"Although the British won a small victory in North Africa, the scarcity of troops was always their weakness. According to the intelligence we have gathered together with our German allies, the British army in North Africa is only 30,000, and even with the British in East Africa, their total strength does not exceed 100,000. And our army, there are 260,000 people in North Africa alone, and if you count the army of East Africa, it adds up to more than 500,000 troops! ”

Garibaldi's analysis was headed by the Tao, and even Mussolini, who had always been conceited, frequently nodded in praise.

I have to say that Garibaldi is indeed a rare talent in Italy.

"If we let the 300,000 troops in East Africa immediately advance north to flank the British army in Egypt, the British army left in Egypt alone will definitely not be able to resist the defense."

Garibaldi saw very clearly, not to mention that the 230,000 Italian troops in North Africa had only been defeated, not destroyed. Even without these 230,000 troops, Italy's strength in East Africa alone would be more than three times the total strength of the British army in Africa.

It would have been impossible for the British commander to confront such a large army without exerting all his forces.

"And if the British commander still has a bit of brains, he must bring back the front-line troops back to Egypt. In this way, we will be able to lift the siege of Benghazi and take the opportunity to destroy the entire British army in Africa, so as to occupy Egypt, control the Suez Canal, and thus the whole Mediterranean! ”

General Garibaldi's analysis is quite a bit of Zhuge Lianglongzhong's general feeling, and he has already set a three-point trend before he leaves the mountain.

This is a conspiracy!

If the British army did not withdraw its troops, after the Italian army in East Africa conquered the whole of Egypt, they would be cut off from the back road and would eventually fail.

If the British army withdrew from Benghazi to help, then the Italian army in North Africa, which was already at the end of its rope, would get a chance to breathe, and then in turn bite the retreating British army and regain its superiority in strength.

Whether they withdraw or not, the British army is already doomed to suffer from the enemy!

Mussolini was full of praise for Garibaldi's analysis, and General Garibaldi was already quite knowledgeable about military warfare and had made many achievements.

So, Mussolini simply said to General Garibaldi without doing anything: "In this way, from today on, you will be the third governor of Libya and the commander-in-chief of the African army, and you will be in charge of the Italian army in Africa in the future." ”

After hearing this, Garibaldi was not grateful, but a little apprehensive.

He thought to himself, "What?! I'm here to give you an analysis of the situation in Africa, and you will become the third African governor-general? But I want you to be reassured, am I still wrong? What do you mean by throwing me into that place in Africa where birds don't? ”

Although Garibaldi has a thorough view of the war situation in Africa, he also thinks that his strategy will succeed nine times out of ten. However, this does not mean that he likes to go to Africa to implement this strategy.

The reason is simple, because Garibaldi really had little interest in war other than his love of pasta.

Garibaldi hurriedly excused himself: "Leader, I am still young, I am afraid that I am not qualified for this position. ”

Mussolini replied with a smile: "What kind of qualifications are not shallow, but you were personally promoted and appointed by me." Believe me, other generals won't have anything to say, do a good job! ”

General Garibaldi smiled awkwardly, but it was really hard to say anything, after all, it was his new strategy from Mussolini.

So he had no choice but to take on the task.

Mussolini continued: "I will now send a telegram to the troops in East Africa, telling all of them to obey your orders for the time being, and to fully cooperate with your movements." ”

"Okay, thank you for the leader's trust!" General Garibaldi reluctantly thanked Mussolini, even though he himself did not want to accept the damned task.

"General Garibaldi, you will fly to your post tomorrow. I think you will leave early tomorrow morning, and in the afternoon you will be able to reach Tripoli, which is less than 500 kilometers from Benghazi, and if you hurry a little, you may be able to reach the Benghazi front in the evening. Mussolini said to Garibaldi.

It can be seen that he really wants General Garibaldi to take office immediately to save the decline in Africa.

"No, no, no, leader, I'll just look at the plane, I'd better go by submarine. I'm used to being in a submarine, not in a plane. Garibaldi remembered what happened to Marshal Balbo, the first governor of North Africa, and couldn't help but fear the fact that he would fly to Africa.

Otherwise, where in the world is there anyone who is used to riding in submarines and not in airplanes?

"It's up to you, but I have to warn you that as soon as possible, the soldiers of North Africa and all of Africa are waiting for you to lead them." Mussolini seemed to see his concerns, and made a rare compromise.

Immediately, Garibaldi, who was a submarine and did not fly, left Mussolini's hospital room and went to take his submarine.

Truth be told, apart from other personality factors, Mussolini was a conscientious and qualified leader.

As soon as Garibaldi had left, he called his assistant again, to whom he verbally recounted the original text of the telegram he was about to send to the Italian garrisons in Africa: "As Marshal Graziani led the Italian army in North Africa to several times the enemy's strength, but was defeated by the British, he was dismissed from his post of Governor of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of the African Army, and was transferred back to Rome on the same day, and General Garibaldi took over all his duties." In addition, the East African forces are required to fully cooperate with his troops in launching attacks on Somalia and Egypt after the arrival of General Garibaldi. ”

According to Garibaldi's detailed request, Mussolini copied Garibaldi's original words and ordered General Oster's troops in East Africa to attack Sudan, Kenya and British Somalia from Ethiopia and Erit, and then arrive in the Sudan region of North Africa to join Garibaldi's army in North Africa, and finally jointly attack Egypt, which aimed to completely drive the British forces out of North Africa, so as to control the Suez Canal and the entire Mediterranean.

In fact, Egypt and the Mediterranean were the key to Mussolini's "new Roman Empire". Its strategic position is extremely important, it controls the Suez Canal, which is the throat of the Atlantic Ocean through the Mediterranean to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and is the "lifeline" of the British Empire.

In a sense, Churchill also regarded Egypt as more important than his own homeland, because he understood that once he lost Egypt and lost control of the Suez Canal, then he would lose the entire Mediterranean, and controlling the Mediterranean Sea and maintaining the smooth flow of the Suez Canal was not only a life-critical matter for the British Empire, but also could directly affect the fact that the French African colonies continued to fight against Germany with Britain.

So Churchill, the British prime minister, like Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, attached great importance to the defense of the Mediterranean and Egypt.

Despite the constant threat of invasion by Reinhardt's troops on the British mainland, he did not return to the H Fleet in the Mediterranean.

Churchill also sent to Egypt a small number of tanks that had just been produced in the country, and he quickly transferred a British Commonwealth army of Indians, Australians, and New Zealanders to East and North Africa.

Encouraged by his victory in North Africa, Churchill also hoped for a decisive battle with Mussolini in the region and the complete elimination of the Allied powers in Africa. Because after that, Churchill was able to attack Berente, who was guarding Algeria, and cut off the largest overseas oil import route of the Third Reich.

........

On a submarine in the Mediterranean, Garibaldi was musing in thought.

He took advantage of the opportunity of the submarine to float and came to the upper deck of the submarine to breathe.

Compared to airplanes, the turbidity in a submarine is not pleasant, at least Garibaldi is a little unbearable.

Facing the endless Mediterranean Sea, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sea breeze on his cheeks. For a moment, he felt that he was about to ascend to heaven, to a paradise where he was carefree and did not need to be disturbed by all kinds of trivial things in the world.

Gradually, when he woke up from the dream, he found that the reality was not so beautiful, and he still had to face all kinds of unpleasantness.

He's still going to breathe in the muddy carbon dioxide of the submarine, and he's still going to North Africa to be the goddamn governor of North Africa.

Although he was forced to go to a military school by his parents since he was a child, and he learned those military knowledge as soon as he learned it, he also got a guaranteed place in their military academy, and entered the top of the Italian Army as soon as he graduated.

But who knows that this seemingly promising Italian commander actually doesn't like to fight, but only likes to eat pasta quietly?

Therefore, Italy is not actually lacking in talents, but lacking an environment that creates talents.

Too many people in Italy have wasted their lives on flashy "art". They like architecture, art, and music, but few of them like the military.

It is precisely because of this that Rommel regarded the Italians as stupid and frivolous fools, and thought that the Italians wasted most of their life on flashy things.

But Garibaldi would not have imagined, and Rommel would not have imagined, that the two of them, who had very different personalities, would soon become long-term partners......