The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Montgomery was extremely anxious because he knew that the more time went by, the more the German Navy would understand and be familiar with the French warships. By then, it would be extremely difficult for the British army to defeat the German Algiers Fleet or it would cost a lot.

Fortunately, the meteorological department soon sent good news: "Due to the influence of the dry and hot monsoon in the Sahara Desert, Tunisia may have two days of clear weather in three days!"

Montgomery excitedly said to Eisenhower when he heard the news: "Ike (Eisenhower's nickname), our chance has come!"

"Yes!" Eisenhower said: "Two days, if we are ready on the island of Malta, it will be enough for us to reach the Strait of Gibraltar!"

So, Montgomery and Eisenhower started to make final preparations without saying a word.

Although the British are traditional in warfare, they have always attached great importance to pre-war intelligence work and deception of the enemy.

This time, in order to cover up their transfer of the Mediterranean Fleet to Malta, they first created a large-scale uprising on Crete... It was easy to do this, just let the Greek government army pretend to be guerrillas and attack the airports and ports where the British army was stationed.

So, due to the lack of British troops on Crete, the British army urgently sent the Mediterranean Fleet to reinforce, and the Mediterranean Fleet even launched artillery fire in the direction of the guerrillas, pretending to use the fleet to suppress the uprising.

At the same time, for the safety of the port, the British army completely blocked the port of Crete, and even transferred the British army to transport supplies.

This was done to completely block the news, so that no one knew how many warships were in the port, and of course, no one knew when the warships would leave the port... At this time, in the eyes of the British, Greeks were as unreliable as Africans and might become German spies.

Then, on the second night, a total of more than 50 warships, including 1 aircraft carrier, 3 battleships, and 5 cruisers, left Crete and headed for Malta.

After a night of sailing, the Mediterranean Fleet successfully arrived at Malta on the morning of the third day and made the last replenishment in the rain.

Then, all naval officers and fighter pilots received orders to rest for combat readiness... Everyone was waiting, waiting for the rain to stop.

But the German Navy at this time knew nothing about it.

Or it can be said that Raeder and others were completely deceived by Montgomery's fake moves... He always thought that the British fleet was still on Crete. At the same time, he also believed that the focus of the British attack at this stage should be on land, because the British were unstoppable on land, at least on the surface.

On the other hand, the German army also laid mines in the Tunisian Strait during this period, and believed that the British would not dare to act rashly.

"It's time for us to conduct an exercise!" Raeder said to the staff: "Test the results of our training during this period!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

The staff was about to pass on this order, but was called back by Raeder: "Contact Colonel Slater and the lieutenant and invite them to participate in our exercise!"

"What?" The staff was stunned when he heard this. This is a naval exercise. Why would the army be invited to participate? Is it really necessary to let the army teach the navy how to fight as said before? !

Raeder looked back at the staff, and the staff hurriedly replied: "Yes, Marshal!"

Raeder did this with deep meaning, not only because Qin Chuan was the inventor of the proximity fuze shell, but also because of the arrest of the major general that happened not long ago.

To be precise, the arrest itself is nothing. A colonel arrested a major general under Rommel's order. This kind of thing has happened before.

But the point is... this colonel used the Zoaf Corps and the Italian "Lightning Division" at the same time, which is at least the largest force in Algeria at present.

Then, if the navy needs to cooperate with the land and even the air force, Colonel Slaine must be involved.

Of course, the lieutenant is also indispensable... Everyone knows how powerful this lieutenant is in North Africa.

At this time, Qin Chuan was teaching Annette how to shoot.

The training of the French camp is based on the standard German training process... training in shooting, fortifications, mortars, etc., and then selecting those with good shooting skills and good artillery to be snipers or gunners.

It can't be seen that Annette stood out in the French camp with the second place.

"Okay!" Qin Chuan said: "You should have missed it intentionally!"

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to arrange for you to be a nurse." Qin Chuan was telling the truth. It might not be strange for women to serve in the French army, but the German army rarely let women go to the front line.

"I did miss!" Annette replied, "If I hadn't been coughing, I would have won first place!"

"So..." Qin Chuan said, "If you want to be a sniper, you should quit smoking!"

Annette lit a cigarette and put it in her mouth, and replied, "Lieutenant, the instructor said that snipers are always the enemy's primary target, right?"

"Yes!" Qin Chuan replied.

"That means I may not live long!" Annette said, "Why not smoke a few more cigarettes while I'm still alive?"

Qin Chuan had to shake his head... People with different personalities will treat the same thing in completely different ways, although this may just be Annette's excuse.

"Then..." Qin Chuan took the Gauloise that Annette placed on the railing and waved it in his hand, and said, "You should know that in the army, you have to be like others, so..."

As he said this, Qin Chuan handed over a pack of "Pyramid". Annette's face immediately showed a painful look and said, "You're not kidding, Lieutenant!"

"Do you think I'm joking?"

The French battalion selected a total of 48 shooters for sniper training... This seemed to be too many for a force of 500 people.

But this does not mean that all 48 people will eventually become snipers. At least half of them will be eliminated in the end, and the remaining twenty or so people will be sent to the battlefield as snipers.

Qin Chuan knew that he could not persuade Annette to give up this unit, because he knew that although Annette looked weak, she was very strong.

Therefore, Qin Chuan could only use another method, which was to train Annette into a qualified sniper as quickly as possible.

"Do you know why I must become a sniper?" Annette asked Qin Chuan, who was lying next to her and holding a telescope as her observer, while raising her gun and aiming at the target.

"Why?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Just for now!" Annette replied.