Reborn as a police officer in South Africa

In 1941, except for southern African products, there was little concept of shelf life for products from other countries.

The concept that eating spoiled food can lead to disease has only emerged in recent years, and only a few countries such as southern Africa have given it a certain amount of attention.

For people in most countries, filling their stomachs is good, even if it is spoiled food.

The British army wasted materials very seriously. Many times the waste was caused by humans. If you think about the various military supplies on the black market during the Boer War, you can understand why this happened.

World War II has been more than 40 years since the Boer War, but the situation has not fundamentally improved. The seaside not far from Alamein Airport is the largest black market in North Africa, and many products flow out of the airport.

Before the outbreak of the European War, southern African companies, represented by South African companies, produced sealed canned food with a shelf life of up to two years.

It can be longer, just add more additives.

As for whether additives will affect health, no one has noticed this yet.

After the outbreak of the world war, southern African food companies significantly lowered their standards, and most of the food produced had a shelf life of about three months.

In fact, the shelf life of these foods is far longer than three months. The "shelf life" in southern Africa means the best time to eat.

This leaves some people with huge room for maneuver.

In North Africa, or anywhere else, canned meats of all kinds are always the most sought-after.

Canned meat with a shelf life of three months will not go bad even if it is eaten four months later.

As a result, a large number of canned meats are destroyed when they reach the three-month shelf life, or even just before it is due.

These cans, which have been nominally destroyed, will soon appear on the black market.

Of course Auchinleck also knew this.

But there was nothing Auchinleck could do.

Just like the officers of the French Foreign Legion knew that the Foreign Legion soldiers secretly hid bullets in exchange for supplies, there was no way to stop this kind of thing. Auchinleck did not want to devote too much energy to this aspect. His mission was to defeat Rommel.

Under this premise, it would be acceptable for Auchinleck if his officers were a little more arrogant.

In southern Africa, there is no such thing as reselling military supplies.

It's not because the military officers in Southern Africa are so noble. Whether they are noble or not depends on who they are compared with.

Compared with British officers, Southern African officers at least hold themselves to military standards.

"Alamein Airport has a total of 170 military transport aircraft. In the past month, we have dispatched more than 10,000 sorties, transporting more than 100,000 tons of supplies to Tobruk." Su Jianping introduced as he walked, feeling calm in his heart.

There were only 30,000 British troops in Tubruk.

One hundred thousand tons of supplies means that the British army in Tobruk consumed an average of more than three tons per person in the past month.

Therefore, it was impossible for Rommel to defeat Auchinleck. In Tobruk, the exchange ratio between the British and German-Italian forces was close to one to one.

In order to stabilize the situation in North Africa, Mustache provided assistance to Rommel to the maximum extent possible when the "Barbarossa Plan" was about to begin.

Just this month, the German 15th Armored Division arrived in North Africa. Rommel's strength greatly increased, and intelligence showed that Rommel was preparing for a new offensive.

The British Eighth Army also grew in strength after receiving supplies from southern Africa.

But the Eighth Army is also in trouble now.

Southern Africa can provide the Eighth Army with enough tanks, but the Eighth Army does not have enough tank crews.

In the past two months, Auchinleck has focused mainly on training tanks, but so far, the Eighth Army has only 180 tanks available for combat.

There is no way around it.

There are enough tank crews in Southern Africa, but the British government refuses the Southern African Army to set foot in North Africa, but does not refuse the Southern African Air Force and Navy.

"Thank you for your efforts. Southern Africa has the best air force in the world. You have proved this with your actions. The British government will always remember the efforts of the Southern African Air Force. You will receive honors commensurate with your contributions." Auchinleck said nicely.

Without money, the only things the British government can offer now are honors and titles of nobility.

Noble titles are not uncommon in southern Africa. After the last world war, many people in southern Africa rejected the title of knighthood from the British royal family.

Then only honor remains.

After Southern Africa entered the war, more than 500 people have received awards from the British government, including 339 Medals of the British Empire alone, which is the same as wholesale.

The Order of the British Empire was established during the last World War. Like other honors, the Order of the British Empire also has a quantitative limit. Of course, during the World War, this regulation was in vain.

"We have received intelligence that the Germans are preparing for a new attack. In order to ensure safety, I am planning to transfer some transport planes to Cairo. Of course, this must be done without affecting the supply of Tobruk." Su Jianping did not trust the third party.

The combat effectiveness of the Eighth Army.

There is a situation to be explained.

At the same time that Germany was about to launch the "Barbarossa Plan", Japan was making frequent moves in Asia. The total strength of the Japanese 25th Army under Yamashita Tombumi had increased from 70,000 to 130,000. The British government considered the situation in British Malaya.

To ensure safety, the Australian Fifth Division and the Third Division were transferred to the defense of British Malaya. Now the main force of the British Eighth Army has been replaced by British and Indian troops.

As we all know, the combat effectiveness of the Indian army is a joke, otherwise it would not have been possible to train for two full months. The Eighth Army had only 180 tanks that could be operated.

For Britain, tanks have combat effectiveness as long as they can be driven. They are just more expensive cannon fodder anyway.

According to Southern African standards, almost none of the tankers in the Eighth Army are qualified. It takes six months to train a light infantryman in Southern Africa, and it will only take longer to train a tanker.

"As long as Tobruk is still in our hands, Rommel will not have the ability to launch an attack." Auchinleck also distrusted the judgment of southern Africa, and Britain also had its own intelligence channels.

This makes people very helpless.

On the "Barbarossa Plan", Big Beard did not believe Rock and Winston's reminders and was not worried about the Germans massing heavy troops on the border.

Of course, this may also be because Big Beard believes that the Russian army can prevent the German army from attacking.

Auchinleck also distrusted Southern Africa's judgment regarding Rommel's battle plan.

Perhaps in Auchinleck's view, Su Jianping's reminder was mostly to create an excuse for the Southern African Army to enter North Africa to participate in the war.

So what else is there to say?

Su Jianping could only make preparations to minimize the losses of the Southern African Air Force.

Amid the suspicions of all parties, time passed rapidly. On June 21, after completing its scheduled combat missions, the 35th Division voluntarily evacuated from Pombia. The German army finally defeated the enemy after suffering nearly 35,000 casualties.

All Ritter Islands were captured.

Among the 35,000 German losses, more than 4,000 paratroopers were lost, including Major General Sussman, commander of the 7th Airborne Division.

The losses of the airborne troops exceeded 6,000, which means that in Heraklion alone, the German losses exceeded 10,000, not counting the losses of mountain troops and armored troops.

But this is enough to make Mustache feel distressed.

After the battle of Heraklion, Mustache was furious when he saw the battle report, and the paratroopers and the airborne troops who suffered heavy losses suffered a near-destructive blow. Not only was the division commander killed, but also the general surrendered voluntarily. If not for Goering's insistence,

Mustache almost demobilized the paratroopers.

Like another time and space, after the Battle of Crete, Germany never carried out large-scale airborne operations again. The shortcomings of the paratroopers’ lack of heavy firepower were fully exposed in the Battle of Crete. Before solving this problem, Mustache

I don't want to risk my paratroopers anymore.

To Anthony Jones's regret, William Lister fully learned his lesson. While the 35th Division was holding on to Pombia, the Germans did not launch an attack on Pombia.

The 35th Division held on to Pombia for a week in vain without any fighting breaking out.

This made Anthony Jones very angry. When the 35th Division evacuated, Anthony Jones ordered that the airport, dock, and the 35th Division's positions be destroyed. All supplies that could be taken away were taken away, and all that could not be taken away were blown up.

, not a single screw was left to the Germans.

The 35th Division consumed 20 tons of military explosives alone.

When the Greek campaign was completely over, the German-Italian North African Army launched a new attack on the British Eighth Army.

Rommel was indeed very good at seizing opportunities. After the Australian 5th Division withdrew, the Australian 9th Division, which filled the defense line, still had a considerable part of its heavy weapons that had not been sent over. This resulted in a serious lack of defensive power for the Australian 9th Division.

Arthur didn't know why the British did this.

It is very simple to solve this problem. When the 5th Division withdraws, just leave the heavy equipment on the position. After the 9th Division is transferred, it can be seamlessly connected, leaving no opportunity for the Germans to attack.

Auchinleck did not seem to realize this at all, or did not pay attention to it because Auchinleck did not believe that Rommel would attack at all.

Rommel did not miss this fleeting opportunity. On June 19, when only one regiment of the German 15th Armored Division arrived in North Africa, Rommel ordered the German army to take the initiative and launch an attack on Halfaya controlled by the British army.

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Halfaya is 130 kilometers away from Tobruk and is the salient area of ​​the British defense line. If Halfaya is lost, Salum will also be surrounded by the German army.

Previously, Halfaya was defended by the Australian Fifth Division. After the withdrawal of the Fifth Division, there was only a mixed battalion of troops defending Halfaya, including an artillery regiment and two tank squadrons. These two

The tank squadrons were all equipped with light tanks that could only be used for patrolling, and were no match for the German Panzer IV tanks.

The combat effectiveness of British light tanks is roughly equivalent to that of armored vehicles in southern Africa.

The key is that it can't run as fast as an armored vehicle, and you can't escape even if you can't defeat it.

Rommel boldly sent a reconnaissance force to the rear of Halfaya and concentrated the main force on the border between Caputso Fort and Sidioma. At this time, the British army still knew nothing about Rommel's arrangement.

On the 20th, the German army took the initiative to attack and the battle broke out.

The Eighth Army's intelligence on the 19th stated that the main German army had approximately 120 tanks.

After the German army launched the attack on the 20th, the British were surprised to find that there were not 120 German tanks, but 230, including 140 No. 4 tanks and 90 No. 2 and No. 3 tanks.

In fact, no matter whether it is 120 or 230 tanks, 20 light tanks cannot deal with it.

The German army was overwhelming and easily broke through the British defense. Halfaya was captured only three hours after the battle began.

20 British tanks had no ability to resist, 17 were destroyed and 3 were captured by the Germans.

At this time, something happened that made the British angry.

Rommel looked down upon British light tanks and ordered the Germans to blow up all three captured British tanks. This was a great shame for the British.

At the same time, the British army suffered about 1,000 casualties, of which 150 were killed and 250 were missing.

After the fall of Halfaya, in order to stop the German advance, the Southern African Air Force stationed in El Alamein was ordered to bomb the German armored forces.

The bombing was not effective, and the Germans were not completely helpless. Rommel had an elite Luftwaffe under his command, and the German ground forces also had strong air defense capabilities.

Southern Africa has not gone all out either.

Su Jianping reminded Auchinleck many times before, but Auchinleck turned a deaf ear.

Since the British don't trust intelligence from southern Africa, they deserve it.

On the 21st, the German army continued to advance, and Salum was surrounded by the German army after Tobruk.

Compared with the British army in Tobruk, the British army defending Sarum had no morale, and they laid down their weapons and surrendered to the German army that night.

Considering that all the British troops defending Sarum were Indian troops, it is normal for this kind of thing to happen.

Rommel's offensive doubled Auchinleck's pressure. In order to counterattack the Germans, Auchinleck decided to launch the "Tomahawk" plan.

The "Tomahawk" plan was not formulated by Auchinleck, but by General Wavell who had been transferred to India.

Let’s not talk about the effect of this plan, because on the 22nd, Germany launched the "Barbarossa Plan" on time, and the Russo-German War broke out.

This is what Rock and Winston have long expected.

However, after the Russo-German War broke out, neither Rock nor Winston felt any joy.

The reason is simple. The Russians were defeated so miserably that they had no power to fight back. No matter from which perspective, even if Germany launched its attack in late June, it seemed that Germany would be able to end the war before the end of 1941.

At four o'clock in the morning on the 22nd, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop formally handed over the credentials declaring war to the Russian Ambassador to Germany.

At dawn, German Ambassador to Russia Schulenburg read a declaration of war to Molotov in the Kremlin.

After listening, Molotov said to Schulenburg: This is war. Your planes have just bombed more than ten of our undefended villages. Do you think we should be treated like this?

It really shouldn't be.

You know, on the 21st, another train loaded with rubber arrived in Berlin.

This train departs from Russia.