Chapter 432 Spring Awakening (8)
Although Hoffman expressed guilt for misappropriating Guderian's supplies, neither he nor Speer, nor even Guderian himself, ever expected that this move would disrupt the combat plans and deployment of the British and American troops in Africa: 3 In early October, the African Group Army successfully completed the occupation of Mogadishu and the rest of Somalia, and began to launch an offensive on the northeastern coastal corridor of Kenya. The German armored forces were advancing rapidly, and Patton led the troops to fight and retreat, hoping to release the Germans. Come in and fight.
It seemed to be successful at first. By March 25, the German army had crossed the Vittu and Kawu lines in the eastern section of the Tana Valley and exchanged fire with the American outposts. Patton experienced the German armored warfare and Tiger for the first time. With tanks, Guderian experienced the Americans' defensive counterattack and air-ground coordination for the first time. Each side gave a higher evaluation to the other: Patton believed that the German armored forces were tactically skilled and the Tiger tanks were as powerful as the rumors, while Guderian believed that the American troops cooperated with each other in a much more organized manner than the British, especially in open areas. The synergy is pretty good, and the infantry's light firepower is particularly ferocious. After seizing and trying out the American M1 Garand rifle on the spot, Guderian finally understood why the head of state wanted to eliminate the K98 and replace it with the G43 rifle - even though the rapidly increasing bullet consumption put greater pressure on logistical supplies.
The African Army's preferred trophy is the American bulldozer - the Sherman tank. In the eyes of the German armored forces, the Sherman tank's fighting ability can only be said to be average. It often turns into a fireball when hit, but as a service tank But it is extremely easy to use. After modification, whether it is a bulldozer, an excavator, a bridge or a crane, it is easier to use than a vehicle modified from a T-34 or No. 4 tank - because the engine power of the Sherman tank is as high as 500 horsepower, and the turret is removed. The rear residual power is the largest, much higher than that of the No. 4 tank, and its mechanical reliability is stronger than that of the T-34.
On the African battlefield, landmines are a headache for everyone. The German army, who has the talent for "universal transformation", likes to transform Sherman into a minesweeper. As a result, when reporting on battle conditions within the German army, they would sometimes inexplicably mention how many "bulldozers" or "minesweeper trucks" had been captured. People who did not know the field were confused. Only the frontline officers and soldiers understood what they actually meant. Sherman - As long as the chassis and powertrain are intact, it doesn't matter if the turret is intact.
But just when the two sides were preparing for a further war, Guderian suddenly stopped advancing aggressively at the beginning and started to take two steps forward and one step back. It took the Germans a lot of time to travel more than 800 kilometers from Mogadishu to Ka'u. It was completed in 20 days, but the 130-kilometer road from Kau to Malindina, a port city in eastern Kenya, took a full week. It was not until early April that the effective occupation was carried out, and then it was delayed to Mombasa, which is more than 100 kilometers away. The attack made the British and American coalition forces jittery and very nervous. I don't know what bad move the Germans were holding back.
The senior leaders in the African theater were much more humble than the complacent mentality they had after the successful landing in North Africa in history - that time they were taught a lesson by Rommel at the Kesselring Pass for being arrogant, complacent and greedy for success. The British and American troops have been forced to fight, and the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who retreated from North Africa and Egypt continue to exaggerate the strength of the German army. The US military has become very conservative and has the problem of worrying about gains and losses, even if someone like Patton is not afraid of anything and everything. After fighting against the Germans several times, he admitted that he should treat them with caution.
Faced with the sudden change in style, the African Theater Command was troubled: it wanted to attack but was afraid that it would not be able to defeat the German army and the Axis fleet that might appear along the coast; it wanted to retreat and abandon Mombasa but was unwilling to do so, so it could only defend with all its strength, and This is a process that consumes quite a lot of patience and willpower.
Guderian wanted to attack, but because half of his supplies were misappropriated by Rommel, he could not accumulate the supplies needed for the attack in a short period of time, so he could only stay where he was for the time being.
The African Army's supplies usually land in Mogadishu by sea, and then rely on nearly 1,000 kilometers of road transportation to the front line. As the front extends further and further, due to distance constraints, supply becomes more and more difficult. I thought that the situation would improve after taking Malindi, but it turned out that the port facilities were still left over from the last century. Not only were their capabilities limited, they had also been completely destroyed by the Americans and could not be used at all. The only hope was to capture Mombasa as soon as possible and restore navigation capabilities so that transport ships could dock directly at the port. However, with logistical constraints, he could only sigh while looking at Mombasa, which was more than 100 kilometers away.
Although the United States has far more materials and supplies than the German army, it also encounters a problem of limited transportation. A large amount of materials and equipment are piled in South Africa. A bullet, a cannon shell, and a barrel of gasoline must be flown from South Africa by plane. . Even a country with stronger logistics capabilities than the United States would find it difficult to face this situation. During this period, in order to prevent and delay the German attack, Eisenhower, who had insufficient armor, was forced to use a large number of B-24\B-25 to carry out air strikes. These bombers usually performed material transportation functions together with transport aircraft. The more bombers were used to perform combat missions, the more The less troops can devote to transportation, not to mention the fact that the German air force is not weak. The African Army Group can not only receive support from aircraft taking off from Pemba Island, but also a fighter wing commanded by Garland behind it.
The overall result of the air battle was that the United States suffered a loss. Although the US bombers had the cover of P-47\P-40, they still suffered heavy losses in the face of the German fighter units composed of Fw-190 and Bf-219. In just over half a month of air battles, the US lost more than 70 fighters and more than 60 bombers, while the German aircraft lost less than 40. Moreover, since most of the air battles took place over the German battlefield, most of the German pilots who were shot down were rescued in the end. In terms of pilot (group) losses, the German army only had 10-15% of the US army.
On the one hand, there was a rapid increase in consumption and continuous war damage, and on the other hand, there was less and less transportation and replenishment. This period of time almost made Eisenhower's hair turn white. He was very clear about his weaknesses - the armored forces were no match for the Germans, and they could only tie with the Germans by relying entirely on air power. But the loss of air force was too heavy. Although he had more planes than the Germans and could get continuous assistance from South Africa, the quality and level of pilots were no match for the Germans. Batches of American and South African pilots were thrown into meaningless strangulation. As time went on, the proportion of South African pilots tended to rise more and more.
For South Africa's top leader, British Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, the British and American troops in the African theater of war were initially aided for the moral of the Allies, but now they are fighting directly to defend South Africa - he believes that the next step after the Axis solves the British and American allies in the African theater of war is to attack South Africa.
In fact, there is one thing Eisenhower did not know. At present, the import of materials to South Africa has also been greatly affected. In order to meet Turner's A+ offensive plan, the United States has mobilized all the escort aircraft carriers that can be put into use. There are no escort aircraft carriers accompanying the shipping routes in South Africa. After the German army obtained the Azores base, its ability to disrupt trade increased rapidly. The fleet shipped to South Africa became very unsafe. On average, 3 out of every 10 ships were destroyed. Even if the United States has many Liberty Ships available, it cannot afford the loss of personnel. Moreover, the materials currently accumulated in South Africa cannot be used up for the time being, and the British demand for materials is more urgent. Under such circumstances, the United States decided to suspend transportation to South Africa and concentrate on ensuring the material needs of Great Britain.
Patton also wondered whether the German army had paused due to insufficient supplies and wanted to launch an active attack, but this was obviously a very risky behavior. If the judgment was wrong and the attack failed, it would not only consume the reserves that the US military had accumulated with great difficulty, but also have a negative impact on the defense of Mombasa. Eisenhower rejected this suggestion after weighing it over and over again, and still aimed to defend Mombasa. Even Ramsden did not support this adventure. Everyone knew the fact that Mombasa was always under the threat of the Axis Navy. It was more worthwhile and easier to defend Nairobi than Mombasa. But Mombasa had to be defended - it was meaningless to the Allies at present, but it was of great significance to the Axis. Once the Axis controlled Mombasa and dredged the shipping, there would be a steady stream of troops landing to attack in the future, and the African theater would definitely be doomed.
With both sides temporarily unable to launch a large-scale attack, in addition to the fierce air battles, the battlefield temporarily became a paradise for armored reconnaissance soldiers. Small reconnaissance units on both sides fought back and forth: at night, the Germans often used armored vehicles to sneak into the US positions for reconnaissance. As long as the MG42 opened fire, it would immediately attract dozens or hundreds of times more gunfire attacks; and after the Americans suffered several losses, they also used jeeps or armored vehicles to sneak into the German positions.
On the evening of April 3, the commander of the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion, Major Lueder, was summoned to Guderian's headquarters.
"Sir, do you have a mission?"
"To be exact, there is a mission tomorrow night. We plan to select four tanks with the best condition and the highest shooting accuracy from your battalion to launch an armed reconnaissance at night to tease the Americans..."
"Okay, that's no problem." Rudel agreed at first, then reacted, "We? At night? Tiger tanks?"
"Is there a problem?"
"For armed reconnaissance, they are not as flexible as armored vehicles, and their vision is not good at night."
"Don't worry, there are new equipment this time."
Rudel got excited when he heard about the new equipment. It must be a good thing that can be solemnly launched by the commander. Then he saw several strange-shaped "bulldozers" and asked in amazement: "Is this it?"
The engineer on the side showed a proud expression: "Sir, please allow me to solemnly introduce to you that this is the latest technological product of the Empire - Owl!"