At this time, in a trench in Shaal, the French officer leading the team shouted loudly to the Tunisian soldiers who looked frightened in the trench.
At this time, there was a sharp whistling sound in the air, followed by a burst of explosions. At this time, the reinforced artillery regiment of the 15th Division was constantly bombarding the position with 75 and 105 mm caliber cannons. Thanks to the high-level Italian artillery team,
The impact point of its shelling was basically the trench.
The constantly exploding positions panicked the soldiers defending in the trenches. They were like deer jumping into a pack of wolves, not knowing what to do.
The officer's words had no effect on the fearful soldiers. More importantly, they could not understand the officer's French.
Although France has been in Tunisia for thirty years, the French government has no consideration in wanting all Tunisian people to learn French. On the contrary, the middle and upper classes in Tunisia have learned some French, but the people at the bottom simply do not have the time and energy.
Therefore, the biggest problem with the conscripted colonial army was the communication problem between officers and soldiers.
In fact, there is no problem in normal times, because French officers have translators and communicate with the soldiers through translators.
But this is a problem on the battlefield. Translators may be injured or killed in action. How should officers communicate with soldiers? Even if the translator is fine, who knows if the order will be conveyed through the translator.
The officer in this position encountered an injured translator and left. Now he is blind when facing his own soldiers. Although he also understands some simple daily expressions, he does not know many military terms. In fact, this is not the only case in his position.
The whole front is similar.
These recruited indigenous soldiers have only been in the army for four or five months. How far can they be trained if all their words need to be translated?
To be specific, they enter recruit training for two months, then enter the army for one month, and then are sent to their destination. On average, each soldier has fired only more than thirty rounds of bullets.
The Italian soldiers who are their opponents are trained with 200 rounds of bullets every year. Not to mention that during the three months of training for new recruits, they must fire at least 100 rounds of bullets.
As for the officers supported by the army, the gap between the two sides is even wider. Because according to the tradition of the French army, outstanding officers should serve in the local area.
Especially after the war broke out, the French army suffered too many losses, and even qualified officers were transferred to the mainland as supplements or to form new troops. As for the colonial army, they were led by the remaining officers. These local companies
How good do you expect an officer who is looked down upon by the military to be?
It was precisely because he knew the quality of the enemy in front of him that Major General Kasapa, the commander of the 15th Division as the vanguard of the Eighth Army, dared to attack it with the strength of a division.
Speaking of which, Major General Casapa is also a veteran in the army. He is 59 years old and is about to retire. Before, he participated in all the wars after Carlo succeeded to the throne. Although he was unlucky, he participated in
During the war, he was always in the army without fighting, so he didn't make any achievements, but it can be regarded as hard work and rich experience.
Later, he was promoted to major general three years ago and became the deputy commander of the 15th Division. After the division commander was transferred last year, the military considered that he was about to retire, so he was promoted.
Unexpectedly, the war broke out not long after the restoration, and this man was very familiar with the 15th Division and had good abilities, so he continued to serve as the commander of the 15th Division. In the previous Italian-French border war, because the 15th Division was a reserve force,
I didn't get any performance opportunities either.
As for being assigned to the Eighth Army to prepare for the Tunisian campaign, the veteran finally couldn't bear it any longer. He had been in the military for most of his life, and he was not a talented officer. He could show his style even if there was no war, and he
You must rely on war to express yourself. However, since you have never had an opportunity, there is no way to express yourself.
But this time we finally met, and we had to show off ourselves no matter what, so after being incorporated into the Eighth Army to prepare for the Tunisian campaign, we kept saying that we were willing to lead the 15th Division as the vanguard.
Faced with the veteran's constant requests, Lieutenant General Brazo, as the actual commander of the group army, finally agreed to his request. In addition to the veteran's indomitable spirit, it was also because the 15th Division had the strongest combat effectiveness in his hands.
troops, you can tell just by looking at the number of the 15th Division.
In order to live up to the expectations of Lieutenant General Brazo and to prove himself, after taking up the position of forward in the 15th Division, Kasapa worked early in the morning and late at night to work on the forward. In his opinion, he was not talented and intelligent.
Then we can only use the stupid method of making up for clumsiness with diligence.
At this time, looking at the French position in front of him that was constantly being bombarded, Kasapa already had an idea in his mind, but he still needed to wait for a telegram.
I checked my pocket watch. If I'm not late, I should be here soon.
While Kasapa was thinking, he saw a communications officer running up to him holding a telegram.
"Division Commander, this is a telegram from the airship unit."
Looking at the telegram in front of him, Kasapa smiled. "Very good, call Colonel Bogado."
"Teacher, please call me."
At this time, Colonel Bogado, who was burly and exuding a macho aura, came in front of him. And the group he led had a ferocious character just like his temperament.
"Bogado, you came just in time. I need you to attack the enemy from the middle to the left wing position. Are you confident that you can break through the enemy's position in one go?"
"Commander, please leave it to our regiment. We will definitely be able to capture the enemy's position in one go. Look at those panicked native soldiers. Do they know how to shoot accurately?"
Colonel Bogado patted his chest and assured that he believed his regiment had this capability.
"In this case, you will launch the main attack, and the 2nd and 3rd regiments will be responsible for containing the attack from the two wings. In addition, the airship force from Tripoli to help us will arrive soon, and it will be responsible for air support for your regiment."
Kasapa also gave the airship he called for use to the group.
"With the airship, I feel more confident."
"Don't allow too many casualties?"
Seeing the confident look on Colonel Bogado's face, Kasapa then reminded him.
"Don't worry, I will show you a beautiful record for the division commander. Hey, the division commander's airship to support us has appeared."
The rumbling sound of artillery continued until the airship arrived in the sky above the French army. Looking at the dark airship above them, the French officers and soldiers were a little panicked. Because in France, the Italians used airships to attack the ground countless times.
In order to deal with threats from the sky, French arsenals urgently developed anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and other defensive weapons. However, due to insufficient current production, these equipment basically remain in France.
As for Tunisia, which is facing Italy directly, the French army considered the safety of its own North Africa, so it still allocated some. A total of 24 anti-aircraft machine guns and 8 anti-aircraft guns. However, these weapons were deployed on the Tunisian front line as a delay.
Shah'al, where the enemy was advancing so fast, was not equipped with these anti-aircraft weapons.
At this time, these airships boldly descended to an altitude of 1,500 meters. At this height, even the airship's machine guns would pose a huge threat.
At this time, the sound of artillery stopped, and only groups of Italian officers and soldiers were seen rushing towards their position.
"When the enemy attacked, they all came out to the trenches."
Under the orders of the officers, these indigenous soldiers ran out with rifles in their hands. At this time, the airships in the sky made these people a little panicked, and some even chanted the name of Allah in their mouths.
At this moment, intensive machine gunfire suddenly sounded in the sky, and then several people in the trenches fell to the ground with blood splatters on their bodies.
"This is an airship shooting from the sky. Everyone, please fight back."
"Bah~bah~"
A burst of gunfire rang out, and the soldiers who were shooting at the airship kept firing, trying to drive away or shoot down the airship. However, at an altitude of 1,500 meters, these rifles and even machine guns did not have such a high range, so this was just a useless effort.
"The enemy is approaching. Don't worry about the airship above."
At this time, looking at the Italian soldiers who had entered the shooting range, the French officer leading the team kept ordering his soldiers to ignore the threat from the sky. Of course, it was difficult for him to give orders just by speaking, so he used his hands and feet to let these indigenous soldiers who had never seen the market know.
, which one should be dealt with now.
But seeing that no one was paying attention to it, the airship got even more excited. It not only used machine guns to shoot at the soldiers in the trenches, but also dropped bombs on them.
Although the harassment of machine guns and bombs did not cause much damage to the defenders, it made the soldiers restless. Coupled with their poor marksmanship, the shooting effect made people shake their heads.
At this time, the 1st Regiment of the 15th Division lived up to its ferocious character. Under the cover of mortars, machine guns, and smoke grenades, a group of officers and soldiers attacked along the weak points of the defenders given by Commander Kasapa. Under a charge,
They actually attacked the French army's position directly. Although the native soldiers on the position were cheered by French officers, many of them still sneaked away without paying attention.
In fact, even if they don't slip away, they are no match for the group. Bayonet fighting requires courage. Look at the eyes of these indigenous soldiers. They have everything. They just lack courage, so they were suddenly opened up by the group.
gap.
"Immediately ordered other troops to open a gap along the regiment and continue the attack. We will strive to defeat the enemy today."
As the breach expanded, other French officers and soldiers in Shah'al also began to waver. The enemy was so fierce that they captured the friendly positions with a single charge. So what should I do next?
Kasapa, who did not give the enemy time to react, directly launched a larger offensive without giving the opponent a chance to respond.
At this time, the native soldiers in the French position began to flee. Often the enemy was still in the trench before, and when they turned around, there was only a rifle there.
After one regiment broke through three trenches in succession, no one could stop the French army from being defeated at this time.
At this time, Major General Kasapa, who was looking at the situation, had a deep understanding of these indigenous troops. "It seems that not everyone has the combat effectiveness of our servant army in East Africa."
I feel like I'm writing three chapters instead of two.
