The Third Reich in Desperation

Third Reich Episode 320

Maybe others don't know it well, but in Reinhardt's view, although the Kingdom of Italy is a traditional military power in southern Europe, this kind of strength is nothing more than the fact that there are no tigers in the mountains and monkeys dominate.In terms of combat power, not only can Italy not be compared with superpowers such as Germany, the United States and the Soviet Union, but within the allied countries formed by Reinhardt, its ranking is still behind Vichy France and the Kingdom of Spain, only higher than Romania and Norway. It's just a country with third-rate combat power.

If it is really allowed to let Wavell eat up the last large group of Italy's defeated troops in Africa, then count on Italy, a "powerful country", to help Germany hold back the large group of British troops in Africa in the future and prevent them from returning to the mainland to fight , is simply equivalent to the Arabian Nights!

In order to prevent the increasingly large British African Army from being transferred back to the mainland, the best way is not to expect the Italians to turn defeat into victory, but to let the German African Army go to Africa and lead the Italians to deal with the British African Army.

However, after Reinhardt walked into the meeting room, he found that he still missed a little bit.

This guy Mussolini, probably because he was angry and sad last time, so he bypassed Berlin this time, ran to Vichy, and went directly to Pétain's soldiers.

What Reinhardt didn't expect was that, according to Ribbentrop's report in the conference room, he heard that Mussolini went to France to order Pétain so arrogantly that the French President sent Berente's French Algerian Legion, Counterattack Libya nearby, regain lost ground for Italy, and respond to Garibaldi's defeated Italian troops.

"That's why Mussolini was slapped in the face by Petain, so he had no choice but to give up in desperation, and changed his words as long as the French took over the rout of Italy and saved the blood of the Italian army." Reinhardt finished understanding the matter. After that, he smiled wryly.

"That's right." Ribbentrop nodded, took out a diplomatic document sent by Vichy France and read: "President Petain informed us that at the request of the Italian Prime Minister, France decided to help take in the Italians. Army, with military protection. However, France will not intervene in a war between Italy and Great Britain."

This is a classic example where neither side wants to offend.

Obviously, after the last failure, now Petain is unwilling to make a premature bet and completely devote himself to the Steel Alliance advocated by Germany and Italy, but he also wants to show his favor to Reinhardt's forces, so he chooses The way to take in the rout of Italy.

And Petain was unwilling to join the war between Italy and the British, because he was worried that if the British won in the future, France would be damaged again and lost again.

"It's up to them if they don't fight!" Reinhardt said indifferently to Pétain's speculation at both ends: "I discovered the largest oil field in Africa for the French, and let them use this Petroleum mortgages war reparations, not for good deeds."

Under the surprised eyes of a group of officials, Reinhardt slowly revealed the secret to everyone: "The British will not sit back and watch the Third Reich obtain oil continuously from France, and Churchill will not allow the tanks of the Third Reich to Airplanes and warships have an inexhaustible supply of oil."

"Think about it, everyone. In order to prevent us from getting the French fleet, what did the British do?" Reinhardt reminded his men with a sneer.

"They will destroy the French oil fields! Just like they destroyed the French fleet." Although he didn't understand military affairs, Ribbentrop quickly guessed the British's next move from the perspective of political interests.

"Yes, even if the French are unwilling to fight, Churchill will let his troops come to the door." Reinhardt smiled at Ribbentrop gratifiedly, nodded in approval.

With the approval of the head of state, Ribbentrop continued to speculate more confidently: "The matter of the oil field has not yet been resolved, and now the French are helping Italy to gather the rout, which will create a kind of French defection to Churchill. The influence of the Confederate States. It is even less likely that Britain will leave a country that has defected to a rival camp."

Maybe Petain still wants to be a fool for a while, but Churchill has always been a quick-tempered man.

With Qiu Fatty's character, from the moment Petain decided to let Berente take in the rout of the Italian army, the war between Britain and France was inevitable.

What's more, in order to understand the siege of Africa, Churchill has recently mobilized almost all the troops collected from the Commonwealth countries to Africa.He even allocated all the products so far from the already stretched tank production in the local area and sent them to Wavell for use.

These troops and tanks were the key to Wavell's defeat of Garibaldi, and also the fundamental reason why the British army won more with fewer.

Today, the defeat of the Italian army is certain, but the British African Army, which has become larger and larger, has not lost its vitality.Just throwing this army back to the country like this, compared to Churchill, he would feel that it is not a good deal.

With Churchill's urgency, he will definitely look for legal traitors, incite the indigenous rebellion in Algeria, and then use the African British army to launch an aggressive attack.

The British army didn't even need to occupy the French colony of Algeria. It only needed to destroy the oil fields that Vichy France regarded as the hope of revival, and destroy the source of Germany's large imports of oil, even if the strategic goal was achieved.

As for the relationship between Britain and France, it is not the first time to offend the French anyway, so it is better to simply offend to the end, and it will be settled once and for all!

If the British Empire wins this battle in the end, then when writing history, the history pen is in your hands, and you can beautify it however you want.If you lose, there is no need to beautify history, the winner will naturally pour all kinds of dirty water over, not bad for one or two disgusting things!

After all, history is a little girl who can be dressed up.One kind of history is written in books, and the other kind of history is passed on by people's mouth. Neither of the above two kinds of history can be separated from the influence of the victors.

As for the real history, only God knows.

Text Chapter 493 Two Governors

In Algeria's capital headquarters, Admiral Alphonse Ryan, who had come from Morocco, was standing respectfully behind Berente.

The middle-aged general in front of him, although he is five or six years younger than himself, but when it comes to commanding the battle situation, Berente feels like a natural general, a decisive commander , so that everyone around him can't help being in awe of him.

Admiral Alphonse and Berente are actually equals. One of them is the governor of French Morocco and the other is the governor of French Algeria. Alphonse is a head older in terms of age.

In terms of military age, during the First World War, Alphonse was already a member of the French military delegation to the US military. At that time, Berente was just a little-known little staff officer under Pétain.

Alphonse is not afraid of Berente, a colleague who was temporarily promoted to general a few months ago, but they are all grasshoppers on the same rope. The Algerian Army under Berente's command, It is countless times stronger than Alphonse's Moroccan Legion, and it is a great help for his self-protection. It is better to be as respectful as possible.

"Governor Berente, since you have confirmed that the British will definitely attack, why don't you mention the layout and deploy the cannon fodder of the gathered Italian army on the front line to buy a buffer time?" Alphonse probably knew the reason for this, but He still couldn't help but want to ask, because he wanted to prove it.

The British will send troops to Algeria. This is what Berente had guessed when he first took office as Governor of Algeria.

If these were still speculations before, then after the British attacked the port of Oran and blatantly betrayed the French navy, everything has become an indisputable fact!

If the British can betray France once for their own interests, they can betray the second time and the third time.A French fleet not yet used by the Germans was not yet tolerated by the British.How could a French oil field that had already been blood transfused by the German war machine be ignored by Britain.

"I know the combat effectiveness of the Italian army better than you. When they fought for themselves, they couldn't beat the British, and they couldn't fight better for us." Because I have seen it in the Alps in southern France Given the sluggish combat power of the Italian army, Berente said it very calmly at the moment.

"However, wouldn't it be more beneficial for us to use them to buy some time and consume the British offensive troops?" Admiral Alphonse asked puzzled.

This is his inner thoughts. If he were in command, he would definitely not let the Italian cannon fodders who are not in use for nothing not be dispatched. In this way, use part of the precious French troops to garrison the border.

Although Berente arranged for the colonial troops recruited from Algeria in the border area, they belonged to the French armed forces after all, and they were their own people.How can there be any reason to leave outsiders alone and let your own people die?

Berente looked at Alphonse and sighed silently.His colleague still couldn't get rid of the narrow French self-preservation thinking.This is a weakness that most French people have, but it is hidden so deep and seems to have some truth that few people can discover it.

As early as 17 years ago, when the French army invaded the Ruhr area of ​​Germany, Charles de Gaulle, who was still a colonel at the time, made such mistakes. He used the Belgian army with low combat effectiveness to lead the battle, leading to defeat in the first battle and greatly reducing morale.

Now, Alphonse, who has become a general, has made the same choice as de Gaulle.

Berente tried to put what Pétain said to himself about de Gaulle's cleverness, put it in the current situation, and relayed it to Alphonse: "Although our military strength is slightly more than the British army by about tens of thousands, But these are all colonial armed forces, no matter the level of training or weapons and equipment, they are not comparable to the British troops. The only real core forces of ours are the 3 French native divisions in my hand, and a French infantry regiment in your hand. As for My newly expanded 12 Algerian colonial army and your 3 Moroccan colonial army may not be able to beat a single division of the British."

"Strength is not the point, and we don't need to use Italians to help us save that little force." Berente analyzed lightly: "The key to this war is whether we can use the only main force to destroy the British army." core armed force, destroying their offensive strength!"

"Yes, I know what you said. However, no matter how strong the British army is, no matter how weak the Italian army is. As long as they are arranged to exchange fire at the border, they will definitely cause losses to both sides. After all, when the guns are fired, no one will die What about human? As long as it can consume the British troops for us, no matter how small it is, it will be more beneficial to our follow-up operations, won’t it?” Alphonse is still unwilling to let these Italian troops be used.

In his opinion, the reason why Pétain ordered them to take in the routs of Italy was probably so that these routs could serve as cannon fodder for the interests of France.Make the best use of everything, there is no reason to let go!

Berente just raised the corner of his mouth and smiled slightly: "Governor Alphonse, can I ask you two questions?"

Nodding his head, Alphonse said politely, "Please tell me."

Berante called his staff officer to pour twice the amount of coffee, then motioned for Alphonse to sit down, and said unhurriedly: "Don't be too nervous, we are still equal in the end, just exchange ideas with each other if you have any opinions. I just want to Taking this opportunity to ask you, how do you think the situation in our country compares with the situation in the British army?"

Alphonse was stunned. He didn't expect Berente to bring up this question that had nothing to do with the military. After thinking for a while, he replied decisively: "Not good!"

According to his inner opinion, Alphonse said truthfully: "Although the UK has suffered heavy losses from successive bombings by the German army, they still have the English Channel to protect themselves. Every time they are bombed, they still have time to rebuild and provide disaster relief. But in our country, we have consumed too much support on the Maginot Line over the years, but have not received corresponding returns. With the failure of the previous war with Germany, the economy and politics have reached their limit."

Alphonse paused, looked up at Berente's eyes, and said: "African colonies, especially the Algerian oil fields in our hands, can be said to be the hope of the revival of France, and they will be of great importance to our country in the next 30 years." The money bag. As long as this place is still in our hands, the production of oil fields can relieve the domestic economic pressure, and Germany will use the oil purchased from us to offset the heavy war reparations. If this place is also taken by the British Destroy, France, maybe there is really no way out!"

Chapter 494 Desire to fight

Berente waved his hand in good faith, and interrupted Alphonse's worries with a smile: "I, Berrante, stationed in Algeria myself, not to let the country lose this big oil field."

Realizing that he was talking too fast, Alphonse also smiled embarrassingly: "This is a slip of the tongue, what I mean is..."

Berante shook his head and said with a smile: "Governor Alphonse doesn't need to explain to me, I understand, and what you said makes sense."

Outside the door, the staff knocked on the door and entered, and delivered twice the coffee that Berente had asked for before.After receiving the hot coffee, Berente picked up the white sugar on his table, poured it into the cup, and asked Alphonse, "Do you want some?"