Chapter 772 The First Battle of North Africa (Part 2)
"That's the basic situation. What do you think?"
In his office, Antonescu finished the plan he had in mind, and then sought the advice of Lieutenant General Messe.
After listening to what he said, Messer felt that this plan was completely unimaginable. "It's really incredible, but it requires the cooperation of several aspects. Among them, the navy..."
"You coordinate."
Faced with Antonescu's words, Messe avoided the topic.
"Then how do you plan to break through the first line of defense? You must know that there are three divisions, and they are completely on the front line. There are also two divisions of 51 and 67 on the second line. Although they are deployed at a larger distance, they are still quite large.
It is not easy to break through. In addition, there should be a reserve team in Catroux. If you want to break through the French defense line in one go, it is really unrealistic to enter Ben Gardan in Tunisia."
Messe tried to dispel Antonescu's idea because it was too risky. Antonescu tried to concentrate the armored forces of both parties, and then used these armored forces to seek breakthroughs at the weak points of the French defense line, and
The target of the plan is Ben Gardan in Tunisia, which is the French transportation and logistics base.
As long as this is captured, more than 90,000 French troops will be surrounded in an area of more than 100 kilometers from Tripoli to Ben Gardan.
By then there will be defenders on both the east and west sides, with the sea to the north and mountains and deserts to the south, which can be said to be completely surrounded. Unless the French army wants to die in the Sahara Desert, they have no choice but to break out of the encirclement.
Choose one of surrender and surrender.
However, on the way to Ben Gardan, there is a road on the border between the two countries. This place is called Albu Kema. The road is very dangerous and is very conducive to defense. The previous defeat of Italy allowed the French army to easily enter Libya.
Although Antonescu's plan has considerable benefits, and even if it is completed, Tunisia can be invaded, but the danger is not small. If a mistake is made, the armored troops will be trapped, and then the French army will not be able to invade Tunisia.
The issue of repulsion is the issue of the possible fall of Tripoli.
Lieutenant General Messer couldn't afford to take this risk.
Faced with Messe's opposition, Antonescu was of course unwilling. This was a plan he had carefully prepared after reconnaissance. If Messe did not agree, then there would be no chance of completing this combat plan with the troops currently landing in Tripoli. After all,
The Romanian army in Tripoli is just over 10,000 and needs the cooperation of the Italian army.
"Messe, listen to me. The French army would never expect that we would do this. And it can be seen from their offensive that they are not ready to switch between offense and defense. If they continue to delay, the enemy will be perfect.
If it is deployed, we will have to watch the opportunity be lost. This is definitely not what you and I want to see."
"There are bound to be risks in war, otherwise it would be impossible to obtain such high returns. And even if you didn't expect us to launch an attack, how could the other party think of it. In fact, before today, I myself had never thought about it this way.
And I am seven-level confident about this plan. As long as we work together, we can produce a beautiful result. You also want to produce a beautiful record so that everyone can see your talent.
, this is the best opportunity. Defeating the French army led by Catroux is definitely the most outstanding performance."
Facing Antonescu's demagogic words, Messe was moved. There is no greater sense of pleasure than defeating an enemy. Although the relationship between Italy and France is not an enemy, Italy has always regarded France as an imaginary enemy for many years, starting from the north.
Territorial disputes have led to Tunisia being snatched away by France. Every Italian has enough reasons to express dissatisfaction.
"Done!"
In the end, Messe couldn't resist the temptation, and gritted his teeth and made a decision. And his words made Antonescu on the side burst into laughter. He didn't misjudge him. Messe's ability was definitely qualified, but sometimes it seemed
Worrying about gains and losses. At that time, this may have something to do with the excessive conservative forces in the Italian army. As a commander of a new type of arms, if he wanted to get enough support, he would inevitably be cautious in doing things.
Therefore, compared with Italy, Romania is much better in this regard. At least the top military leaders have a high awareness of new things, and they can also get the support of His Majesty. They can simply envy their Italian colleagues to death, and they used to envy their German colleagues to death.
Since both of them agreed, they naturally needed to make preparations first.
Coordinate the troops; currently a small part of the Ram Armored Division and most of the Brescia Infantry Division are on the front line, and they need to be gradually mobilized from the front line units.
Collect vehicles; according to the plan, nearly a thousand vehicles are needed, but currently only 600 are in the hands of Antonescu, and the rest require the coordination of Lieutenant General Messe. Fuel, ammunition (mainly Italian ammunition, Romanian ammunition
They brought their own ammunition) and contacted the navy and air force for support, which kept the two busy.
While the two were busy, the French army's attack continued.
As the commander of the French army, General Catroux set up his headquarters in Zawiya, 24 kilometers away from the front line. It is also the logistics distribution center for the front line troops, so the defense work is done well. The 21st Division strictly protects the place.
.
But this doesn't matter to Catroux at all now, because the offensive against the Italian army is what he cares most about.
"How was the result today?"
Katruu, who had just arrived at the headquarters, asked, and the person he was asking was his old friend and old partner, Chief of Staff General Danilwo. He replied, "The current effect is not very good. As we get closer to Tripoli,
The resistance is getting worse, and now the units are reacting and their advance is being blocked."
After hearing what the Chief of Staff said, Catroux said to himself. "Currently we only have so many troops. Asking Paris for reinforcements will not be approved at all. I don't know what they think. Libya has oil. As long as we capture it,
The Port of Brega can cut off Libyan oil. These Parisian gentlemen should know the importance of oil."
Faced with Catroux's complaints, Danver also knew the reason why he did not agree. On the one hand, the government was unwilling to open another front and distract the precious French forces. On the other hand, the French navy could not guarantee the security of the Libyan waters.
In fact, not only is this not guaranteed, it is simply not taken seriously. Starting from the Cape of Tunis, the French navy has almost no naval power in the eastern waters.
Currently, the main navies of Italy and France are in Toulon and Genoa respectively. The close distance makes no one dare to move rashly. On the contrary, the two countries engage in more battles on small and medium-sized warships. In this regard, the Italian Navy's performance
Astonishing combat effectiveness.
Therefore, starting from the Cape of Tunis, the French Navy's control over the Central Mediterranean has plummeted. If it were not for the transportation mission to the island of Malta, France would have almost no presence in the area.
Without the cover of the navy, most of his ambitions to seize Libya have been abandoned. Although Catroux no longer fantasizes about conquering Libya, he can still consider seizing Tripoli because the Governor of Algeria asked the two generals sent by Genco to
The division's reinforcements were almost here. So he planned to take this opportunity to make another fierce attack. If that didn't work, he would retreat to Tunisia and hold on.
So he thought about it and ordered. "Let the 21st Division deploy two regiments to reinforce it. If we still can't attack, then we will switch to defense. The intelligence showed that Romanian troops were transported to Tripoli, but they were not seen on the battlefield.
Seeing these Romanians, maybe they are planning to do something."
Catroux paid enough attention to the arrival of Romanian reinforcements, because the Romanians performed very well in previous battlefields. In the past, Romania could be called the Prussia of the Balkans. Although this made him feel uncomfortable, he had no choice but to do so.
