"Will the French ** team at the landing site resist?" Neither the British nor the Americans can be sure of it.

"We still don't know if the French ** team will resist. If you resist, annihilate on the spot; If you surrender your guns, treat them equally! Remember one thing: the French are not Germans and Japanese. Patton said to his soldiers.

He is still optimistic in his heart.

The Allied 130,000 attacking forces separated after meeting outside the Strait of Gibraltar.

One way directly into the British-controlled Strait of Gibraltar, through the channel, and then split into two routes, directly attacking Algeria's Oran and Algiers. Then attack Libya and Tunisia to the east, threatening the back of the German and Italian legions, in order to alleviate the threat to the Suez Canal area and the Middle East, until finally the German and Italian forces are completely annihilated and the whole of North Africa is recovered.

In order to prevent the German fleet from blockading the Strait of Gibraltar again, the other route was led by Patton to attack the famous Moroccan port of Casablanca.

This way is mainly the American ** team.

The Americans and the French did not have much grudges, and the French gave great support to the United States during its independence and even the Civil War. Even after the establishment of the Vichy government, there were normal diplomatic relations with the Americans. So Patton estimated that the French would not be ruthless against the American army.

As for the other way, it is a little less certain.

30,000 British troops were mainly concentrated along that road, and a large number of British ships followed along the way. Although the American fleet took the lead, because of the British attack on the French fleet, the French already hated the British very much, and it is difficult to say what radical actions they would make.

On 18 April, the Allied fleet passed through the Channel and arrived near the port of Algiers at night.

"I hope the French team won't give us problems. If resisted, annihilated on the spot. If there is no intention of resisting, turn on the searchlights vertically as a sign of friendship with the Allies. Eisenhower ordered.

The night was silent, and more than 50,000 Allied troops were anxiously waiting for the last moment of the ultimatum.

The Vichy government in France itself was already in disarray. The quarrels between the parties have been going on, and there is simply not a unified opinion.

The German army was on the other half of French territory on Godandan, while on the other side was the Allied army blocking the doorway, and at the beginning of World War II. The French were in the same trenches as the British. However, they eventually surrendered, and the Vichy government was also a semi-puppet regime. The glory of the French made them very unconvinced that they were controlled by the Germans, but they were powerless to struggle.

"The world is disappointing, life is full of absurdities." Jean-Paul Sartre, who refused the Nobel Prize in Literature in 64, spoke about the psychological feelings of the French people in this era and even many people in the world in "Being and Nothingness", which was just published in early 43 years.

He also spoke of a positive response: man is free. Be people-centered. In a situation that cannot be changed, constantly create your own existence through free choice, bear the burden of freedom, and take responsibility for yourself and the whole world.

His views hit the fragile hearts of the confused French directly, and the interweaving of existentialism and the Torch Project, which had been delayed for nearly half a year, had begun to make some waves.

Admiral Darlan, the commander-in-chief of the three armies of the Vichy government of France, who was stranded in Algiers because he was visiting his son, still united the opinions of Vichy and Petain and others in this time and space.

But the Germans' threat to half of France's remnants and the pride and honor of the French finally made them hesitate to make a final choice.

The French top management has not been unanimous for a long time, but the French ** team guarding has made a free choice.

The last moment of the ultimatum came. The huge lampposts of the searchlights soared vertically into the night sky.

"The French are quite sensible!" Major General Ryder of the United States, who was in charge of the eastern attack on Algiers, breathed a sigh of relief, and then ordered, "Take the port!" ”

At the same time, he did not forget to remind: "Be careful!" ”

Free choice. It is no longer possible to follow the consensus of the collective.

When the American battleship sailed into the port of Algiers, the French shot again.

The American GIs, who had been on tension, immediately returned fire, and the heavy shelling immediately provoked more French resistance, and the fortress artillery in the harbor also began to bombard.

And some French troops were still hesitating, quietly waiting for the final result.

Such a strange war has been going on. At the beginning of the battle, many things had begun to get out of control, and even the orders of the French high-ranking who had an idea at that moment were forgotten by the lower-ranking officers at the front. They can only defend their last duty as soldiers and resist all invading enemies.

Unlike the hesitation of nearly half of the soldiers in Algiers, Port Oran, which had been attacked by the British, resisted even more fiercely. Let those fledgling American recruits experience the taste of a tough battle.

But the resistance was even fiercer in Casablanca.

In order to pry open the door of the world's largest film gold mine in the United States and let Huaxia Films encroach on Hollywood, when the clouds of the 40-year war also spread to the United States, Meng Xiang acquired Universal Pictures.

Although Universal was the strongest film company in Hollywood in its inception, it was squeezed out by Mikoyan after the great economic crisis of the twenties and thirties.

In 36 years, the founder, Laimer, was squeezed to the side of power. Universal has always relied on small productions to mix rice, and even the only few big stars in the company have run away. This also allowed Meng to enjoy the acquisition at a low price, and with the help of the many theaters acquired, Universal was revitalized.

In addition to "Star Wars" and "Shushan" in cooperation with Huaxia, they also made some main theme films in line with the mainstream of the United States. Among them, "Casablanca" filmed by the original Warner Bros.

This film, which was released in 42, not only made the star of the new Universal signing, Ingrid Bergman, popular, but also left a romantic and charming image of Casablanca in the minds of many Americans.

But as soon as the battle began, the hopeful American recruits immediately understood what Patton had said, and the flames of war drifted everywhere and sent them from heaven to hell.

The French even sent planes to attack the American warships and landing forces.

The French artillery fire once suppressed the 35,000 Americans along the way, and none of them could raise their heads.

With severed arms and stumps, brain-spilled heads, lunch-smelling intestines dragged through the grass, pools of blood in low-lying areas, and corpses that began to crawl with insects and flies, the American recruits began their journey to hell in the struggle for death.

It's not a long journey, though.

The resistance of the French, although fierce, was lacking in stamina.

Since the defeat in the war, the armaments of the French have been under the control of the Germans, and the French military industry is serving the Germans. And the outdated weapons of the French ** team are obviously unable to fight against the US ** team armed with the global war factory.

Three days later, the French army in Algiers was the first to surrender.

A week later, Port Oran fell to more than 40,000 Allied troops.

It wasn't until ten days later that Caza Blanca was captured by Barton.

Compared with the total number of more than 16,000 American troops killed, more than 8,000 fell in Casablanca alone, and compared with the French who took advantage of the geographical advantage, there were only 10,000 casualties, which really annoyed Patton. Even when de Gaulle's Free France contingent came to receive the captured French soldiers, he kept shouting and almost shot several French prisoners of war.

Although the Allied casualties exceeded 30,000 this time, the strategic goal had been achieved. A second theater of war for the Allies had been opened and they had easily gained a foothold in North Africa.

Being able to involve the U.S. Army in North Africa and create a huge meat grinding ground is obviously in line with Meng Xiang's strategic deployment, and there is not much reminder to the Germans at all.

The unprepared Germans could only sit back and watch the French resist alone, and all they could do was to wave their troops south and completely occupy all of France after the surrender of the French army in Algiers.

The Germans did not want any other surprises from these instability.

Rommel also had to draw 2 divisions, which, together with 3 divisions of the Italians, strengthened the defense of Libya.

It is no secret that the news that copycat companies are constantly supplying German weapons and fuel to Libya makes it inevitable that Libya will be among the targets of the Allied offensive in the next step.

Rommel, who knew better than the Allies the importance of copycat companies to the North African Corps, naturally did not dare to be negligent and was always on guard for the next move of the Allies.

But when the German fleet resumed its cruises outside the Strait of Gibraltar, and when the Germans drew troops to completely occupy all of France, the Allied forces on the Western Front fell silent for a while. At the same time, on the Eastern Front, a much larger battle broke out.