My Italian

The second army's attack was very sharp. After conquering Sallum in one day, it successively conquered the coastal cities such as Sidi Barrani, Matruh, and Fouquet within half a month. , pointing directly at Alamein.

In this series of battles, Second Army got a good taste of the diversity of the British army.

In Sidi Barani, the 25th Division of the British Indian Army allowed the Fourth Army to stay here for three days. After the battle, I learned that the soldiers of this unit are basically composed of Sikhs, and their brave and good fighting status made the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Army dispel the concept that the British and Indian troops are waste. However, although its combat effectiveness is good, the Fourth Army is more elite, but in order to reduce casualties, the Fourth Army fights slower.

Then the Fourth Army encountered the 4th Division of the Australian Army in Matruh, and it fought very tenaciously. In addition, Matruh is the only large port city in western Egypt. In order to ensure the integrity of the port as much as possible, the Fourth Army was a bit reluctant to fight, and could only grind a little bit.

In the end, it took four days to conquer the place, and drove the remnants of the 4th Division of the Australian Army, the 25th Division of the British and Indian Army, and the remnants of the 37th Division out of Matruh, leaving a fairly complete port.

At this time, General Gardner took into account the state of the Fourth Army's continuous march and combat, and sent the Tenth Army to take the lead. Subsequent battles at Fouquet and Deba were undertaken by the Tenth Army.

In these two battles, because Daiba's enemy was a relatively weak British and Indian army, he fought very easily. Fouquet's enemy is the South African 3rd Division, which has a stronger combat effectiveness, so it is not so comfortable to fight. At this time, the South African army was recruiting local whites, and blacks were not even eligible to join the army.

At this time, countries generally expressed doubts about the ability of black people to fight, thinking that they were too primitive to be trained into the army. (At this time Major General Forbeck had something to say)

Except for France, which suffered heavy casualties, the black army was formed into an army on the Western Front, no other country assigned the black army to undertake offensive and defensive tasks, and they all used it as a security task. You can't use them to transport supplies, otherwise you will find that the supplies will be shipped to the destination much less, especially alcohol, cigarettes and other valuable things.

The combat effectiveness of the black army sent by France to fill in the battlefield is also very poor. Its lack of military common sense and too lazy make it the best position for the German army to break through.

For this reason, France can only let it undertake some auxiliary tasks, and it has caused some troubles. They stole things in the rear and harassed French women. Some women who are not afraid of death have even slept with black soldiers. I just don't know how to explain the black-skinned children after his husband came back.

However, the Second Army that hit Daiba did not continue to attack. Instead, they continue to strengthen the fortifications and wait for the arrival of large troops. The second army commander, General Gardner, was so nervous because Deba was only 40 kilometers away from Alamein.

The location of Alamein is very important, here is the west extension of the Taka Plateau. Except for Alamein, which is near the sea, the other areas are bare mountainous terrain. In addition, 40 kilometers south of Alamein is the Katara depression full of salt lakes, swamps, salt pans and sand dunes. If you want to attack from here, The logistics can't keep up. Further south is the great desert, and no one wants to eat sand.

Therefore, Alamein has become a strategic point in the west of Egypt. As long as it is not breached, Egypt will not be occupied by the enemy from the west. On the contrary, if this is breached, the enemy can go straight to Alexandria and the rich Nile delta.

In the original history, the German-Italian coalition forces in World War II were defeated by the British army here, and Rommel's dream of conquering Egypt was shattered. This time, Britain not only has several solid positions on the Alamein line, but also has a large number of minefields.

Admiral Archibald Murray, the commander of the British army in Egypt, deployed a total of 31 divisions in the area, with a total strength of 430,000 troops, more than 1,700 cannons, and three solid lines of defense. The defense lines are separated by 2-3 kilometers. Although most of them are civil structures, in key areas, such as Meteriya Ridge, Ruwaisat Ridge, Alam Nair, etc., they are all solid reinforced concrete permanent structures. Prepare for work.

At this time, the arrangement of Admiral Murray has already been seen. This is the way to fight a deadly battle. Don't try to play tricks and spend money.

Don't think it's a big deal, it's already great. First of all, you need to choose the place where the enemy has to fight, and then you must be able to consume steadily, so that you will not be broken by the enemy's various tactics, so that the enemy can only consume slowly with you. And Alamein's terrain also gave him this confidence. Without breaking through Alamein, the Italian army cannot attack Alexandria. It can only fight, must fight, and cannot fight.

As for the enemy's tortoise formation, Prince Filiberto, the commander of the Italian army, felt a little embarrassed about it. Because the position chosen by the enemy is too good, with three lines of defense in succession and sufficient troops, it is a big loss for the elite soldiers led by him to fight against the enemy's patchwork troops.

For this purpose he prepared to use his secret weapon, and for this purpose he sent a telegram to Rome.

And his secret weapon is the tank that Italy has studied for a long time.

That's right, a tank. Counting from the start of the project, Italy has been secretly researching tanks for ten years.

Thanks to Italy's strict secrecy (covered by construction machinery and heavy tracked vehicles), the Allied Powers did not find out until the start of the war. In fact, not only the Allied Powers, but also Germany and Austria did not know that their allies had created this thing.

In fact, the reason for this is that in addition to using other vehicles as cover, these developed tanks are produced in small quantities for testing. In addition, when conducting off-road tests, the turret and weapons are not installed directly. Can a person who has never seen a tank guess what this thing is?

At present, there are two tanks secretly equipped by the Italian army, one is the CV5 light tank. It has a total length of 3.3 meters, a width of 1.5 meters, a height of 1.36 meters, a weight of 4.7 tons, no turret, and a crew of two (driver and commander).

It is equipped with two Maxim heavy machine guns on the front of the body. In addition, it is also equipped with a 36-horsepower gasoline engine, which allows the tank to run at a maximum speed of 31 kilometers. Moreover, the front armor of the tank is 20 mm, which can effectively resist the shooting of rifles and machine guns. Of course, what satisfies the military most is that this small tank has excellent climbing ability and can fight in mountains.

At present, the tank unit in the hands of Prince Filiberto does not have this tank.

There is also a CV7 tank, which has a total length of 5.1 meters, a width of 1.82 meters, a height of 2.1 meters, and a weight of 10.3 tons. It has a rotating turret and a crew of four. The CV7 is equipped with a 57mm short-barreled gun and three Maxim machine guns. It is also equipped with a 63-horsepower diesel engine, which can drive the tank to a top speed of 23 kilometers per hour. In terms of armor, the tank armor is 11-35 mm armor steel.

This tank is the unit of the armored regiment in the hands of Prince Philiberto. The regiment is equipped with 92 CV7 tanks, has two tank battalions and a maintenance and transport battalion.

In order to transport these heavy CV7 tanks, Fiat has also specially developed a ten-wheel heavy truck with a load of up to 12 tons.

At this time, in order to break the situation, Prince Filiberto intends to let the tank, a new weapon, emerge. UU reading www.uukanshu.com

"Report, telegram from Rome."

A report interrupted Prince Filiberto's train of thought. At this time, he was not angry, but rather looking forward to the good news from Rome.

After receiving the telegram, Prince Filiberto took a look and was stunned. Because this telegram has only one word, agree.

Needless to say, the only one who could send such a telegram was his cousin the king.

At this time, Prince Filiberto was overjoyed. "Immediately order the commanders of the troops to come to the meeting, and I will issue combat missions."

"yes."

Yes, Prince Filiberto has already drawn up a battle plan, and the only thing left is the tip of the knife for cutting butter. Although he has a regiment of tanks, it is better to say how to use it and when to use it. Although my cousin treats me well, it is better to be more cautious about some things.

(end of this chapter)