Half a month ago, "The Times" conducted a series of in-depth reports on the Allied Forces in North Africa, in which a lot of space was devoted to reporting on the American soldiers who had arrived in North Africa.
The U.S. strategy is to first Europe and then Asia. The U.S. soldiers who have arrived in North Africa are much more than those in East Asia. Last month, they reached 250,000. The entire Allied force in North Africa is about 800,000, with a strength far exceeding that of only 23 Ten thousand German and Italian troops.
More than three-quarters of the North African coalition forces led by Rommel were Italian troops.
Two months ago, fighting broke out again in North Africa.
At this time, the Allied forces in North Africa had three times as many tanks as Rommel, 2.5 times as many aircraft, and about five times as many heavy artillery. In terms of the most important oil reserves, the North African Allies had about 20 times as many as the German-Italian Allied Forces. .
Rommel had saved up oil for more than half a year, but it could only supply the German and Italian forces for about half a month.
The balance of forces was so disparate, but the pace of the battle was extremely slow. The Indian 17th Division rushed from Marut to Tobruk for support. It only traveled 300 kilometers for a month. Until the British surrendered in Tobruk, they did not wait for the Indian troops. reinforce.
In the third stage of the North African campaign, the German army besieged Tobruk for nine months, but the British troops in Tobruk did not surrender.
This time, the British troops stationed in Tobruk had more troops, more abundant logistics, and allied fleet support at sea. However, Tobruk unexpectedly fell. This directly led to the resignation of Commander-in-Chief of the British Eighth Army, Richie, who replaced him. Ritchie's was Montgomery who rose to fame during the Battle of France.
It should be pointed out that while the British Eighth Army was fighting fierce battles with Rommel, nearly 500,000 Allied soldiers stationed in French North Africa were idle, bathing, fishing and sunbathing all day long, causing scandals one after another.
After Spain surrendered, most of the Third Army in Southern Africa moved to Spain and was stationed in Spain. The Allied forces stationed in French North Africa were mainly Free French and American troops.
The Free French army is somewhat restrained in French North Africa, which is, after all, the French's own territory.
The American soldiers were completely let go, and the spectacle of the military camp surrounded by tents was staged again. An American soldier proudly announced to the reporter of The Times: You can exchange a piece of chocolate for a French woman...
As soon as the news about the American soldier appeared in the newspapers, it immediately aroused indignation around the world, especially because the American soldier was an African, which was even more unacceptable to Europeans.
As mentioned many times before, Europeans have a long history of discrimination against Americans.
Discrimination against Africans is even more deep-rooted. Except for France, no other country in Europe is willing to accept Africans.
So when an African-American soldier made such nonsense in a newspaper, you can imagine the sensation it caused.
Charities in Southern Africa responded the fastest. After the American soldier's words were published in the newspaper, many charities in Southern Africa allocated special funds to improve the living environment of North African refugees, focusing on women and children.
After leaving Rock's office, Alvin ordered Brad's office to secretly collect all kinds of black information about the United States and prepare to make it public at the appropriate time to further deepen Europe's antipathy towards the United States.
There is no need to collect this at all. Americans have a lot of dirty information. The key depends on whether the news media is willing to report it. It has been less than half a year since the American soldiers arrived in North Africa. The collection of all kinds of negative news is enough to publish a book. Chocolates are exchanged for women.
They were all relatively civilized, and the Times did not dare to report the more serious crimes for fear of affecting the morale of the Allied forces.
On January 25, the first batch of U.S. troops arrived in North Africa. Three days later, seven U.S. soldiers sneaked out of the camp and sneaked into a nearby refugee camp, where they molested as many as 12 women, the youngest of whom was only eight years old.
On March 9, the U.S. military took over a German-Italian prisoner of war camp. Soon after, a prisoner abuse scandal broke out. Some prisoners were even raped by U.S. soldiers.
It should be noted that both the prisoners of war who were raped and the US troops who raped them were men.
In April, sporadic exchanges of fire broke out between the Allied forces and the German-Italian forces. After a U.S. military unit was engaged in the battle, a reporter from The Times revealed that U.S. soldiers had committed acts of killing and committing crimes, and some even robbed the property of local residents during the battle.
All this made the editor of The Times couldn't help but lament that the discipline of some US military troops was worse than that of bandits.
Just as bad as discipline is the combat effectiveness of the US military.
Don't look at the movies made by Americans. American soldiers are brave and good at fighting. One of them can fight a hundred.
On the real battlefield, the performance of American soldiers was far inferior to that of the southern African army, and even the British and Indian troops in the British army were inferior. Only half a year after the U.S. military arrived in North Africa, hundreds of U.S. soldiers were already tried by military courts for fear of war. Many of them were
U.S. soldiers deliberately inflicted injuries to avoid combat missions, and some even harmed themselves in order to leave North Africa and return to the United States.
There were even more people who worked hard but did not make any effort. During a battle in Biskra, a regiment of US troops was ordered to attack a position where only half a battalion of German troops were stationed. The battle lasted for nearly two weeks without making any progress. The US artillery provided fire cover.
At that time, artillery shells were hit on the heads of the US attacking troops themselves, and the infantry accompanying the tank attack was actually run over by the tanks. After the reinforcements of the Free French arrived, the battle ended with the German army's active retreat.
This has never happened to the Allied forces in North Africa, and it must be investigated.
The results of the investigation left everyone stunned.
At that time, the attacking force was hit by German anti-tank guns. The tank crew reversed in a hurry. The soldiers accompanying the tank attack had no time to escape. One person was run over and killed, and the other two had to have their legs amputated.
After this incident, even de Gaulle began to lower his expectations for the US military.
As a big country with similar strength to that of southern Africa, there is a huge gap in the performance of the two countries' troops on the battlefield. The current US military is not even as good as the Free French troops. De Gaulle even began to regret allowing the US military to be stationed in French North Africa. He took the initiative to contact Montgomery, hoping to bring the French troops to France.
U.S. troops from North Africa were transferred to Egypt.
Montgomery looked down upon Americans even more.
Assisting the British army in defending Egypt was the Second Army of Southern Africa. How could Montgomery like the Americans? In Montgomery's view, the combat effectiveness of the Americans was inferior to that of the Abyssinians.
The Abyssinians persisted for more than three years in the face of the Italian attack. When the Second Army of Southern Africa invaded the Abyssinian Empire, the total number of resistance forces in the Abyssinian Empire had already
More than 150,000 people.
After the restoration of the Abyssinian Empire, ten divisions were formed and approximately 200,000 servants joined the Allied forces and accepted the command of the southern African military.
These ten divisions are all equipped by southern Africa. Although they lack heavy weapons, their training is still very solid and they are qualified as light infantry.
Gu Ji
Currently, four of these ten divisions have arrived in Egypt, preparing to participate in the attack on the German-Italian coalition forces in North Africa.
"This kind of United States simply does not have the strength to compete with us." After fully understanding the situation of the US military, Alvin dismissed the United States.
"You don't have to worry about it, as long as the American soldiers are qualified cannon fodder." Rock doesn't mind, as long as the performance is not good, Rock will only worry if the American soldiers perform well on the battlefield.
For Rock, the most important thing now is the ongoing Battle of Volgograd.
Time came in July, and the Battle of Volgograd broke out in full force.
After the 4th Armored Army led by Hoth was placed under the command of Army Group A, the 6th Army led by Paulus only had two armored corps left. The entire army had a total of 14 divisions with about 270,000 people, equipped with 500 tanks and 3,000 tanks.
4 artillery pieces, supported by approximately 1,200 fighter aircraft of the Fourth Air Force.
Russia formed the Volgograd Front Army on the basis of the Southwest Front Army. Marshal Timoshenko served as the commander and had 38 divisions under his jurisdiction. However, only 16 divisions could be used for front-line operations. The German army had a slight advantage on the front line.
The main advantage of the German army lies in the air force. The comparison with the Russian air force is about 3.6:1. Since the outbreak of the war, the Russian air force has suffered heavy losses, especially among skilled pilots. This loss cannot be made up in a short time.
In mid-July, a fierce battle broke out between the Germans and the Russians in the suburbs of Volgograd. Paulus designated the 8th Infantry Corps and the 14th Armored Corps as the northern assault group, and the 51st Infantry Corps and the 24th Armored Corps as the southern assault group.
Encircled the Russian 62nd Army and launched an attack in the direction of Karachi.
At the same time, some troops were used to launch a feint attack against the Russian 64th Army to attract the attention of the Volgograd defenders.
On July 20, the German army broke through the right-wing defense line of the 62nd Army and surrounded the army's two divisions. The forward troops reached the Don River on the west side of Volgograd.
Almost at the same time, the German troops responsible for the feint attack also broke through the right-wing position of the 64th Army and attempted to forcefully cross the Don River near Karachi.
At the beginning of the Battle of Volgograd, Russia once again faced unprecedented difficulties.
On July 21, Roark sent a telegram to Winston, who was in the United States, hoping that the North African Allied Forces could launch operations against the German and Italian coalition forces and appropriately reduce the pressure on Russia.
Winston may have been busy, and Roark had not received a reply from Winston by the night of July 21, so Roark sent a telegram to Arthur authorizing Arthur to launch unilateral actions against the German troops in Greece.
Arthur had been waiting for this order for a long time.
After the Battle of Greece, some German troops went to the Russian battlefield to support them, and some were transferred to North Africa. The Axis troops stationed in Greece were mainly Italians.
Just kidding, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army——
For the southern African army, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is indeed almost a joke.
After receiving Roark's order, Arthur still sent a telegram to Cunningham, reminding Cunningham that in the next period of time, the Cyprus Squadron would reduce its support for the British forces in North Africa and focus more attention on
Greek direction.
Cunningham was anxious after receiving the telegram. He was not worried about the British army in North Africa, but worried about the expansion of southern Africa's influence around the Mediterranean.
The expansion of southern Africa's influence means that Britain's influence is further reduced.
This time Winston's telegram came quickly.
In the telegram, Winston still hoped that Roark would remain patient and wait for further clarity on the situation on the Russian battlefield.
In other words, the Germans and Russians are not dead yet, and not enough blood has been shed.
Rock had agreed to delay the time because he knew the final outcome of the Russo-German war, so he could reach an agreement with Winston.
Now Roque's attitude has quietly changed. Since after the war, Southern Africa wants to strive for a higher international status, then Southern Africa cannot follow the British everywhere. It must gain the leadership of the war. When to open the second battlefield, it cannot be left to the British
People have the final say, and southern Africa has the final say.
On July 28, the situation on the Russian battlefield further deteriorated, and the 64th Army was forced to retreat across the Don River, leaving only the 62nd Army still fighting alone on the west bank of the Don River.
The bearded man was very disappointed with the old Marshal Timoshenko. He dismissed Timoshenko from his post and was replaced by Lieutenant General Gordov, the commander of the 64th Army. He also sent General Vasilevsky, the Chief of General Staff, as the Supreme Command.
Representatives went to Volgograd to assist in commanding the war effort, and at the same time, the 1st and 4th tank armies, which served as reserves, were quickly mobilized to Volgograd to participate in the war.
In order to withstand the German attack, Big Beard issued Order No. 227 on July 28. Any soldier who disobeys the order and leaves the combat position or retreats will be severely punished, and sternly requires the Russian troops to "absolutely not take a step back!"
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In the early morning of July 29, six divisions of the Fifth Army of Southern Africa led by Arthur, with a total strength of 96,000, were attacked by Crete, Greece, under the cover of 40 warships from the Cyprus Squadron and 1,400 fighter aircraft from the Army Air Force and Hainan Airlines.
The island launched an attack.
Last May, the last southern African army withdrew from Crete, and all of Greece fell.
No one could have imagined that just 14 months later, the Allies would launch a counterattack against Greece. King George II of Greece was so overjoyed that he came to Arthur's mansion in person, expressed his gratitude to Arthur in person, and promised to wait until the war is over.
Open all of Greece to southern Africa and allow southern African troops to be stationed.
This is a certificate of surrender and a talisman. George II has been living in Cyprus for more than a year. He has fully realized the sorrow of a small country and a few people in this chaotic era. The national power of Greece alone cannot resist the armed invasion from a powerful country. Instead of this,
Instead of spending huge sums of money to build a national defense system, it is better to find a big thigh to hug tightly, which is more conducive to the survival of a small country with a small population.
In the past, Greece pinned its hopes on Britain and France. As a result, France quickly fell to the ground when the war broke out. Britain directly abandoned Greece in order to divert the disaster north. Of course, the reason why Greece fell was due to the Greek government itself, but Britain and France were even more responsible.
Now George II finally understood that southern Africa was the only big player. Therefore, after the fall of Greece, the British government and George VI invited George II to go to the UK to form a government-in-exile many times, but George II did not agree.
So what if we go to the UK? The UK can't help George II restore his country. The one who has the ability to help Greece is Southern Africa. Look at how many troops Southern Africa has accumulated around the Mediterranean. George II is not blind, let alone stupid.
In the attack sequence of the Fifth Group Army, the 3rd Airborne Division and the 5th Airborne Division are particularly eye-catching. These two troops will airborne on Crete to open the way for the follow-up troops to attack.
