"Although the British had a small victory in North Africa, their scarcity of troops has always been their weakness. According to the intelligence we collected together with our German allies, there are only 30,000 British troops in North Africa. Even if we include the British troops in East Africa,
Their total strength does not exceed 100,000. Our army has 260,000 in North Africa alone. If we include the army in East Africa, the total strength is more than 500,000!"
Garibaldi's analysis was so clear and logical that even the always conceited Mussolini nodded in praise.
It has to be said that Garibaldi is indeed a rare Italian general.
"If we allow the 300,000 troops in East Africa to immediately march north to attack the British troops in Egypt, the British troops remaining in Egypt alone will not be able to withstand the defense."
Garibaldi saw clearly that not to mention that the 230,000 Italian troops in North Africa were merely defeated but not completely destroyed. Even without these 230,000 troops, the Italian military strength in East Africa alone was more than the total strength of the British army in Africa.
3 times higher.
It would be impossible for the British commander to fight against such a large force without using all his forces.
"If the British commander still has any brains, he must transfer the frontline troops back to defend Egypt. In this way, we can not only lift the siege of Benghazi, but also take the opportunity to eliminate all British forces in Africa and occupy
Egypt, control the Suez Canal, and then control the entire Mediterranean region!"
General Garibaldi's analysis is quite similar to Zhuge Liang Longzhong's general feeling, and he has already made a three-point trend before he even came out of the mountain.
This is a conspiracy!
If the British army did not withdraw their troops, after the Italian army in East Africa captured all of Egypt, they would have no way out and they would eventually fail.
And if the British army withdraws its troops from Benghazi and returns to support, the Italian army in North Africa, which is at the end of its rope, will get a chance to breathe, and then in turn bite the retreating British army and regain its advantage in strength.
Regardless of whether they withdraw or not, the British army is destined to be attacked from both sides!
Mussolini greatly appreciated Garibaldi's analysis. In addition, General Garibaldi had already done a lot of research on military warfare and had repeatedly made military exploits.
So Mussolini simply said to General Garibaldi without hesitation: "Well, from today on, you will be the third governor of Libya and the commander-in-chief of the African Army. From now on, you will be the leader of the Italian army in Africa."
Take responsibility."
Unexpectedly, after Garibaldi heard this, instead of being grateful at all, he actually showed some fear.
He thought to himself: "What?! I am here to analyze the situation in Africa for you and become the third Governor-General of Africa? I just want to make you feel at ease. Am I still wrong in my analysis? You threw me into this
What does it mean to go to Africa, a place where birds don’t poop?”
Although Garibaldi had a thorough understanding of the war situation in Africa and believed that his conspiracy was almost certain to succeed, this did not mean that he liked to go to Africa to implement this strategy.
The reason is simple, because apart from eating pasta, Garibaldi really has no interest in war.
Garibaldi quickly excused himself: "Leader, I am still relatively inexperienced and I am afraid I am not qualified for this position."
Mussolini smiled and replied: "You are still junior, but I personally promoted and appointed you. Believe me, other generals will not have anything to say, so do your best!"
General Garibaldi smiled awkwardly, but it was hard to say anything else. After all, it was Mussolini’s new strategy.
So he had no choice but to take on the task.
Then, Mussolini continued: "I will send a message to the troops in East Africa now, telling them all to listen to your orders for the time being and fully cooperate with your operational deployment."
"Okay, thank you for your trust, leader!" General Garibaldi reluctantly expressed his gratitude to Mussolini, although he himself did not want to accept this damn task.
"General Garibaldi, you can take a plane to take office tomorrow. I think you will leave early tomorrow morning and arrive in Tripoli in the afternoon. It is less than 500 kilometers away from Benghazi. If you hurry up, you might be able to reach the Benghazi front line in the evening.
"Mussolini said to Garibaldi.
It was obvious that he wanted General Garibaldi to take office immediately to save Africa's decline.
"No, no, no, leader, I'll forget about watching the plane. It's better for me to take a submarine. I'm used to riding on submarines, but not on airplanes." Garibaldi thought of the experience of Marshal Balbo, the first governor of North Africa, and couldn't help but
I am afraid of flying to Africa.
Otherwise, where in the world would there be people who are used to riding on submarines but not flying on airplanes?
"It's up to you, but I have to remind you to take office as soon as possible. The soldiers in North Africa and even all of Africa are waiting for you to lead them." Mussolini seemed to have noticed his worries and gave in rarely.
Immediately, Garibaldi, who was a submariner and did not fly, left Mussolini's hospital room and went to take his submarine.
To be honest, regardless of other personality factors, Mussolini can really be regarded as a conscientious and qualified leader.
As soon as Garibaldi left, he called his assistant and verbally described to his assistant the original text of the message he was going to send to Italian garrisons in Africa: "Due to Marshal Graziani's unfavorable leadership of the troops, the Italian troops in North Africa led several
He was twice as powerful as the enemy, but was severely defeated by the British. Therefore, he was dismissed from his posts as Governor of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of the African Army. He was transferred back to Rome on the same day and General Garibaldi took over all his duties. In addition, all East African troops need to be stationed in Garibaldi.
After the general took office, he fully cooperated with his troops to launch attacks on Somalia and Egypt."
According to Garibaldi's detailed request, Mussolini copied Garibaldi's original words and ordered General Oster's troops in East Africa to set out from Ethiopia and Eritrea to attack Sudan, Kenya and British Somalia, and then arrive in North Africa.
The Sudanese region joined forces taken over by Garibaldi in North Africa, and finally jointly attacked Egypt. The aim was to completely drive the British troops out of North Africa and thereby gain control of the Suez Canal and the entire Mediterranean.
In fact, Egypt and the Mediterranean are the key to Mussolini's "New Roman Empire". Its strategic position is extremely important. It controls the Suez Canal, and this canal is the throat of the Atlantic Ocean through the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The "lifeline" of the British Empire.
In a sense, Churchill also regarded Egypt as more important than his own homeland, because he understood that once he lost Egypt and lost control of the Suez Canal, he would lose the entire Mediterranean and control the Mediterranean and maintain the Suez Canal.
The unimpeded flow of the canal was not only a vital matter for the British Empire, but could also directly affect the French African colonies' continued fight with Britain against Germany.
Therefore, Churchill, the British Prime Minister, and Italian Prime Minister Mussolini, attached great importance to the defense of the Mediterranean and Egypt.
Although the British mainland was always threatened by Reinhardt's invasion of troops, he still did not transfer Fleet H back to the Mediterranean.
Churchill also transferred a small number of tanks that had just been produced locally to Egypt, and he quickly transferred a Commonwealth army composed of Indians, Australians, and New Zealanders to East and North Africa.
Encouraged by the victory in North Africa, Churchill also hoped to fight Mussolini in this region and completely eradicate the Allied forces in Africa. Because only after that, Churchill could attack Bélante, who was guarding Algeria, and cut off the Third Reich's largest
Overseas oil import routes.
........
On a submarine in the Mediterranean, Garibaldi was deep in thought.
He took advantage of the opportunity for the submarine to surface and went to the upper deck of the submarine to get some air.
Compared with an airplane, the turbid smell in a submarine is not pleasant, at least Garibaldi can't stand it.
Facing the endless Mediterranean Sea, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sea breeze blowing across his cheeks. For a moment, he felt that he was almost ascending to heaven, to a place where he was carefree and undisturbed by all the trivial matters in the world.
A paradise.
Gradually, he woke up from the dream and found that reality was not so beautiful, and he still had to face all kinds of unpleasantness.
He still has to breathe the extremely turbid carbon dioxide in the submarine, and still has to go to North Africa to serve as the damn governor of North Africa.
Although my parents forced me to attend a military academy since I was a child, and I learned all the military knowledge immediately, I also got a place for admission to their military academy, and upon graduation I entered the senior ranks of the Italian Army.
But who knows that this Italian commander who seems to have a bright future actually doesn't like fighting in his heart and just likes to eat pasta in peace?
Therefore, Italy does not actually lack generals, but lacks an environment to create generals.
In Italy, too many people waste their lives on flashy "art". They like architecture, art, and music, but few people like military affairs.
It is precisely because of this that Rommel regarded Italians as stupid and frivolous fools, and believed that Italians waste most of their energy in life on flashy things.
But neither Garibaldi nor Rommel would have thought that these two people with completely different personalities would soon become long-term partners...