Bismarck

Chapter 446: The depressed fox rushes forward!

Rommel's "continued" attack stunned everyone...

Although Tobruk was captured by the African Corps, it can definitely be said that it was seriously damaged!

According to the report sent by the African Corps, in the Battle of Tobruk, in the first wave of bombing alone, because of Mond Kutcher who sent the wrong order, the African Corps suffered more than 3,000 casualties! And after that, there was the battle of Sidi Mahmoud's three-way intersection, the Italian army's assault in the southwest corner, and the final general attack on the city...

After this battle, the total casualties of the African Corps reached nearly 7,000, which can be called a Pyrrhic victory!

but…

It's only been two days, why are they attacking again? You know, the total number of troops that the African Legion can mobilize now, even including the Italians, is less than 20,000!

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The Port of Athens…

Four German Navy generals, including Heyer, were staring at each other at a telegram. Behind the four generals stood Bismarck, Zeppelin, and a sleepy little hamster.

"…We just got back! Bismarck and Tirpitz were just sent to the repair shop, and Rommel continued his attack…What's going on!"

Lindemann slammed his hand on the table.

"Rommel suffered such heavy losses in Tobruk, where did he get the troops to attack..." Bontai thought about it and still felt something was wrong. He turned to look at Haye who was in charge of the sea transportation deployment: "Haye, have you checked whether the Italians have arranged a large North African reinforcement transport team recently?"

Could it be that the Italians are helping with the attack? But this is unscientific. Who would dare to believe the Italians' attack power?

"I checked. There was indeed a reinforcement convoy in early August. But the largest amount of supplies in that convoy was only fifty improved Panzer IV tanks. There is no reason why they could support such a crazy attack...?"

"That's weird. Does he want to rush all the way to the Suez Canal?" Lindman scratched his head, puzzled.

Finally, it was Lütjens, who was sitting in the main seat, who spoke up: "Forget it, if you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Maybe they have their own considerations. I think we should make as much preparation as possible first, so that if something really happens, we can be prepared to deal with it."

Bontai, Lindemann and Haye looked at each other and nodded together.

"This is the only way now..."

"In that case, we need to take stock of our assets..." Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus, Lütjens nodded and said, "Haye, how many supplies do we have now? When will the next batch of supplies arrive?"

When fighting, the priority is how much resources you have. If you have a lot of resources, you can be fearless. If you have few resources, you have to use them sparingly. You will also be nervous. What if you suddenly run out of ammunition when you are fighting hard? That would be fun...

So after each battle, Lütjens always had to find out about the fleet's current supply situation.

Hearing Lütjens calling him, Heyer responded and then flipped through the account books. After checking, Heyer raised his head from the pile of account books. Everyone could see that Heyer's face was not looking good...

"Our current supplies are barely adequate... The Navy Headquarters said that due to the war with Russia, fuel, ammunition, and supplies must be prioritized for the newly formed Arctic Fleet, so..."

Everyone looked at each other. As expected, the first thing he said was bad news. Although it could be heard that Haye was getting more and more depressed as he spoke...

"Then tell us how much we have left..." Lütjens said, holding his forehead. The others also looked at Haye expectantly, hoping that he could squeeze out some more supplies...

Seeing everyone's inquiring eyes, Haye, who was in charge of logistics, had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue reporting the situation:

"After the Battle of Tobruk, the three battleships had less than 200 tons of heavy oil left in total, with an average of only 1700 tons per ship, which is a little over 640%; ... In terms of ammunition, the Bismarck and Tirpitz consumed a total of about 150 main gun armor-piercing shells. Currently, the two ships have a total of 220 main gun shells, including 30 high-explosive shells and the rest are armor-piercing shells; the 150 secondary guns also have an average of 105 shells left per secondary gun, which is about 37% consumed, but the shells are relatively easy to replenish; the consumption of and anti-aircraft shells is not very large... Report completed!"

Everyone nodded, and Lütjens turned to Bonte and said, "Bonte, how many Zeppelin planes and aviation ammunition are left? Report."

"Yes!... Zeppelin now has 190 Stukas, 109 FW1000s, and 500 BFs left, a total of . Although the Air Force said that due to the war with Russia, the production capacity is tight and the replenishment of carrier-based aircraft may be insufficient, the existing fleet is still enough to fight." "As for aviation ammunition, only one torpedo was consumed this time, kg armor-piercing bombs and more than kg high-explosive bombs were consumed, and more than tons of aviation gasoline were consumed, but these consumptions are not large and can be replenished on the spot... That's all!"

"So, the main problem is the consumption of heavy fuel oil? Seventy percent of the fuel is only enough for one voyage, which is very difficult..." Everyone frowned. After all, judging from Rommel's reckless style, the Mediterranean Fleet will have to go out again sooner or later to clean up the mess for this angry fox.

Moreover, if the North African battlefield collapsed, the fate of the Mediterranean Fleet would be self-evident. After all, it would be difficult to break out of Gibraltar in the same way...

"Why do I feel like we were deliberately thrown here into jail by Raeder..." Bismarck said with gritted teeth on the ship girl's WIFI.

No one responded on the WIFI, but Zeppelin and Tizi on the WIFI both nodded vigorously.

"Bismarck! Grapes!"

Uh, it’s the captain shouting!

The startled Persian cat quickly logged out of the WIFI and looked at his captain. The lazy Xiao Beizhai was also startled.

"How long will it take to repair our two battleships? If we just want to repair them to the minimum standard for sea operations, how long will it take? You two are experts, can you give an estimate?"

Haye was a little confused, but considering that she was a secretary, she must have been responsible for the negotiations with the shipyard, right?

Bismarck just came back to his senses, but he saw that Grape was looking at him with big eyes, with a half-annoyed and half-coquettish expression...

Well, the Persian cat knows that he can only speak for himself...

"Well, I... I mean, judging from the damage to the Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships, if they want to be completely repaired, they have to replace the auxiliary engines, and they will have to stay in the dock for at least a month... But if it's just an emergency repair, since the main armor belt and main structure are not seriously damaged, they only need to clean the oil tanks and weld the damaged parts, which will not take more than a week..."

"One week...? Can it be faster?" Lütjens wondered if the working hours could be shortened a bit.

After all, God knows when we will have to come to the rescue or something...

"That's hard to say. Try to speed up the construction..." The Persian cat gave the captain an apologetic look, and after several years of tacit understanding, Lütjens understood it at a glance...

"It seems that even if Bismarck uses his ability to repair himself, it probably won't be able to recover soon..."

"Forget it, one week is enough..." Lütjens rubbed his brow and said helplessly: "You should strengthen your combat readiness and prepare it for me within a week! In addition, help me contact the African Corps. I think I need to go to North Africa again and ask Rommel what the hell he is doing!"

"Yes!"

-

The next day, under the escort of a fighter plane piloted by Zeppelin, Lütjens and Bismarck flew to Matruh, the central city in northwestern Egypt that had just been captured by the African Corps.

Under the shade of a clump of date palm trees in the ruins, the Mammoth Command RV opened the awning hanging on the side, put out folding tables and chairs, and spread out maps - this was the temporary command post of the African Corps.

Bismarck and Zeppelin looked speechlessly at Lütjens in front of them, and Rommel who was having a "very friendly exchange of views" with the captain across the table - in short, they just stared at each other!

"What? As an admiral of the navy, are you going to follow the example of those guys at the headquarters and persuade me to stop the attack?" With a sarcastic sneer on his face, Rommel's attitude was quite bad.

Bismarck frowned. The fox's attitude was really not good.

Bismarck even suspected that if the captain's rank of general was not one level higher than the damn fox's rank of admiral, the fox would have quarreled directly...

However, if the fox is ready to take action, Bismarck beside Lütjens cannot guarantee that she will not take action. You know, beating Rommel up would be a matter that would go down in history, and she would not let it go.

I'm helping you out of kindness, and this is your attitude?

But I can’t not help...

Lütjens's face was not looking good, but he suppressed his anger and asked calmly: "I don't want to interfere with the army's actions, but our two battleships in the Mediterranean Fleet need to be repaired, and it will take at least a week before they can go out to sea for combat. So we want to know what you plan to do next, and then the navy's actions can be determined and coordinated with your plan."

"Logistics, I need logistics! I need the logistics to be transported here, to Matruh! Otherwise I can't fight this war!" Rommel sneered and stared at Lütjens unceremoniously.

What he saw instead were three puzzled expressions on the faces of Lütjens, Bismarck and Zeppelin.

"Can I ask you something? Your logistics are insufficient, why are you still attacking desperately?" Lütjens asked with some confusion.

The logistics are not enough, and we don't know where the next supply will be, so why are you attacking so desperately...

Lütjens also expressed his incomprehension.

"Of course I know, so I must attack even more!" Rommel had a self-righteous expression on his face, and even seemed to spit?

"?!?!?!"

Seeing the three people here with confused faces, Rommel couldn't help but be a little stunned: "Are you really not from the headquarters to persuade me to stop the attack?"

"No, what's wrong?" Lütjens felt that he was a big fool, the kind of fool in the temple who was six feet tall and confused even when he jumped.

"Okay..." Hearing that he was not called in as a lobbyist, Rommel's attitude instantly improved a lot. He instantly changed from a cold and arrogant man to a weak and weak man with a wry smile on his face, and began to explain in detail: "In fact, it is because of the lack of troops and supplies that I have to attack. Because the pressure of attacking on supplies is actually much smaller than that of defending!" (PS, this is the historical view of the fox himself recorded in Rommel's wartime documents)

"When attacking, we only need to defeat one point of the enemy and consume resources when breaking through. After the enemy collapses, we can defeat or even eliminate the enemy through parallel pursuit at a very low cost. In fact, the amount of supplies consumed in a month is at most three or five basic supplies, and we can also seize the supplies of the British. Logistics in the desert are difficult. We and the British have secret military stations with reserve materials that can be seized. In the past few days in Tobruk and Matruh, we have seized nearly 4,000 tons of supplies and 1,400 trucks. These supplies are enough for us to use for more than half a month!"

This is only what the army can do. Bismarck thought of Huo Qubing at that time, fighting and replenishing supplies at the same time, and a light cavalry rushed into the royal court. As for the navy... if there is not enough supply, it can't move at all.

"But if we want to defend, we need a certain amount of ammunition and fuel every day..." Rommel spread his hands with a wry smile and shook his head: "Our current strength is less than 20,000, which is only equivalent to the strength of a reinforced division, while the British have three divisions in front of us, and they can also draw reinforcements from the Middle East and India!"

"If we attack, I am still confident that I can at least expand the results of the battle as much as possible before the British reinforcements arrive, and even rely on continuous assaults to pressure the British to form a front line! But if we defend, our troops and supplies are not enough to defend the front line. By the time the British reinforcements arrive..." Rommel did not say anything else, but just clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Bismarck felt that he seemed to understand a little bit. He must not stop the attack in North Africa. Once he stopped the attack, he would lose!

The best defense is offense, and the fox implements this idea.

"So that's why you're attacking so desperately?" Lütjens nodded slightly, but he still thought of something: "It was so difficult for you to attack Tobruk, but now you can attack Matruh directly - could it be that the British are luring the enemy deep into their territory? According to the calculations of the navy and air force, the combat effectiveness and logistics lines seem to decay at a cubic level, right?"

"I know, but I can't do anything about it... If I stop attacking, I will lose. I am also desperate..." Well, the fox has already made a sad face...

What can I do? I'm also desperate... This is probably the earliest application of this sentence.

"And even if you bring supplies, it's useless. The dock facilities in Tobruk and Matruh have been basically destroyed. Although there are still some shallows that can be transported by assault boats, the efficiency is not worth mentioning! Moreover, Tobruk and Matruh are both within the flight range of Alexandria's airport. As you know, merchant ships unloading cargo are sitting ducks..."

Well, Bismarck saw that the fox was about to cry... Although the captain's expression at the meeting the day before was not very good...

Under the awning of the command vehicle, there were only two handsome old men in their 50s, sympathizing with each other, holding their foreheads and sighing.

"Alas..."*2

Chapter 447: Bloody Battle of El Alamein

August 22, 1941, North Africa…

After a week of continuous assaults, Rommel led his exhausted African Corps and finally arrived near a small town called El Alamein...

The wind blew up yellow sand all over the sky, and the sun was slightly westward at noon...

From time to time, there were still frequent sounds of gunfire and roars coming from the front. The rising smoke and flying sand dyed the sky a dim yellow, and the vision was severely obstructed.

"Is that... Alamein?"

In a trench of a British outpost that had just been captured, Rommel was stealthily sticking half of his head out, holding a telescope to conduct German-style observation.

Looking at the small town vaguely visible in the yellow sand rising from the east, he couldn't help but frown.

"It's backed by the Alanhafa Mountains on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. It has support on both wings and cannot be outflanked... and the front width is less than five kilometers, so it's stuck with a small town like this as a base..."

With many years of military experience, Rommel knew without a second thought that the town definitely had strong fortifications, venomous machine gun positions, and the most troublesome anti-tank guns - the range of the anti-tank guns was enough to block off a small open area between the town of Alamein and the Alan Hafa Mountains to the rear!

South of Mount Alanhafa, there is a road leading directly to Cairo in the ups and downs of the arc-shaped mountain range 32 kilometers to the south. However, this is the defense position of another part of the British army...

Moreover, for some reason, Rommel, who had come here, had always felt a sudden and intense uneasiness in his heart, as if there was a voice in the dark, a sudden premonition, and a silent word that kept echoing in his mind...

The outcome of this battle is uncertain, it may be very difficult, and there is no guarantee that we will win.

For a general, it is definitely not a good sign and it will also damage morale if he has a premonition of losing before the battle even starts.

"Tsk, am I too tired from the assault? Or am I too worried... But if I didn't assault, I would have already lost!" Fox muttered to himself in his mind as if to encourage himself. He shook his head vigorously to temporarily drive out some distracting thoughts. Retracting his head into the trench, Desert Fox put down his telescope and asked the staff on his left and right: "Have you checked the deployment of the British on the opposite side?"

"The scouts have reported that the positions of the Indian Fourth Division are located in the town of Alamein and behind it, all the way to the line of Mount Ruwaisat-Mount Alanhafa. The positions of the Australian Sixth Division are located south of Mount Ruwaisat-Mount Alanhafa, from the Lagit Basin to the Arc Mountains. In front of the Australian positions, there are large minefields, about three to five kilometers deep. The Corps Engineer Brigade is now investigating the minefields and preparing to clear mines..." A staff member reported what the scouts had found, while another officer took out a stack of air force reconnaissance reports and said:

"In addition, the British army in the depths... According to the recent air force reconnaissance, the British have about two or three divisions deployed in the direction of Alexandria behind the Indians and Australians, including armored units, and there seems to be a defense line. In addition, the British Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria has withdrawn... As for the hinterland of the Nile Delta, due to the range restrictions and interception by the enemy air force, it is not clear at the moment..."

“…It’s not bad that we have been able to investigate to this extent right after arriving here, but let’s continue investigating. I know everyone is very tired, but we still can’t stop! If we stop, we will lose!” Knowing the fatigue of his troops, Rommel nodded silently.

This offensive momentum must not be stopped. Once it is stopped, after the British have caught their breath, the entire front line will collapse, and the consequences will be disastrous.

Even the fox himself had a face full of dust and fatigue. In fact, during these consecutive assaults, Rommel himself had always shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and was the one who led the charge in the front.

From this perspective, Rommel is indeed a good general.

Under Rommel's example, although the African Corps was extremely tired and had to save on supplies, there were not many complaints and they even maintained a certain morale.

Although this high morale, which is built on extreme fatigue through continuous victories, is actually very weak...it will collapse directly if there is just the slightest setback.

“…How much assets do we have left?” After a long silence, Fox asked his chief of staff.

"Well... we now have three divisions with more than 1800 combatants each, and four Italian divisions with about 1600 combatants each... We now have a total of 12000 people, 200 tanks, 2000 vehicles, 110 anti-tank guns, 160 field guns, 25 heavy guns, 50 anti-aircraft guns... In addition, the North African Air Force has 280 aircraft, including 109 BF-120 fighters... In addition, we now have three bases of fuel and ten bases of ammunition. Before the supplies from the rear are delivered, we can probably fight for another ten days."

"Ten days...?"

After many days of fighting, the fox had no military image at all. He sat down on the gravel in the trench that had been stained dark red by blood, just like an ordinary soldier. He leaned against the wall of the trench and took a few deep breaths of the hot air mixed with sand, smoke and blood, which was unique to the desert. Then he picked up a slightly burnt yellow grass leaf and held it in his mouth. Seeing that the people around him had gathered around him, the fox raised his head from the trench wall and said to the staff on his left and right:

"Well, let me summarize. According to the intelligence and my judgment, the British have been increasing their troops. The troops they were supposed to use to fight Iran in the Middle East should have been dispatched here by now, and the reinforcements coming from the mainland around the Cape of Good Hope should arrive in Suez in the next few days. There are also some other colonial troops. I estimate that Auchinleck now has about seven to eight divisions of troops, and they are basically fully equipped. This means that the British may only have about three divisions of troops in the depths of the Nile Delta. In addition, our supplies are only three bases of fuel and ten bases of ammunition..."

"It is now confirmed that our advantage is that our weapons and equipment have a considerable advantage in quality, which allows us to have some confidence when we attack them. In addition, there is another good news, that is, the Mediterranean Fleet of the Navy will fight alongside us this time, and General Lütjens is already on the way with his fleet! Now if we want to break through this line of defense as soon as possible, what do you think?"

"We only have two divisions in front of us now, so the rest of the troops should be behind us... It seems that the British at least have multiple layers of defense, and they may have enough troops to fight back against us..." said a staff member.

Rommel nodded, but said nothing.

"Commander, I see this... Alamein is not easy to attack from the front, but the Australians in the south have a division of troops, and the defense density is not enough to defend a 30-kilometer front. Can we attack from this side?"

"What are you going to do?" Rommel became interested.

"Use two divisions to launch a feint attack on El Alamein, and then push the remaining five divisions, as well as the Grati Heavy Artillery Regiment and the Corps Engineer Brigade, all to Australia! Then concentrate on breaking through the British defenses in the Lagite Basin!" the aide said in a deep voice.

"Interesting... But what if the three British divisions deployed on the second line of defense counterattack?"

"…Well…if those three divisions in the rear launch a counterattack, we should also prepare a reserve force, right…? I just don't know if our front-line troops will be enough for the assault if we withdraw the reserve force…Commander, you know, now each of our divisions only has 1,600 to 1,800 combat troops…" The subordinate scratched his head.

"That's enough! I think we should make a feint attack on the town of El Alamein with one of our divisions and an Italian division. The 15th Armored Division will be in reserve behind Bel Aisha, and we will find an Italian infantry division to control Mount Ruwaisat as a support point. Then the 21st Armored Division equipped with the improved Panzer IV and the remaining armored troops of the Italian allies will attack together! Five thousand men plus one hundred and thirty tanks are enough! In addition, if the British counterattack, let the 15th Armored Division attack from their flank! ... Let the Engineer Regiment go to clear the mines now. When the sun sets, do you have any additional comments?"