As long as there are combat operations involving the US military, the situation is always a mess.
If it were a joint operation between the US military, the British army, the Free French Army, and the Southern African Army, the situation would be as bad as a disaster.
The troops around Cagliari now include the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, British Army and Navy, the Southern African side has the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force, and the Free French Army and Navy.
With so many troops gathered in Cagliari, they are not subordinate to each other and form their own system. Coordination and command is a big problem.
This is not the first time this has happened. During the Battle of Sicily, the U.S. airborne troops were attacked by their own anti-aircraft fire.
Regrettably, this did not teach the US military a lesson. The same mistakes occurred again, which is enough to prove that the United States is only second-rate at best in terms of war.
In Algiers, Eisenhower and Patton met for the third time in a week regarding the coordination and command of joint operations.
When the US military and the British army cooperated, most of the time the British army took the lead, and the Americans did not try to compete for command.
Now that Southern Africa and the Free French Army had joined, the Americans began to have ideas. Eisenhower hoped to gain command of the attack on Sardinia.
This was unacceptable to Barton.
When the US military cooperates with the British army, it can accept the command of the British.
Now that they are cooperating with the southern African army, the Americans want to fight for command. What does this mean?
Could it be that the performance of the southern African army on the battlefield was inferior to that of the British army?
And the more critical question is that Sardinia is just the beginning. Next, there will be a third or even fourth battlefield in Europe. Will it be dominated by Americans by then?
Judging from the past habits of Americans, if the Allied forces follow the command of the US military, the result will be obvious. The hardest bones will have to be gnawed by the southern African army, and the Americans will just follow behind and take advantage.
So Patton's attitude was very firm.
"You can't even do the most basic infantry and artillery coordination well. It will be a complete disaster to hand over the command to you." Since the Americans were so open-minded, Patton was not polite.
"It is precisely because of the chaos in the command system that this kind of thing happened. In order to avoid similar incidents from happening again, we must do this." Eisenhower was equally determined.
Eisenhower's confidence came from his strength.
Just now, a fleet composed of two American battleships arrived in Algiers. The strength of the US military in the Mediterranean has greatly increased, and it no longer needs to rely on the British army to complete its mobilization.
The U.S. Army also continued to increase its troops, and the Tenth Army's battlefield performance was poor. Eisenhower urgently transferred the still recovering First Army to Sardinia, and also transferred the 13th Army and the 15th Army from the mainland and the United Kingdom respectively.
The four divisions under these two armies are all armored divisions, equipped with a total of more than 1,000 tanks. Once these two armies arrive in North Africa, the US military will have the ability to launch campaigns independently.
The main reason why Eisenhower was so easy to talk to before was that the US military did not have the ability to launch an attack independently. During the North African campaign, when the US military did not need the help of the British army, Eisenhower's performance was quite strong.
"Impossible, the US military has not achieved enough honors and is not qualified to command the Allied forces." De Gaulle also objected.
Including the 13th Army and the 15th Army, the U.S. military in the Mediterranean only has 200,000 troops. The total strength is similar to that of the Free French Army. Even if it is the turn of the Americans, it will not be the turn of the Americans.
The most powerful people around the Mediterranean are definitely southern Africa, followed by the United Kingdom. Although there are millions of people in the United States receiving training, it is still unknown when they will be sent to the battlefield. Maybe the European War will be over by then.
This is exactly what Americans want.
By the time those hundreds of people from the United States are trained, European countries will have run out of gas and energy. When the time comes, the Americans will step up to save the world. Perfect!
But there was the variable of southern Africa, so Eisenhower was so eager.
The southern African army also has millions of people.
Including the Southern African Union troops, the number exceeds 10 million.
"We participated in the North African campaign, defeated the enemy in Sicily and the Far East, and hundreds of thousands of people arrived in Europe every month. Our factories worked day and night, and artillery and tanks continued to flow. The U.S. military should have the capabilities to match
status." Eisenhower made no secret of his ambition. For him, these were real achievements.
Eisenhower's ambitions were not only on the battlefield. Strictly speaking, he could not be regarded as a soldier, but more like a politician.
After hearing Eisenhower's words, Patton laughed and said nothing.
In front of southern Africa, who is qualified to talk about strength and status——
The Russians may be there, but the Russians are not there.
Moreover, Russia's status was achieved through sacrifice.
What do Americans have?
Good relations with Germans and Japanese?
"Why don't we vote and leave everything to democracy?" Alexander and Xini stabbed Eisenhower secretly.
Among the four people present who are qualified to speak, de Gaulle is obviously in the same group as Patton. If Eisenhower wants to get Alexander's vote, it is impossible without paying a price.
"If this is the case, everyone should be eligible to vote -" De Gaulle was more thoughtful than Alexander.
everyone——
That would include the exile governments of Greece, Poland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as the Southern African Union countries such as Brazil, East India, the Congo, and Najd.
If you calculate it this way, the value of Alexander's vote is not worth mentioning, and it has about the same effect as Greece's vote.
"It is irresponsible to leave the fate of this world to those who are weak. Those people cannot even decide their own destiny." Eisenhower showed his true colors. This is the essence of the world.
There are some small countries that have no points and always like to do things that look particularly outrageous, making them look like fools.
In fact, everyone is smart and has reached this status. None of them is a fool. They seem unreliable because they have no choice. The reason is the same as what Eisenhower said: they can't even decide their own destiny.
"Why don't we have a racing match? The problem of war should be solved through war." Patton didn't want to waste time on wrangling, which was what Eisenhower was good at.
"Agree!" De Gaulle immediately expressed his stance.
"Second -" Alexander is also tired of the endless quarrels, wouldn't it be better to be more direct?
"How to compare, who can take Cagliari first?" Eisenhower was still confident. Southern Africa was not ready yet, and the US military had more troops in Cagliari.
"No, let's play bigger this time and see who can take Berlin first!" Patton has a lofty goal. He has to compete against Cagliari. Who is he looking down on?
Patton Stud, Eisenhower would not dare to gamble.
During the Battle of Sicily, the U.S. Army won a sprint race against the British Army, which probably gave Eisenhower courage.
In its competition with southern Africa, the United States has never won, either economically or militarily.
When it comes to winning Berlin, this should be a race between Southern Africa and Russia, with the United States only watching the show.
"Yes, you Americans can just watch from the side and see how we captured the amphitheater." In the area of Cagliari where the battle was fiercest, Captain Miller of the Free French Army looked down on the cowardly Americans.
Don't look at the movies where the American soldiers are brave and invincible. In actual combat, the US soldiers are all arrogant and call for artillery support when they encounter stubborn resistance. In addition to using their firepower advantage to bomb indiscriminately, the technical and tactical capabilities of the American soldiers are at least at this period.
Not even the Free French Army.
The amphitheater is a landmark building in Cagliari. It was built in the Roman era in the 2nd century AD. It is a stone building with complex terrain and solid structure. The American soldiers fought for a whole week without knocking it down.
The attacking U.S. troops suffered heavy casualties and had to call for artillery support. They hoped to use the Navy's large-caliber naval guns to completely flatten the amphitheater. However, they did not expect that the Navy's naval guns were not accurate enough. A shell fell into the U.S. starting position.
A company of American troops was wiped out.
Fortunately, this was not a large-caliber naval gun, but a shell fired from a 150 mm caliber naval gun, otherwise the casualties would have been heavy.
"God bless you and hope everything goes well for you." Second Lieutenant Thomson from California was injured in his arm and was only briefly bandaged.
Thomson was from the 45th Division. Due to the fierce fighting situation, the 45th Division, as a reserve force, entered the battle three days ago.
This was the first battle of the 45th Division. The soldiers suffered heavy losses due to lack of experience, and many officers were also inexperienced. The US military had serious shortcomings in this regard.
In peacetime, southern Africa still maintained a standing army of more than 200,000 people. At its worst, the U.S. Army only had two or three kittens and puppies left. Most were civilian officers, and experienced veterans were pitching tents in Washington Square.
The same goes for the 45th Division. Ninety percent of the officers were promoted temporarily. Thomson was a policeman before joining the army. He was appointed as an officer because of his good shooting performance and had no systematic training at all.
The soldiers of the 45th Division were even worse. They came to Europe with a "savior" mentality. They were attacked head-on by the Italians for the first time on the battlefield. Thomson's company launched three attacks on the amphitheater, which was the closest to success. At one time, it was about fifty meters away from the amphitheater.
After experiencing three failures, Thomson's company suffered more than half casualties. The soldiers were seriously afraid of the battle and did not dare to participate in the attack, so the battle was taken over by the Free French Army.
At this time, Shen Fei from Durban Port led a team of marines to the amphitheater. Shen Fei greeted Miller in a friendly manner.
"Man, do you need our help?"
"No, you can just watch from the side. If we can't defeat you and you come up again, I hope you won't have a chance to fight -" Miller was also friendly. The same words gave people a completely different feeling.
For Americans, just watching from the side means: If you can't do it, get out of here!
To Shen Fei, it means: You are too tired from running so far, sit down and drink some water and smoke a cigarette.
Shen Fei had no intention of watching the fun. The Marines would still be able to provide help if they did not participate in the direct attack.
Especially the precision shooters of the Marine Corps, they can provide as much help as machine guns and mortars.
Miller was a senior mercenary for the Umbrella Company before joining the Free French Army.
After understanding the situation in detail, Miller divided the company into two groups. One group attacked frontally, and the other group detoured from the side. As long as there was a chance to break into the amphitheater, the Italians' will to resist would quickly decline.
Even if the Italians fight on their own, they do not have the determination to fight to the last man. Once the situation is unfavorable, the Italians will surrender, which is allowed in Western armies.
Shen Fei was not idle either. After arranging precision shooters to find suitable positions, he also arranged for machine gunners, mortars, and medics.
As for other Marines, they are also ready to fight at any time.
"Man, your four-color camouflage doesn't work as camouflage at all in urban combat. On the contrary, it is more obvious." Thomson found an opportunity to talk to Shen Fei.
The current uniforms of the US military are earthy brown, which is similar to the color of the British army's uniforms during the First World War.
In urban combat, earthy brown may have a better camouflage effect, but the color is really ugly.
"For us Marines, this is not a disguise, this is faith -" Shen Fei proudly showed off his armband, a South African lion with wings.
This image is a bit nondescript.
But there is no way. There are thousands of military units in southern Africa, and each unit has a unique armband. It is not enough to use all the animals in southern Africa.
So there are all kinds of artistic processing.
A lion with wings is nothing. There is an army in Basutoland whose armbands are centaurs, and they have magical elements.
When Thomson spoke, his attention was more on the actions of the Marine Corps.
Really well trained.
Not to mention professional arms such as precision shooters, machine gunners, and gunners, ordinary Marines always keep their guns in their hands when they are resting. They are very quiet, do not chat with their comrades around them, and sit silently to rest, even if they eat.
It doesn't make too much noise when you replenish your energy.
Looking at the American soldiers staggering next to him, their clothes in messy clothes, their eyes distracted, and their collective thoughts wandering away, Thomson felt infinitely sad in his heart.
At this time, the Free French Army was also ready to attack.
Although the equipment of the Free French Army is not as good as that of the Marine Corps, the officers and soldiers do not lack the will to fight. The best thing about Africans is that they are relatively simple. If you give them some encouragement, those African soldiers will put life and death aside.
Tom-tom-tom——
Marines and Free French mortars began a bombardment.
The machine gunners also began suppressing fire.
The precision shooters were already in position. As soon as an Italian observer showed his head, he was shot in the head by the precision shooters.
Under the tight fire net, the short African soldiers moved swiftly and crouched forward quickly. One soldier took out a smoke grenade and threw it out. The black smoke spread quickly. Thomson suddenly realized that if the clothes of these soldiers were removed,
