The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Major General Oakster raised his eyebrows, then nodded.

He was transferred from France, and of course he knew that after the Toulon fleet was captured by Germany, the French Pétain government would be like a frightened bird.

At the same time, France can be said to have almost no defense in front of Germany, because according to the armistice agreement, the French army reduced its air force and army to 100,000 people.

After a pause, Major General Oxster asked again: "Why don't we directly occupy France? We all know that the French will fall to the Allies at any time. One day... when they surrender to the Allies, our supply lines will be affected. A major threat!”

"General!" Qin Chuan replied: "I think occupying France at this time will not do us much good, because the French will try their best to destroy our railways and roads, and the guerrillas will even attack them!"

Major General Oakster stopped talking when he heard this.

Qinchuan was right, the German-occupied northern France was facing this situation at this time.

"So!" Qin Chuan continued: "If we occupy France and establish a supply line, we will need a lot of troops to defend it. Even if we do this, we will not get good results, and we don't have that many troops! "

There is no doubt about this. The German army is fully attacking the Soviet Union, and there are still so many occupied areas that need to be stationed with troops. The most lacking thing at this time is soldiers.

"What's more important is..." Qin Chuan said: "We use the French to help us with transportation, such as French trains, cars, and even transport ships. They still belong to Vichy France, so the British cannot bomb them unscrupulously. , If we do this, it will only further deepen the French’s hatred of the British and push France to our side!”

Major General Oakster looked at Qin Chuan blankly. He couldn't believe that a second lieutenant would have such a bold idea.

Colonel Slaine agreed with this and asked Major General Oxster: "General, if you have no objection, I will convey the idea of ​​​​the second lieutenant to General Rommel!"

Major General Oakster nodded in agreement.

After Colonel Slain left, Major General Oxster asked: "Second Lieutenant, I want to know your plan in Algiers. I mean, we only have two infantry divisions and one parachute division. How can we Block the possible Allied attack!"

Major General Oakster's words hit the point.

The reason why the 36th Infantry Division and the 155th Infantry Division entered Tunisia and now Algeria is because the Allied forces may land in Algeria and threaten the rear of the Afrika Korps.

However, the strength of the two infantry divisions was still too small. They were simply not enough to defend the long coastline from Morocco to Algeria and then to Tunisia. This was one of the reasons why Major General Oxter was dissatisfied with the mission. He believed that This is simply an impossible task.

After a pause, Major General Oxster added: "I have to emphasize that we no longer have any extra troops to reinforce North Africa!"

"We also have the Zoav Corps!" Qin Chuan said, "There are hundreds of thousands of them!"

"Are you talking about those French colonial troops?" A disdainful smile appeared on Major General Oxster's lips: "We can't expect anything from them, not to mention... you have given them freedom, which means we can't command them, right?"

"No, general!" Qin Chuan replied: "We can command them. In a sense, they want us to command them!"

"Maybe!" Major General Oxter understood what Qin Chuan meant. The Zoav Corps has been under the command of French officers for a long time. Now that it is suddenly free, it will be in a state of no one to command... Admittedly, they You can promote your own officers, but the problem is that these officers generally have not received training and do not know how to command troops in combat.

In addition, the Zoav Corps needs to defend Algeria, so the Zoav Corps will hope to get help from the German army.

Major General Oakster knew that Qin Chuan had this ability, but if it were him, he would not deal with these inferior people and pin his defense hopes on them.

"Of course!" Qin Chuan said: "We can't place our hopes on them yet. They need time to train and finally form combat effectiveness! But we have a navy. As long as France's supply lines are rebuilt, our crews and sailors will soon They are shipped in batches. They are experienced veterans, and quite a few of them have fought in the war. All they need is to get familiar with French warships!"

"Uh-huh!" Major General Oxster said: "I don't deny this, but don't forget that even if we have a fleet, we have to face a double-sided attack from the British Home Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet. The British even There are aircraft carriers but we have nothing. In addition, the American fleet may join them to fight with them. Do you think our newly formed fleet can defeat them? "

"That's right, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "They are much stronger than us. I didn't even think about defeating them. I just wanted to block their attack!"

"That's the point, Lieutenant!" Major General Oakster said: "How can you stop their attack!"

"Look at this, General!" Qinchuan pointed at the map and said: "Our location is in the western Mediterranean, with the Strait of Gibraltar on the left. Its narrowest point is only 13 kilometers. Even long-range artillery can block it! We only need to move the 155th The infantry division is deployed in Morocco, and then a few additional artillery units are deployed, and a few submarines are assigned to the Strait of Gibraltar... While completely blocking the British route, it will also block the British attack from the west! "

Major General Oxter nodded. The Strait of Gibraltar is not as simple as 13 kilometers on the surface or 22 kilometers in the middle. There are reefs and shoals in it. Warships can sometimes only follow a fixed route. The Germans only need to concentrate their firepower on these routes. It can be blocked and mined if necessary.

Of course, the disadvantage of laying mines is that the Germans' own ships and submarines cannot enter or exit, so they will not do it easily.

"What about the east side?" Major General Oakster asked.

"The east side mainly depends on surface warships and air force!" Qin Chuan pointed to the area between Tunisia and Sicily, Italy, on the map and said: "This is the Tunisia Strait. The narrowest point is 148 kilometers. As long as we are in Tunisia and Sicily have deployed enough air forces, and any fleet entering the strait will be mercilessly attacked by them. Coupled with our surface fleet and the laying of mines... the enemy fleet cannot even enter the western waters, let alone land operations. "