The Third Reich: I Became Emperor

At night, when the sky was full of brilliant stars, a fleet was quietly approaching Pantelleria Island.

If it was a few years ago, this sneak attack might have been successful, but since the advent of radar, sneak attacks by warships and aircraft have rarely been successful.

Because when they approach a certain range, they will naturally be discovered by radar.

This time, when the M warship was still 100 kilometers away from Sicily, it was discovered by the radar unit on the island, and then Major General Burgdorf was notified.

"Night attack? Sneak attack?"Major General Bugdorf, who had just woken up from his sleep, said with disdain.

If it was fair and square, he might have looked up to the other party, but this kind of night attack was totally disdainful.

"Level 1 combat alert, order all troops to enter their positions immediately, and anti-aircraft artillery units to be on standby at all times. Major General Burgdorf thought for a moment and ordered:

"yes!"

"Also ask how many warships the enemy has deployed."Major General Burgdorf asked

"Yes!"

This time, the Allied forces deployed a total of 4 battleships, 8 cruisers, 10 destroyers, 5 minesweepers, and 20 assault ships, all of which were small warships of 1,000 tons, as well as landing ships for landing operations and tank landing ships.

There were also a large number of fighter planes in the sky to escort and prevent the D Army fighter planes from bombing the fleet. After all, the D Army fighter planes caused them a strong shock.

Faced with such powerful firepower, the Allied forces actually had no tactical arrangements. They first relied on aircraft to carry out carpet bombing, followed by naval gun bombing.

After a large round of artillery coverage, the army would conduct a beach landing operation to test the enemy's defenses on the island, and then readjust tactics.

This is the landing combat experience they have accumulated in the Pacific. As long as there is strong firepower, no matter how tenacious the resistance on the island is, it will always succeed.

……

"The Allies have begun a large-scale attack on Pantelleria Island?"Admiral Dönitz, who was sailing on the sea, received the telegram and a trace of solemnity flashed across his face.

The last time the Royal Fleet was annihilated, it was purely thanks to the P-15 anti-ship missile torpedo ship. This time there is no P-15 to help, so next they will have a fair fight with the American fleet.

Fortunately, the Italian navy is also converging with them. If they add up, their total number of ships exceeds one hundred, so it should be no problem to fight a naval battle.

If they can't win this, the three countries can basically commit suicide to apologize.

"Marshal, Field Marshal Rommel sent an urgent message. Just as Field Marshal Dönitz was thinking about the next step of the battle, the words of the communications staff interrupted his thoughts.

"Urgent telegram?" Marshal Dönitz frowned and said,"Give it to me."

After reading the contents of the telegram, Marshal Dönitz frowned even more. The content of the telegram was very simple, requesting them to detour to the Tuscan Peninsula and rescue the 240,000 North African troops on the island.

"Are we going to give up Pantelleria Island?" Dönitz murmured after reading the telegram.

He certainly knew the importance of Pantelleria Island, but the 240,000 North African Corps on the Tuscan Peninsula was also very important.

If they were not rescued, they would really be wiped out. That was an elite corps. As long as they could be withdrawn and rested for a period of time, their combat effectiveness would definitely be very strong.

More importantly, there were still many elite Italian troops there. If they were withdrawn and allowed to train the local Italian troops, I believe the combat effectiveness of the entire Italian army would be greatly improved.

But in this case, Pantelleria Island would be subjected to enemy fire attacks and might even be wiped out.

"Using tens of thousands of people to save more than 200,000 people, this account... Alas." Marshal Dönitz rubbed his head with a headache.

"Send a telegram to the Supreme Command and let them make the decision."After thinking about it, Dönitz decided to throw this difficult problem to the Supreme Command.

August, who was far away in the City Palace, soon received two telegrams, one was Rommel's statement, and the other was Dönitz's inquiry.

Faced with the two telegrams, August also had a headache. Rommel's suggestion was tantamount to sacrificing the car to save the king. He used tens of thousands of people to attract the enemy's firepower, and the navy secretly transported the remnants of the North African Corps back.

August was naturally very concerned about this corps with a strong fighting will, but the North African Corps was short of supplies and could no longer hold on. There were hundreds of thousands of Allied troops surrounding them outside their defense line, and it was impossible for them to counterattack.

Unless the navy can drive the Allied fleet out of the Mediterranean, in that case it might be possible to counterattack successfully. If the navy was really so powerful, August would have let them show off their power in the Atlantic Ocean.

"All these burdens will fall on Major General Burgdorf. August muttered, and finally a look of determination flashed in his eyes.

"Send a telegram to Marshal Dönitz, and ask him to immediately join the Italian fleet, and then head straight to the Tuscan Peninsula to bring back the North African Corps there."August said loudly.

"In addition, send a telegram to Marshal Catherine to send another thousand fighter planes to the southern theater of operations. We must gain air superiority over Pantelleria Island at all costs."

"Then he sent a telegram to Field Marshal Rommel, agreeing with his plan in principle, but he would implement it according to the specific situation. If he encountered a favorable opportunity, he could send troops to Pantelleria Island."

"Yes!"

Soon, three telegrams flew to different places along the radio waves. The first one to receive the telegram was Marshal Catherine.

"Send another thousand fighters?"Marshal Catherine said bitterly:"The thousand fighters we just trained are gone again."

"Forget it, the southern theater cannot afford to fail. If something goes wrong, it will threaten the empire's homeland."

"Order the two newly formed air divisions to take off immediately, heading for the southern theater of operations"

"Yes!"

The second person to receive the telegram was Field Marshal Rommel. Looking at the content above, a trace of solemnity flashed across Rommel's face, and his shoulders became more tense.

"Please rest assured, I will not let you down."Rommel murmured、

"Command, start according to plan"

"Yes!"

The last person to receive the telegram was Field Marshal Dönitz. After reading the telegram, his face showed no expression except solemnity, and his eyes looked into the distance.

"Order the fleet to change direction, target the Tuscan Peninsula, advance at full speed, and send a telegram to the Italian fleet to ask where they are."Marshal Dönitz said in a cold tone.

"yes!"

"Also, send all the submarine forces out to Pantelleria Island to see if they can find a chance to destroy one or two Allied fleets. Finally, Marshal Dönitz added:

"Got it!"

On the Tuscan Peninsula, the captain of the D Army shouted loudly in the trench.

"Hide, take cover, the M army's artillery fire is coming again."

As soon as the voice fell, a sharp and piercing sound whistled through the sky and flew towards their newly dug trenches.

Suddenly, an extremely powerful explosion enveloped the entire position. Fortunately, they had already hidden in the air-raid shelter, but the occasional explosion above their heads still destroyed their nerves.

"Another 150mm howitzer. How long has it been blasting?" An old soldier blew the dust off his helmet and shook his head.

"It's been about half a month, right? It seems that the enemy's charge has been much less recently, and it's basically artillery bombardment. Could it be that the enemy troops on the opposite side have retreated?" A lieutenant next to him said puzzledly.

"Retreat? It's impossible to retreat. They can't let us go. Unless the other commander is a fool, he will never watch us survive."The old soldier said loudly.

Hearing this, many people nodded. If they were the commander, they would never let go of this piece of fat meat in front of them.

"That means they are opening up other battlefields and have not paid attention to us for the time being."The lieutenant officer's eyes flickered.

Because they were surrounded and the high-power radio station was damaged, the information they could get was really limited, and they could only rely on guesswork.

"It's very likely, but what on earth is worth giving up 240,000 of us? Aren't you afraid that we will fight back?"The old soldier joked

"Counterattack? Do you think we can still fight back now? Look, how much ammunition do we have? On average, each person has less than one grenade and no more than 30 bullets. How can we fight? Fill it with our lives?" The lieutenant said sarcastically.

Being trapped is not the most desperate thing. The most desperate thing is that they don't have much ammunition and weapons to fight back.

They have less than 100 tanks left, and all kinds of heavy weapons add up to less than 1,000. This is a legion of 240,000 people. With such a small number of weapons, it can be seen how miserable they are.

"Without ammunition, any counterattack is useless."The old soldier sighed and said

"Stop sighing, the enemy is coming, prepare to counterattack."At this time, the scout shouted loudly. At the same time, at the North African Corps headquarters, Admiral Gauss walked back and forth looking at the map. Just now, the M Army launched another artillery attack. Feeling the power of the artillery fire, despair gradually appeared on his face.

"His Excellency the Chief of Staff, Imperial���Have you forgotten us?" a staff officer asked with a pale face.

"Impossible, we are all the elite of the empire, and we will never be forgotten."Colonel Westphal, the chief of operations, said loudly.

Here is the organization of the African Corps. At first, there was only the 21st Armored Division, formerly the 5th Light Division and the 15th Armored Division. Later, the 90th Light Armored Division and various Italian troops were added. Later, the North African Corps won victory after victory, and the Supreme Command added a batch of troops to them, including the 22nd Infantry Division, the 164th Infantry Division, and the 10th Armored Division, as well as a small number of Italian troops.

The original corps of nearly 400,000 people, later due to the collapse and losses, now only 240,000 people.

"Okay, stop arguing. When will the radio station be repaired? Admiral Gauss frowned and shouted.

"It is still under repair. We have dismantled many radios and are replacing parts. We believe it will be repaired soon."Colonel Meilinjin, the intelligence chief, explained.

Due to the strong wind and sand in Africa and the heavy humidity at the seaside, the radios often malfunction. Originally, there were supplies every day and the radio parts could be replaced frequently. Later, the supplies were gone and the radios could not be repaired.

In desperation, they could only dismantle other radios, find useful parts and install them

"Damn it, are you really going to ignore it?" Admiral Gauss muttered in his heart.

"Report, the enemy is coming."Just then, the operations staff came in and said

"Tell all troops to counterattack immediately and stop the enemy's attack."Admiral Gauss said loudly.

""Sir, the front line is running low on ammunition." The operations staff said bitterly.

Hearing this, Admiral Gauss's face became even uglier, but he still gritted his teeth and said,"Transfer a batch of ammunition from the reserve forces to the front line."

"Yes!" the operations staff responded

""Sir, the reserve ammunition will be insufficient, and we may not be able to hold out for much longer." Major General Bayerlein said worriedly.

"Solve the problem at hand first." Admiral Gauss sighed, turned his head and looked at Colonel Merinjin and said,"What is the recent reaction of the Italian army?"

Admiral Gauss wanted to kick these stupid teammates into the sea. If they were not so stupid, they would not have fallen to this point today.

"The will is not high, and many people want to surrender."Melinjin explained

"A bunch of rubbish, I don't know why we chose them as allies, those black uncles are more reliable than them."Admiral Gauss said angrily.

At this time, the communications staff came in excitedly and said loudly:"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the radio has been repaired, it has been repaired"

"What?"

"real?"

""

If it's fixed, then they can get in touch with the outside world and ask what's going on and why there's been no rescue."

"Contact the outside world quickly." Admiral Gauss said excitedly

"Yes!"

Soon, countless messages poured into the radio station, almost breaking the radio they had just repaired. Fortunately, the receiver was fast enough to quickly translate the message.

"Annihilate an army group of the S Army?"

"Annihilation of the Royal Home Fleet"

"Conquer the British Isles?"

"The British Empire surrendered and split into two?"

"Eli III rebelled and joined the Allies? Field Marshal Rommel took over?"

The series of news almost stunned them. They really wanted to know what happened?

"Oh my god, what happened? Why does it feel like a century has passed?"

"My God, the Royal Fleet was completely wiped out? That's incredible!"

Just then, another telegram came. After reading the contents of the telegram, Admiral Gauss was so excited that he said incoherently:"Great, the Navy sent a fleet to pick us up."