As early as June 28, 18 days after Italy declared war on Britain, Li Le had not yet had time to make some necessary changes. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The Italian commander in North Africa, Marshal Balbo, commander of the 10th Army Corps, was killed by the fire of his own anti-aircraft artillery.

So Italy's current supreme commander in North Africa was a field marshal named Rodolfo Graziani.

There is an interesting little problem here, and although the fighting in North Africa began in July, Marshal Graziani of Italy actually launched a slow attack on the British army in September.

And this time, because of Li Le's change, Graziani received a lot of supplements, so even if he was reluctant, he led his troops into Egypt in mid-August.

Yesterday, the Italian troops had already occupied Selum, and their troops did not receive any of the weapons and supplies left by the British troops, and had to continue along the road.

Marshal Graziani's commanding style was more akin to that of Montgomery than that of Rommel in Germany - at best he was steady and solid, at worst he was cowardly.

Unlike the cunning but always hungry Desert Fox, Montgomery had to wait until he was fat before he had the courage to fight back.

The same was true of Marshal Graziani, although the Italian army in the Ethiopian colony had easily captured Somalia and was expecting the army of his homeland to flank Egypt.

Marshal Graziani, however, cautiously waited for his supplies, and slowly advanced towards Matru in the distance.

As in history, the British were desperately trying to strengthen their army in Egypt in the hope of withstanding the frenzied attacks of the Italians.

You must know that compared to the Italians, their current strength is pitifully weak, and it cannot be compared with Graziani's 250,000 troops.

In fact, the commander of the British army in the western part of Egypt was a lieutenant general named Richard O'Connor.

He only had the British 7th Armored Division and the Indian 4th Infantry Division plus some direct troops, and the number was about 36,000. Neither division reached full strength, and there were only 60 tanks of various types capable of fighting.

Compared with the original historical time and space, the British commander had fewer tanks in his hands, and they were not replenished in time.

Now they had to face almost seven times the strength of the Italians, and they had to hold Matru, which had to be defended.

The British defence was almost a replica of the Italian attack, and they also placed their infantry along the roads along the coastline, and then placed their armoured units on their own flanks in the south.

This was the same arrangement as the Italian attack, so the two sides soon discovered the fact that their tank forces had encountered the enemy's tank forces, and their infantry collided with the enemy's infantry.

After the offensive reached Bugbug, the logistical supply of the Italian army was already unsustainable, and they were really not ready for a war.

The shortcomings of the logistical supply link forced them to slow down the pace of their offensive and stop near Bugbugg.

The British on the opposite side, after pretending to fight back, turned around and began their own flight, abandoning West Dubai Gra and moving everything that could be removed there.

The Italian army followed, and then, with a triumphant victory, captured Gla, West Dubai. Now, they are not far from Zawiye Terfaye.

As long as they capture Zawiya Terfayah again, they will really not be far from Matru, an important city in western Egypt.

"We can't go on the offensive anymore." Within his own command, the commander of the Italian front corps, Marshal Graziani, complained about the officers under him.

Because the environment for his supply is already very bad - from the border with Libya to the current location of their country in West Dubai, half of their supply vehicles are busy on the road.

200,000 soldiers eat horses and chew, and the daily consumption is huge. Tanks need to be restocked, and all artillery needs ammunition, which is too large for Italy's logistics troops.

"Marshal! The leader's order is for us to take Matru as soon as possible and seize this important stronghold! A general reminded helplessly.

His army was not prepared for war at all, and when he attacked, he was still very uncertain, and until now, he could not believe that his army had won.

From the border all the way to West Dubai Gla, the Italian army did not actually annihilate a single British army in a structured way, so it is true that they could not be said to have won.

They only took a few unimportant strongholds, only to find themselves further and further away from their rear.

This feeling made Marshal Graziani feel the danger, and he guessed that the British were not defeated, but were choosing a position more suitable for a decisive battle.

In his opinion, this excellent location was in Matru, which was closest to the British supply base and farthest from the Italian supply station.

If war breaks out there, every shell consumed by the Italian army will have to be transported from a far, far away.

Despite the reinforcement of supplies, the Italian army in North Africa still faced a shortage of supplies.

Some of the troops, without even replenishing the basic ammunition, were forced to move forward and launched an attack on the British.

After several encounters, the Italian army no longer had enough ammunition to fight a battle against a large city like Matroux.

So Marshal Graziani was reluctant to attack Matru, he felt that if a decisive battle was fought there, it would be a disaster for Italy.

Mussolini, however, did not think so, and he hoped that his army could concentrate its superior forces and capture Matroux as soon as possible, or even attack Alexandria.

The capture of Matroux meant that Italy destroyed the British front-line airfield closest to Libya, which made a huge contribution to the security of Libya's oil fields.

As long as Matruh is captured, then the oil fields of Libya will have a decent depth, and the British Air Force will have to take off from the airfield near Alexandria if it wants to attack.

For their pilots, the distance is much farther, and it is easier to warn and intercept.

In addition, Mussolini was anxious for the Italian army to take Egypt on its own, so that his situation as the second Axis power after 40 years would be improved.

At least Italy can control the Suez Canal on its own, which will completely allow him to raise his eyebrows in front of the Germans.

Even as the Italian army approached Matru, Mussolini had begun to fantasize that he could open a bill for the Suez Canal to the German Führer.

"Our army is very tired, and attacking in such a vast wilderness is a very physically and energetic thing." The marshal said worriedly to his officers.

His fears were very well founded, and it was very irritating that British armored forces were destroying more and more Italian tanks these days, coming and going like the wind.

Because there is no radio station, the Italian M11 tank is very passive in the face of the enemy's attack or when organizing and coordinating the attack by itself.

This caused inexplicable losses of many Italian tanks, and soon the Italian troops all stopped, forced to wait for supplies from Bairdi on the distant front.

It was not easy to transport supplies to Baierdi, and the British Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Alexandria often harassed the port so small that it could not have been smaller, sinking small Italian transports.

After all, the admiral in command of the British Mediterranean Fleet was Can'an, a very difficult admiral.

Even if he was reluctant, even though his troops were tired and scattered, Marshal Graziani chose to obey the order and let his troops move on.

They did not encounter the sworn resistance of the British army along the way, which was the only reason why they kept moving forward.

On 22 August, the Italian army finally felt the pressure and had reached Kefervisir, less than 30 kilometres from the port of Matru.

It's just that at this time, 250,000 Italian troops were scattered on the road, and it was obvious that they could not muster the strength to attack Matru.

History really became different at this moment, and Italy, after more than a month of really painstaking preparation, went further than they did in history.

And here, under the city of Matru, the British army no longer retreated, they had very strong fortifications and their backs to their own ports for supplies.

To add insult to the dismay of the Italian army, they were also supported by a more timely air force and navy.

The Italian fleet did not dare to sail into Alexandria and Matroux's air defense circle, which allowed the British warships to open fire on the Italian army at sea with impunity.

"We have to retreat...... If this continues, the entire legion will only be ruined here! Seeing his soldiers scattered along the road, Graziani finally made up his mind.

For the past few days he has been torn between Mussolini's orders and the actual state of the army, and with the British on the verge of collapse, he has reached Kefervisil in a daze.

Obviously, they didn't have the strength to actually capture Kefervisil, so he thought it necessary to cede Kefervisil and gather his own forces.

Although the Italian army still had an absolute numerical advantage, it was clear that such an advantage did not support them to win the war - not in the seventeenth century, when the side with a larger army was easier to win.