Reborn as a police officer in South Africa

For many people, 1940 was a sad year.

On November 11, Philip Lothian, who had served as the British Ambassador to Southern Africa since last year, passed away due to illness.

British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax succeeds Lothian as British Ambassador to Southern Africa.

The current Foreign Secretary serves as ambassador, which is very rare in other countries. This also shows the importance that Britain attaches to southern Africa.

On November 15, Neville, an old friend of Southern Africans who also served as British Prime Minister and had a close personal relationship with Roque, passed away. Roque was very sad.

Neville and Rock had known each other for more than 30 years. When Neville passed away, Rock couldn't even go to London to see Neville for the last time, which made Rock very regretful.

The dead are gone, but the war continues.

On November 12, Russian Foreign Affairs Commissioner Vyacheslav Molotov visited Germany and was warmly received by Mustache and Ribbentrop.

Russia and Germany still maintain very close ties so far.

As early as 1939, Molotov met with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and signed a secret agreement to divide the sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

According to this agreement, Russia's sphere of influence covers Poland, the Baltic States, Bessarabia and Finland.

Bessarabia refers to the triangle formed by the Dniester River, the Prut River-Danube River and the Black Sea. This area has changed hands several times between Romania and Russia in history.

At the same time that Germany launched "Operation Sickle," Russia sent troops to occupy Pisa-Libya, and by the way, it also occupied Northern Bukovina, which is adjacent to Pisa-Libya.

Bucovina North and Bucovina South are Romania's main oil producing areas.

Russia was not satisfied after occupying Northern Bukovina. During Molotov's visit to Germany, he discussed with Mustache and Ribbentrop respectively the possibility of dividing Southern Bukovina to Russia.

Romanian oil is Germany's lifeline, and it is obviously impossible for Mustache to agree to Molotov's request.

Mustache even stated: Even if Russia only occupies a small part of northern Bukovina, it would already be a huge concession for Germany.

The negotiations were very difficult, and the Russians were seriously ill-prepared for the difficulties.

Before the start of "Operation Sickle", the Russians believed that the course of the European War would be like World War I and fall into a reduction situation.

Unexpectedly, France lost too quickly, and the Western Front that the Russians imagined disappeared in an instant. This made the Russians at a loss and had to re-evaluate the strength of the German and Allied forces.

Mustache and Ribbentrop expressed optimism to Molotov that Britain as a great power had disappeared and would surrender soon, and Germany would own all of Europe by then.

These words made Molotov very uncomfortable.

Even though Russia's territory spans the Eurasian continent, Russians have always considered themselves a European country in their hearts.

Mustache says that Germany is about to own all of Europe, so where does that leave Russia?

On November 26, after many difficult negotiations, Russia, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a "Four-Power Convention."

In this secret treaty, Russia, Germany, Italy, and Japan respected each other's natural spheres of influence. Germany wanted Western Europe, Italy wanted North Africa, Japan wanted Southeast Asia, and Russia wanted the Black Sea outlet and the land passage to the Indian Ocean.

The Black Sea outlet is easy to understand, and it is still under the control of the League of Nations.

The land passage to the Indian Ocean will inevitably conflict with southern Africa, which Germany, Italy and Japan are happy to see.

While the Russians visited Berlin, fighting continued in North Africa.

Wavell's rubber troops achieved great success. Graziani was afraid of continuing the attack. The Italian North African Army and the Nile Army were in a stalemate near Matruh.

Wavell was able to stabilize the front thanks to the huge help of the Mediterranean Fleet. Beirut was a port. The warships of the Mediterranean Fleet shelled the attacking Italian troops, causing heavy casualties to the Italians.

The Mediterranean Fleet was able to support the Nile Army thanks to the actions of the Cyprus Squadron.

As part of the "destroyer-for-island" plan, the United Kingdom officially leased the Maltese Islands to southern Africa for a period of 99 years.

Malta is known as the "Heart of the Mediterranean". It consists of five small islands: Malta, Gozo, Comino, Cominoto and Fairbra. It covers an area of ​​316 square kilometers and has many natural harbors.

Except for limestone, which can be used for construction, there are no other resources available, and even fresh water is in short supply.

None of this is a problem for southern Africa.

After obtaining Malta, Mike Tolan responded to Cunningham's request and sent warships to cooperate with the Mediterranean Fleet to launch attacks on the warships and civilian ships of the Kingdom of Italy. The pressure on the Mediterranean Fleet was relieved.

On December 9, under the command of Wavell, the Nile Army launched an attack on the Italian North African Army.

At this time, the Nile Army Group already had seven divisions and two brigades after continuous replenishment, including the newly formed 7th Armored Division.

After having a real armored division, Wavell finally no longer had to send camels dragging rakes disguised as tanks. At 7 a.m. on the 9th, a British brigade launched an attack on Nibewa. The Italians surrendered with little resistance.

The morale of the Nile Army was greatly boosted.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the 7th Armored Division, with the cooperation of the Kolstream Guards, launched an attack on Sidi Barani. The battle continued until 7 o'clock in the evening. The defenders of Sidi Barani surrendered and took too many prisoners.

Unable to count, probably 5 acres for officers, and 200 acres for soldiers.

On the 10th, the Italians began to retreat. Wavell boldly ordered the troops to pursue them, and the British army invaded Italian North Africa.

On the 15th, the Italian North African Army had all returned to Italian North Africa. The Nile Army had won a complete victory, annihilating five Italian divisions and capturing 38,000 Italian troops. Its own losses were only: 133 killed and 387 wounded.

8 people are missing.

The progress of the North African campaign shocked everyone.

On the one hand, people were surprised by Weiweier's command, and on the other hand, they were shocked by the stupidity of the Italians.

In the process of conquering the Abyssinian Empire, the Italians performed very well, and this time they finally showed their true colors.

Since the outbreak of the European War, the combat effectiveness displayed by the German army has made everyone pessimistic about the prospect of the war.

Now the situation has finally changed. Britain has received strong assistance from southern Africa, but the Italians have performed as usual. After knowing the results of the North African campaign, Rommel lamented: If Italy declares war on our country, it only takes 10 divisions to destroy it. If Italy declares war on our country, it will only take 10 divisions to destroy it.

To remain neutral, 20 divisions are needed for surveillance. If Italy is an ally, 50 divisions are needed for protection.

Patton and Arthur were also shocked by the outcome of the North African campaign.

On Christmas Eve, Patton flew to Cyprus to meet with Arthur to discuss the battle plan for the coming year. During the discussion, the two talked about the North African campaign and expressed their hatred for the Italian army.

I hate the Italian army for not living up to expectations.

"The North African campaign has reached this level. Wavell has even more reason to refuse our help. Why can't the Italians be more angry?" Arthur was heartbroken. 300,000 people against 100,000 people could actually fight like this. Grazia

Ni Ye is really a talent.

In fact, it’s not right. It’s unfair to Graziani to say this. After all, Italian North Africa faces the threat of the Third Army stationed in French North Africa. It is impossible for Abziani to devote all his troops to the battle against the Nile Army.

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Of course, Abizziani was not at a loss either. The main task of the Nile Army was to defend the Suez Canal, so it was impossible for Wavell to devote all his troops to the battle against the North African Army.

"This is not surprising, the Italians have always been like this. After all, they can't even defeat the Greeks, so what can we expect the Italians to do?" Patton did not mention East Africa.

As early as a month ago, the Second Army commanded by Feng Fu had occupied Addis Ababa, the capital of Abyssinia, and the fighting in Italian East Africa was completely over.

In the process of conquering Italian East Africa, rather than saying that the Second Army performed well, it is better to say that the Italian East African Army was too weak.

Wavell captured 38,000 prisoners.

Feng Fu captured a total of 350,000 people.

During the four-month battle, the Second Army suffered less than a thousand casualties in total, most of which were non-combat casualties. More soldiers were bitten by venomous snakes than were killed or wounded in battle.

After the North African campaign began, Feng Fu took the initiative to express to Weiweier that he could send troops to assist the North African Army in the battle, but Weiweier refused.

Graziani's stupidity gave Wavell a chance to become famous.

The Second Army was devastated all the way, and the Italians could still use the Second Army's advanced equipment and powerful troops as an excuse.

It is difficult to find excuses for the failure of the North African Army.

"Germany will not sit idly by and ignore Italy's defeat in North Africa and Greece. Next year's war will be even more difficult." Arthur was prepared to face difficulties.

"The Germans are supporting Tripoli. If Wavell continues to attack, the Nile Army will be in danger. Rommel is not Graziani." Patton was looking forward to Rommel, a rising star in the German army.

The latest news is that Graziani has been dismissed by Fat Bald after his failure in the North African campaign. It was Rommel who succeeded Graziani in commanding the German-Italian forces fighting in North Africa.

There is also news that Germany is preparing to send troops to participate in the attack on Greece. The Greek government requested assistance from Britain. The British War Department transferred two divisions originally belonging to the Nile Army to Greece. Wavell did not have enough troops, which gave the Italian North African Army

A moment of respite.

This made Arthur very helpless.

Probably the transformation of the Twelve Islands by the Southern African federal government after occupying the Twelve Islands aroused concerns in Greece and the UK. Therefore, Greece only asked for assistance from the UK this time and did not ask for assistance from Southern Africa.

Britain was also worried that once Greece surrendered, Germany would be able to use more of its power to attack the British mainland, so it did not hesitate to give up the good situation in North Africa and also mobilized troops from Egypt to assist Greece.

This can be considered a trick of fate.