Chapter 517: The Italians' First Battle in Egypt

"Hold the line and clear the remnants of the enemy!" After Meng Xiang gave this order on the 12th, a base car had also reached the mountains south of Fuxin.

"I order, build the Base 16 center on the spot." After Meng Xiang confirmed that the base car had arrived at the predetermined location, he immediately started the construction of the new sub-base.

The proximity to Fuxin, a land rich in coal resources, is enough to ensure the smooth construction and upgrading of the base. It's a pity that no matter how the distance between Fuxin and Shenyang, Huludao and Yingkou is adjusted, it is impossible to be shrouded by the direct jurisdiction of the base. Considering the secrecy of the base, Meng Xiang still chose to place the sub-base in the mountains on the south side of Fuxin, near the side of Beizhen. The area under its jurisdiction only covers the area of Fuxin and Huludao, which does not delay the energy supply, does not waste the construction of Huludao's port, and can also participate in the defense of the Liaohe River.

"This egg hurts within the direct jurisdiction!" Meng Xiang couldn't help but snort in his heart. In the past, I felt that a radius of 100 kilometers was already very large, and it was easy to demarcate more than 30,000 square kilometers. However, when the territory is larger, it is necessary to consider the offensive and defensive aspects of various strategic locations, as well as the layout of energy power plants, shipyards and various factories, and it seems that the circle delineated within the direct jurisdiction of the base is much smaller.

It's okay to have more coal-producing areas in the north, but there is less coal and less oil in the south, which makes people's eggs hurt.

"Xiaohua, is there no other way to solve the energy problem?" Meng Xiang asked Xiaohua casually.

"The south is rich in vegetation and can provide biofuels." Xiaohua always has questions to answer, even if the answer is just "I don't know", she will always answer in time.

"Biofuel?" Meng Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then said with a wry smile, "Although the base power plant can also generate electricity by throwing firewood, but the amount required is so large, do you want me to destroy the entire forest?" I'm still counting on keeping those primeval woodlands to build a Chinese-style country! ”

"Is there any other way?" Meng Xiang didn't have much hope for Xiaohua's answer at all, but he continued to ask.

"Some areas in the south have abundant water and electricity, which can be connected to external power supply." Sure enough, Xiaohua's answer is still nothing new. The damage to the environment caused by the hydropower station, the huge construction cost and the long construction time were all unacceptable to Mengxiang at this time. Fortunately, Xiaohua didn't propose wind energy or anything like that, and the cost is not as high as burning wood.

"Forget it, I'll burn the oil!" The reason why Meng Xiang said this is all because of the location of the sub-bases near Wuhan and Nanjing.

At this time, Jiangbei had already placed a sub-base in the Tianchang area, which was for the coal resources of Huainan and the power network of the sub-base near Hefei. However, it didn't take long for the mining truck to discover an oil field near Yangzhou, and in the successive exploration, it seems that the reserves are not small.

Meng Xiangna was limited to geography knowledge at the junior high school and high school level, and after thinking about it for a long time, he remembered that there was a northern Jiangsu oil field. It's just that some are fragmented, and the geological conditions are very complicated, and later generations are known as the "petroleum geologists' examination room". It's just that at that time, Meng Xiang ignored most of the way to supply energy such a luxury as burning oil in Huaxia, so he never noticed it.

Originating from the oil crisis in later generations of China, Meng Xiang has always wanted to keep as much of China's oil resources as possible. For example, near Wuhan, he also knew that there was a Hanjiang oil field, but he had not made a decision to build a sub-base nearby. However, with the development of the current situation, there needs to be a sub-base near Wuhan to sit on the supply, so he can only rely on the supply of oil.

"Guarding the golden channel of the Yangtze River, the oil tankers will just drive in directly. The oil in the Middle East will be ours at that time, so what are you afraid of? When he heard that Aladdin's team had expanded to more than 50,000 people, Meng Xiang finally put aside the idea of keeping his family and raised the vision of resources to the height of globalization.

"It's that I was too impressed before, and I always want to keep my family. In this time and space, if Huaxia wants to be the hegemon of the world, why is it so small? Meng Xiang put aside the obsession in his heart and immediately started the new base layout.

The base originally arranged near Tianchang began to be adjusted and moved to the east side of Yangzhou, which can directly cover Jiangyin, Changzhou, Jintan, Nanjing and other places, not to mention Zhenjiang, Gaoyou, Taizhou and other places, and is connected to the Tianmu Mountain sub-base. If it weren't for the Tianmu Mountain base, which would have to be delayed in the future, I'm afraid that the Yangzhou sub-base could also be directly attached to it.

The new sub-base has also just been built near Xiantao, west of Wuhan, and can use the oil fields near Guanghua in Qianjiang to cover places such as Wuhan and Xianning, and even near Yueyang. Previously, ten mining trucks surveyed near Qianjiang River, and only then did they find signs of oil fields near Wangchang, which became the basis for the establishment of sub-bases.

"Less than 10 million tons of reserves have been explored, which is less than a fraction of the Middle East!" Meng Xiang sighed, of course, he also knew that the exploration near Wangchang had just begun, and as the exploration scope of mining vehicles increased, it might bring more than 100 million tons of oil field reserves. However, this is far from the news coming from the Middle East.

At this time, the base's account income was mainly dependent on oil from the Middle East and Alaska, and later added a Greenland oil and gas resource. However, with the rapid expansion of the sub-base and the hot sale of arms, Meng Xiang built an oil field in the Middle East again, and the location chosen was Kuwait.

Kuwait was just one of many tribal chieftaincy colonies of the British, and it was not of much value. Before the European war, the British had been exploring the area, but they were attacked by a group of unidentified forces, and only detected that there might be some oil splashes. Later, with the beginning of the European War of '39, more of the British's attention had shifted to the mainland and the Suez Canal. When Meng Xiang established a second base in Kuwait, they did not care about Kuwait, because the Italians had already begun to attack Egypt on the 11th.

The date of the Italian attack on Egypt was brought forward by two days, but it still followed the rhythm of the times. The lack of preparation of the Italians for the war, coupled with the fact that the former commander-in-chief was accidentally killed by his own men, left a mess behind, which made the current commander-in-chief of the Italian army, Graziani, hesitate and procrastinate.

Mussolini, on the other hand, was keen on the gradual dominance of the Germans in the English Channel, so he kept urging him to act quickly.

The British also felt the crisis here. Although the Germans were increasingly attacking their supply lines, it was impossible to cut them all off, and when they were almost stuck by the Germans, the numerous destroyers and their powerful naval forces on the islands played a huge role, and in early September, they had already begun to bear fruit and regain a glimmer of life. The Germans didn't have that much naval power to live in all of the British Isles.

But Italy's move will undoubtedly cut directly at the throat of this already fragile supply line, and the British can no longer afford such a toss.

"Without the Suez Canal, our rule in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia will be shaken, and the lands that carry the history of conquest by our ancestors will also be the tentacles of the empire to catch food from outside. There are places we can give up, and there are places for which we must shed our blood! "In the face of Churchill's tough rhetoric, the British Cabinet made the difficult but decisive decision to reinforce Wavell's Middle East forces, even in the face of the dangers at home (the latest chapter of the armed forces).

They even transferred 100 M3 Stuart tanks purchased from the umbrella directly to North Africa.

Speaking of the M3 tank, Meng Xiang realized that the trajectory of his change in history was so obvious.

Land Rover and Umbrella have teamed up to launch the M3 and M4 tanks. Because the M4 tank was a little more advanced, only a sample car was released for the time being, and the M3 tank that was bid for by the American tank was eliminated. The reason is actually very simple, Land Rover has obtained a large number of orders for jeeps, which has heated up many people and is dissatisfied, this time the United States needs to balance, plus Land Rover and Umbrella are mixed together, so the M3 tank turned over in the ditch and was eliminated by military purchases.

"That's what butterflies do?" This made Meng Xiang cry and laugh, but for this relatively mature tank, he still did not give up. The British, who continued to produce and sell arms to the outside world with gold, immediately fell in love with this cheap and high-quality M31 tank. The first order was for 500 vehicles. Half of the first batch was sent to Egypt.

There was no way to send it there, the Germans had a tight coast, and the other hundred vehicles sent to the mainland were only half transported, and the rest sank into the icy waters.

One end of the scale is heavier, and the other end naturally needs to be weighted more.

The Italians also tightened their waists and took out a lot of good things from the copycat companies. Of course, in terms of tanks, the Italians did not choose the German No. 3 tank, but the French Renault R-35 tank and the 20-ton Soma -35 tank.

Both tanks were produced by the French in 36 years to equip the troops, and the Italians have always regarded the French as their worst enemy, and they also paid special attention to the equipment of the French. The Italians preferred these two, arguably the best tanks equipped by the French.

"Don't think you're a hero and have the idea of helping those ramen, that will only drag the hero into a bear. Noodles are noodles, and the amount of equipment you give away will give you as much equipment as you can get from the enemy! Meng Xiang doesn't care about the choice of the Italians, anyway, there is no problem of changing the production line at the base, as long as the money is paid, the customer's opinion is the greatest.

Graziani also had a hundred more French tanks on hand, coupled with the slow accumulation of other strategic materials, which made him much more confident, and at the urging of Mussolini, he ordered 4 divisions and 1 armored unit of the Italian 10th Army to attack Egypt in the early morning of the 11th.

Graziani was an experienced colonial official, with a better understanding of the strength of the British. The strength of the British had influenced him, making him a little overcautious. Even with a hundred more tanks, the offensive still adopted the same operations as during the First World War, and the advance was carried out cautiously little by little, and the assault was completely lost.

When the weather in North Africa was steaming to 50 degrees Celsius, the attacking contingent was getting slower and slower, and four days passed, and by the 15th, the Italians had advanced only about 110 kilometers. Even Meng Xiang, who was paying attention to this place from afar, was so anxious that his eggs hurt.

However, the Blackshirts were not bad, and soon captured Western Dubai Rani and stockpiled a lot of food and ammunition in this place near the Mediterranean. Graziani still planned to fight steadily, but Meng Xiang knew that the British army was far from being mobilized at this time, especially in Alexandria and Cairo, where the resistance was not as strong as Graziani imagined.

Thus, the gossip of Skynet and copycat companies reached the ears of Mussolini and Graziani.

Graziani, who was moved, increased the speed of his attack after being confirmed by his own intelligence, and opened these two gaps in the British defense line in advance.

"At all costs, Cairo must be recaptured and the canal must be held!" Churchill's telegram made Wavell feel the bitter toughness.

"The decision to give blood to the British army in Egypt when we ourselves were in danger was a difficult and correct decision, and no one hesitated to do so." Churchill was right, the British were already desperate at that time. The British troops stationed in the Middle East were gathering in large numbers in this direction, and the British attitude towards India had been relaxed.

Gandhi's non-violent non-cooperation and went to London to plead for the independence of India, which could not come, had already been reported to the British with more certainty: "As long as the war is over, India will gain independence!" ”

The British are going to be finished on their own soil, and they will not be stingy with empty promises. It was only to recover some of the British soldiers stationed in India, and there was also the support of a large number of Indian divisions formed by Indians.

Garrisons in other colonies were also retreating, which shook British rule in the colonies everywhere.

"This is our chance! Aladdin, conquer this rich desert and lay down the vast territory of your future empire! Meng Xiang had already anticipated this and immediately ordered Aladdin in the Middle East to speed up his expansion. At the same time, the first tank No. 4 was fired at the tank factory at the second Middle East sub-base in Kuwait. ro@。