"Beiwei? It's a terrible place to be! Rommel frowned when he heard the news.

The German Army fought against the British Army and was confident to sweep everything.

But the difficulty of the operation in North Africa lies in the logistical support.

In this era, there are no containers, and there are very few port machinery, just the loading and unloading of cargo ships takes more than ten days or even dozens of days.

North Africa has few ports to use, and more danger comes from the sea. Supplies through the Mediterranean were easily intercepted by the British. Even though the British mainland was in danger at that time, a strong British Mediterranean fleet was maintained in the Mediterranean.

At that time, the British and French division of labor, the British were in charge of the North Sea, blocking the Germans in the Bōlo Sea. The Mediterranean has always been a battlefield for the French and Italians, but the British did not expect the French to stop their meals early. So the rest of the task of guarding the Mediterranean Sea was left to them.

At this time, the Italian Navy had 7 battleships, 7 heavy cruisers, 12 light cruisers, and more than a hundred submarines. And the French, after being yīn by the British, also turned against the British. Although it will not help the Italians, it will not be friendly to the British. As a result, there is a clear tilt in maritime power in the Mediterranean.

As a last resort, the British reduced their naval forces in Asia and other places, but continued to increase the strength of their Mediterranean navy, which was not weaker than that of Italy, which was what Rommel was worried about.

"The rout of the Italians, I have also heard, that many of their logistics and transportation were stopped by the British, and the soldiers were short of supplies and had no intention of fighting. You know, in the desert, supplies are very important. I had to worry that "once the military supplies are intercepted and ammunition and fuel are not available, my army will also be defeated." "Rommel heard the version of the Italians themselves" and ignored their incompetence and **.

"The British have a good navy in the Mediterranean, but they are also a little stretched. They split the Mediterranean Fleet in two in response to the crisis of a lack of ships. A Chinese man sat across from him and talked to him.

Hitler planned to use force in North Africa in advance, but Meng Xiang pushed behind it through Skynet and Shanzhai companies. While the Germans were preparing, the Vanguard Army also sent a military expedition to prepare for the expedition.

And sitting next to Rommel at this time was Zhao Yi, whom he met at the staff of the Vanguard Army at that time.

Rommel was once invited to visit the Vanguard with the German military observer group. At that time, he still remembered the warm hospitality of the vanguard army at that time, and he felt good about the Chinese vanguard army. He naturally didn't know that Meng Xiang was pulling the golden finger of history to engage in emotional investment, "Not only him, but also the leading figures of the German nascent such as Manstein and Bonnitz are also within the scope of Meng Xiang's wooing."

This kind of emotional return on investment is the highest, and when these cattle are in a high position and host a party, the return of strange goods is absolutely eye-catching.

Zhao Yi, who was inspired by some fragments of military concepts thrown by Meng Xiang in the future, some of his views at that time coincided with Rommel, and the two talked very well when they were together. This time, "Zhao Yi also came with the group and talked again in the foreign Berlin.

"The Mediterranean Fleet under the command of Cunningham and the Navy's fleet under the command of the Somerville Navy combined, they had two aircraft carriers, four battleships, one battle cruiser, one mouth cruiser, and more than thirty destroyers. In August, they also sent another fleet, which is said to have the aircraft carrier Radiance and the battleship Warrior, which suddenly surpassed the Italians. Rommel had just studied the naval blockade of the British in the Mediterranean, and it turned out that the movement was not optimistic.

It seems that the Italians have more ships", but the power in the air is controlled by the British.

The Italian Navy does not have specialized naval aviation, only a few reconnaissance aircraft provided by the Air Force. If the Navy needs air support, the Air Force must be requested to dispatch aircraft.

At the beginning, "Mussolini believed that the Italian Apennine Peninsula was a giant aircraft carrier, and the combat radius of shore-based aviation could cover the entire Mediterranean, so the navy did not need aircraft carriers and naval aviation, and the air force could fully assume the mission of supporting the navy."

But Mussolini apparently had it all too perfect. At this time, there is a lack of tacit understanding and coordination between the two branches of the armed forces of any country because of the constraints of some conditions, and the process of temporarily summoning air support is very cumbersome, so that the air force often receives a request from the navy to send planes, but when they arrive over the battlefield, they have already found that the battle is over, and even sometimes the branches of the armed forces directly make trouble, and the air force is not willing to send planes at all.

At this time, the British had three aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean, which were able to dispatch aircraft at any time, and the carrier-based aircraft and surface ships had long-term coordinated exercises, and the cooperation was relatively tacit, so the air supremacy in the Mediterranean was actually in the hands of the British army. This also makes it very difficult to transport logistics across the Mediterranean, and it will be attacked by British ships or bombed by the British from the air. Even the port suffered a lot of trouble because of the mines laid by the British.

These were all worries for Rommel.

"There are actually three things that could be very bad for the British in North Africa in the future." Zhao Yi's German was practiced in two years when he was the first batch of military students to go to Germany in the vanguard army, and he was also very fluent, which did not affect his communication with Rommel at all.

"The first thing is that in June, the Spaniards took back Tangier, which your country is under the control of Italy, France, and Great Britain, and shouted that they would take back the Strait of Gibraltar. Number. This has a big impact on the UK. When Zhao Yi said this, Rommel frowned slightly.

He knew very well that Hitler had a lot of trouble with Franco's bargaining. Frando is a very realistic person. Because Spain and Germany and Italy were separated by France on land and the British fleet at sea, he was not optimistic about the German-Italian alliance and never refused to express his position. But when the Germans crushed the Anglo-French forces in one fell swoop, Franco began to turn to Germany, and when the British were blocked in the British Isles and fattened, he began to seek to join the alliance.

However, at this time, the Italians suddenly attacked Greece, which made him hesitate to take more embankments against the Germans and Italians. Anyway, at this time, whether it was the German-Italian Axis or the Allies, they were actively trying to win him over, and he was not in a hurry. Some of the positive behaviors have been slowed down again. This made Lao Xi scold.

Spain has too many variables, and if it weren't for the Germans taking more advantage in the next step, I'm afraid that Spain would still be neutral. They will only add to the cake, not the charcoal.

"The second thing is that the situation around the British Isles may be about to change. After all, the two Utopian-class battleships of your country are almost familiar with them. With their participation in the war, the situation in the British Isles will immediately change dramatically, and this is the key to upsetting the balance. Zhao Yi said.

Rommel nodded, the Germans had already bought three Yamato-class battleships, except for one that was researched and refitted, and the other two were not put into the daily task of blocking the British transport lines. One is that with the outstanding performance of the sea wolves, it is enough for the British to have a headache. The second is that the ship is there, but it will take a long time for personnel to get familiar with it. If you are not familiar with the operation, you can only be a target.

So the Germans Yamato practiced mostly in safe places, except for the occasional lù below. It is estimated that the German Yamato-class battleships should also be skillfully controlled, and it is time to exert their might. At this time, with their participation in the Battle of Great Britain, I am afraid that it is not a stalemate.

"At that time, the British may abandon the Mediterranean to protect their homeland. Or abandon the homeland, move to Canada, and strengthen the defense of the colonies. If the former is the case, the situation in the Mediterranean is alive. It can occupy North Africa, East Africa, and the Middle East. If it is the latter, when the British Isles are breached, if the Fantasy-class battleships come to participate in the battle in the Mediterranean, I am afraid that the British will have the same headache. Zhao Yidao.

Then he said: "It's a pity that your country's aircraft carrier has not moved, if it can also be quickly put into battle, it will solve those troubles faster." When he was in the staff of the vanguard army, he came into contact with more coordinated operations of the three armed forces, and he knew the power of aircraft carriers. He also generally knew that because of Goering's personal will, the two aircraft carriers he bought had not yet been put into service at this time, but he felt that it was a pity.

"Hmmm! What about the third thing? Rommel, noncommittal and changed the subject.

"It is said that copycat companies have sales points in North Africa. At the beginning, the Italians used to buy a lot of tanks, which were sent directly to Italy by copycat companies, and if you cooperate with them, you may be able to solve a large part of the logistics problem. Because of Meng Xiang's resignation, Zhao Yi had more contact with copycat companies in the vanguard army, and it seemed that they all had military supplies from large to small.

And the Germans have always maintained a certain degree of wariness of copycat companies of unknown origin. The vanguards, who did not have their own production capacity, could pin their hopes on copycat companies, but the Germans would never dare to gamble everything on a company that did not know the details. Rommel also first considered the power they actually possessed in reality, and only tried to supplement the products of the copycat company.

"With these three points, the situation of the British is indeed a little worse." Rommel also did not say anything about the copycat company, but only praised it lightly.

"Actually, there is another very bad thing about the Germans, and that is the non-cooperation of the Italians." , Meng Xiang sighed again for the noodle army. When Zhao Yi and Rommel were talking about these things, in China, thousands of miles away, Meng Xiang and Fan Chong were also concerned about the situation in the Mediterranean.

"Mussolini has lost face this time, and he must have regained face. Therefore, this time the Germans intervened, and he was bound to be ostracized. I'm afraid that if he doesn't suffer some big losses, he won't let go. Target. The German army may have set foot in North Africa later, and even Hitler was a little hesitant at this time. Meng Xiang vaguely remembered that Rommel only set foot on African soil in 41 years, and he didn't know what changes would be caused by such changes in advance. At this time, the Italians had not suffered a big loss and did not take the Germans as saviors.

Without the support and cooperation of the Italians, I am afraid that the situation of the Germans in North Africa would be even more difficult.

"This kind of guest army is facing more problems. There is a lot of friction between the armies of the two countries, and the issue of command alone makes people quarrel for a long time. Fan Chong sighed lightly.

"Indeed!" , Meng Xiangji nodded, "But I'm afraid that the Germans will sing the leading role in the future." Fan Chong smiled: "You seem to be very unoptimistic about Italy? After all, they still had large territories in East and North Africa at this time, and the Germans were still guest troops. "I'm afraid the Italians will soon suffer a big loss. The British counteroffensive will continue, and the Italians will not be able to stop it. Meng Xiang continued.

The British did continue the onslaught in one fell swoop, and in less than ten days drove the Italians out of Egypt, including Graziani's troops stationed near Alexandria and Cairo. Meng Xiang changed history and allowed the Italians to capture the two major cities, but the Italians did not cherish this opportunity, and in just over a month, they were driven out by the British.

When the British evacuated, they placed many hidden lines in the city, and only knew where the Italians who plundered wealth were comparable to the British who had been in business for many years, and the British army that attacked from inside and outside quickly defeated the Italians who were enjoying themselves in the city. After capturing more than 50,000 people, the pursuit of the remnants of the Italian army continued until the border between Egypt and Libya, where more than 30,000 people were captured.

By the 10th of November, there was no place for Italians in Egypt.

Immediately afterwards, the Italians received another blow to the head.

Their port of Taranto was attacked by a British aircraft carrier group with heavy casualties. @。