The German Afrika Korps with the name of the document has been changed, but it is actually the same unit that crisscrosses North Africa, the only difference is that this force is now more replenished and more organized.

Although Germany's actions in the Soviet Union seriously affected the attention of the Supreme Command and the Army General Command to North Africa, it was still an important direction for Germany's attack.

Not to mention anything else, many German high-level leaders still have an ambition to conquer the world! They hoped that their forces could sweep across the Middle East and attack the Caucasus from the fragile hinterland of the Soviet Union north.

Leaving aside the feasibility of this strategic plan, judging from the results alone, it is definitely a very bold and absolutely effective attack plan.

Of course, even in 1990, when the United States started the Gulf War and attacked Iraq, logistics were still a major headache.

And in 1941, all the trucks in Rommel's hands were used for transportation, and they were all broken down in the desert, which was not enough for his troops to rush into Baghdad for an hour.

What's more, Rommel's legion now looks very powerful, but it is not as terrible as imagined.

First of all, the German fighter unit, which was originally dedicated to supporting Rommel's offensive, has now been completely transferred, leaving only naval aviation trained on the Mediterranean island of Malta.

Even in this naval unit, most of them are equipped with carrier-based aircraft of the naval aviation, and the subjects of training are naval attacks.

Most of the fighter units of the Middle East Corps were the Italian Air Force. The aircraft they were equipped with were not as good as the German ones, and their combat effectiveness was not as terrible as that of the Luftwaffe.

Second, the ground forces appear to be outnumbered and impressively combative, but they don't have enough ammunition to support them in a sustained fight.

With the increase in numbers, the base of the artillery and other material consumption troops of the Middle East Corps is also increasing. To keep these troops running, more and more supplies are needed.

Thousands of cannons, but there are not many shells in reserve. Most of the Middle Eastern regiments still use British artillery, because of the larger number of captured British shells.

For these reasons, Rommel waited honestly in Africa for half a year and did not continue to attack the British army.

He didn't do nothing this year, but ordered the Italian troops to build frantically in Port Said and Alexandria behind him, so that he could quickly replenish supplies.

Unfortunately, with the start of the Soviet-German war, even with the support of a large port behind him, not much supplies were delivered from Europe.

Ships from Italy and the Balkans generally carry food and other supplies, and most of them are oil.

Later, even food was scarce, and most of the ships began to transport fresh water so that when they returned, they could transport oil.

When it comes to shipping, the Axis powers have allocated a third of their transport forces to build Libya's oil fields and increase their production capacity to be consumed in the war and domestic construction.

Another third will be allocated to the construction of the port of Sirte and the destroyed Benghazi to strengthen the capacity of the ports around the Mediterranean.

The remaining third is used to sustain the day-to-day transport of the Mediterranean – including to Tripoli and Tunisia.

The last part is the transport force for Rommel. It was already very difficult for these forces to barely maintain the daily attrition of Rommel's troops.

Take Rommel's artillery as an example, if all of it is transported from Germany and Italy, the transportation pressure is very huge.

After all, the Mediterranean is now the inner lake of the Axis powers, so war is no longer the main theme. Of course, it is necessary to shift to economic construction, which is also more in line with the will and interests of the local people.

The reality is that about one-fifth of the artillery in Rommel's hands is the old artillery that the Italian troops originally deployed in North Africa.

A fifth of it was imported from Germany to support Rommel's old artillery...... The other fifth, in the middle and late stages of the war in North Africa, was the newer artillery that Italy supported Rommel.

The remaining two-fifths were captured British artillery - in other words, the Afrika Korps, or the Middle Eastern Corps, had four-fifths of the guns in their hands, which were actually old models that were behind the times.

This phenomenon can also be seen in Rommel's tank unit: the Middle East Corps was the only German unit that was not equipped with Leopard tanks.

Its tank force composition is mostly the lighter and more reliable No. 3 tank, with some short-barreled No. 4 and a small number of No. 4 modifications.

In addition, this unit was equipped with a large number of No. 2 tanks, which were already nowhere to be found on the Eastern Front, and used them as a reconnaissance and flank protection force......

So, there is a song and dance around the Mediterranean, at least here, the war is over.

On March 19, after the surrender of Britain, Mussolini traveled to Cairo, where he gave his famous speech entitled "The War Is Over."

Unfortunately, the most famous part of this speech is not how gorgeous Mussolini's speech was, but the very next day, March 20, the Soviet-German war broke out.

As a result, on March 21, Italy declared war on the Soviet Union over the Axis pact and became embroiled in a new war.

So Mussolini's speech "The War is Over" became a joke, so only Italy remained, and the Middle East Army was still concerned.

Now Rommel was in his office discussing the battle against Jerusalem.

He looked at the map and said to his Italian officers: "At the beginning of the attack, use British artillery as much as possible......"

There is also no way to do it, first consume the British artillery shells that are relatively well stocked, and then the captured British artillery can be eliminated.

"Most of the shells in Cairo have been transferred...... Our forces have been massed in the Gaza Strip and will soon be ready to launch an attack on Jerusalem. Rommel was very satisfied with the answer given by the Italian officers.

At least this German commander had an advantage, and that was that his troops, faced with local armaments that did not have much war potential.

According to Rommel's calculations, maybe in 2 days, maybe 3 days, his troops will be able to march into Jerusalem and deal with the two poor Arab forces in the vicinity.

"Let the 21st Panzer Division move first and clear the perimeter of enemy forces. The task of attacking the fortification will be handed over to you, and in two days, take it! Rommel pointed to the map and said to Italy's allies.