Chapter 418 Desert Tiger 3

"Rudolf, welcome to Africa!"

Second Lieutenant Rudolf von Ribbentrop carried his luggage and a platoon of soldiers who had just been assigned to his command and walked down from the Italian cruise ship "Augustus". As soon as he set foot on the land of Africa, he heard the rough voice of his old superior Gustav Schwarzenegger.

"Second Lieutenant... Oh, it's Lieutenant!" Rudolf Ribbentrop found that the other party also had the rank of SS Lieutenant, and hurriedly changed his words, "You are a Lieutenant, congratulations."

"You are also a SS Lieutenant." Gustav Schwarzenegger laughed and hugged his old subordinate.

Rudolf Ribbentrop was injured in the battle in May last year. He lay in the hospital on the front line for 20 days, and then limped to the Brunswick Military Academy to participate in the training course for platoon officers. He completed all the training in early February this year and was awarded the rank of SS Lieutenant.

Gustav Schwarzenegger smiled and said, "But you are still my subordinate. I am now the commander of the 17th Mechanized Reconnaissance Company."

"You are my company commander, that's great." Rudolf Ribbentrop smiled and replied. He is now the platoon leader of the 1st Platoon of the 17th Company of the Great German Infantry Brigade.

The Great German Infantry Brigade is the original Great German Flag. After the online battle, this unit was expanded, adding a mechanized artillery battalion, a mechanized chemical battalion, a mechanized infantry training battalion, a heavy transport battalion and a mechanized reconnaissance company (the 17th company), as well as a mechanized air defense company (the 18th company), and the number was changed from the flag to the brigade.

Gustav Schwarzenegger had served in the armored reconnaissance company during the invasion of Poland, so after the Great German Brigade received the order to go to Africa, he was appointed as the commander of the 17th company, and his rank was promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant.

However, he did not take over the troops immediately, but followed the advance team of the brigade to Benghazi to familiarize himself with the situation. Today, he was ordered to pick up the troops at the dock. Most of the officers and soldiers of the 17th Company will arrive on the "Augustus" cruise ship, and the heavy equipment and a small number of soldiers of the company will be transported to Benghazi by cargo ship tomorrow.

Since the activity area of ​​the British Mediterranean Fleet has been compressed to the waters east of Crete-Tobruk, the waterway from Italy to Benghazi has become very safe. The only thing to worry about is the British submarine. So it has become very easy to transport troops and equipment from Italy to North Africa.

From February 16 to today (February 20), a large number of personnel and equipment have arrived every day, and the docks in Benghazi have become very busy. Everywhere is full of supplies that have just been unloaded from the ship, and everywhere there are large groups of soldiers lining up and leaving quickly-according to the order, the arriving troops must leave the dock in the shortest time to avoid delaying the follow-up troops.

Rudolf von Ribbentrop's platoon was no exception. They and another platoon belonging to the 17th Company - this company only had two platoons, one armored vehicle platoon, one motorcycle platoon, and another company headquarters equipped with armored vehicles.

However, there were neither armored vehicles nor motorcycles to ride today. Everyone carried their luggage and followed Gustav Schwarzenegger to walk to the temporary camp consisting of connected tents outside Benghazi.

"The troops will settle down today and have a good sleep. Tomorrow we will receive equipment. The day after tomorrow we will conduct debugging and desertification modification. Then we will have two days of desertification training, and then we will set off to the front line."

On the way to the barracks, Gustav Schwarzenegger told Rudolf Ribbentrop and another platoon leader, Sergeant Karamel, about the plan of the troops' departure (due to the rapid expansion of the troops, the number of officers in the German army is insufficient, so most companies only have company commanders and first platoon leaders who are officers).

"So soon?" Rudolf Ribbentrop was stunned, "But the troops have just arrived in Africa and are not familiar with the situation here."

"I know," Schwarzenegger shrugged, "but this is an order. I guess we will be on the front line soon!"

"Soon to the front line?" Sergeant Karamel interrupted, "Is it an attack or defense? What is the situation on the front line now?"

"It can't be defense," Rudolf von Ribbentrop took over the question and answered, "The British have lost most of their sea control and air control. The port of Tobruk will definitely be blocked by the Italian fleet and our aircraft. In this case, the British have no offensive power at all. I think we will launch an attack soon!"

Schwarzenegger smiled and nodded, "Rudolf, you really learned something at the Brunswick Military Academy. But I still didn't guess it completely. In fact, the attack has already begun!"

"It has already begun?" Sergeant Karamel was stunned.

"Yes, from the sea and the air!" Schwarzenegger said with a smile, "The air force is deployed every day, and the Italian navy also bombards Tobruk every day. Maybe by the time our army attacks, the British will be almost dead."

The mode of war is undergoing a revolutionary change. The blitzkrieg marked by large-scale tanks and mechanized troops' rapid assault is only the beginning of the mechanized war revolution, not the end.

In this "Mediterranean War", the mode of war has changed significantly, and air power has become the real protagonist on the battlefield.

Just when Rommel's Afrika Korps was speeding up its deployment but not yet in place, pilots like Hersman Jr. had already semi-crippled the British Empire's military power in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Standing on the top of the bridge of the battleship "Veneto" and looking into the sky, Captain Kuroshima Kameto saw a scene that made his scalp numb when his vision suddenly opened up. He only saw blue sky and white clouds. Underneath, hundreds of fighter planes strangled together, large, small, single-winged, double-winged, strings of bullets, bombs and torpedoes, drawing their own deadly lines between the sky and the sea.

Explosions, smoke balls and fireballs form a magnificent war picture in a brand-new mode!

The war at sea is no longer a fleet duel that can determine the outcome in just a few hours, but a long-lasting battle between sea and air to determine life and death. The huge and mighty battleships became targets that could only be dodged left and right in this confrontation, while the small but powerful fighter jets became the real overlords on the battlefield.

Starting from February 18, 5 battleships and 6 heavy cruisers of the Italian main fleet will sail to the sea near Tobruk every day during the day, using 381mm, 320mm, 203mm and smaller caliber secondary guns to attack the British The controlled Tobruk came with a fierce attack.

The British will do their best to dispatch fighter planes to attack and destroy the Italian fleet. The Fokker Zero and Fw-190 fighter jets flying from Benghazi joined the invading enemy aircraft in the fiercest fight.

At the same time, bombers of the German and Italian Air Forces such as Ju88, S.M.79, Z.1007, Fokker 99 and Ju87 were also dispatched one after another, dropping bombs on British positions, assembly areas and logistics lines for free. Throw it away.

And behind such a fierce aerial battle is the consumption of aircraft, crew and fuel!

Although the Fokker Zero and Fw-190 have performance advantages, the Kuroshima Turtles still keenly observed that the Fokker Zero is not invincible! In the confrontation with the British "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" aircraft, the German Fokker Zero was shot down a lot. Without the assistance of the Fw-190 aircraft, which has surprisingly good dive performance and is very fast, the Fokker Zero might only be able to tie with the Spitfire or have a slight advantage.

And even ace pilots flying Fokker Zero aircraft were shot down sometimes. From time to time, there are Fokker Zeros dragging black smoke downwards in the sky, and from time to time, you can see parachutes that look like cotton. The Italian battleships and heavy cruisers put their speedboats into the sea, scurrying around to salvage the fallen pilots.

In other words, it is not that Britain and the United States cannot use quantitative advantages to make up for their qualitative disadvantages. The key is how much quantitative advantage can Britain and the United States exert in the future?

Unfortunately, Japan is at the bottom of the world's major powers in terms of the number of aircraft, fuel and pilots. If the war cannot be won in the short term and instead falls into a protracted war of attrition, then even if the Americans trade three Spitfires for one Zero, they will be able to use their huge national strength advantage to exhaust Japan to the point of exhaustion.

In other words, Japan's war strategy must be to win in the short term rather than choose long-term confrontation...

And just when Kuroshima Kameto, the "Fairy Staff Officer" of the Japanese Combined Fleet, was thinking about the future and destiny of the Japanese Empire on the "Veneto". Infantry General Rommel, who was quick and agile in attacking, had arrived at the front line. Accompanied by Lieutenant General Feng Toma, commander of the African Army Armored Group, he began to observe the British forward positions.

"Admiral, there is a minefield laid by the British ahead." On a forward position of the Italian 10th Army, Lieutenant General von Thoma pointed to a large expanse of desert in front of him, where not even a single blade of grass grew. Behind the area is the British defense line, which starts from the sea and extends southward to Bir Hakim, blocking Balbia Avenue, Kazopu Trail and Abd Trail. According to aircraft reconnaissance, the British are behind this defensive line. Heavy troops were deployed and several important oases such as Gubi Wells, Knightsbridge, Bir Hakim and Bir Ahmat were turned into their strongholds.”

"No problem, let's go around," Rommel said, "and let the paratroopers land behind them to cut off the retreat of the British troops on the front line of Tobruk."