As time goes by, the losses caused by street fighting have become more and more obvious.
Johnson, the commander of the British 24th Division who was commanding operations on the front line, was even more anxious.
He anxiously reported the battle situation to Wavell and strongly requested Wavell to continue sending additional troops to reinforce them.
But faced with such a request, Wavell actually felt it was more difficult than Johnson did.
The British did not have any reserves in the North African battlefield. The Australian Army's 974th and 775th Regiments, which were to be used for the second batch of troops, were in worse condition than the two British regiments of the 24th Division, and these two regiments still had to be used.
For the defense of southern Algeria.
Because intelligence showed that there were still hundreds of thousands of Italian troops stationed in the south of Algeria who had fled to Algeria from the British army. If the Italian army launched a counterattack from the south of Algeria while they were fighting with the French army, the consequences would be disastrous.
As the frontline's increasingly intense requests for reinforcements were not responded to, the British 24th Division's advance slowed down.
In the end, Johnson, the commander of the 24th Division, transferred half of the division's direct guard battalion that was not in use at this time for reinforcements. After that, there were almost no troops around him that could be mobilized.
And if reinforcements were needed, Johnson would have no troops to send.
Even the engineer battalion directly under his headquarters has long been dispersed to combat groups in various regiments.
If the first two attacking regiments still cannot complete the task of dividing and annihilating the French army in the city, then their offensive may have to be temporarily stopped.
Contrary to expectations, the fighting in the city of Ejele is still fierce, and there is no sign of easing down.
At this time, Johnson was simply impressed by the French troops who were fighting defensively in the city and the powerful combat effectiveness of the troops directly under Berante.
Because in the previous battle to break through the Algerian border defense line, he did not feel how capable the border garrison troops were. The 131st Regiment and the 768th Regiment had achieved the breakthrough so far without much effort.
Unfortunately, the successful breakthrough of the first two positions was closely related to the British army's French internal support. This caused Johnson's judgment to be skewed due to factors outside the battle.
And he also forgot one thing, that is, the French army on the Algerian border has relatively weak firepower. This is due to their lack of ammunition.
However, Ejelet's French 3rd Division, which had been kept as a reserve by Berante, had not experienced combat and had a relatively rich ammunition reserve. And Berante dealt with the rear forces at lightning speed.
The traitor restored the supply of supplies to the southern defense line, so that the 3rd Division finally did not have to worry about ammunition issues like the troops in front.
Now, the British 24th Division has begun to slowly show its effects due to heavy losses in personnel.
The British army, which had just ended the war with the Italian army, had rich combat experience, strong combat effectiveness and morale, and achieved a reasonable casualty exchange ratio in the battle. However, their offensive troops were weak in follow-up and lacked strength.
This resulted in the battle in the city not proceeding as Johnson had imagined, but instead becoming increasingly stalemate.
On the other side, in the British general headquarters, Wavell was also filled with emotion. He was thankful that he did not place his hopes for the battle on the fact that the French army in the city would take the initiative to retreat, thereby letting down his vigilance.
Because he did not regard the French army as an easy-to-retreat Italian army, Wavell also hoped to send two additional regiments of the 24th Division to the southern front, which was good for the combat strength already seen there.
Otherwise, no one can really tell what the current fighting situation in Ejele City will be like. There is even a possibility that even the 3rd Division transferred by the French army will launch a counterattack!
Wavell was a little frightened when he thought of this. He clearly felt that since he had led his troops to fight against the Italian army and achieved good results during this period, he began to underestimate the enemy.
This is not a good phenomenon. After all, Berante's French army is still very different from Mussolini's Italian army.
As the battle in the southern section slowly reached a stalemate, Johnson, who was in charge here, became increasingly anxious.
He kept walking around the headquarters of his 24th British Division, trying to think of some countermeasures.
We must find a way to change this situation, otherwise all our efforts may be wasted!
Wavell, who was also aware of the situation, discussed his thoughts with Johnson over the phone: "This is not going to work. We have no extra reserves. Look, if I transfer the 974th and 775th Regiments of the Australian Army to you,
, let them go up and join the battle now, are you sure you can capture Ejele?"
Indeed, Johnson knew in his heart that this may be the only way. On the three-way front, the British army has been fully engaged in the battle with the French army. Only the two Australian regiments guarding the remnants of Italy have not yet joined the battle.
If the 24th Division still wants to receive reinforcements, only the Australian soldiers from these two regiments can be allocated to them.
However, Johnson still held out hope that his 131st and 768th regiments could complete the task of dividing the French army in the city without relying on reinforcements.
Therefore, he shook his head while holding the phone, rejected Wavell's suggestion and said: "Let's wait and see, I have just reinforced my own guard battalion to the front line, maybe the situation will change."
Wavell felt that Johnson was still taking chances this time, and he did not believe that the strength of a guard battalion could change the situation of the war.
Just when Wavell wanted to speak and continue to persuade Johnson, Johnson was interrupted.
A dusty British officer ran into his headquarters from outside, saluted Johnson and reported: "Division Commander! Frank, the communications staff officer of the 131st Regiment, is reporting to you! The telephone line between our regiment headquarters and the headquarters is
They were all blown up, so the regiment commander personally sent me to report to you on the war situation."
"Say." Johnson, whose train of thought was suddenly interrupted, temporarily held the phone and put it to his ear while looking at Frank.
"With the reinforcement of the guard battalion, our regiment finally stormed to the city center." Frank first reported the good news to Johnson. For Johnson, who was bent on capturing Ejele, there was no news more exciting than this.
"Well done!" Hearing that the troops had rushed into the city center, Johnson excitedly waved his fist and said, "Let your commander continue the attack at all costs and capture the city center for me."
However, Johnson's response was not the one he had imagined.
Just listen to Frank helplessly continue to report: "Division Commander, the number of infantry in our regiment is further declining. In some areas, the infantry combat team has suffered too many casualties and has been forced to stop advancing. In some areas, the tanks we are following have also been lost due to the loss of
The regiment leader asked me to ask the general to at least reinforce our regiment with another full infantry battalion so that our regiment can continue to perform combat missions."
