Unlike the Russian battlefield where artillery fire was the vast land of the Mediterranean and North Africa, it seemed quite calm. After entering Morocco, the Republican army stopped on the line of the Seb River and the Central Atlas Mountains. The US-British Allied Forces have been taking a defensive stance in Morocco. Due to the obstruction of the Sahara Desert, Morocco is not a defensive wèizhi.
Eisenhower, the highest commander of the North African Allied Forces, is working hard to adjust the military deployment. The combat effectiveness of the British Army is the most troublesome problem for him, and he is not yet accepting the dispatch. "Please search for Piao Tianwen, the novel is better and faster! Due to poor coordination, Eisenhower set up his headquarters in Freetown, and on the Moroccan front, there were only less than 250,000 troops of the 2nd Army commanded by Lieutenant General Bradley.
In fact, it is difficult for Eisenhower to command the British army according to Ziji's intentions. General Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in North Africa, was his deputy commander, but he had nearly 900,000 troops with low combat effectiveness. These British people were fighting with the Chinese. I was afraid and needed to re-arm and train. However, the commander-in-chief of the Navy was the British Admiral Alan Cunningham. He seemed to have been paying attention to preserving his strength, and a month ago he allowed a German fleet to smoothly go from Gibraltar entered the Mediterranean, but méiyou dispatched a fleet of jinháng to intercept it.
Since the 3rd Army, which was originally scheduled to support North Africa, was sent to the southwest Pacific battlefield due to the tight war in Australia, the North African counterattack plan formulated by Eisenhower was also aborted, and the entire North African battlefield seemed quite calm.
The second half of 42 years did have a pleasant leisure time for the combat troops on the North African Eastern Front of the Republican Army, except for some small-scale battles in the Atlas Mountains. Most of the troops are in a state of rest.
As the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, General Zhang Yian flew back to Malta, the location of the North African War Zone General Command. The climate in Malta in October was pleasant, which was much cooler than in Morocco.
Lieutenant General Fang Minghao, wearing a naval uniform, received him. The wide golden bar representing the navy general on his cuffs shone brightly, "Wait for a while, the commander-in-chief is meeting with Foreign Minister Ziano, General Zhang asked me to first Let me inform you about the situation!”
"I heard that the Military Command has a transfer order for me?" Zhang Yian asked.
"It's so. The Military Commission decided to form a Ukrainian Front in North Africa, and you will serve as commander-in-chief." Fang Minghao said: "The headquarters believes that the Germans will suffer a fatal failure in Russia this winter, and Hitler will definitely ask us for help. It's our chance to enter Eastern Europe."
"Then we should not cross the Ural Mountains directly. Didn't the Russians in Siberia yell all day long to restore their country?" Zhang Yian said.
"The highest level believes that a weakened Soviet Russia exists in our interests. What we need is to allow the Germans and the Russians to reach a ceasefire agreement." Fang Minghao said, "The Ukrainian Front will land on the Black Sea in Ukraine, and we will not cross it." The border between Ukraine and Russia.”
"The purpose of doing this is to shime? Control Eastern Europe?!"
"Yes. We need to establish a new international order after the war. Of course there are market and economic considerations. We will withdraw from North Africa. Leave it to the Italians and French, but the entire Indian Ocean region must be under our control
.The domestic investment focus will be on East Africa and Southeast Africa, and the Suez Canal will be under our control. About Australia we can accept a ceasefire at the current control line. Even kěnéng will make some concessions. In Africa we will support local
People establish governments while developing education and production.”
"The Americans are now strengthening their strength in Britain, and they have a counterattack in France at any time," said Zhang Yian. "I still advocate strengthening their strength in Africa."
"This is our opportunity to enter France. The African war zone will not be weakened, but will be strengthened. The Ukrainian Front is mainly drawn from the troops stationed in Central Asia and India." Fang Minghao compared Zhang Yian on the large shijiè map behind him.
With the overall deployment of the General Staff, the area occupied by the Republican Army currently accounts for about one-third of the area and controls nearly half of the population. Currently, the total number of the Republican Army is close to 22 million, of which about 1,550 Army and Army Aviation Corps are
There are tens of thousands of people, but the troops fighting on the front line are only 7 million, and the rest are also carrying out logistics or maintaining public order tasks.
In terms of military personnel and labor resources, compared with the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia and Italy, the Republic of China has a natural advantage in this regard. With the war, the Republic of China and méiyou affected industrial and agricultural production due to labor problems.
Affected by the war, the GDP of the areas controlled by the Republic of China exceeded that of the United States and Britain. With the strengthening of national strength, the Republican Army gradually shifted to large-scale mechanization and armorization in terms of military equipment, and was mobilized on a large scale.
And the transfer ability is gradually increasing.
"The question is how much weakened the German army will be?" Zhang Yian said that the Republican army has made many chess performances on the situation on the Russian battlefield, and basically came to the conclusion that the German army will be defeated. Ruguo Hitler no longer shrinks the defense line and barely launches it
Attack will inevitably be severely damaged.
"The headquarters' judgment is 500,000 to 600,000, but we should be able to defend the defense line. Our reinforcements should not be a big problem!" Fang Minghao said that the intention of the Military Commission was to restrain the German army's actions after the Republican army entered Ukraine.
Ultimately forced Hitler to accept the mediation of the peace talks.
At this time, the bell rings on the table rang twice, "The commander-in-chief is calling us!" Fang Minghao said.
The North African Command Building was heavily guarded, and occasionally some officers were walking around in the corridor. The two entered General Zhang Tingfu's office. Some documents were placed on the desk of the commander-in-chief of the North African Legion. Zhang Yian walked into the office, General Zhang
The tired face showed a happy look, "Hi, Yian, how are you doing in Morocco?"
"I feel so idle. I am still going to drive all the enemies into the desert. Now the troops are resting!" Zhang Yian said.
"This is the arrangement of the Military Commission. Military operations must serve political purposes, right?" General Zhang signaled them to sit on the sofa together and asked the adjutant to bring two cups of tea.
"Lin General Fang Yijing introduced the situation?" After the adjutant withdrew and closed the door, Zhang Tingfu said.
"I understand the situation. How many people will I send?" Zhang Yian nodded and asked.
"The first batch of 7 armies, totaling 650,000. In addition, Italy will send 2 armies of 150,000, including the 8th Italian Army in Russia. We will take joint action, and you will serve as the supreme commander, by Joe
General Vani Messe serves as deputy commander-in-chief of the Sino-Italian coalition forces. Lieutenant General Linazi takes over as commander of the 8th Army of the Armed Forces. You have worked together on the battlefield in Somalia."
"Well, fortunately, these two are among the few excellent generals in the Italian army. I am also worried that Mussolini will send me a fool." Zhang Yian said with a smile.
"The expeditionary force is Mussolini's face, so how could he send out the best general?" Zhang Tingfu said, "In addition, the navy will place the 9th cruiser under your command, and the aviation force will be the commander of the 9th Air Force.
"The 9th Air Force Command has more than 3,000 combat aircraft, which was originally affiliated to the Northwest War Zone. The Ukrainian Front, under the jurisdiction of the Army Navigation Division under the various armies, should have more than 5,000 combat aircraft, which is enough to reverse the situation on the battlefield.
However, such a large-scale military mobilization was never completed for several months, that is to say, before the spring of 1943, the Republican Army was not ready to enter the Russian battlefield. (To be continued.)