In fact, if the bomber wing of the German North African Air Division had not suffered too much in the previous battle to defend Casablanca, there were not many Luftwaffe aircraft in Spain, and the long distance seriously affected the combat efficiency, several of the U.S. Second Army
I'm afraid hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles were not seriously damaged, but almost all were blown up.
However, even under such unfavorable circumstances, Patton still showed his true qualities as a famous general. Under his leadership, the 2nd Army, which had repeatedly lost troops and humiliated the country not long ago, was as strong as taking medicine (well, they were originally
Just took the medicine.), the 2nd Division of the Algerian Corps and the 1st Division of the Tunisian Corps sent by Krim to intercept were wiped out one after another under the fierce artillery fire of the U.S. 2nd Army and the rapid assault of the armored forces, causing Eisenhower, who was sitting in the rear, to
Overjoyed.
But Patton, who received the award, had a solemn look on his face. Although he successfully wiped out all 30,000 of the enemy's elite troops, the Second Army suffered more than 20,000 casualties. This was the first time in Patton's military career that he had seen such a powerful enemy.
To. What makes Barton sad the most
What is shocking is that the two main Arab divisions knew that they had a chance of winning, but they still fought to the last moment. Not only did no one surrender, but no one even escaped. Except for a few people who were injured and unconscious and captured, the US military did not capture a single prisoner.
"Even at the end, they still shouted 'Allah Akbar' and the name of leader Kerim, pulled grenades and rushed towards us. If the enemy's army is like this, then how much price do we have to pay?
Defeat it completely?" Patton, who has always been brave, thought of this. He sighed secretly unconsciously, "I knew it would be so difficult to fight here. It would be better to land in Europe directly. No matter how fierce and good the Germans are, they will surrender in desperate situations."
What makes Patton even more uneasy is that although he has asked his subordinates to save medicine as much as possible, how can the US officers and soldiers who are accustomed to being extravagant change it for a while? As a result, after two wars, the Second Army's medicine reserves have been consumed by more than 70%. Patton
There was nothing I could do about it, I could only shrug my shoulders and send a telegram to the headquarters to urge the rear to speed up the transportation.
The northwest plain is the essence of Morocco and has a relatively large population. Therefore, Krem has not forgotten the big weapon of guerrilla warfare. The local militia's raids and sparrow wars once caused a headache for the US military, and suicide attacks occurred from time to time.
This made the American officers and soldiers even more frightened. Patton soon realized what was going on.
Because of the danger, the troops are required to fire warning shots at any locals who come within 200 meters of the troops. If they do not stay away immediately, they must be shot immediately. The adjutant said that doing so is likely to attract criticism at home, but Patton replied
He said, "I would rather have my reputation damaged than let my subordinates die in vain!"
However, the report of the US military shooting civilians completely angered Krim. He was determined to eliminate this "inhumane" Western army no matter what the cost. In Krim's eyes, they were defending their homeland from the enemy.
Being invaded, any means can be adopted. However, as the invaders, the US military is inherently evil, but it actually kills innocent civilians. This is even more excusable.
Although he has a certain understanding of Western civilization, Krim's values and thinking patterns are still Arab. Therefore, he did not fully realize what it meant to join the Axis camp. He just thought according to traditional thinking, "Since I don't have
I went to fight you, but you hit me first, then you are the aggressor. Even if you fight for the allies, it still cannot change the identity of the aggressor." But waiting for the American officers and soldiers in Patton
It seems that he is fighting fascist gangsters, and he is absolutely "great and bright justice". Even if he is forced to do some inhumane things due to the situation, it is forgivable. The differences in understanding between the two parties, coupled with the colonial era,
Even earlier, the feud between the Berber Arabs and Western Christendom during the Middle Ages made the North African war more cruel than imagined. This is really a terrible misunderstanding.
There are many difficulties at hand, but the barrier to the northwest of Casablanca and Rabat, the second largest city in Morocco, is already in sight. Barton will not retreat at this time no matter what, but the road ahead has been completely destroyed by the local militia.
As a result, it was difficult for U.S. vehicles to pass, and the infantry had to rely on their feet. Patton originally wanted to pull out armored vehicles and jeeps with strong off-road capabilities to form a mobile force and go straight into Rabat, or even bypass Rabat and go directly.
strange
attack Casablanca, but at this time the German aircraft fleet rushed over at Krim's strong request and together with a limited number of Arab Federation aircraft launched the largest air attack on the U.S. Second Army since its landing. Although the Second Army used
Various air defense
The weapon successfully shot down and injured more than ten enemy aircraft, but 119 tanks and armored vehicles were completely destroyed or suffered severe F-level damage (lost combat capability and could not be repaired on the battlefield), while jeeps were destroyed and injured.
The number is even greater [
After learning that the total number of tanks and armored vehicles that could still be driven was less than fifty, Patton sighed deeply with gratitude. If the mobile unit only had this strength, even if it rushed to Casablanca, it would be nothing more than death. So Patton immediately wanted to
Send a telegram to headquarters requesting additional dispatches
Tanks and armored vehicles came over, but at this time, the headquarters sent a telegram first, telling him that many supply convoys had been attacked by the enemy and the entire army was wiped out, and a large number of enemy troops were found to appear on the 2nd
behind the army, isolating it from the main force.
Asking Patton to immediately lead his troops back to attack this unit with friendly forces in order to re-open the supply route. After hearing this, Patton's heart suddenly skipped a beat, knowing that his troops had fallen into unprecedented danger, but at the same time, he couldn't help but have another thought.
, "If the enemy
There are 200,000 to 300,000 troops behind me, so how many more troops can the enemy in front of me have? As long as we can capture Rabat and Casablanca, obtain the airports in both places, and continuously transfer domestic aircraft to the North African battlefield,
There will no longer be any suspense about victory.”
Therefore, Patton decided to ignore the orders of the headquarters for the time being and concentrate all his troops on Rabat. However, the 2nd Army encountered an unprecedented strong blockage. What blocked their way was a strange troop. There were Arabs in this troop.
There are Berbers, Syrians and Iraqis, and there are even many black people and even a very small number of yellow people (to be continued...)