Reborn as a police officer in South Africa

When the East Asian Allied forces began to attack Saigon, the North African Allied forces were also planning a counterattack against Rommel.

At the beginning of this year, Rommel organized the third large-scale attack on the British troops in North Africa. While forcing the British troops back into Egypt, he forced the 30,000 British troops to land in Tobruk, once again seizing the initiative in the North African battlefield.

Rommel's biggest problem was a serious shortage of logistics. In the middle of the year, Mustache launched the Battle of Volgagrad, reducing reinforcements to Rommel, and Rommel's offensive was forced to stop.

Forced by the situation, Britain agreed to allow southern African troops to enter North Africa to participate in the war, and also asked the United States to increase its military presence in North Africa.

In this way, North Africa will be very lively.

Rommel's North African Army was composed of German and Italian troops.

The Allied forces concentrated British troops, Southern African troops, U.S. troops, and Free French troops. How to coordinate and unify became the most troublesome problem.

To be more specific, the British army is composed of British and Indian troops, Australian troops, Egyptian troops, and New Zealand troops.

Among them, the British and Indian troops, which were the largest in number, had the weakest combat effectiveness.

The New Zealand army only has one division, which is already very difficult for New Zealand, which has a sparse population.

The composition of the Southern African army is more complex. There are not only the Southern African Defense Forces, but also the Southern African Union forces. The Union forces are composed of armies from six countries, including not only the Marine Division from Brazil, but also the Cavalry Division from Najd.

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The Najd Cavalry Division is not a cavalry division in the traditional sense. Like the First Cavalry Division in Southern Africa, the Najd Cavalry Division is equipped with a large number of modern weapons such as tanks and armored vehicles. This is thanks to the crazy investment of the Najd royal family regardless of cost. In the past two years,

Almost all the profits made by Zhi from the oil fields are used to purchase weapons and equipment for troops in southern Africa.

As of the end of July, the total strength of the Allied troops in North Africa exceeded 700,000.

The total strength of the North African Army led by Rommel was approximately 240,000.

The Allied forces' 600,000 troops are scattered. The British Eighth Army, most of which is in Egypt, has a total strength of about 110,000. Together with the Egyptian army and the southern African army that entered Egypt to fight, the total strength is about 350,000.

On the French North Africa side, after the main force of the Third Army moved to Spain, there were only four divisions of the Southern African Army remaining in French North Africa with more than 60,000 people, while the number of Free French troops remained at around 190,000.

This included the newly formed Free French Navy.

The biggest variable is the U.S. military.

After the United States entered the war last year, it first sent two Marine Corps brigades to the British mainland to help Britain strengthen its defenses.

The Americans fully supported the British government's invitation. In April, there was only one division of the US military in North Africa. By the end of July, the number had increased to nearly 100,000.

On August 3, high-level Allied forces held a meeting in Algiers to discuss organizational coordination issues in the North African campaign.

Representing the United States at the meeting was Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Representing Britain at the conference was Lieutenant General Harold Alexander, who had returned from the disastrous defeat in Burma.

Representing Southern Africa at the meeting was Admiral Patton, commander of the Indian Ocean Theater, who rushed back from Pretoria.

Representing Free France at the conference was de Gaulle.

To be honest, this combination is a bit miserable.

Eisenhower's promotion speed was like a rocket. He was promoted to chief of staff of the U.S. Ninth Army in March last year, and was appointed chief of staff of the 3rd Army in June. On the fifth day after the Pearl Harbor incident, Marshall called Eisenhower to return to Washington immediately.

, he was first appointed deputy director of the War Planning Department, and soon the planning department was upgraded to the Office of Operations. Eisenhower was appointed director of the Department of Operations. At this time, his military rank was promoted to major general.

Alexander began serving in India ten years ago. Before the outbreak of the World War, he joined the British Expeditionary Force and went to France to participate in the war. During the Dunkirk evacuation, he was promoted to commander of the 1st Army. He was praised by Winston for successfully organizing the 1st Army to withdraw to the UK.

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Alexander then went to Burma to command the British army in Burma to fight against the Japanese invasion.

Alexander suffered a tragic defeat in Burma. This was not Alexander's problem. No matter who commanded the British and Indian troops, it was impossible to defeat the Japanese army in 1941.

On the first day of the meeting, all parties participating in the meeting successfully reached a consensus to establish the North African Allied Forces Command in North Africa to uniformly command the Allied forces in North Africa.

Immediately afterwards, controversy began to arise over the selection of the Allied Commander-in-Chief.

Alexander believed that North Africa was the main battlefield of the British army, so the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces should be British.

Eisenhower also wanted to be commander-in-chief because the U.S. military strength in North Africa was increasing rapidly and would reach more than 300,000 by the end of the year. The Americans were the biggest factor leading the Allied forces to victory in North Africa.

When Eisenhower recommended himself, he implicitly expressed his contempt for the British Army, the Southern African Army, and the Free French Army.

Even without the participation of the US military, the Allied forces' strength in North Africa far exceeded that of the German-Italian coalition.

With the war going on like this and dragging on for so long, Eisenhower politely said that everyone here is rubbish.

Patton must be doing his part. One of you is a major general and the other is a lieutenant general. Do you want me, a general, to obey your command?

Who are you looking down on!

De Gaulle had the most stable mentality. He knew that it would never be his turn, so he firmly supported Patton as commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa.

The benefits of wooing the Free French began to appear. At 2:1:1, Patton, who had the full support of de Gaulle, successfully became the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa, with Eisenhower and Alexander serving as deputy commanders.

As soon as the commander-in-chief's problem was solved, new problems immediately appeared.

Alexander believed that the Allied forces were dispersed, which was not conducive to the counterattack against the German and Italian forces.

Taking into account the strong combat effectiveness of the German-Italian forces under Rommel, Alexander suggested launching an attack on Rommel's North African Army from the direction of Egypt. The reason was that the attacking force could be covered by the Cyprus Fleet in southern Africa and the British Mediterranean Fleet. In this way, even if the attack distance was relatively long,

It takes a long time, and there is no need to worry about insufficient logistics supply.

Since the war started, logistics has become the most critical factor affecting the direction of the battle. If it were not for insufficient logistics, Rommel would have successfully occupied the Suez Canal long ago.

Alexander's proposal was opposed by everyone.

The starting position of the Allied forces in French North Africa was obviously closer to the core area of ​​Rommel's North African Army than from Egypt.

At the same time, the Allied forces in French North Africa were larger than those in Egypt. The Free French Army received training from southern African instructors, and its combat effectiveness was significantly higher than that of the British and Indian forces.

At the same time, the Allied forces departing from French North Africa can also receive fleet cover.

In French North Africa, the Allies still had powerful land-based aviation forces, and Rommel had very few fighter jets left.

For ten days from August 5th to 15th, the Allies were arguing over the launch point of the offensive.

A new situation suddenly appeared on the 16th. A reconnaissance plane of the Southern African Air Force discovered that Rommel's North African Army was mobilizing troops and was likely to launch a new attack on the Allies in the near future.

The topic of the meeting immediately changed from offense to defense.

The focus of the debate this time was Rommel's main direction of attack.

Alexander once again insisted that Rommel's main attack direction must be Egypt.

De Gaulle had different opinions. The direction of Rommel's North African Army mobilization showed that multiple German divisions were moving towards French North Africa, so it was obvious that Rommel's main attack direction was French North Africa.

As we all know, the North African Army under Rommel was made up of Italians, and the main force has always been the German army.

Therefore, if Rommel wanted to attack Egypt, the German troops should move to Egypt on the eastern front instead of moving to the western front.

It was not convenient for Patton and Eisenhower to express their opinions, and there were serious conflicts of interest within the Allies. The British and French were both worried about southern Africa and the United States' expansion of influence in North Africa, which would affect France and Britain's colonization of North Africa.

rule.

France has lost East Asia.

Britain had lost southern Africa.

North Africa has always been the traditional sphere of influence of Britain and France.

After a day of quarreling with no results, Eisenhower took the initiative to ask Patton to dinner. Eisenhower was accompanied to the dinner by another Patton.

American Patton's current position is the commander of the 1st Armored Corps of the United States. He is an admirer of Rock. Rock's use of tank troops during World War I left a deep impression on Patton. In the first half of this year, Patton has been

Worked at the Dior Training Center and was responsible for forming the U.S. tank force.

Patton in Southern Africa was also an expert in armored force command. Like Major General Patton in the United States, General Patton in Southern Africa also admired Rommel's command. The two quickly found common ground in Rommel.

"Rommel's biggest weakness is logistics. If Rommel had sufficient logistics like the British army, the Allies might have been completely defeated in North Africa." Major General Patton is very eager to fight Rommel. The only regret is that the current Rommel is not

Rommel at his strongest.

"You are wrong. Even if Rommel is given sufficient logistics, Rommel cannot succeed." General Patton only admired Rommel, not to the level of worship: "This is not determined by Rommel's personal ability, but by Rommel's personal ability."

It is determined by the comprehensive strength of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. Rommel did not have more than 800 tanks at the most. We can dispatch 8,000 tanks at any time if we are willing, and if it is not enough, we can dispatch 10,000 tanks."

Major General Patton had nothing to say. This was not just about weapons. The equipment gap was so great that it would be useless no matter how strong one's personal abilities were.

One effort can bring down ten levels.

"The news from Washington shows that Rommel's troop mobilization is not offensive, but defensive. We can adjust our offensive direction in a targeted manner according to Rommel's arrangement and choose to attack on the weak side."

Eisenhower, who served as a staff officer, had no feelings for Rommel.

If given a choice between the two Pattons, Eisenhower preferred General Patton's statement.

The situation on the Allies' side was complicated, and the situation on Rommel's side was even more dangerous.

The Allies only disagreed over different directions of attack.

The problem Rommel faced was how to allocate troops to defend against attacks from two directions.

Among the 240,000 men under Rommel, there were less than 700 tanks. Among them, the German army only had about 80,000 troops and 300 tanks. More tanks were equipped with the Italian army.

"Rommel is trying to centrally equip the German troops with tanks, and has requisitioned cars and armored vehicles from the Italian army. Even so, there is still a clear gap between the strength of the North African Army and ours, so we can launch attacks from both the east and west fronts at the same time, and will

Rommel was completely driven out of North Africa." General Patton also had his own intelligence channels. In terms of intelligence, there was also a clear gap between the North African Army and the Allies.

On the Russian battlefield, in order to increase its strength, the German army took away tanks and armored vehicles equipped by the Italian army.

Rommel was not polite in North Africa. The combat effectiveness of tanks in the hands of the Italians was completely different from that in the hands of the Germans. Giving tanks to the Italians would be a waste.

The gap in intelligence is even more obvious.

After Rommel came to North Africa, he established a radio detection company, which played a certain role in previous operations and did a good job in intelligence detection of the Allied forces.

The Allies have done a better job in this regard. The German military code was deciphered by the Allies last year. This situation has been tightly sealed. The Germans still don’t know about it and have not changed the military code in time. Therefore, Rommel’s every move has been

in the hands of the Allies.

In order to confuse Rommel, the Allies often sent telegrams that were extremely easy to decipher, trapping Rommel in them.

At the same time, the Allies can also obtain a large amount of intelligence through the Italians, which will pose a fatal threat to the North African Army's operations at critical moments.

"The Navy wants to strengthen its control over the waterways, reduce the North African Army's oil reserves, and continue to amplify Rommel's weaknesses." Eisenhower wanted to cut off Rommel's lifeline.

"If necessary, we can send marines to land directly in Venice and cut off Rommel's retreat." General Patton is also sinister. It is not that the southern African army cannot win, but it is working hard to cooperate with the Russian battlefield.

The Southern African Army got serious. The Second, Third, and Fifth Armies all had the strength to defeat Rommel.

It can even be said to be easily defeated.

Rommel was best at mobile warfare, but his weaknesses were actually very obvious.

Mobile warfare can play an important role when attacking, but it is of little significance when defending.

The key is that the strength gap between the two sides is too big. The Allies can directly launch an attack on the core area that Rommel must protect, forcing Rommel to fight the Allies. In this way, Rommel will lose room for movement.

Armored troops are not infantry and rely heavily on logistics. Without oil, tanks are nothing.

"The German army has severely exploited the Italians. We can instigate rebellion against the Italians. No Italian is willing to sacrifice his life for the Germans." Eisenhower's words made General Patton feel guilty. Southern Africa was in secret contact with Italy. What a hero.

It's roughly the same.

On the other side of the dinner table, Major General Patton was in a very sad mood.

Two old foxes each made Rommel's arrangements clear and clear. This is also the tragedy of a famous general. Not only was he born at the wrong time, but he was also born in the wrong camp.

(End of chapter)