"No, no..." John shook his head immediately: "Maybe you don't understand the war situation in Africa, Comrade Shulka, we have done this before!"
"Have you ever done this?" Shulka asked.
"I mean...we have taken relevant actions!" John replied, but said nothing more.
John didn't want to say anything, so Shulka stopped asking questions because it was probably a military secret.
But in fact Shulka knew it.
The British did indeed land in Africa from the island of Malta, but their purpose was not to cut off or attack the German supply lines, but to assassinate Rommel...
This was an action taken in November last year. At that time, the British troops were being chased by Rommel and were so ill that they sought medical treatment and launched an operation code-named "Fin".
It was named "Fin" because the means of transportation for this operation was a submarine... The British army used a small submarine to transport 48 special operations personnel to Africa in an attempt to assassinate Rommel.
However, this operation failed miserably.
The reason for the failure was that the British did not do a good job in intelligence work... Rommel had been staying in Italy during that time, and had even been in Italy for 16 days, but the British had no idea at all.
At the same time, the British still lacked a little luck. According to intelligence, Rommel would return from Italy the next day. As long as the British raid was postponed for one day, even just for one day, the commando team might succeed and rewrite history.
But the reality is so cruel.
As a result, this commando team killed three logistics officers and one soldier at the cost of annihilating the entire army (only two people escaped), and also blew up a fuel depot.
What Shulka didn't know was that this was actually not a military secret for John, because it had happened for several months and the German army had notified it.
The reason why John didn't say anything was because it would be a shame for the British Intelligence Agency... This operation was a failure caused by a complete intelligence error, which is not allowed by Britain, an established intelligence country.
But this does not affect Shulka's analysis.
"But I think..." Shulka said: "Even if you have had similar actions, they were only small-scale operations!"
"Of course!" John nodded: "Landing in Africa is very difficult. This is not only because of insufficient landing conditions and difficult landing operations, but also because of the inability to guarantee supplies!"
As he spoke, John pointed to the map and said: "Although we have air supremacy near the island of Malta, this air supremacy is very limited. Moreover, our fleet and air force patrol the sea almost all day long and fight against the German and Italian air forces and warships.
Blocking their sea lines of communication, if we put them into landing operations, we will not be able to block the sea traffic, which may not be worth the gain!"
Shulka understood John's words.
Maritime transportation is the big one. A small transport ship loaded with supplies from Italy to Africa can fill at least dozens of cars.
If the British army gave up the naval blockade and devoted its navy and air force to the battle to land in Africa, it would probably lose a large number of troops in exchange for an increase in supplies in Africa.
At the same time, the landing operation is still a big pit: once the landing is successful, it means that the British Navy must continuously transport supplies to the coastline, and the Air Force must protect the transport ships at all times. This almost means the end of the British military's blockade of sea lanes, and the island of Malta
It also loses its strategic significance.
From this point of view, Shulka's suggestion is really not a good suggestion. Not only is it not a good suggestion, it can even be said to be a bad move.
but……
"I'm not talking about stopping the blockade of the sea transportation lines!" Shulka said: "I mean, block the sea transportation lines and attack the German land transportation lines at the same time! You know, John, Germany
The people concentrated almost all their elite troops in Egypt to attack the El Alamein line of defense, including even Italian troops. Those who stayed behind to protect the supply line were old and weak soldiers, and they were almost defeated in one blow!"
"I know, Shulka!" John shook his head in distress: "We all know it, but we only have that few troops and equipment. We can't block the enemy's sea lines of communication and land in Africa to attack its land lines of communication at the same time!
If it could be done, we would have done it long ago!”
The British are indeed in short supply of materials and troops on the island of Malta, especially fighter planes.
The reason is that the German and Italian troops have never given up bombing the island of Malta, even if the German army shifts its strategic focus to the Soviet Union... The island of Malta is a poisonous thorn stuck in its transportation line, and they never want to take this thorn away.
Remove the stinger.
"No, you can do it!" Shulka said confidently.
"What?" John didn't understand what Shulka meant.
"You can do it!" Shulka said: "All you need is an amphibious landing ship!"
John couldn't help but be stunned, and then almost jumped up, shouting excitedly: "That's right, Comrade Shulka! Amphibious landing ship, amphibious landing ship... Why didn't I think of this? If we make a request, the Soviet side
It will definitely help us, right?"
"I'm not sure!" Shulka didn't dare to speak too fully: "However, I can't think of any reason for them to refuse, because if the United Kingdom loses the war and completely withdraws from Africa, it will not be of any benefit to the Soviet Union!"
Not only will there be no benefit, but the Baku oil field will also be threatened by attacks from two sides.
"Yes, of course!" John said while walking back and forth excitedly: "And the amphibious landing ship is not high-tech equipment, they will definitely agree! I'm so stupid, I didn't think that we could ask the Soviet Union for an amphibious landing ship
, with the amphibious landing ship... we don’t need too much navy and air force at all, we can directly transport equipment, ammunition and supplies to the African coast!”
At this point, John stopped for a moment, turned around and asked: "What is the range of the amphibious landing ship? And the speed, can it span 00 kilometers?"
"No, it can't!" Shulka replied: "Its speed at sea is 10 kilometers per hour, and it can only sail more than 100 kilometers at sea with a full tank of fuel! It can reach a speed of 90 kilometers per hour on land!"
John's face changed and he said: "In other words, we need a transport ship to transport the amphibious landing ship to the offshore? At least a hundred kilometers away!"
Although this has saved many intermediate steps, it still requires many transport ships.
Shulka smiled and said, "No, you don't need to do that!"
"So..." John didn't understand what Shulka meant.
"You just need to park a few supply ships a hundred kilometers away!" Shulka said: "I mean, when the amphibious landing ships arrive here, you can provide them with fuel!" (Unfinished)