commander of the 7th Army, the most elite infantry army of the African Legion. In this case, what he analyzes is often the most intuitive and The most correct thing.

Since the U.S. and British troops did not concentrate so many main forces on the frontal battlefield, it is self-evident where these troops are. It seems that the opponent already knows what the German army really wants, and is ready to destroy it.

At this time, risking the use of special forces and paratroopers to raid those oil fields and factories is obviously giving the enemy a record. Even if the German paratroopers and special forces have obvious numerical advantages, they cannot waste the elite with such no chance of winning. The enemy is waiting for the Germans to fall into their trap near these original targets, and then sending someone to die is a complete idiot.

Combined with some ground photos provided by the German reconnaissance plane, Rommel gave a wry smile, and then looked at his beloved general and Marshal Garibaldi who was a little further away: "It was originally planned to use special forces and paratroopers to cooperate with armored forces to assault, We can take about one-tenth of the oil fields. Now it seems that we are too optimistic about this plan..."

Then Rommel, Germany's supreme commander in Africa and one of the three marshals of the Army, finally made up his mind: "Since you won't let me take what I deserve, then don't even think about taking what belongs to you." part of it!"

After muttering this, he immediately turned to Garibaldi and the air force liaison officer, pointed to some marks on the map, and issued his combat order: "Immediately dispatch all air forces to destroy all the oil field facilities in these places regardless of the cost." ! Including oil fields and oil processing plants, oil pipelines and storage areas! All! All destroyed!"

"Hiss..." Garibaldi gasped. Rommel's boldness to change the battle plan terrified him. Even knowing that the opponent is prepared, it takes a lot of courage to give up so many resources: "Send out all the air force? Even our rags?"

"Yes! As many as there are, we will dispatch as many as possible! According to the comparison of the aerial photos detected by the reconnaissance plane, all suspicious targets will be destroyed!" Rommel said firmly without the slightest hesitation: "Since they don't want it, they don't want it either. If we want it, burn it all!"

It may be changed to 3 months ago, Rommel would have hesitated, and did not dare to make this decision lightly. But now that Libya's oil fields have begun to produce oil, Rommel's African Army is not as rich and powerful as the Middle East, but it also has fewer scruples and troubles. That's why Rommel immediately began to counterattack, using air superiority to defuse the enemy's delaying tactics.

About an hour after Rommel changed the combat plan, the German -217 bombers once again overwhelmingly appeared over the battlefield. But this time, these planes did not drop bombs on the heads of the US troops on the front line. Their engines roared and flew over the sky towards their targets, and flew mightily.

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