With the change of hands in Damascus, it also marks that the smoke of war in the Middle East battlefield has temporarily come to an end.
However, although the big battles have ended, small-scale conflicts are still taking place. However, these battles have no impact on the war situation. The Romanian army, which has currently occupied the French Greater Syria area, is working overtime to transport personnel and materials ashore, sufficient for them to
Troops in the Middle East.
As rivals, Britain and France are no exception. They are stepping up their efforts to recruit troops from various colonies to reinforce the Middle East. Now faced with Romania's aggressive posture, Britain and France have put down their last bit of reserve and are fully committed to dealing with this emerging disruptor, at least in the Middle East.
More than half of the materials purchased by the two countries from the United States are now sent to Egypt. For a time, the Middle East has become second only to the Western Front.
The situation in which the two parties are accumulating strength in the Middle East has caused many people who are paying attention to the war to secretly wonder. Their general view is that this war needs at least a month to accumulate, otherwise it will not be fought at all.
In fact, their predictions were correct. In the secret message sent back to China by Hoffman, he detailed that in the next period of time, the Middle East Army Group would need to accumulate strength and prepare for the next war. Of course, the goals of the next battle do not need to be detailed.
Described, everyone knows that it is the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal behind it.
As the leader of Romania, His Majesty Edel naturally saw this telegram. Edel still had great trust in the abilities of Admiral Hoffmann, whom he had personally discovered.
And he is very satisfied with the current Romanian military operations. Within half a year, the Romanian army broke through the Mediterranean and landed in the Middle East to threaten the Suez Canal. There is nothing dissatisfied with this performance.
In addition to Romania's own good performance, Edel is also very concerned about the performance of the Soviet army. Yes, the Soviet-Finnish dispute provoked by the Soviet Union has developed into a war.
In January 1940, before Romania launched its invasion of the Middle East, the Soviet Union declared war on Finland. Of course, the excuse was the same as in the previous life, claiming that the Finnish army shelled the village of Manila, causing the death of Soviet soldiers, and then demanded an apology from the Finnish government.
, and moved the troops back 20 to 25 kilometers, but was rejected by the Finnish government.
The Soviet Union used this as an excuse to abrogate the Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Pact. On January 15, 22 divisions with a total of 430,000 troops invaded the Finnish border and quickly reached the Mannerheim Line of Defense.
On the Finnish side, facing the huge military pressure from the Soviet Union, Finland ordered a nationwide mobilization and evacuated residents in the Karelian Isthmus to clear the country. Its army also expanded to 157,000 at the beginning of the war, organized into 5 corps and 11
Infantry division, 1 cavalry brigade and some independent border troops (the result of Romanian assistance).
There are also 300,000 reserve personnel, 100,000 reserve "Civil Guards" and 100,000 women's service corps.
As for Finland's historical dilemma of lacking anti-tank firepower and ammunition, it has been fully improved with Edel's intervention. Among the materials sold in Romania, there are nearly 400 anti-tank guns of various types. The ammunition can be used in Finland for three months, and the artillery shells can be used for three months.
One and a half months is not ungenerous. For this reason, Finnish President Kallio sent a message to Edel to thank Romania for its assistance to Finland and said that the Finnish people will never forget this kindness.
Yes, Romania is selling this batch of military supplies at half price because there are many weapons that are not suitable for Romania to use, such as the 37mm anti-tank that did not perform well in the war. Now Romania is gradually upgrading its anti-tank caliber from 37mm to
57mm or even 75mm.
But these weapons that are impractical for Romania are too practical for Finland. Not to mention that the fighter planes and anti-aircraft guns sold by Romania are the main force used by its troops.
Therefore, although the war time has gone back and the climate has become less severe, the Soviet Union was also hit hard when faced with the strengthened Finnish army.
The attack launched by the 430,000-strong army against Finland was basically a disastrous failure. This was especially true for the Karelian Isthmus, which was the focus of both sides' attention.
The Soviet 7th Army, under the leadership of Yakovlev, organized 8 infantry divisions, 1 tank corps and 2 tank brigades to form a far-reaching battle layout and deep echelon battle formations in Karelia.
The offensive was carried out on the isthmus, with the main assault directed in the direction of Vyborg. The attack first started from the eastern section of the isthmus in an attempt to attract the Finnish army reserves to move eastward, and then the main assault was carried out in the western section of the isthmus.
The Finnish army concentrated the forces of two 6th military divisions to defend the area. It first used covering forces to defend various narrow approaches in the support zone. During the day, the Finnish army used close combat firepower to attack in front of the formation under favorable conditions to kill and injure the enemy's effective forces.
They used various anti-tank firepower to destroy Soviet Red Army tanks from close range, sent ski teams to harass the rear of the Soviet Red Army at night, and assaulted the Soviet Red Army camping out in the snow, beating the Soviet Red Army to exhaustion.
In the face of Finland's endless means, the shortcomings of the Soviet Union's rigid command were exposed, because too many commanders were promoted from the reserve during the Great Purge. They did not know many military skills at all, and could only deal with Finland's harassment in a dull manner.
So it was natural for them to be educated by the Finnish army. The Soviet troops wearing dark military coats were constantly being sniped by Finns hiding in the snow. The bright fires at night also became beacons to guide enemy artillery fire.
Even with such casualties, the Soviet army still mechanically crashed into the main position. However, this main position that the Finns painstakingly managed was not easy to attack at all. It had 670 permanent launch fortifications and civil and wooden fire points.
There are nearly 800 underground bunkers, which are connected by trenches and communication trenches.
Such a defense line cannot be captured by the Soviet army in a few weeks. This conflicts with the Soviet army's own plan. When the plan conflicts with reality, it is clear who loses and who wins. (I am exaggerating, this is
This line of defense is not that strong, but to say otherwise would make the Soviet army appear even more incompetent.)
This also led to the failure of Yakovlev's 7th Army to capture. The Soviet army, which was unfavorable in attacking, faced successive harassments and suffered a sharp drop in morale. At the same time, many missing injuries also plagued the Soviet soldiers. In such internal and external troubles,
Under such circumstances, the 7th Army was forced to stop the attack on the spot. The two sides formed a confrontation and turned into a harassment battle.
The 7th Army's inability to attack naturally caused a chain reaction. The 8th Army's attack in the northeastern region of Lake Ladoga also suffered heavy losses. Its southern troops were divided and outflanked by the Finnish army in the Kitele area, and they were already in catastrophe.
Faced with the disastrous defeat on the battlefield, the Soviet Union was furious. Comrade Steel, as the general secretary, personally ordered that Marshal Voroshilov be relieved of command and Timoshenko be appointed as the commander.
Obviously, Comrade Steel definitely did not want the Soviet Union to be tripped up in little Finland. Although Comrade Steel was not convinced, the Soviet army's low combat effectiveness had long been exposed to the eyes of the world.
As for Finland, which fought bravely, Edel naturally happily approved a new batch of reinforcements. After all, only those who show sufficient combat effectiveness can get the respect they deserve. This is also a general rule.
