Sousse was captured, which meant that Tunisia was indeed the most important city, and Tunisia would face the Italian army's attack.
This also caused the attitudes of many Tunisian tribes to change faster, and the French naturally did not want to see it.
"Chief Abshin, you can't treat me like this."
In Kasserine on the banks of the Hatay River in central Tunisia, Bekas was dragged away by several Haji tribe warriors.
Chief Abshin, who was being called out by him, was watching him accompanied by everyone. At this time, Bekas was no longer in glory, not to mention he was disheveled, and even his face had a swollen purple patch.
It was red, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth, and he didn't look like a French liaison officer at all.
"Chief Abshin, for the sake of our friendship over the years, please let me go."
At this time, Bekas knew what he was going to face, so he gave up any dignity and pride for his last chance of survival.
Facing Bekas's plea, Chief Abshin showed a sneer. "If you still regard me as a friend because of our long-term friendship, then you should not start a rebellion in my tribe. Our Haji tribe welcomes you at any time."
Come back, as long as you can defeat the Italians, we will still obey you. But since you are starting a rebellion in my tribe, you do not regard me as a friend but as an enemy. God tells us to repay the enemy with an eye for an eye.
Eye. Take him down and execute him by stoning."
Stoning is a punishment for adultery in the Arab world, and the stoning of Bekas was the result of the stoning of Chief Abshin because the other party started a rebellion in his tribe, so he died of an dishonorable death by stoning, which was a manifestation of his dissatisfaction with France.
.
Under the order of Chief Abshin, the soldiers ignored the wailing of the former distinguished guest Mr. Bekas and dragged him directly to the square. The place was already crowded with watching people, who had lost their families or finances in the rebellion.
The man was looking at the Frenchman like a dead dog with hatred in his eyes.
After placing him in the pit, two soldiers grabbed his hands and began to bury him in the soil until he was up to his neck. At this time, only Bekas' head was exposed.
After setting up the French 'friend', Chief Abshin delivered an impassioned speech, and then the exciting execution began.
The firing squad consisted of victims who had lost family members. They all held a stone weighing more than a kilogram in their hands and threw it at them from a distance of five meters.
piece!
Two pieces!
Stones continued to be thrown at Becas. His head was bruised and bloody, and he was wailing. As time went by, the wailing gradually subsided. However, the execution did not stop. After everyone had finished the execution, the target of the execution
It has been covered by rocks.
There are many French people like Bekas in Tunisia who are in contact with indigenous tribes. Faced with the change of attitude of the indigenous tribes when they saw the situation was not good, some of them succeeded in preventing the tribe from changing their attitude. But this is a very small number, most of them
They all ran back in despair, and there were also many who failed like Becas.
However, no matter how Tunisians continue to pick sides between Italy and France, in fact, the battle to determine Tunisia's ownership has nothing to do with them.
While they were in Tunisia, the French commander Lieutenant General Aquino was also worried about the situation in Tunisia, or more precisely, about the gains and losses of the city of Tunis.
"Moxley, what other telegrams should you send personally?"
"It's a telegram from Hammamet."
Faced with Commander Aquino's inquiry, Mosley, the chief of staff, gave the answer.
Upon hearing that it was a telegram from Hammamet, Lieutenant General Aquino suddenly sat down as he stood up. "Is this a telegram of defeat?"
Mosley nodded.
"Damn it, I know these Tunisians are unreliable. These people break like eggs. We must find a way to let these Tunisians know the consequences of not fighting well."
At this time, after hearing the news, Aquino finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"Commander, what are you going to do?"
As the chief of staff, Mosley certainly knew that these Tunisians were unreliable. There had been countless examples in the previous battles. The two of them had also thought of countless ways to enhance the Tunisians' desire to fight, but
They were all difficult to arrange due to various reasons. Now that Commander Aquino had an idea, he naturally attracted inquiries from Major General Mosley.
"There is only one way, and that is to split the 35th Division into a supervising team and go to the battlefield to enforce military law."
The 35th Division in Aquino's mouth was the only French infantry division in his hands, and it was also the role of the Tunisian Army in holding back the battle. At this time, Aquino, who was desperate for the colonial army, decided to dismantle it and supervise the troops in various units.
As the chief of staff, Mosley did not show any joy after hearing Commander Aquino's words. Instead, he asked, "Commander, have you decided?"
Of course Aquino understood the words of the Chief of Staff, which referred to the danger caused by dismantling the 35th Division. You must know that the mission of this division is to deter other colonial divisions, and dismantling it at this time is not too much at the stage when the war is about to begin.
adventure.
"I have thought about it. Instead of holding the 35th Division as a reserve force, it is better to release it out to supervise the battle. At least with a supervising team, these natives have to work hard for their own lives to prevent our Tunisian Army from losing too ugly.
"
Achino said this with bitterness. Can their Tunisian Army compare with the Italian Eighth Army?
In terms of personnel, weapons, supplies, intelligence, etc., they were all far behind the Crown Prince's army on the opposite side. This battle was destined to be a defeat, but there was knowledge in how to defeat it. There was a big difference between being defeated at the first touch and defeated with force.
The difference is enough to make the treatment of the two of them very different.
"This method is our only option at the moment."
After some thought, Chief of Staff Mosley admitted that what Commander Aquino said was the only way at present.
When the French army was adjusting its deployment in Tunisia, Lieutenant General Guerrieri, commander of the 13th Army, who had just captured Hammamet, received a telegram from the group army headquarters at his temporary headquarters.
Lieutenant General Guerrieri immediately issued the order after reading the telegram.
"Immediately order and arrange the next battle plan now. The 15th Division will attack Gulambaliye, the 36th Division will attack Beni Hayrad, and the 29th Division and other troops of the army will provide support."
"As commanded."
The communications staff officer answered loudly and immediately prepared to convey the order.
After the communications staff left, Lieutenant General Guerrieri picked up the telegram and read it. The above telegram was jointly issued by the Crown Prince and the deputy commander, Lieutenant General Brazo. He was asked to immediately take action after capturing Hammamet.
The battle begins on the outskirts of Tunisia.
As for why we were so anxious, the telegram did not say anything. However, as a soldier who has served for half his life, orders from superiors must be carried out, especially such mindless orders, and they must be carried out without compromise.
As for why, it is obvious that this kind of mindless order does not tell you the details because you are not qualified yet, which also represents the importance of the task.
As for what situation caused the Crown Prince's army to speed up?
Yes, it is more important than the Battle of Tunisia. The Battle of Nice-Corsica is about to begin.
When the battle starts, the importance of the Tunisia Campaign will be reduced a lot. Even if the crown prince is in charge, the importance of the Eighth Army will plummet.
Therefore, it is a wise choice for the Eighth Army to start the battle in Tunis City as soon as possible.
