Not only the fleet at sea, but also the Free French Army, which finally successfully established a beachhead after several days of fierce fighting, also did not receive any notification about the actions of the British 1st Airborne Division.
Moreover, before the 2nd Airborne Brigade carried out the airdrop, the Free French Army on the beach had just experienced a bombing by the Italian Air Force, so the Free French Army's anti-aircraft gunners regarded the 2nd Airborne Brigade as German paratroopers.
Captain Smith did not know these backgrounds, and his anger is understandable.
The British paratroopers are also an elite force. Those outstanding young men did not die in a bloody battle with the Germans, but died in extremely miserable conditions at the hands of their own people. Captain Smith did not know why this happened.
Blame the Free French Army?
Or blame the Allied Forces Command?
Or is it the American pilots to blame?
It seems that each of them has a responsibility, but there is definitely no specific person responsible for this kind of thing.
"Man, why are you here?" Rudy Fournier from Port Elizabeth was very embarrassed. He almost barbecued Smith just now.
"I don't know, we were originally going to the Brimasel Bridge -" Smith's clothes were completely soaked by the rain, and there were mud spots on his face, making him look miserable.
"Guys, does anyone know where the Brimasso Bridge is?" Fournier asked the surrounding Free French soldiers.
Everyone shook their heads. This is Sicily, not French North Africa.
"Come with me, I have to report the situation to avoid more accidental injuries -" Fournier can't leave Smith alone here.
On the way back, Fournier and Smith encountered a group of Free French soldiers escorting several British paratroopers. These British paratroopers were all tied up and their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen. One unlucky guy's face was still bleeding.
Get bandaged.
"Hey, what the hell is going on with you?" Smith was furious.
"These are spies. They actually say that they are British. Ha, do you think we are fools?" The second lieutenant leading the team on the opposite side was proud.
"What the hell are you—" Smith had a splitting headache. If Alexander or Eisenhower were in front of Smith at this moment, Smith would give him a hard punch without hesitation.
The misunderstanding was quickly eliminated, but the rift was irreparable. Many paratroopers died at the hands of Free French Army soldiers. When the news reached the Allied Forces Command, Alexander, Eisenhower, and Giraud all looked a little ugly.
Actual combat is not an exercise, especially when multiple arms and systems cooperate in combat, the difficulty will undoubtedly increase exponentially. The battle has only broken out for a few days, and the problems exposed are thought-provoking.
Southern Africa is also a joint operation, and the composition of the army is also very complex, including the Southern African Expeditionary Force, the Southern African Union force, as well as the Greek army and local resistance forces.
Why do southern Africa never have these problems.
Are there endless troubles on the coalition side?
This issue deserves careful study.
"We need to launch a second wave of attacks immediately, and the frontline troops need support--" Alexander was not in the mood to pursue the responsibility at this time. One of the two brigades of the British 1st Airborne Division was surrounded by German and Italian troops, and the other did not arrive at the scheduled battle at all.
Regarding the position, if one really needs to be held accountable, Alexander must be the first person responsible.
So now Alexander must win and save face, otherwise London will definitely be held accountable after the battle is over.
"Order the 82nd Airborne Division to attack quickly, and don't forget to inform other units. The tragedy of the 1st Airborne Division cannot be repeated." Eisenhower fired his bow without looking back. He also needed a hearty victory to win.
Cover up your mistakes.
"The Free French Army on the beach is being frantically attacked by the Germans. Where are our reinforcements?" Giraud was very dissatisfied with the Allied Forces Command. I wonder if he regrets it now.
Giraud once regarded the Americans as saviors, believing that by participating in the war, the Americans could play a role no less important than that of southern Africa.
Now it seems that there is a huge difference. The American soldiers are far behind the southern African army in terms of training and organization, especially at the level of coordination and command. They are not on the same level at all.
Giraud fought in the last world war.
During the last world war, when Rock served as commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, the close cooperation between the British and French armies left a deep impression on Giraud.
Twenty years have passed. The southern African army has become more professional, but the European and American armies have continued to degenerate. As one goes, the other becomes worse. For a moment, Giraud becomes confused about the future.
"Hold on, the troops led by General Patton have too many heavy weapons, and it will take time to complete the preparations." Eisenhower had a mature and charming smile on his face, but his words were very perfunctory.
So far, the troops deployed by the United Kingdom and the United States have been paratroopers, and the ground offensive troops deployed have been by the Free French Army.
This is an unabashed conspiracy. Eisenhower and Alexander are using the Free French Army to consume the strength of the Italian defenders. When the Italians and French are exhausted, Patton and Montgomery will join the battle.
Facing the insidious British and Americans, Giraud felt deeply powerless.
Be really careful when working with the British and Americans.
Since the outbreak of the World War, Britain has been deliberately stalling for time in North Africa, sitting back and watching the Germans and Russians both suffer losses.
Looking back further in time, during the Battle of France, the British army not only failed to go all out, but instead coerced some French troops to withdraw from Dunkirk to the British mainland. This was also an open betrayal of France.
Now the British are back to their old habits, and the French are once again the victims.
Giraud suddenly understood why de Gaulle hated the British and Americans so much.
However, what pleased Giraud was that the fate of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division was not much better than that of the British 1st Airborne Division.
The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division was not accidentally bombarded by friendly forces, but was hit hard by Italian air defense forces.
At the same time, coupled with the bad weather, the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division also suffered heavy losses. The plane of deputy division commander Brigadier General Charles Kilance was shot down and crashed into a mountain, leaving no trace of his body.
A series of clumsy performances by Britain, the United States and France finally attracted the attention of southern Africa.
Patton flew back to Pretoria at the end of March, reported to Roark in person, and expressed his concerns about the British and American troops to Roark.
"Judging from the recent performance of the British and American troops, it seems that the British and Americans are not ready - the Free French Army performed well some time ago, and it seems that they have been affected by the British and Americans during this period.
We are judging the possibility of joint operations with the British and American troops. Their poor performance will have a negative impact on our troops." Patton felt very sad. The performance of the British and American troops was obviously a drag.
The melee between the British 1st Airborne Division and the German 7th Airborne Division lasted for half a month. Both sides suffered heavy casualties and were unable to eliminate the other side. It was not until the 4th Division of the Free French Army arrived that the German 7th Division took the initiative to retreat.
.
The airborne landing of the 2nd Airborne Brigade was a complete failure, with 2,500 people losing more than 1,000 during the airborne landing. Alexander and Giraud blamed each other for the other's mistakes, which led to this result.
Eisenhower intervened and promised to support a batch of British C47 transport aircraft and help the Free French Army train paratroopers. This temporarily eased the relationship between Alexander and Giraud.
When the British and American coalition forces launched the landing operation in Sicily, the military in southern Africa was not idle either.
Although the southern African army did not participate in the landing operations, it sent military observers to Sicily.
According to the standards of the Southern African military, the performance of the British and American troops in the landing operation in Sicily was quite amateurish. Even the U.S. armored forces equipped with Southern African tanks did not fully play the role that the Southern African tanks should have.
The coordination work exposed the most serious problems. During the entire landing operation, not only did the ground air defense forces mistakenly hit friendly forces, causing heavy casualties to the paratroopers, but the fleet also shelled the landing forces due to serious errors in coordinates, causing heavy losses to the British-Indian 22nd Division.
, as soon as they arrived in Sicily, they had to withdraw from the battle.
The performance of the Free French Army was equally dismal.
The Italian troops fighting on the mainland showed completely different morale and combat effectiveness from those in the North African battlefield.
On the battlefield in North Africa, once the situation was unfavorable, the Italian army would surrender voluntarily if it could not hold out for too long, and had no intention of fighting to the bitter end.
The Italian army fighting on the mainland showed a fighting will that was comparable to that of the Russian army. In the process of capturing the Port of Palermo, the Italian army relied on the terrain to defend tenaciously. With the support of the citizens of Palermo, it faced a situation several times larger than its own.
The Allies' crazy attack lasted for ten days, which was impossible to happen on the North African battlefield.
Eisenhower and Alexander now realized that the warnings given before the war in southern Africa were not an exaggeration.
Unfortunately, it is already too late. Now Eisenhower and Alexander are riding a tiger and cannot get off. No matter how high the price is, Eisenhower and Alexander must win, otherwise they will not be able to explain.
"There is no problem for Eisenhower to win. As for the combat effectiveness of the British and American troops, it is not that they are weak in strength, but they are too selfish, suspicious of each other, and there are big problems in their cooperation-" Rock saw
It’s no wonder that relying on the United Kingdom and the United States, it is impossible to defeat Germany, and southern Africa has to take the initiative: "——The Free French Army can still be trusted. I sent a telegram to President de Gaulle that it is time to make a decision."
Roque had high hopes for de Gaulle, and it was time for all the chaos in Free France to end.
There is no day in the sky, and the country has no two kings. Due to the overt and covert fighting between de Gaulle and Giraud, free France is now in chaos. If it does not end decisively and strike hard, the previous investment in southern Africa may be in vain.
The telegram was sent to Algiers, and de Gaulle immediately set off to find Alvin.
Alvin did not return to southern Africa with Roque, but stayed in Algiers and was responsible for the next stage of intelligence work for the southern African army to fight in Europe.
After the North African campaign, the focus of the next stage of operations has shifted to the European continent. The situation at this stage is more complex and intelligence work is more important.
"So, do you just want Mr. Commander-in-Chief to hand over power, or do you want him to be ruined and commit suicide out of fear of crime?" Alvin let de Gaulle make his own choice, which was also a test for de Gaulle.
De Gaulle was silent for a long time.
"If possible, I don't even want to target the French - but this is inevitable, so it is enough to let him hand over power. Free France cannot withstand consumption, especially this kind of consumption that has no benefits." De Gaulle
Unfortunately, the Giraud is too close to the United Kingdom and the United States, which has seriously affected the interests of Free France.
Although de Gaulle relied on Roque's support to establish Free France, de Gaulle has always been a very independent person and did not want to be completely attached to southern Africa.
Although De Gaulle paid a huge price for cooperation with Southern Africa, it was all worth it. Roque did not break his promise and promised support to De Gaulle and the Free France without discounting it at all. This American approach is in sharp contrast.
Seeing that it could not win over De Gaulle, the United States stopped helping the Free French Navy, and its cooperation with Giraud was all about exploitation, exactly the same as the British.
"No problem, you will definitely get the support of the French. General Giraud will just become a mascot." Alvin is very satisfied with De Gaulle's choice. Southern Africa does not need an obedient De Gaulle, but a smart De Gaulle.
Southern Africa is actually an outright conspiracy. As long as De Gaulle is not stupid, he will know what to do.
Alvin still looks down on some people who are not clear-headed, such as Giro.
There was no need for Alvin to take action in this matter. De Gaulle came to Alvin because he wanted Alvin to convey De Gaulle's decision to Roque, rather than asking for Alvin's help.
We can't help with this kind of thing. Even if Southern Africa has this ability, Alvin can't show it.
Otherwise, it will remind you of De Gaulle.
The federal government of Southern Africa has the ability to ruin Giraud's reputation. So once de Gaulle's opinions and Roque's move to the left, will de Gaulle end up with the same fate as Giraud?
De Gaulle also had his own ideas.
Don’t forget that the Free French Army was created by de Gaulle.
Soon Giraud discovered that his generals no longer obeyed Giraud's orders.
It's not rejection, it's compliance and disobedience.
For example, when Giraud ordered a certain unit to arrive at a certain place on a certain day, the troop commander would find various excuses to delay the time. This directly caused the Free French Army to move slowly on the battlefield and delay the fighter planes. Giraud himself
His ability was also doubted by Eisenhower and Alexander.
As the commander-in-chief of the Free French Army, you cannot even completely control the French troops. What is the use of you as the commander-in-chief?
Giraud had a premonition that the situation was not good, so he flew back to Algiers from the frontline headquarters to hold an armaments meeting.
As soon as Giraud's plane landed at Algiers Airport, Giraud himself was taken away by staff of the Free French Interior Ministry.
At a press conference held later, Free French Prime Minister Leonard Capet explained to reporters that the commander-in-chief of the Free French Army, Giraud, needed to go to southern Africa for medical treatment due to personal reasons. The Free French Army was led by de Gaulle himself.
