For the Allies, things looked good in late January.
On the Russian battlefield, the German army was pushed back 100 to 250 kilometers, and the battlefield has gradually moved away from Moscow.
In the winter that just passed, the German army suffered heavy losses, 38 divisions suffered heavy losses, and the plan to siege Moscow completely failed.
The German army did not collapse. Mustache demanded that the German army fight to the death and fight the Russians on every inch of land. Those who did not know better thought that the Germans were fighting the Patriotic War.
The Russian army has passed the most difficult stage. The new recruits have become veterans after being tempered in the Battle of Moscow. Industrial production is gradually recovering. Last December was the most difficult stage for the Russians. Now the situation has improved a lot.
Material supplies from southern Africa and the United States have given the Russians the greatest assistance.
There are still unpleasant factors, such as the bizarre defeat of the British army in North Africa and the insatiable appetite of the Russians.
When the German army attacked, Russia carried out the largest industrial transfer in human history, moving factories located in the war zone to the rear to ensure industrial production capacity.
This work has now been completed, and Russia's industrial production has resumed. With the help of southern Africa, the scale and technological level are greater than before.
The weapons currently equipped by the Russian army are no longer backward and can even be described as advanced.
Entering 1942, all newly produced tanks in Russia were T34, as well as more advanced KV heavy tanks and the T60, which was low-cost and easy to mass-produce.
After continuous improvement of the T34, the total combat weight of the latest model has exceeded 30 tons...
This is an excellent main battle tank with balanced performance. The armor is not thick but has excellent performance. The 45 mm thick 32-degree beveled front armor has a protection capability equivalent to 70 mm.
The T34 is equipped with a 76mm F-34 L/42 cannon. When using ordinary armor-piercing projectiles, this gun can penetrate 69mm homogeneous steel plates at a distance of 500 meters and 61mm steel plates at a distance of 1000 meters.
On the Moscow battlefield, no German tank could withstand such fierce firepower.
The F-34 cannon can also fire high-explosive and fragmentation shells to attack soft targets, so it has the ability to support infantry attacks.
In terms of individual weapons, the Bobosa is gradually replacing the Mosin Nagant as the main weapon for Russian soldiers.
In terms of performance, Bobosa is more advanced than Lee Enfield. After all, Lee Enfield was a weapon developed in the last century.
After gradually changing into Bobosa, the Russian soldiers no longer looked down on Lee Enfield, but the bearded man kept sending telegrams to the Allied headquarters in London, hoping to get more material assistance, even if it was
Lee Enfield, whom all Russian soldiers despised.
Winston was very dissatisfied with the big beard. He didn't like the big beard. If it weren't for the threat of the Germans, Winston would never join forces with the Russians.
The relationship between Britain and Russia is now in the honeymoon period.
But as long as the German threat disappears, the British will be eager to turn against the Russians.
While the situation on the Russian battlefield reversed, Rommel launched a new offensive in North Africa.
This time the situation was more dangerous, because the Mediterranean fleet suffered heavy losses in the previous stage of the battle, Rommel received more support, and the North African Army once invaded Egypt. Okinley threatened London with resignation, hoping that London would allow the southern African army
Join the war.
It would be impossible not to participate in the war. Auchinleck is a small force that cannot be defeated. Even if it loses more miserably every time, with the help of Southern Africa, after each disastrous defeat, it receives more aid than before, and the troops recover their strength faster.
Come on, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Eighth Army under Auchinleck only had 130,000 men. Now it has increased to 270,000.
After Mustache realized the importance of the North African battlefield, the strength of the North African Army under Rommel also increased.
Mustache no longer expects Rommel to occupy Egypt and cut off the transportation lines between Britain and the Far East. As long as Rommel can delay the Allied forces in North Africa and prevent them from landing in Europe through the Mediterranean.
Winston was in a dilemma.
In order to restrict southern Africa, the British had not allowed southern African troops to participate in North African operations.
The situation now is different from the past. Even if the southern Africans do not participate in the North African war, the Americans will have to intervene. The British can no longer protect North Africa.
The war potential of the United States is still very strong. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the United States officially entered the war, and the War Department proposed a crazy military expansion plan.
As the Pacific Fleet suffered heavy losses in the Pearl Harbor incident, the U.S. War Department requested the construction of at least 12 large warships.
All of these 12 large warships are aircraft carriers, and 8 of them will be equipped for the Pacific Fleet.
Due to the vastness of the aircraft carrier project, it takes a long time, and there are not enough slipways in the United States to build aircraft carriers. Considering the demand for escort, the U.S. Department of War hopes to build more escort aircraft carriers, as many as 110.
The escort carrier is a converted merchant ship. A flight deck is installed above the merchant ship and it carries 20 to 30 aircraft. Although it looks a bit ugly, its practicality is not bad.
This is different from the aircraft carriers converted from supply ships in Southern Africa. The aircraft carriers converted from supply ships in Southern Africa can carry up to 60 aircraft, which is not much worse than Yorktown in the United States.
What's more, the supply ship is a warship and the merchant ship is a civilian ship. There is a big gap in protection between the two.
When the Navy was expanding crazily, the U.S. Army was also expanding wildly. The U.S. Department of War hoped that the U.S. would have at least 3.5 million troops by mid-1942, so that the U.S. would have the strength to compete with southern Africa.
What is competing now is not battlefield performance, but leadership of the world after the war is over.
Roosevelt obviously did not want to make the same mistake as Wilson.
After comprehensive consideration, Winston agreed to Auchinleck's proposal and sent a telegram to Rock, requesting the southern African army to participate in the attack on the North African Army.
Compared with the Americans, Winston still believed in Rock more. The process of independence in southern Africa was a peaceful breakup, and no war broke out with Britain.
With the participation of southern Africa, Rommel's offensive failed again.
Arthur did not invest too many troops. The main force of the Third Army had been deployed to Spain and was ready to advance northward at any time.
The main force of the Second Army was transferred to the Twelve Islands and the Garibaldi Peninsula respectively, ready to advance to the European continent and coordinate with the Third Army to attack Italy.
Arthur was able to use only four divisions of the Fifth Army, two of which were light infantry units formed by the Sultanate of Najd.
This was enough. Rommel's North African Army was at the end of its campaign into Egypt. Like the assault group that attacked Moscow, it was no longer able to move forward.
After the reinforcements of the Fifth Army arrived, Auchinleck's confidence doubled. The Eighth Army he led was not without combat effectiveness. In addition to the Australian troops, the Indian division also had infantry battalions purely composed of Gurkhas. These Gurkhas
The Ka people are still very capable in fighting, much stronger than the Indians.
With the participation of southern Africans, the North African legions were driven out of Egypt.
Auchinleck was not satisfied and ordered the troops to continue advancing towards Tobruk.
Rommel was ill-prepared for the Southern African army to participate in the war. With the same weapons and equipment, the performance of the Southern African army on the battlefield was completely different from that of the British army.
Rommel had three German divisions and seven Italian divisions at his command.
During the retreat, Rommel gave priority to preserving the German divisions and ordered the Italian divisions to defend on the spot to cover the retreat of the German divisions.
In order to preserve the armored forces as much as possible, the Germans even robbed the Italians of precious oil, causing the tanks equipped by the Italian army to be unable to fight due to lack of oil. These tanks were very valuable. Due to the crazy sniping by the Mediterranean Fleet and the Cyprus Squadron, the Germans
Italy and Italy spent a huge price to send these tanks to North Africa, and now they are so easily abandoned.
The abandoned Italians had no intention of fighting. Southern Africa used a hundred ways to kill the Japanese in South Asia. The Italians surrendered in North Africa in far more than a hundred ways.
Rommel retreated as far as Misrata to stabilize the defense line. This was actually not due to Rommel, but because of the arrival of reinforcements. Mustache sent two more divisions to North Africa when the Russian war situation was unfavorable.
This is the last trump card in Mustache's hand. Not only the North African Army, but also the troops attacking Russia have received reinforcements, a total of 12 divisions and 2 brigades.
Mustache's order for the German army to fight played a certain role in the end. At least the German army was not completely defeated.
After receiving new reinforcements, the German Army Group Center organized a counterattack, and the situation began to turn against the Russian army again.
After the Great Purge, the command system of the Russian army was devastated. The newly appointed officers were inexperienced and rushed lightly during the counterattack. The cooperation between the various units was not close enough. As a result, they were defeated by the Germans one by one.
The Germans still have strength. There are many reasons for the failure of the siege of Moscow, and insufficient supply is only part of it.
When the cold winter passed and the front line began to shorten due to the Russian counterattack, the German army's combat effectiveness recovered and would not be easily defeated.
The battlefield situation in East Asia is equally complex.
The Japanese army was severely polarized, and the battle on the Bataan Peninsula was still ongoing. The desperate U.S.-Philippine coalition forces burst out with strong combat effectiveness. The Japanese army suffered a setback in the first battle and soon made a comeback.
This time the Japanese army was fully prepared. In order to overcome the solid defense line of the US-Philippine coalition, the Japanese base camp finally dispatched strategic-level artillery units.
The reinforced Japanese artillery was equipped with 150mm howitzers and larger-caliber Type 96 240mm howitzers, totaling 190 pieces.
The defense line of the U.S.-Philippine coalition was vulnerable to the fierce Japanese artillery fire. The Samat Mountain defense line, which had suffered heavy losses to the Japanese army, became a hell for the U.S.-Philippine coalition. The fortifications were destroyed, and the machine guns were blown into pieces. The U.S.-Philippine coalition spent a lot of money.
Trenches excavated at great cost cannot provide protection from large-caliber artillery. Even if the trenches are not destroyed, the soldiers inside cannot survive.
The Philippine First Army's defense line quickly collapsed, and the attacking Japanese Army used tanks.
The U.S.-Philippine coalition forces are also not equipped with anti-tank weapons, let alone tanks to assist in defense. This is not a question of whether the United States pays enough attention to its colonial servants. The United States also has troops in the Philippines that are purely composed of Americans. These troops are also not equipped with tanks and
Anti-tank weapons.
There is no doubt that the United States was so slack before it officially entered the war. In order to maintain maritime superiority, the Japanese army tilted most of its resources towards the navy, and the same was true for the United States.
At the same time that the frontal defense line was breached, Masaharu Honma sent troops to land in the southern part of the Bataan Peninsula, trying to attack the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces from the north and south.
This time, the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces finally couldn't hold on any longer. The first one to escape was MacArthur. He left behind the words "I will definitely come back" and took advantage of the darkness to escape to Australia on a submarine, leaving 80,000 U.S.-Philippine coalition forces with the Japanese.
MacArthur fled, largely in Washington.
Washington did not dare to let MacArthur stay on the Bataan Peninsula. If MacArthur died in battle or was captured, it would be a huge blow to the morale of the US military. After all, MacArthur had been the principal of West Point Military Academy.
MacArthur did not choose to fight to the end. With Washington's order, MacArthur fled to Australia, betraying the trust of the 80,000 U.S.-Philippine coalition forces in him.
After MacArthur escaped, the morale of the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces collapsed rapidly. Before MacArthur escaped, he ordered Wainwright to command the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces station. However, the commander of the Bataan Hand Army, Edward King, believed that the resistance of the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces was meaningless, so he contacted
The Japanese army prepared to surrender.
MacArthur was also a cruel man. In order to protect his honor, he ordered the US-Philippine coalition forces to continue fighting, but he never thought about the fate of the US-Philippine coalition forces. Didn't they agree to surrender? What on earth is it that you ran away in a boat and let your men fight?
mean?
Edward King violated MacArthur's orders, but received praise from 80,000 American and Filipino troops. The decision to surrender was very difficult. At least Edward King did not put his honor above the lives of 80,000 American and Filipino troops.
It's a pity that Edward King's understanding of the Japanese was not sufficient.
Edward King believed that after the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces laid down their weapons, they would receive treatment commensurate with their status. To this end, Edward King negotiated with the Japanese. After receiving the Japanese's commitment, Edward King ordered the remaining U.S.-Philippine coalition forces to lay down their weapons.
Stop resisting.
The Japanese indeed prepared prisoner-of-war camps for the US-Philippine coalition forces and promised to give surrendering US-Philippine coalition forces treatment commensurate with their status.
However, the prisoner-of-war camp prepared by the Japanese was a full 120 kilometers away from the Bataan Peninsula.
For soldiers, 120 kilometers is not too far. The long-distance training of the southern African army is more than 120 kilometers and can be completed by all troops.
But that’s only when preparations and logistics are adequate.
The Japanese had no logistical preparations at all.
After the U.S.-Philippine coalition surrendered, the Japanese army ordered 80,000 U.S.-Philippine coalition troops to walk to prisoner of war camps.
This order is normal. The Japanese lack mechanized equipment and the trucks themselves are not enough. They will certainly not be used to transport prisoners. After all, trucks need to burn oil.
This 120 kilometers became the famous "Bataan Death March". Not only did the Japanese not prepare any supplies along the way, they were not even allowed to drink water, even from natural water sources along the way.
ps: On the first day of the new year, I wish my brothers a happy new year and good luck, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
