Stephen's adjutant was just a major staff officer in the French army three months ago. Like Stephen, who was then the deputy commander of the lieutenant colonel, he was a member of the common people.
However, as Berante expanded his army in Algeria, a large number of mid-level French officers such as Stephen and his adjutants were promoted to senior commanders of the colonial army who stood alone.
And Stephen's adjutant, Baptiste, has been the deputy commander of the 5th Colonial Division for nearly two months.
Although Baptiste did not understand 100% of Stephen, the commander, from the two months of contact, just from Stephen's insistence on building foresights early in the absence of war, Baptiste could also see the foresight.
I can't help but admire how thoughtful this commander is.
How could such a cautious and foresighted officer make such a hasty decision today?
The French army fought according to the German plan, which Baptiste would not have dared to imagine three months ago.
Although the current German army is no longer the enemy of the French army, leaving the French army under the command of the German generals will inevitably make people feel a little uneasy.
"What, do you think I'm too hasty?" Steve turned around and looked at Baptiste who looked anxious and said calmly.
"Commander..." Baptiste glanced at the translator brought by Rommel beside him, and whispered to Stephen in a scrupulous voice: "We can definitely hold our position and wait for Italian reinforcements to arrive. It seems that there is no
We must act according to the German battle plan."
Shaking his head, Stephen smiled lightly and said: "I do this for three main reasons. First, you have seen the German army's combat effectiveness and equipment. That is not something our colonial division can match. With us
What you can't do with your own strength, others may be able to do it."
"Second, you should know more about the situation of our army than the German general. Even if we are fully prepared, do you think we can survive 48 hours?" Stephen asked rhetorically.
"...No!" Baptiste shook his head and sighed heavily: "The ministries suffered heavy losses, and the casualty rate of some battalions has already reached the 30% collapse line of the Daba. Judging from this,
, after one day, every extra hour our army holds on is a miracle!"
The casualty rate of 30% was already the upper limit that the colonial levy troops could endure. If it weren't for Stephen's urgent formation of a war supervision team, perhaps the troops on the front line would have been disinclined to fight.
However, this cannot change the fact that the 5th Colonial Division is about to collapse. The existence of the war supervision team only slightly delays the collapse.
"If the Italians could have arrived, they would have arrived long ago." Speaking of the Italian troops who rescued the Italians, Stephen was filled with contempt: "Even if our troops check for two more days, they probably won't be able to arrive."
Then, Stephen said with a sudden tone: "In this case, we might as well believe in the German troops who have arrived here, believe in their battle plan, and fully cooperate with them. If the German army's plan fails, we naturally will not be able to hold on for long.
But if the German army’s plan succeeds, the current deadlock may be solved!”
Hearing this, Baptiste was already convinced a lot.
However, even if their division does not cooperate with the German army and sticks to its position, it will not escape the fate of failure in the end. Instead of this, it is better to give it a try and gain a chance of victory!
"Master, what about third place?" Battist nodded and asked curiously.
"Take it and take a look." Stephen did not answer directly, but gave the battle plan Rommel gave him to Baptiste to watch: "The third reason is this plan."
Baptiste read a little slower than Stephen. It took him about 15 minutes to read and roughly understand the plan.
"What do you think?" Stephen asked calmly.
"This is a crazy and genius battle plan..." Baptiste swallowed his saliva and said with a look of shock: "That German general is simply a lunatic!"
"But this combat plan is really amazing and makes people willing to give it a try." Baptiste added sarcastically.
.....................
"The French army changed its retreat tactics and began to concentrate its troops on the front line?"
After receiving the report from his staff, Major General Johnson of the British 24th Division doubtfully repeated the news to the commander of the Australian 26th Division next to him.
Due to heavy losses in the battle with the French 3rd Home Division, Johnson's British 24th Division had its combat effectiveness greatly reduced and lost the ability to attack on its own. At this time, his troops were acting as auxiliaries, cooperating with the Australian 26th Division to eliminate
French colonial troops on Hill 3.
Therefore, although Johnson was on the same level as the Australian division commander, he could only influence the thinking of the Australian major general responsible for the main attack by discussing and making suggestions.
"It's just to strengthen the first line of defense. What's all the fuss about?" the Australian division commander said indifferently: "If they don't strengthen the first line of defense, then this position will be broken by us. But it doesn't matter, even if they
If we strengthen our troops, we can break through in less than five hours."
"No, Major General!" Johnson quickly shook his head, walked to the sand table model of Highland 3, pointed to the raised sand table model for the Australian division commander and said: "Look, according to the terrain of Highland 3, the actual French army
Two lines of defense should have been established above, and their headquarters should be in a certain area behind the two lines of defense."
"What's wrong with this?" the Australian division commander asked doubtfully.
In his opinion, the generals from the British mainland just like to make a fuss. Compared with their Australian officers, the British generals seem to be a group of timid cowards. Seeing that his 26th Division has the upper hand, the opponent is only
Because the French army sent more troops to the front line, it was said that there was a problem.
Finding that the other party had not yet seen the problem, Johnson had no choice but to be patient and explain carefully to the "barbarian" from Australia: "According to general circumstances, if the other party has two complete defenses, then they will
Split the force into two parts and put them into two positions respectively."
Johnson used a telescopic pole to circle the sand table model of Highland 3 and said: "Based on our attack on Highland 3 these days, the French army's first line of defense here is relatively complete. So we have reason to
I believe that their second line of defenses should also be relatively complete."
Pointing to the middle of the highland model, Johnson asked rhetorically: "You think, since they have a more complete fortification behind them, why do they send their troops to the first place that has been destroyed in sections by our army's artillery fire and whose defense power has been greatly reduced?"
Deploy troops to the fortifications?"
"It is worth noting that the French army has increased its troops on a large scale to the front line. This means that the large number of additional troops were not originally arranged by them on the first line of defense. It is very likely that these were originally left by the French army on the second line of defense.
The strength of the defense line!"
"Can't it be the reserve force of the French army?" the Australian division commander asked.
"No! The strength of the reserve team will not be so large. And if the reserve team is deployed, it should be mobilized when the first line of fortifications is relatively intact, so that the benefits will be reasonable." Johnson denied: "I can confirm that the law
There are new changes in the army’s combat policy.”