Chapter 277 Joining the War

"General!" Qin Chuan took a sip from his glass and replied, "The British will not give up so easily!"

"Yes!" Rommel nodded, but he answered optimistically, "But we have rocket launchers, right? And the legendary sergeant!"

The officers couldn't help but agree.

"Yes!" Colonel Slain said, "If we can equip a large number of rocket launchers, we can ambush rocket launchers anywhere, and we can even equip the Egyptian guerrillas with it!"

"It's simply a work of art!" Major Klein said to Qin Chuan, "Second Lieutenant, I can't believe you are its inventor. I thought these were all done by scientists!"

...

The officers may be right. Individual anti-tank weapons can indeed play a big role in this period, especially in street fighting.

But at the same time, it also has its own weaknesses, especially since the German army is not the only army equipped or developing such weapons... The US military also has rocket launcher technology. The historical bazooka rocket launcher will appear in North Africa in a few months, and this is because the US military has always been pessimistic about the bazooka rocket launcher.

Now that the German army has put it on the battlefield, will the US army speed up the equipment process of the bazooka?

After dinner, Rommel called Colonel Slaine and Qin Chuan to his headquarters.

Rommel asked Qin Chuan directly: "Second Lieutenant, what are you worried about?"

"Yes, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "You know, the British equipment has surpassed our army in all aspects, especially after they have new tanks!"

Rommel nodded: "Now it's not a problem of supply lines, but most of the German tanks are concentrated on the Eastern Front, and Berlin has no more and more advanced tanks to support us!"

Qin Chuan knew this, which he didn't expect.

The point is that the British army should not be equipped with "Sherman" so early, and some things in history seem to have been disrupted by themselves.

For example: When the British launched the Battle of El Alamein and turned to counterattack, the German army had already fallen into retreat on the Eastern Front, so Hitler transferred part of the troops and supplies to the North African battlefield where there was still hope of victory... This included the air wing stationed in Sicily, several German infantry divisions and even a paratrooper division. In terms of tanks, in addition to the "Panzer IV", there was also the "Tiger".

So during the Battle of El Alamein, the German equipment and troops were not as bad as they are now.

However, because Qin Chuan played a series of roles in this, the North African battlefield at least appeared to be developing in a direction that was favorable to the German army, so Hitler believed that it was not necessary to send many reinforcements and supplies to North Africa.

The most important thing was that the time was wrong... At this time, the German army was launching a fierce attack on the Soviet Union, so of course there would be no extra troops and equipment to reinforce Africa.

Therefore, the African Corps is likely to continue to face such a dilemma... With a total of only 200 tanks in three armored divisions facing the British steel torrent, especially most of the tanks equipped by the German army were "Panzer III" tanks that could not compete with the "Sherman".

Therefore, sometimes Qin Chuan didn't know whether he was helping or harming the German army. All his efforts might accelerate the destruction of the African Corps.

"The situation is indeed unfavorable to us!" Rommel said, "But I believe we will definitely get through this difficult time!"

"I have an idea, General!" Qin Chuan said.

"I'm listening!" Rommel said with a smile, "Second Lieutenant, every idea of ​​yours is worth discussing!"

"I think we should prepare for retreat!" Qin Chuan said.

"What?" Hearing this, Rommel looked at Qin Chuan in confusion: "Did I hear you right, Lieutenant, are you admitting defeat?"

"No, I'm not saying admitting defeat!" Qin Chuan said: "But it's not good for us to continue fighting like this!"

"Then tell me, Lieutenant!" Rommel said: "What do you mean? Have you considered the consequences of retreating?"

"Of course!" Qin Chuan replied: "But we are seriously short of troops now, and our equipment cannot fight the British head-on, and we still have fatal weaknesses!"

"Fatal weaknesses?" Rommel asked: "What weaknesses are you talking about? Alexander Line? Tanks?"

"No, it's much more serious than this!" Qin Chuan pointed to the map and said: "Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, our rear!"

"Do you think the British will land there?" Rommel smiled and said: "Don't worry, there are French troops guarding there!"

Qin Chuan shook his head.

The Germans now believe that the French will stand on the side of the German army to fight the Allies together. On the one hand, it is because France has surrendered and the Weixi government is a puppet of Germany. On the other hand, when France surrendered, Churchill was worried that French warships would be used by Germany, so he ordered the implementation of the "Catapult Plan" to attack the French fleet first and caused heavy casualties to the French navy.

This made France indignant, and the whole country was in a crusade against Britain's betrayal. In this environment, Rommel believed that the places where French troops were stationed would at least not be so easy to be taken by the British.

But the fact is not so. France and Germany have always been at odds. When the British and American coalition forces airborne and landed in Algeria, the two sides actually only fought a few small-scale battles, and then the French army stood on the side of the Allies and became Germany's enemy.

This is also one of the reasons why the German army was defeated across the board in Africa and was even surrounded and annihilated.

"General!" Colonel Slain said, "I agree with the lieutenant on this point. We can't trust the French!"

"Even so!" Rommel laughed, "Do you think the British have the ability to launch a large-scale airborne or landing war in Algeria? No, Britain is under a blockade by German submarines!"

What Rommel said was indeed true. If it was just Britain, it would not have the ability, but if the United States was added...

"They have the help of Americans!" Qin Chuan said.

"But the United States will not participate in the war!" Rommel said, "At least so far there is no evidence that the United States dares to openly help the British launch a landing war!"

"General!" At this time, a staff officer handed Rommel a telegram.

Rommel looked at the telegram and his face turned pale.

"What happened, General?" Slain asked.

"You are right, lieutenant!" Rommel handed the telegram to Qin Chuan and said, "The United States will indeed participate in the war!"

Qin Chuan took the telegram and saw... Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

This is not something Qin Chuan can control, it still happened like history.