Although I was worried before, the transportation of supplies went very smoothly.
The rapid delivery of supplies made Hoffman, the commander, very happy. Although a small amount of troops had not arrived, he thought it was completely enough.
It needs to be mentioned here that despite overtime transportation, the current strength of the Middle East Army Group commanded by Hoffmann has basically reached 16 divisions and two brigade-level troops, as well as various other supporting units, with a total strength of 410,000.
It was no smaller than the British army on the opposite side.
Now that the troops are in place and the supplies are in place, the next action is logical. For this, Hoffman has also been prepared for this. During the month of waiting, he will not only stay at the headquarters to write.
Writing and issuing various orders, he traveled throughout Lebanon and Syria this month to gain a sufficient understanding of this.
In addition, he also took the risk of taking a plane to observe the terrain of Palestine and Jordan, and even observed the deployment of the British army. For this, he was criticized by his chief of staff, Modelk, accusing him of being responsible for himself and the entire war situation.
Irresponsible behavior.
Faced with Modelk's accusation, Hoffman readily accepted it and said on the spot that he would not do it again. However, the day after saying this, he went again on the pretext of inspecting the troops in Damascus.
Observed from above the British position.
This made Modelk so angry that he directly reported his risky move to the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Freiit. This also caused Freiit to send a special telegram to Hoffmann, asking him to stop doing this.
In a risky move, two disciplinary officers from the General Staff took a plane to fly to Hoffmann to provide protection (or surveillance).
The reason why Hoffman, who was under such tight surveillance, calmed down was, of course, largely related to the fact that he had basically seen the British army's defenses.
From here we can see how disadvantaged the British Air Force is in the Middle East.
Now that you have understood your opponent and are almost ready, when to launch the attack becomes the next focus. On this point, Hoffman and Modelk agree, that is, the faster, the more important it is.
The enemy cannot be given more time to prepare.
For this reason, the two men had already made a plan and planned to use a pincer offensive to launch a devastating attack on the British army.
Since it is a pincer offensive, the two troops at the tip of the sword must be strong, able to tear open the enemy's defense line smoothly, and not give the enemy time to react. Isn't this requirement set for the armored forces?
Hoffman has exactly four such troops on hand, they are the 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th Armored Divisions. There are currently 7 armored divisions in Romania, and the 2nd Armored Division is currently in Antones
Among the other two North African armies commanded by Kurdish, the 1st Armored Division defended the Soviets in the newly occupied Polish territory, while the 5th Armored Division was deployed on the Russian-Soviet border.
It can be said that the armored force in the hands of Hoffman accounts for most of Romania. If it suffers huge losses, it is estimated that it will not recover for several months.
However, in Hoffman's view, the British army on the opposite side does not have the strength to cause serious damage to its armored forces. Take a look at the armor and anti-tank weapons currently used by the British army. Its characteristic is the extremely fast Crusader cruise tank.
, and the slow-as-a-turtle Matilda infantry tank.
The former has weak armor and even the R10 light tank can penetrate its armor at a distance of 500 meters, and its firepower is also weak. The 2-pound (40mm) main gun it is equipped with will be as powerful as the R10. What can it do to stop the Romanian hordes?
R20 tank and the more powerful R30 tank.
As for the latter, one advantage is that the armor is thicker, and the rest can be ignored, especially the weakness of slow speed, which allows the R10 to go around and destroy Matilda. After all, the sides and tail do not have such thick armor. However, it attracts
The armor that we are so proud of looks like paper in front of the main guns of the R20 and R30.
After all, one of these two tanks weighs more than 30 tons, and the other weighs more than 40 tons. They are crushed in terms of tonnage alone. Not to mention in terms of firepower and protection, apart from being unable to compare with the Crusader tank in terms of maneuverability, they can both
A perfect masterpiece.
Since he has such a weapon, Hoffman has no reason to abandon it. Currently, he has deployed four armored divisions on the coast of Lebanon and the Golan Heights in Syria.
In addition, in order to increase their ability to attack fortresses, the four independent armored battalions in his hands were also assigned to them. Don’t underestimate such independent armored battalions. These battalions are uniformly equipped with R30 heavy tanks, and each battalion has 4×
The number of tanks per company is 6 +2 reserves.
The number of tanks in these four battalions is equal to that of half an armored division, but their combat effectiveness is comparable to that of an armored division. To a certain extent, an armored division may not be able to defeat them. This shows that Hoffmann's
The seriousness of this attack.
In addition, in order to avoid too few infantry in the armored forces, Hoffman also assigned the only three motorized infantry divisions on hand to both sides, and their mission was to assault along the coastal strip and the Jordan Valley.
Among them, the troops attacking along the Jordan Valley have the heaviest task. They need to rush all the way to the Dead Sea, and then attack Jerusalem and Amman to contain the enemy's forces. This task is not simple at all, and they may easily be surrounded by the enemy in the Jordan Valley.
.
The other troops advancing along the coastal area will fight all the way west to the Sinai Peninsula and completely surround these British troops.
That's right, the large encirclement that Hoffman plans to create this time will wipe out all the British troops in Jordan and Palestine. As long as you open the map, you can see that the areas connecting Jordan and Palestine to Saudi Arabia and Iraq are deserts. As long as they are cut off,
If there is no connection with the Sinai Peninsula, then these troops will be surrounded. Except for a few people who can leave through the desert, a large-scale army walking through the desert is completely seeking death.
Not to mention that Romania has an absolutely superior air force, which will make it know that marching in the hot and uncovered desert will become a hell.
Since Hoffman has such a plan, he naturally has many arrangements. Among them, the navy, which has been transferred to the main fleet, is also responsible for the task. They need to help protect the coastal areas of Palestine, and in addition, they must also deter the coastal areas of Egypt.
The task is not easy at all.
Now that the preparations are much worse, the only time left is to launch the attack, and the time set by Hoffmann for them is April 24, which happens to be the same time as Germany's attack on France. There is no such thing as this between the two countries.
There was no communication, but it was such a coincidence.
