It is not easy to defeat the Italians. After the outbreak of the European War, Italy's military strength in North Africa and East Africa expanded rapidly. East Africa has nearly 200,000 troops, and North Africa's military strength has expanded to 300,000.
The fat bald man's attention was not on Berbera, but on the Mahdi Kingdom between the Italian North African colonies and the East African colonies.
In 1885, the Mahdi uprising in Sudan established the Mahdi Kingdom.
In 1899, the Mahdi Kingdom became a condominium between Britain and Egypt.
If the Mahdi Kingdom is occupied, the Italian North African colonies and the East African colonies will be connected, and the entire northern Africa will become an Italian colony.
While attacking British Somalia, the Italians are accumulating troops around the Mahdi Kingdom. Once the time is right, they will launch an attack on the Mahdi Kingdom.
Winston also realized that the Mahdi Kingdom was in danger, so after France stopped resisting, Winston called Roque, hoping that southern Africa could send troops to assist the defense of the Mahdi Kingdom and the British East African colonies.
The Mahdi Kingdom is the future Sudan and South Sudan.
The British East African colony was the future Kenya.
It is said to be assistance, but in fact the total number of British troops in the Mahdi Kingdom and British East Africa is less than 10,000. If southern Africa participates in the war, it will definitely be dominated by southern Africa.
When the Abyssinian rebels found a protective umbrella, the Second Army stationed in northern Victoria was already ready to enter the Mahdi Kingdom and fight the British East African colonies at any time.
The Second Army has seven divisions, mainly two armored divisions of the Second Armored Corps. The remaining 9th Division and 11th Division are mainly southern Africans. The 42nd Division, 43rd Division are from the Kingdom of Congo, and the 47th Division is from the Congo.
Republic, with a total military strength of nearly 140,000.
Compared with Italy's military strength in Africa, although the Second Army's strength is small, its combat effectiveness is not the same.
Italian troops in North and East Africa are mainly colonial servants with backward equipment, insufficient training, and low morale.
The Second Armored Corps, the main force of the Second Army, was formed with the Northern Rhodesian Division as the core and expanded before the outbreak of the European War. The entire Second Armored Corps has 650 tanks, all of which are the most advanced "Tiger" tanks.
" tanks and "Leopard" tanks, the commander of the Second Army Feng Fu was very confident that as long as the order was issued, the Second Army would drive the Italians out of Africa in the shortest possible time.
Since the beginning of Operation Sickle, Feng Fu ordered the Second Army to prepare for battle and be ready to fight in Europe at any time.
The troops originally scheduled to fight in Europe were the First Army led by Don Juan.
Unfortunately, the French surrendered too quickly. Before the First Army had time to march to Europe, France stopped resisting, and the Second Army also lost the opportunity to fight in Europe.
Just lost temporarily.
After the fighting in Africa is over, the southern African army will definitely land in Europe, and there will be a chance then.
Condra, a small town in northern Victoria, where Feng Fu was stationed after the Second Army was established.
Kondra is small in area, with a permanent population of less than 3,000. The main force of the Second Army, the Second Armored Corps, the 9th Division, and the 11th Division are all stationed in Kondra, with a total force of nearly 90,000. This small town has now
It became a military city.
"The Mahdi Kingdom is vast and sparsely populated. After we entered the Mahdi Kingdom, it was difficult to obtain supplies. Although the rainy season has passed, the temperature in the Mahdi Kingdom is still much higher than in southern Africa. The water in the Nile River is hot.
This is a huge test for our armored forces." Leander, the chief of staff of the Second Army, also participated in the last world war. He has a cautious personality and rich experience, and he and Feng Fu complement each other well.
The Mahdi Kingdom has not been divided yet. It covers an area of about 2.5 million square kilometers, extending from northern Victoria to the Red Sea coast. All of it is the territory of the Mahdi Kingdom.
The Mahdi Kingdom has a hot climate. The capital, Khartoum, is known as the "stove of the world". The annual average temperature is above 30 degrees. In summer, the daytime temperature is generally above 40 degrees, and the surface temperature exceeds 70 degrees.
Such hot weather is extremely unfriendly to the armored soldiers in the tanks.
During the years when the British ruled the Mahdi Kingdom, there was almost no development in the Mahdi Kingdom. The traffic situation in the Mahdi Kingdom was very bad. Even a decent road could not be found. This was also a huge test for the Second Army with many vehicles.
"The climate is a test for us, and it is the same for the Italians. The Italians lack mobility. There are only a few tanks with backward technology in North and East Africa. We can also call the air force for supplies. The Italians are more difficult than we are.
More." Feng Fu was very confident in the Second Army. What he was worried about was not the Italians, but the Germans.
After France surrendered, Mustache looked around and found no opponents, so he continued to expand either to the north or south.
The people in the north are not easy to deal with.
Across the Mediterranean to the south is North Africa. If Italy loses in North Africa, the Germans will definitely send troops to reinforce it.
That way the Second Army would have a chance to fight the Germans.
After the outbreak of the European War, the Germans performed so well that the generals in southern Africa were eager to test how strong the Germans were.
Regardless of the fancy tactics of the Germans, including "blitzkrieg" and "three-dimensional warfare", the Allies were stunned.
These tactics have all been used in southern Africa. During the Brazilian Civil War, both blitzkrieg and three-dimensional warfare were actually used, and the results were very good.
Compared with the Southern African National Defense Force, the Mizhou Army in the Brazilian Civil War was also poorly equipped. It was able to defeat the U.S.-Brazilian coalition forces and retreat. Now that the Southern African National Defense Force is on the field, there is no reason why they cannot defeat the Germans.
"The rebels in Abyssinia can cooperate with us in fighting and cause more trouble for the Italians." Leander tried to obtain the maximum benefit at the minimum cost.
War inevitably involves casualties.
It is better to kill the Abyssinians than the southern Africans.
"The British Mediterranean Fleet has already blocked the Suez Canal, so let's attack Italian East Africa first." Feng Fu was confident. The fat bald man was so anxious to connect North Africa and East Africa because Italian East Africa has now become a part of Italy.
An enclave cannot receive timely reinforcements from the mainland.
The situation in North Africa is also very complicated now.
After Italian East Africa launched an attack on British Somalia, Berbera became an isolated city and was surrounded by Italians.
Outside the Italian encirclement, the Mahdi Kingdom cut off Italian East Africa and North Africa. After the British blocked the Suez Canal, Italian ships could not pass through, and the connection between Italian East Africa and the Italian mainland has been completely severed.
The basis of Italian rule in Italian East Africa was very weak.
Like the United Kingdom, Italy also implements a single colonial economy in East Africa. Italian East Africa cannot be self-sufficient and cannot even make bullets. Therefore, as long as the Mahdi Kingdom is defended, Italian East Africa will sooner or later run out of ammunition and food.
The British are now sending reinforcements to Egypt. An Australian division and a New Zealand division have arrived in Egypt. Both divisions are undermanned, with a total strength of less than 20,000.
This shows how weak the British Empire has become.
The European War has been going on for more than a year now, and Australia has only sent one division. Winston must be very annoyed, but he can't do anything. He has to wait until the end of the world war to settle the score.
In the entire British Commonwealth, India is still the one who cares about food but not about fighting.
During the last world war, Britain promised to improve India's low status after the war, so India sent 2 million people to fight in Europe.
After the outbreak of the European War, London once again promised that as long as India can go all out as it did in the last world war, then after the world war is over, Britain will truly improve India's status, at least it will become an autonomous territory.
The Indians who were on hunger strike were overjoyed after receiving London's promise. In just one month, the Governor-General in India recruited 1 million troops and sent them to Europe in batches to fight.
It is impossible to train.
Anyway, more Indians can afford to die.
The Governor-General in India also had a good idea. Wouldn't it be better to use combat as a substitute for training?
So Winston is very busy during this time.
One million troops are a great supplement to the unprecedentedly weakened British Empire. At least after the Indians joined, the paper data of the Allied forces instantly looked much better.
However, the amount of money spent to arm these one million troops is not a small amount.
Fortunately, Winston was prepared.
During the last world war, Winston already had a full understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Indian army.
Therefore, the Indians did not need to be armed at all. To the British, these one million people were actually one million coolies.
Coolies do not need equipment, as long as they can work.
While Feng Fu was planning a fatal blow to the Italians, Berbera was strengthening its defense.
Sandy Jerry wasn't too worried about Berbera's safety.
Despite the fierceness of the Italians, although Berbera has been surrounded by the Italians, supplies can still be obtained by sea.
In recent times, various supplies have been arriving in Berbera, and the Italians have been unable to capture it for a long time. The British War Department saw another opportunity.
On August 15, a British army of only 150 men arrived in Berbera. Major Smith Wesson, who led this force, requested command of all the troops in Berbera after arriving in Berbera.
Sandy Jerry is not a mercenary of the Umbrella Company, but the commander of the Berbera fleet in Southern Africa. Sandy Jerry himself has the rank of colonel.
According to the order of battle, it should be the troops led by Major Smith Wesson, under the command of Sandy Jerry.
But Major Smith Wesson didn't think so.
Major Smith & Wesson insisted that since southern Africa had not yet entered the war, Major Smith & Wesson should take over the defense of Berbera.
Sandy Jerry was not used to the bad habits of the British. After learning about Major Smith & Wesson's request, Sandy Jerry refused to meet Major Smith & Wesson and did not give the British a chance at all.