During "Operation Sickle", the 7th Armored Division led by Rommel was invincible and invincible. It was known as the "Devil Division". Rommel himself was also loved by Mustache. After France stopped resisting, Rommel was appointed
As commander of the German North African Army, his military rank was promoted from major general to lieutenant general.
When Rommel arrived in North Africa, the Italian North African Army had collapsed. Graziani was recalled to the homeland by Fat Bald, and the Italian North African Army was also under the command of Rommel.
At this time, Rommel had only one German armored division and one German infantry division, plus part of the aviation force, capable of fighting. Not to mention the strength of the Third Army in Southern Africa, it was not even as good as the Nile Army led by Wavell.
It has to be said that Britain is still very strong. The current Nile Army is completely different from the Nile Army four months ago. In addition to the four Indian divisions, Wavell also has two Australian divisions, and
The total strength of a New Zealand division has exceeded 100,000 people. In terms of weapons and equipment, the Nile Army has also been greatly supplemented.
The British mainland has the First Army to assist in the defense. Under the premise that Germany indefinitely postpones "Operation Sea Lion", safety is temporarily guaranteed.
Equipment from southern Africa was continuously transported to Cairo through the Suez Canal, including tanks, armored vehicles, aircraft, and artillery. The strong industrial strength of southern Africa was vividly reflected through the replacement of the Nile Army. By the beginning of 1941, the number of tanks owned by the Nile Army had exceeded
700 vehicles, according to British standards, are enough to form four armored divisions.
The organization of armored divisions varies from country to country.
As early as 1935, Guderian formed the first batch of German armored divisions. The entire division had as many as 512 tanks and had tank brigades, motorized infantry brigades, artillery regiments, anti-tank artillery battalions and other units. By 1941
, the number of German armored divisions is increasing, but their strength is shrinking. The three-regiment tank division is equipped with 207 tanks, while the two-regiment tank division only has 152 tanks.
Because of misinformation in the Spanish Civil War, Russia did not begin to reorganize its mechanized armies until 1940. Each army has 2 tank divisions, 1 motorized division, a motorcycle regiment, 1 communications battalion, 1 engineering battalion and
1 aviation group with as many as 1,031 tanks.
Here you can see the bearded character's great success-loving character.
The tank army needs more than just tanks, it also needs a lot of other equipment.
In addition to 1,031 tanks, the Russian tank army also needs 268 armored vehicles, 172 artillery pieces, 186 mortars, 5,165 other various vehicles, 352 tractors, and 1,678 motorcycles——
Of course the most important thing is the people.
A Russian tank corps with a total strength of 36,080 troops.
Also in 1941, Russia had a total of 29 tank corps.
Let’s not talk about other things. One army has 1,031 tanks, and 29 armies have 30,000 tanks if rounded up——
My God, there are not so many tanks in southern Africa.
So what if there aren’t that many tanks?
Let's get some old tanks.
Data for early 1941 could not be found.
When "Plan Barbarossa" began, Russia had a total of more than 22,000 tanks.
Most of them are old T-26 and BT series, and the number of new tanks is only about 1,600.
Speaking of "Plan Barbarossa".
This plan was formulated last winter, around the time of Molotov's visit to Germany.
Also last winter, Russia formulated the "Thunderstorm Plan" to attack Germany.
Both countries were thinking of attacking the other country, and while formulating an attack plan, they were actually having friendly exchanges and dividing their spheres of influence——
Politicians are so terrible!
Compared with Russia, the tank divisions in Southern Africa are similar except that they do not have an aviation group.
The difference is that the tanks equipped by the Southern African Tank Division are all the most advanced "Tiger" and "Leopard" types, and there is no round number.
The Third Army had two armored divisions, and these two armored divisions were Rommel's biggest worry.
Of course, don't neglect other units because of this. The infantry divisions in southern Africa should not be underestimated either.
In addition to the light infantry of the alliance forces, the infantry divisions formed in southern Africa are also equipped with tanks. Each division is equipped with a tank regiment and has 76 tanks.
Except for the two armored divisions, the Third Army was all Union light infantry.
Except for the lack of tank regiments, the light infantry of the Alliance forces has the same equipment as the locally formed infantry divisions. In addition to mortars of various calibers, there are 48 howitzers with a caliber of more than 120 mm.
Algiers in French North Africa, in addition to being the capital of Free France, is also the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion.
The French Foreign Legion was founded in 1831. At that time, in order to solve the crime problem of foreigners in France and to supplement the French army soldiers killed and injured in the war, it was organized by the order of the then French King Louis Philippe.
After its establishment, the Foreign Legion played a major role in all the wars France experienced, especially during World War I, when the French Foreign Legion participated in almost all major battles.
When the European War broke out, the French Foreign Legion had a total of six brigades with a total strength of 30,000.
After French North Africa chose to join Free France, there was no consistency within the Foreign Legion. Some of the Foreign Legion troops chose to join Free France with French North Africa, and some of the Foreign Legion troops chose to stay loyal to France. The dual nature of the French is reflected in the choice of the Foreign Legion.
Incisively and vividly.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Infantry Regiments that chose to join the Free French were initially deployed in Morocco, which was extremely far from the French-Italian colonial border in North Africa.
After the Third Army arrived in Algiers, these three infantry regiments were also transferred to Algiers to assist the Third Army in preparing to participate in the attack on Italian North Africa.
Well, no offense.
The British did not want Southern Africa to be involved in operations in North Africa.
De Gaulle also did not want to take the initiative to attack the Italians.
In the words of de Gaulle: Since the British don’t want us to participate, why should we ask for trouble——
"The British only see the weakness of the Italians, but do not know the strength of Germany. I think Rommel will let General Wavell know that a country with a navy as its tradition may be dizzy when it goes ashore -" De Gaulle's
The intention was to ridicule, he probably didn't know that some sailors would indeed become dizzy after being on the ship for a long time.
It's like seasickness. I'm used to swaying left and right when I'm on a boat, and I can't get used to it without swaying once I'm ashore.
De Gaulle was born in the Army. He studied infantry command in military school. His military career began in the 33rd Infantry Regiment stationed in Arras.
"General de Gaulle——" Patton still respected de Gaulle.
Southern Africans believe that when friends come, they have wine, and when wolves come, they have shotguns. They will never turn a cold eye just because their friends are in trouble.
"Barton, I would rather you call me by my name -" De Gaulle's attitude towards Barton was completely in line with the self-positioning of a politician.
"Okay, I'll call you Charles, and you can just call me Patton -" Patton was also speechless. His last name was ambiguous when it came from de Gaulle's mouth.
accent!
It's all a matter of accent.
At this time, Patton and de Gaulle were inspecting the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Foreign Legion.
The 3rd Infantry Regiment is a unit with a long history and once participated in the famous defense battle of Xuanguang Fortress.
The defensive battle of Xuanguang Fortress took place during the Qing-France War.
So how could such a force with a long history stay in Morocco, far away from the front lines, to bask in the sun during the raging North African campaign? Patton had no feelings for the Qing Dynasty.
But that didn't stop Patton from hating the Foreign Legion.
The French Foreign Legion is different from the Umbrella Company mercenaries known as "war hyenas". The "war hyenas" of the Umbrella Company only perform tasks and do not harm civilians.
The things the French Foreign Legion did are despised. In every mutiny by the French army during World War I, the Foreign Legion was the main force.
Foreign countries don't pay enough attention to the Foreign Legion. It can be seen from the equipment. Not to mention heavy weapons such as tanks and cannons. Each of the Foreign Legion soldiers has a rifle with smooth rifling. Some even have their shoes.
nothing--
Well, the weather in North Africa is still very hot, and for many French Foreign Legion soldiers, they really don’t need shoes.
If they were mercenaries from the Umbrella Company, they would definitely wear shoes no matter how hot the weather is, because they know that the biggest role of shoes is protection. So when Patton casually picked up an M1916 rifle equipped by the Foreign Legion, De Gaulle's expression was
A bit embarrassing.
The M1916 is a rifle equipped by France during World War I. The most prominent feature of this rifle is its overly protruding magazine.
After the invention of smokeless gunpowder, France's 8mm Lebel 1886 rifle was the world's first smokeless gunpowder rifle.
Lebel 1886 uses Lebel 8×50 mm rifle bullets. The biggest feature of this rifle bullet is that the taper of the bullet body is very large. It is impossible to use bridge clips at all, and only leakage clips can be used, so there are all kinds of weird ones.
design.
For example, the Chauchat light machine gun equipped by the French army during World War I had a weird semi-circular magazine, which was a helpless design to match the ammunition.
"Patton, you know, the production of MAS-36 rifles is too small, and there has not been enough time to equip the troops in large numbers-" De Gaulle tried to defend the French government. The MAS-36 rifle is an excellent rifle that draws on the strengths of others.
The reason why it is described as "drawing from the strengths of others" is because the rear-end locking bolt of the MAS-36 rifle is borrowed from the British Lee-Enfield.
The charging handle, which is bent forward and shaped like a dog's leg, is inspired by the American M1917 rifle.
Even with many "references", the MAS-36 is still an excellent rifle. A skilled shooter can use the index finger and thumb to pull the bolt, and at the same time pull the trigger with the middle finger or ring finger to load, fire, and eject the shell with one hand.
Operate to achieve Lee-Enfield's "Crazy Minute" mode and reach the ultimate speed of the bolt-action rifle.
The success of the MAS-36 is thanks to the 7.5mm rifle bullet with a normal body taper.
So if you want a successful rifle, you must first determine a successful bullet.
Of course, the success of MAS-36 also depends on who it is compared to.
Compared with the M1916, the MAS-36 is undoubtedly more advanced.
Compared with the Nyasaland rifle, the MAS-36 is industrial garbage.
Even more rubbish is the French government.
In 1937, the MAS-36 rifle began mass production at the Saint-Etienne Arsenal.
Until 1940, France produced only 250,000 MAS-36 rifles.
So De Gaulle is not being sophistical. Many pure French soldiers in France still use Bétiers rifles. The Foreign Legion wants to use MAS-36 and wait.
Only then did Patton notice that the model he was holding was not even an M1916, but a Lebel 1886.
Oh my god, this is an antique from the last century, the first rifle in the world to use smokeless gunpowder.
You can’t blame Patton for not recognizing it. The M1916 is actually an improved version of the Lebel 1886. It shortens the barrel and increases the ammunition capacity.
But this cannot be justified. The production of M1916 exceeded 3.5 million, and the Foreign Legion only had 30,000 soldiers. There must be more than 30,000 M1916s stored in French warehouses.
Of course, they are all in Germany's inventory now. Including the MAS-36, which was just equipped with the army for a few years, it has become a trophy of the Germans. It is estimated that when many MAS-36 were captured by the Germans, the smell of gun oil had not yet dissipated.
It’s all gone.
"It's impossible to use rifles produced in the last century to fight against German tanks -" Patton said bluntly. France's rapid defeat had a lot to do with the French government's slackness over the years.
"The newly recruited troops are being trained in Luanda, and the Foreign Legion is destined to be eliminated." De Gaulle pinned all his hopes on the newly formed troops. The Foreign Legion has always been just cannon fodder for France.
The newly formed troops of the Free French in Luanda are equipped with a full set of Southern African-style weapons, and the reference standards are the same as those of the Southern African Union troops. Well, they are still cannon fodder in essence.
"We still have some shoes in the warehouse. I'll have them sent over for them to put on." Patton still has requirements for the army.
A soldier must look like a soldier. He doesn't even wear shoes. It's outrageous!
Except for shoes, the current logistics of the Third Regiment are the same as those of the Third Army. In terms of logistics supply, the Southern African federal government has never been stingy.
So even if they had no shoes to wear, the soldiers of the Foreign Legion were extremely happy.
They've never had this kind of logistical luxury.
So when instant coffee was delivered to the Third Regiment's station, many Foreign Legion soldiers didn't know that instant coffee needed to be brewed with water, so they just tore open the package and ate it.
The ice cream hasn't been delivered yet. I guess the situation will be even worse after the ice cream is delivered.
"Thank you. If the Third Army has extra equipment, I think the soldiers of the Third Army will be happy to accept it-" De Gaulle is good at seizing opportunities and is also good at talking.
Judging from how euphemistic they are, they are all requests. Some people beg for nothing, while others are elegant.
"Compared with equipment, I think what they need more is training." Barton had conditions.
The equipment is indeed available, including Lee-Enfield equipped by the alliance troops and Nyasaland equipped by the local troops.
Patton himself was also generous. If the foreign legionnaires met Patton's requirements, Patton would not be stingy.
"They really need some training!" De Gaulle said fiercely. He was not satisfied with the Foreign Legion either.
Of course, after training, it is difficult to say whether the Foreign Legion is a force of Free France or a force of Southern Africa.
