Chapter 773 The First Battle of North Africa (Part 2)
The offensive and defensive battle in Tripoli is still continuing. In the past two days, the French army's offensive has remained fierce, but the Italian army's defense has become somewhat shaky.
This was the result of the redeployment of troops, which reduced the strength of the defenders a lot. Naturally, their defensive capabilities would inevitably be reduced. This also caused the attacking French army to suddenly see hope of breaking through the position.
However, the French army did not know that a sufficient army had been gathered in the city to carry out Antonescu's plan.
Dadif, located outside the city, is less than 8 kilometers away from the fighting positions. This is the starting point chosen by Antonescu. From here, you can directly reach the coast. And the breakthrough point chosen by Antonescu is right on the coastline.
Enter the French 47th Division. This division suffered heavy losses because it was close to the coast, so Antonescu chose it as the first target.
For this operation, Antonescu formed an assault group (division level) with the troops in his hands. He organized the existing tanks into a tank reinforcement group (115 tanks, and 18 more were shipped later)
, a mixed artillery regiment (25 self-propelled artillery, 68 other towed artillery), a motorized infantry regiment, an infantry regiment, as well as air defense battalions, engineer battalions, armored reconnaissance battalions and other units.
On the Italian side, most of the Ram Armored Division and part of the Brescia Infantry Division are also ready. Among them, the Ram Division will serve as the two wings of the armored regiment to enhance its attack capabilities, and the Brescia Infantry Division troops will also
Like other Romanian troops, it is responsible for subsequent combat missions.
This temporarily formed military-level force will be commanded by Antonescu, with General Messe as his deputy.
Antonescu looked at the time and said to Messe, "Then let's get started."
"Well, we can start."
Following the command of the two men, the troops started to move, and the rumbling sound traveled a long distance. However, the sound of guns and artillery on the front line covered up the sound. However, when the armored vehicles started to move, what happened to the vibration caused by the ground?
It can't be concealed.
"How is this going?"
Soldiers from both sides on the battlefield felt the ground shake.
"It's okay, pay attention to shooting the enemy."
This was the answer from the officer on the garrison side.
As for the French army, it was not that no officers noticed anything.
"Sound like a tank?"
A French army officer revealed the reason. "I have felt it before during exercises. It was like the shaking of a tank passing by, except this time it was much bigger."
Following the officer's words, a large number of tanks appeared behind the position, and these steel monsters were approaching them in a dark way.
The attack of tanks immediately caused the morale of the attacking French soldiers to plummet. Everyone knew that it was difficult for infantry to deal with tanks. Not to mention that they were in an offensive state and it was impossible to carry anti-tank guns to attack.
"retreat."
Just when they were feeling embarrassed, a shout relieved their embarrassing situation. The officer commanding the battle had already discovered the enemy's attack, so naturally he had to move his troops back first.
Of course, the commander did not just recall the troops, he also had other responses.
"Quick, prepare the anti-tank guns."
On the French position, following his order, the 25mm and 47mm anti-tank guns on the position immediately prepared. His request for the 25mm anti-tank gun was to deal with Italian tanks, and the thicker Romanian tanks
Just leave the tank to the 47mm anti-tank gun.
It's just that in his hands, he only has a dozen anti-tank guns, but he will not be stumped. Because he also has a batch of Miss 75s, this artillery is temporarily used for the important task of anti-tank.
The commander's response didn't stop there. He just picked up the phone.
"Hey, are you the division commander? There is an emergency here. The enemy has nearly 300 tanks charging towards us. Not all of them are Italian CV33s and M11/39s, half of them are Romanian R10s and R20s. I need reinforcements, whether they are
Both artillery and tanks need reinforcements, so you won't have to do anything but collect corpses for us."
That's right, he was asking for reinforcements. The situation was already obvious. Although he had done so much, it was impossible to block the enemy's attack without reinforcements.
And his opinion was indeed correct. Before the tanks could approach, the roar of fighter planes arrived in the sky. A joint air force composed of Romanian and Italian fighter planes came here. The fighters drove away the French fighters, while the bombers were in
They were plundering their heads.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The twin-engine RU28 bombers dropped bombs on their heads. A large number of French soldiers who had no time to escape fell under such bombings. The aviation power of the Italian-Romanian coalition was the first to strike.
This is not the existence that his soldiers fear. What scares them most is the RU18 dive bomber. This bomber with a sharp whistle is the most worrying existence.
"Woo~wu~wu~"
Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived. Screams appeared above the position, which aggravated the soldiers' fear.
"boom!"
The precise bombing destroyed one Miss 75, which made the other 75mm artillery groups even more miserable.
"Woo~wu~wu~"
The shrill whistle sounded again.
"Go forward, don't worry about others. Go forward and attack the enemy's position."
In the command vehicle, Antonescu was constantly giving orders to the armored regiment, which was the backbone of the attack. The core of this attack was the armored regiment. Among them, the regiment's 53 R20 medium tanks were responsible for siege and evacuation.
heavy responsibility.
And its tall body has become the target of numerous anti-tank firepower.
The ping-ping-pong-pong banging sound made the members inside the R20 tank feel as if they were listening to a symphony. However, the personnel listening to the music were so frightened. And only being beaten without fighting back is naturally not the style of the officers and soldiers of the Second Armored Division.
"Three o'clock, enemy anti-tank gun!"
Inside an R20 tank, the commander and observer, who was sweating in big pants, loudly reported the numbers. Looking around, everyone in the car looked exactly like him. With a temperature of nearly 40 degrees in the car, no one could dress well. No matter how elegant the person was,
After serving as a tank soldier for less than a week, he will completely forget the word demeanor. The armor soldiers who are envied by outsiders are basically like this in the vehicle. The high temperature and oily environment make them all look like this.
The commander's words prompted the loader to quickly take out a grenade from the magazine and load it into the barrel.
"Loading completed."
"receive."
The loader reported loudly, and the gunner who was turning the turret answered him equally loudly.
"parking!"
Following the command from the commander, the driver stepped on the brakes, and the over 30-ton R20 tank came to a screeching halt.
"Fire!"
At the command of the commander, the gunner with the vehicle-mounted observation equipment had already aimed at the anti-tank gun. Not only could he clearly see the anti-tank gun, but he could also clearly see the soldiers operating the gun. Their faces were covered by tanks.
Aiming at the slightly panicked expression was so satisfying for him.
"boom!"
As he completed the firing action, the tank shook violently. This was the recoil from the firing of the main gun. At the same time, the shells flew out of the barrel and directly attacked the anti-tank gun.
One second after firing, the commander saw that the targeted anti-tank gun was accurately hit. The explosion of the shell detonated the accumulated shells, leaving nothing left on the gun position.
"Hit the target!"
The commander loudly reported the results of the battle to the crew members.
And then he got caught up in the search for the target.
"At 11 o'clock, another anti-tank gun."
…
The anti-tank guns and machine guns on the position were called out by R20 tanks one after another, which greatly reduced the morale of the position.
As the second most senior officer and soldier of the Second Armored Division, he was skillfully using his own artillery to call out the firepower points of the defenders on the ground.
This made Antonescu, who observed the results of the battle, satisfied that his group of boys had not wasted all the hard work he had put into training them.
The officers and soldiers who followed the tanks in the charge took advantage of the position's firepower to be suppressed by the tanks and attacked in. The submachine guns and semi-automatic rifles they were equipped with were sharp weapons in the trenches, beating the French troops defending the position until they screamed.
In 58 minutes, the position was breached.
Lieutenant General Messe glanced at his watch and felt the power of the Romanian armored forces for the first time, which also strengthened his confidence that tanks would be the protagonists on the battlefield.
After breaking through the position, the coalition soldiers followed the tanks in vehicles and rushed to the enemy's rear. They had a more difficult task waiting for them next.
