Chapter 767 Naval Support (Plus 8)

North African battlefield, Tobrugg.

The weather was extremely hot, the sun was hanging high overhead, and the temperature was almost over forty degrees.

The sultry heat made it even more unbearable.

"In the past few days, there has been no movement from the Germans." Klopp said to Wavell in Tobrugg's fortress headquarters.

Now, Wavell has felt uneasy. A large number of German legions have surrounded Tobrugg. As the British commander-in-chief stationed in Egypt, Wavell is surrounded by Germans. It is quite unfortunate if there is a tragic battle here. , if he is killed or captured by the Germans, even if he himself is indifferent, it will bring a heavy blow to Britain.

Now, Britain is very dangerous, and the situation has reached an extremely dire situation.

The Germans destroyed the entire Exeter and shocked the whole world. The Germans have the ability to destroy a city in an instant!

Now, the Germans are standing still, are they going to destroy Tobruk as they did Exeter?

In Europe, the Germans still have to pretend and drive away the civilians first, but in North Africa, such a primitive and backward region, maybe the Germans will use the most savage way?

Thinking of this, he was a little scared, but he knew that he couldn't escape.

The encirclement of the Germans is not tight. At least every night, there will be transport planes from Egypt that land near the city to provide them with supplies. If he needs, he can leave by plane at any time.

But this will seriously shake the morale of the army. If the defenders know that at a critical time, as the commander-in-chief of the British Army in the Middle East, if they escape in advance, the soldiers will lose their fighting spirit.

So, he didn't do that.

"General, now the Germans outside the city are slowly retreating." At this moment, Alan Gordon Cunningham, commander of the British Eighth Army who came here with him, said to him happily: "The Germans have retreated!"

Germans, retreat? how can that be? He stood up immediately.

"After all, the Germans came from a long distance, maybe their supplies are not smooth?" Klopp, the commander of the fortress, analyzed.

When the Germans came, they were aggressive and the armored troops were overwhelming. However, some military experts have already analyzed that to maintain the operation of such a huge force requires massive logistical supplies. Needless to say, the oil is just Astronomical numbers. At the same time, the German armored forces, almost all of which are burst weapons, have a considerable demand for ammunition.

If supplies are poor, they may retreat!

Hearing Klopp's words, Wavell felt a little relieved. If this is the case, it would be great. After the Germans retreated, they should retreat immediately. Before the assistance from the United States arrives, should they continue to attack? Yes, they have to defend and protect the most important Suez Canal.

At this moment, suddenly, an anxious voice came: "No, no, there are a large number of warships on the sea!"

outside the city.

"General, our troops have retreated twenty kilometers," said General Streicher, commander of the 5th Armored Division, to him.

Now, the German North African Army has all landed in Africa, surrounded by the periphery of Tobrugg, they did not attack immediately, because they were waiting!

Waiting for support to arrive.

Of course, Rommel also knew the cruelty of street fighting, especially outside the city. A small number of Australian soldiers taught them a vivid lesson. Facing a group of people who are not afraid of death, the German Legion will have a lot of casualties. This is Rommel. Absolutely unbearable.

So, Rommel asked the base camp for help, and now, he needs support!

It would be best to blow up the whole city like Exeter did, but this bombing has a huge cost, and Germany does so much harm.

Therefore, a low-cost solution must be used. Under Rommel's request, Cyric immediately mobilized the navy to support him.

It is a pity that the main force of the German navy is busy with the plan to land in the UK from Plymouth. This is also the most important strategic action of Germany. Therefore, there are not many navies that can be dispatched. Cruising inside, you can arrive quickly.

Therefore, the main force who came to provide artillery support this time was the Italian fleet!

When he learned of the arrival of the Italian fleet, Rommel immediately ordered his troops to retreat. The results of the Italian army's victory were obvious to all. They even shot down their own North African commander. It's not good for your own troops to come up!

So, the German troops retreated, leaving enough space for the Italian fleet.

During World War II, Italy has always regarded the Mediterranean as its own territory. Unfortunately, the Italian fleet has not had any decent results in the Mediterranean, and was almost beaten by the British.

After all, the British Navy is a powerful existence. In order to hunt down a German warship, dozens of troops can be mobilized to chase it at sea for half a year.

But now, the British navy has collapsed. When the Junkers-290 bomber flew over Scapa Flow, the era of British sea power was ended.

The United Kingdom had to mobilize warships from the colony several times to support the mainland. Even the British fleet in Egypt was quite weak. At most, they only dared to dispatch at night to provide supplies to Tubrugg.

And now, when the huge Italian fleet appeared in front of Tobrugg, the Italian Navy was in high spirits.

Admiral Rica, Italy's new chief of naval staff, personally served as the commander-in-chief of the naval fleet this time. He led a huge fleet to find the bad luck of the British. In the entire fleet, there are only four battleships!

These include the old Count of Cavour-class battleships Cavour and Julio-Caesar, the old-fashioned Cao-Durio-class battleships and the new Veneto-class battleship 1.

Then, there are the proud Zara-class heavy cruisers "Zara", "Fium", "Grazia" and "Pola".

In addition, there are Taranto-class heavy cruisers, Bolgano-class heavy cruisers, etc., more than 30 warships of various types. Now, they are all lined up with their broadsides facing Tubrugg. .

"Now, I order, the shelling begins immediately!" Admiral Rika shouted loudly over the radio.

"Boom!" The flagship Cavour, the first to fire!

The displacement of this warship is not large, only more than 20,000 tons, but its firepower is absolutely against the sky. It has 13 305mm naval guns!