"That's the basics, what do you think?"

In his office, Antonescu finished his plan in one breath, and then sought the advice of Lieutenant General Messer.

After hearing his words, Messer felt that the plan was completely fanciful. "It's incredible, but it takes a couple of things. Among them, the navy side ......"

"You coordinate."

Faced with Antonescu's words, Messer bypassed the topic.

"So how do you plan to break through the first line of defense, you must know that there are three divisions, and they are completely on the first line, and there are two divisions on the second line, 51 and 67, although they are deployed at a large interval, but it is still quite difficult to break through. In addition, there should be reserves in the hands of Catroux. If you want to break through the French defense in one go, it is really unrealistic to get into Bengardan in Tunisia. ”

Messer tried to dissuade Antonescu because it was too risky. Antonescu tried to pool the armoured forces of both sides, and then took them with them to seek a breakthrough in the weak French lines, and the target of the plan was Bengardan, in Tunisia, which was the French transport logistics base.

As long as this is captured, then more than 90,000 French troops will be surrounded in an area of more than 100 kilometers from Tripoli to Bengaldan.

At that time, there were defenders on both the east and west, and the sea to the north, and mountains and deserts to the south, so it can be said that it was completely besieged. Unless the French wanted to die in the Sahara Desert, they had no choice but to choose between a breakout and a surrender.

However, on the way to Bengardan, there is a road along the border between the two countries, which is called Abu Kema, and its road is very dangerous and very defensive. And before that, Italy suffered a big defeat, allowing the French army to enter Libya easily.

Although Antonescu's plan is quite profitable, and even if it is completed, it can even attack Tunisia, but the danger is not small. If it is not good, it will be a matter of the armored forces falling into it, and then it will not be a question of pushing back the French army, but of the possibility of the fall of Tripoli.

Lieutenant General Messer could not afford to take that risk.

In the face of Messer's opposition, Antonescu was of course reluctant, but this was a plan that he carefully prepared after scouting. If Messer does not agree, then the troops currently landing in Tripoli have no chance of completing this battle plan, after all, the Romanian army in Tripoli is only in the early tens of thousands and needs the cooperation of the Italian army.

"Listen to me, Messe, the French army would never have imagined that we would do this, and it can be seen from their offensive that they are not ready to switch attack and defense at present, and if they continue to drag on, then the enemy will perfect their disposition, and we will only watch the opportunity lost. That's definitely not what you and I want to see. ”

"There must be risks in war, otherwise it would not have been possible to obtain such high returns. And even you didn't expect us to attack, how could the other side think of it. Actually, before today, I didn't think about it myself.

And for this plan, I have seven layers of certainty, as long as we join forces, we can come up with a beautiful result. You also want to put up a good record and let everyone see your talents, and that's the best chance. The defeat of the French army led by Catroux was definitely the brightest performance. ”

Faced with Antonescu's demagogic words, Messer was moved. There is nothing more exhilarating than the defeat of an enemy, and although Italy's relations with France are not enemies, Italy has been an imaginary enemy of France for many years, and every Italian has every reason to express his displeasure, from the territorial dispute in the north to the loss of Tunisia by France.

"It's done!"

In the end, Messe, who couldn't resist the temptation, gritted his teeth and made a decision. And his words made Antonescu on the side laugh, he didn't misunderstand him, Mese's ability is absolutely qualified, but sometimes it seems to be a gain or a loss. At that time, this may have had something to do with the overly conservative forces in the Italian army, and as a new type of army commander, if you want to get enough support, you will inevitably be cautious in doing things.

So compared to Italy, Romania is much better in this regard, at least the military top brass has a high awareness of new things, and they can still get the support of His Majesty. It is almost possible to envy the Italian colleagues to death, and to envy the German colleagues before.

Since both of them agreed, it was natural that preparations needed to be made first.

coordination of troops; At present, a small part of the Rams Panzer Division and most of the Brescia Infantry Division are on the front line, and their troops on the front line need to be gradually withdrawn.

collection of vehicles; According to the plan, almost a thousand vehicles are needed, while at the moment in the hands of Antonescu there are only 600, and the rest needs to be coordinated by Lieutenant General Messe. Fuel, ammunition (mainly Italian ammunition, Romanian ammunition is all brought by itself), contact the navy and air force to provide support, which keeps the two busy.

And while the two were busy, the French army's offensive continued.

As commander of the French army, General Catroux set up his command in Zavier, 24 kilometers from the front line. It is also a logistics distribution center for the front-line troops, so the defense work is good, and the 21st Division will protect this place tightly.

However, this is not a concern for Catroux at all, because the offensive against the Italian army is his primary concern.

"How's it going today?"

Catrou, who had just arrived at the headquarters, asked, and the person he asked was his old buddy, his old partner, General Danver, the chief of staff. I saw him reply. "It's not working well at the moment, as we get closer to Tripoli, the resistance is getting worse and now the forces are reacting, and their advance is being blocked."

When Catroux heard the words of the chief of staff, he muttered to himself. "At the moment we only have so many troops that asking for reinforcements from Paris is not approved at all. I don't know what they think, Libya has oil, as long as we capture Port Brega, we can cut off Libya's oil, these Parisian gentlemen should know the importance of oil. ”

In the face of Catroux's complaints, Denwall also knew why he did not agree, on the one hand, the government was unwilling to open another front to disperse the precious forces of the French army. On the other hand, the French Navy cannot guarantee the security of Libyan waters, which is not only not guaranteed, but simply not taken seriously. The French navy began at Cape Tunis, and the naval strength in the eastern seas was almost none.

At present, the main naval forces of Italy and France are in Toulon and Genoa respectively, and the distance is so close that neither of the two main naval forces dares to act rashly. On the contrary, the two countries fought more on small and medium-sized warships, and in this respect the Italian navy showed amazing combat effectiveness.

Therefore, starting from Cape Tunis, the French Navy's control over the Central Mediterranean region has plummeted. If it weren't for the transport to the island of Malta, France would have been almost invisible in the region.

And without the cover of the navy, most of the ambitions for the seizure of Libya will have to be dispelled. Although Katrou no longer wants to gallop to Libya, the capture of Tripoli can still be considered, because the Algerian governor General Jean Zeko has sent two divisions of reinforcements that are almost there. Therefore, he planned to take this opportunity to attack again, and if it didn't work, he would retreat to Tunisia and hold on.

So he thought about it for a moment and commanded. "Let the 21st Division send two regiments to reinforce it, and if it can't be attacked, then we will go on the defensive. Intelligence indicates that Romanian troops have been transported to Tripoli, and the Romanians have not been seen on the battlefield, possibly planning to do something. ”

Catrou paid enough attention to the arrival of Romanian reinforcements, because the Romanians had performed well in all previous battles. Previously, Romania could be called the Prussia of the Balkans, although this made him feel less comfortable, but he also had to admit its fighting power.