Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2337 The reserve team who has no chance to dispatch at all
The biggest problem for Japan is that it does not have the life of the United Kingdom and suffers from the disease of the United Kingdom.

Even the United Kingdom began to implement strategic contraction after entering the new century, but Japan went further and further on the road of crazy military expansion.

After all, Japan does not have the power of the United Kingdom. It is very difficult to build a combined fleet with all the power of the country. At the same time, it still maintains a large-scale army. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as militarism.

Before the outbreak of World War II, Japan had 17 standing A divisions with a total strength of nearly 50 troops, which was larger than the standing army in southern Africa.

It's just that there are too many people. Limited by Japan's limited industrial strength, the level of equipment will naturally not increase.

Things are getting more difficult in Japan now.

After the trade with the United States was interrupted, Japan obtained resources through foreign plunder.

It is right to use war to support war, but in practice it cannot be done. After all, the resources of the entire East Asia are limited, at least not comparable to the areas controlled by the Allies. Not a few battleships.

Now the Japanese government is in a dilemma.

If the navy continues to develop, the combined fleet will not be able to regain the initiative on the battlefield, which is a waste of resources.

If more resources are allocated to the army, the accumulation of technology will be insufficient. The Russians began to study the T38 in 34, and only began to equip the troops last year. Even if Japan is now starting to study tanks that can fight against the "Leopard", let's not talk about whether it can If the research and development is successful, whether it has the strength to mass-produce it, even if all the conditions are met, it will have to wait two years before it can be deployed in the army.

Two years later, all large, medium and small cities in mainland Japan have been swept by Allied bombers several times. Even if they have technology and resources, they will be at a loss without factories and skilled workers.

Tanks are not airplanes, and heavy castings place high demands on factories, and the DIY mode of small workshops does not work.

As the East Asian battlefield continued to advance northward, the North African Allied Forces also began to attack the German and Italian Allied Forces.

After the Battle of Alamein, the North African Army led by Rommel had only 7.8 people left, of which about 3 were German troops, and only 130 tanks remained.

Montgomery pursued the victory and led his troops to recover Tobruk and Benghazi one after another.

Rommel fought and retreated, and he retreated to the vicinity of Tripoli before stabilizing the line of defense.

Then there was a conflict between Rommel and Arnim.

After the failure of the Battle of Alamein, Mustache had lost patience with Rommel and appointed Arnim as the commander-in-chief of the 5th Armored Army to replace Rommel.

After Rommel arrived in Tunisia, Arnim asked Rommel to return to China to recuperate according to Mustache's order.

Rommel was not sick at all, and the so-called "recovery" was just a way of saving face. Strictly speaking, Alamein's failure was not Rommel's fault, but that Mustache did not give Rommel enough support.

After the failure of the Volgograd Battle, Mustache finally realized that it was impossible to conquer Russia in a short period of time. The importance of the North African battlefield was once again highlighted. If the Axis powers lost in North Africa, the Allied forces could calmly launch a landing at any point along the Mediterranean coast.

This is something the Axis powers cannot afford.

While appointing Arnim to replace Rommel, Mustache stepped up his support for North Africa.

Taking advantage of the severe damage to the Second US Army and the short-lived opportunity for the Allied forces to adjust their supply and deployment, Mustache increased his troops frantically to North Africa. At this time, the Fifth Armored Army under Arnim had swelled to nearly 30, of which the German troops alone accounted for more than 10 troops. [-] people.

This made Rommel very envious.

If Rommel had 40 troops before the Battle of Alamein, it would be impossible for Montgomery to defeat Rommel.

Rommel even had the opportunity to attack Egypt again, and he might even be able to cut off the Suez Canal and complete the strategic goal of the German-Italian Army in North Africa.

Now Arnim replaces Rommel and has won the strong support of Mustache. This is his real son. Compared with Arnim, Rommel is not even the third grandson.

Unwilling to leave North Africa with the humiliation of failure, Rommel took the initiative to suggest to Arnim to mobilize troops to launch a counterattack against the British Eighth Army led by Montgomery.

After winning the Battle of Alamein, the Eighth Army advanced 1500 kilometers in half a month. The front line was too long and out of touch. Although it could get supplies from the sea, the troops did not establish a solid defensive position. If the German army Timely counterattack, there is indeed a great chance to repel the British army.

After repelling the British, it will be much easier to deal with the Allied forces in French North Africa. Even if the Allied forces in French North Africa are powerful, it is not impossible to win.

Anim has a mind of his own.

Marshal Messer, who had just arrived in North Africa from the Russian battlefield, also had his own ideas. They were not convinced of Rommel's plan, and they also had doubts about Rommel's ability.

The selection of the most outstanding generals during World War II by later generations is all post-war replays. To put it bluntly, they are all hindsight.

There is a saying that the text has no first, and the military has no second.

Rommel's performance in North Africa, at least not to the extent of defying the sky, otherwise he would not have fought the British for two years without a winner.

As for the British and Indian troops in the British army, they can also fight back and forth with the German army, which fully shows that Rommel's ability is not good enough.

Unlike Rommel's plan, Arnim wanted to concentrate his forces on attacking the Allied forces in French North Africa first.

Arnim has good reason too.

Although there are a large number of allied forces in French North Africa, they belong to Southern Africa, the United States, and France, and each has its own command system. There are big problems in cooperating with each other, and they are not as strong as they appear on the surface.

After all, the menacing US Second Army just suffered a big loss at the hands of the German army.

Messi was very dissatisfied with the status of the Italian army in the German-Italian coalition.

Under Rommel, the Italian army has always been in a subordinate position, equivalent to the servant army of the German army.

This makes Messi really unacceptable.

In Russia, the German army has squeezed the Italian army many times, not only snatching the few tanks of the Italian army, but also robbing supplies such as gasoline, resulting in no oil in the cars equipped by the Italian army. Otherwise, Messi can lead more Italians. People rushed out from the Russian encirclement.

After finally leaving Russia and coming to North Africa, the situation did not improve.

In the just-concluded Battle of Alamein, the Italian army once again served as the rear army, covering the retreat of the German army, and the 10th Army was wiped out.

Including the Italian army under Rommel, the Italian army in North Africa exceeded 25 troops.

Arnim's rank is general, and Messer's rank is marshal, but in Mustache's latest appointment, Arnim is the head coach of the North African German-Italian Legion, and Messer is the deputy commander.

How embarrassing is this for Messi.

After being rejected by Arnim, Rommel took the initiative to send a telegram to Mustache, hoping to get his support.

Not only did Mustache not support Rommel's plan, but he ordered Rommel to return to Germany immediately to recuperate.

On December 12, the day before Christmas, Rommel returned to Germany by plane and left North Africa sadly.

Little Barton was extremely disappointed when he heard the news.

For a long time, Patton Jr. hoped to fight Rommel.

Now that Rommel was transferred away, Patton Jr. lost the chance to fight Rommel.

"Don't worry, we will land in Europe sooner or later. You and Rommel still have a chance to fight." Admiral Patton comforted Patton Jr., Germany still has strength now, and the battle still has to be fought.

The failure of the Volgograd Battle was not the end for Germany. Mustache still had more than 500 million troops in his hands. The Axis forces still occupied a large area of ​​Russia. He hoped that France would expand its territory again, and the Italians were half-hearted and hadn't really made up their minds yet.

"I hope to defeat Rommel who is in his prime, not Rommel who is desperate." Patton Jr. was sad and disappointed. Unlike Eisenhower and MacArthur, he was a pure soldier.

The generals of the United States during World War II had their own characteristics. MacArthur was very happy, and Eisenhower was more like a politician. Compared with them, Patton Jr. did not have much ambition. He only wanted to fight against the strongest, and he was happy even if he failed.

"George, you are wrong. The duty of a soldier is to win victory at all costs." Admiral Patton said earnestly, Rommel in his prime?
Think beautiful!
With the development of the way of warfare, the role of commanders has been infinitely reduced, and everyone has their own duties. The Mongolian cavalry who were once invincible can't defeat the British and Indian troops equipped with machine guns and cannons.

The British and Indian troops are not useless. If they are only fighting in positions, the performance of the British and Indian troops can be excellent, and it is no problem to fight at a distance of one kilometer for a year.

It was because the Japanese discovered this that they took the initiative to intersperse and fight hand-to-hand with the British and Indian troops.

This is the weakness of the British and Indian troops. The Indians began to weaken when they saw the Japanese bayonet legs. They didn't have the courage to fight the bayonets with the Japanese.

There is no doubt about Rommel's ability. If it were someone else, it would probably be impossible for him to last so long in the North African battlefield.

Don't look at Arnim and Messey's dissatisfaction. You will know when they fight the Allies. The Russians are strong enough to be worthy of being a fighting nation. They are completely different from the southern African army armed to the teeth. .

Admiral Patton had some things to say to his face.

If the strength of troops is similar, the level of equipment is similar, and the logistics are sufficient.

Patton Jr. probably couldn't beat Rommel.

After all, one has theory and one has experience.

It is useless to say this now, Rommel has been transferred away, and it is definitely easier to fight Arnim and Messi than to fight Rommel.

On January 1, the first day of the New Year, the Free French Allied Forces launched a full-scale attack on Italian North Africa.

Patton dispatched a total of 19 divisions. The first attack force consisted of 3 divisions including 5 armored divisions. The 17th Armored Division first attacked the Italian army led by Marshal Messer.

Prior to this, Mustache ordered the reorganization of the German-Italian Allied Forces under Rommel's jurisdiction into the First Italian Army, with Messer as the commander-in-chief.

Messey just took over the command, and after learning about the situation of the troops, his heart was more than half cold.

The First Army had just suffered a disastrous defeat at Alamein, with low morale and heavy losses, losing a lot of heavy equipment in the process of retreating.

Although the First Army still has 130 tanks, there is a serious shortage of fuel and ammunition, and after a long journey, maintenance is urgently needed, and many parts need to be replaced. There are less than 100 tanks that can fight.

Considering the strength of the British Eighth Army in front of the First Army, Messer proposed to Arnim to allocate part of the Italian army to the First Army, Zeng Jiang's strength in the First Army.

Arnim agreed to Messer's request and assigned three Italian divisions to the First Army, including the Italian 17th Infantry Division on the front of the 54th Armored Division, and the 57th Semi-Motorized Infantry Division.

The motorized infantry division refers to the arms that use vehicles to maneuver and fight on foot.

Semi-motorized means that the number of vehicles equipped by the troops is not enough to carry all soldiers, so it is called semi-motorized, which means that half of the motorization has been completed.

The 17th Division is a standard armored division, equipped with a three-regiment armored brigade, including a heavy tank regiment equipped with "Tiger" tanks, and two medium tank regiments equipped with "Leopard" tanks.

In addition to the armored units, the 17th Division is also equipped with an armored infantry regiment equipped with "Alligator" armored vehicles, an armored artillery regiment equipped with self-propelled howitzers, and an armored reconnaissance battalion equipped with light tanks, armored vehicles, and reconnaissance vehicles.

In the just-past Volgograd battle, the Russians used tank-tank coordination more, tank troops did not use them intensively, and their attack power was not strong enough.

The 17th Division was equipped with 370 tanks and about 150 armored vehicles. Since the accompanying infantry were all armored, the attack speed of the troops was very fast.

"What did you say? The southern Africans have broken through our front line of defense?" Gallinari, commander of the 54th Infantry Division, was inexplicably surprised. He had just received a report of an attack by the southern African army 10 minutes ago, and he hadn't had time to organize a fire strike yet. , the forward position was broken through.

This is incredible.

Under normal circumstances, before the troops launch an attack, they must carry out firepower strikes. The length of firepower strikes depends on the scale of the battle. Firepower strikes in large-scale battles sometimes last for half a month.

Fire strikes in small-scale battles start at least half an hour.

Considering that southern Africa has a large number of artillery, this time should be longer.

Like Messer, Gallinari has just come to North Africa from Russia. His understanding of war is still in Russia last year, and he lacks understanding of the combat methods of southern African troops.

"Yes, general, the southern Africans have broken through our frontline positions, please evacuate from the command post immediately, or it will be too late—" Gallinari's adjutant was very anxious, my lord, let's run——

"No, it's impossible. We have to withstand the attack of the southern African army and organize a counterattack. I still have a reserve team—" Gallinari refused to admit defeat, and his cards were not exhausted.

However, Gallinari didn't even have a chance to play his cards. Before he sent out the order to dispatch the reserve team, the "Leopard" tanks from southern Africa rushed to the door, blocking Gallinari in the headquarters.

(End of this chapter)