Imperial Overlord

On the border between Libya and Egypt, Italian soldiers, like frightened birds, watched the British tanks reveal small black bodies from the horizon in the desert. 【Full text reading】

Because of the distance, the tanks they saw were only the size of ants, but they could still defeat their fragile psychological defense.

The soldiers of the Italian 10th Army who retreated from here have 80,000 or 100,000 soldiers. How can they resist an opponent that such a huge army cannot defeat?

Although they are backed by the port of Berdi, the current Italian army has no fighting spirit at all, not even basic confidence.

As in history, Marshal Graziani, who had few suitable candidates in his hand, entrusted the task of defense here to Lieutenant General Annibale Bergonzoli.

It is a pity that this lieutenant general is not a person who can change the situation of the battle. Although he was ordered to stick to Baierdi, he was not ready to fight to the death.

Unlike the first stage of the North African campaign, which was sluggish in history, this time both sides played the momentum of a quick battle.

Within fifteen days, Italy had aggressively hit the city of Matrouh from the Libyan border.

In the same way, their defeat was also very fast. It only took two days for them to return to the place where they started more than ten days ago.

What makes the history here unrecognizable are completely fundamental changes caused by two aspects.

On the one hand, because of the discovery of oil fields in Libya, its strategic influence on Italy has risen to an unprecedented height, which has made Italy determined to stabilize North Africa first and unite the North African colonies to defeat the biggest threat - the British.

On the other hand, because Li Le was so successful in the British air battle in the British mainland, * Churchill had to try his best to play a decent victory in North Africa.

These two reasons made the otherwise long first phase of North Africa extremely rapid, and the collapse of Italy all the more unstoppable.

In Tobruk, an important fortress port city, Rommel is drinking tea in his temporary office.

In North Africa, a place so barren that birds don't poop, it is a blessing to be able to enjoy the tranquility in the city and drink a good afternoon tea.

At least, Rommel, who arrived here all the way, but stood still after the Italians were defeated, felt that his current life was relaxed and comfortable.

The latest batch of supplies made the armored force in his hand even stronger, and another battalion of No. 3 tanks was forcibly transported to Tobruk, increasing the strength of Rommel's hands again.

He now has 120 Panzer IIIs and 10 Panzer IVs. These tanks allow the Afrika Corps to surpass the attacking British Army on the front line in armored strength.

If calculated strictly in terms of quantity, Rommel's tanks are already twice as many as the British 7th Armored Division, and the quality is even more comprehensive.

What has kept him still until now is that on the one hand he is not sure about the counterattack strength of the British, and on the other hand, it is because the Italians are congested on the road, which makes him unwilling to be involved in the chaos.

"Hello! I'm Marshal Graziani, the Italian North African commander. I've just arrived from Berdi and want to meet your commander." Outside the door, an abrupt Italian word floated into Rommel's Come to the office.

Rommel put down the teacup in his hand and saw a marshal in a decent Italian military uniform standing in front of him.

The other party also brought an adjutant, and his face was full of tiredness and despair from the bumps along the way. The two of them looked at Rommel and didn't know what to say for a while.

Compared with them, Rommel is much more respectable now - he has changed into the general's uniform, washed the sandy clothes and hung them up.

His boots were spotlessly cleaned by the shoe shiners in Tobruk, and they even reflected the sunlight outside the window.

"Marshal Graziani...Drinking tea?" Rommel pointed to the teacup in front of him and asked the Italian marshal who had been defeated from the front.

"Your Excellency...Since you have led your army to Tobruk, please continue eastward to ensure the security of the Libyan border!" Marshal Graziani asked.

He is not lacking in IQ, so at this time he never mentions the matter of saving the collapsed Italian army.

Instead, it changed a concept and used the Libyan border as an excuse to let Rommel take into account the safety of Libyan oil fields and maintain the safety of the Libyan border.

But Rommel is Rommel after all. Since he can serve as the supreme commander of Italian and German military forces in North Africa in history, he is naturally not a role given for nothing.

I saw him smiling and pointing to the teacup in front of him, and changed the subject: "It's been hard work all the way here, you really don't drink afternoon tea? It tastes good."

"Your Excellency General!" Where does the other party have time for afternoon tea, the Italian army is being attacked by the enemy every minute and every second.

Now the British have at least captured more than 60,000 Italian prisoners. If they really break into Libya, it is estimated that the number of prisoners will be doubled!

Graziani has no way to stop the rout, and now in this case, the only ones who can fight back are the thousands of German troops in Rommel's hands.

Thinking from a different angle, it is more in the interest of Italy to have thousands of German troops in the rear, and to strive for more Italian troops to survive, isn't it?

"Please think of a way to prevent the British Army from entering Libya! This is also in the fundamental interests of Germany! Isn't it?" Seeing Rommel's indifference, Marshal Graziani pleaded bitterly.

Now when he feels this way, he doesn't care about his identity as a marshal, and starts to play the card of grief, playing the trick of crying, making trouble, and hanging himself.

"Your Excellency Marshal Graziani! You know... I don't have a lot of troops in my hands." Rommel saw tears in the other side's eyes, and he performed the trick to a certain level. .

So he began to shirk and say that his troops were too small to defeat the ferocious British enemy on the opposite side.

Hearing what he said, Marshal Graziani had nothing too good to do. Because if he continues to entangle, the other party can completely make him not come off the stage.

As long as Rommel asks back: Your army of 200,000 people can't beat it, and you expect me to be more than 3,000 people. Isn't this a joke?

However, Rommel is not always shirk. Of course, he also has his own bottom line to stick to.

So seeing the frustrated Marshal Graziani, he finally added a sentence to calm the other party's mood: "However, I will at least stick to Tobruk, so that the British will not take advantage of the victory to occupy here!"

With this guarantee, at least Marshal Graziani can feel at ease. After all, if Rommel hadn't arrived here, Tobruk might have to hand it over to the British.

At this time, Graziani himself has another hope that has not been dashed, that is, Berdi, which Lieutenant General Bergonzoli is holding, has not yet been occupied by the British.

Because of this, Graziani fantasized that his troops could prevent the British army from entering Libya before Rommel.

This can at least give the Germans no excuse for participating in the war, and it can be regarded as a return to the last sense of dignity for Italy in North Africa.

"Okay! Your Excellency! Since you will be defending here, I represent the Kingdom of Italy and thank you for your help!" Marshal Graziani thanked him politely.

Rommel didn't want to keep the down-and-out marshal, and sent it to the door with a smile, never mentioning the matter of keeping the other party for afternoon tea.

After waiting for the opponent to leave, he sat back to his position, thinking about whether the Italians would thwart the British team's attack in Beldi.

"Victory! Führer!" A German officer in charge of telegrams walked in and saluted: "General! There are telegrams of the highest level, from Brest!"

"The Führer's telegram? It's really timely!" Rommel had already regarded the Führer as a great strategist and tactician from Li Le to the fiasco of the Italian army in Egypt.

Being able to infer the outcome of a war based on clues has always been the most genius performance at the national decision-making level.

As a front-line commander, Rommel thought he couldn't do it. So he admired the Fuhrer more and more and trusted the Fuhrer's orders.

How could Li Le have thought that he had made a desperate request that Rommel must obey his own conversation. In fact, it could be achieved with a few super-level predictions.

Opened the sealed document bag, took out the translated telegram, and saw the contents inside, which made Rommel's eyes widen again.

Because the above content is really too important, it is so important that it can influence the outcome of the war.

There are not many things written on this piece of paper~www.wuxiaspot.com~ There is only a short line of words: The British army commanded by Admiral Wavell has about 30,000 people and no more than 70 tanks!

Throwing the document into the ashtray, Rommel lit this piece of white paper with little content, but enough to make him famous.

Looking at the ashes in the ashtray, he raised his head, with a proud and confident smile on his face that he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Call all the senior officers! I'm going to hold a combat meeting immediately!" he shouted to the secretary and adjutant outside the door.

Then the commander of the German Afrika Korps walked out of his office in high spirits, dropped the delicious afternoon tea, and put on the windbreaker that had just been washed.

"You go and contact Marshal Graziani who just left." As he walked, he instructed the people around him: "Tell him, within an hour, let his people give me the road!"

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After New Year's Eve, Long Ling tried his best to add updates... Ask for a monthly pass! Ask for a recommendation ticket and a subscription! I hope the soldiers who like the Third Reich will support me a lot! Thank you all!