The decisive battle against the Third Reich

"Look further?" Eisenhower was a little puzzled.

"Yes!" Montgomery said: "Do you know what the Germans' advantage is? The area where they discovered oil is in Algeria. Algeria's geographical location is very special...it has the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the desert hinterland and insurmountable mountains to the south, and the desert hinterland and insurmountable mountains to the west. It’s Morocco, and Tunisia is to the east. Any of our troops sent to attack oil will not be able to withdraw safely!”

Montgomery was talking about the airborne troops. At this time, the Allies already had two divisions of airborne troops, one each from the British and American divisions.

But flying this mission with paratroopers would be almost suicidal.

"And it is almost impossible for us to directly attack the German defense line!" Montgomery continued: "The German defense is very good, and it can be described as watertight!"

Eisenhower seemed to understand the meaning of Montgomery's words: "Then you mean...indirect attack?"

"Yes!" answered Montgomery. "Why don't we put Algeria aside for a moment and turn here?"

As he spoke, Montgomery pointed to a point on the map and said: "Sicily!"

"Sicily?" Eisenhower's eyes showed shock: "But the Germans have a fleet, and so do the Italians. If when I land, their fleet..."

"Their fleet can't get out!" Montgomery said: "The Germans are focused on defense and have blocked the Tunisian Strait with mines. The only way in and out is the Messina Strait, and the Messina Strait is easy to block!"

Montgomery is right. The narrowest point of the Messina Strait is only 3.2 kilometers. The British army can easily block it by placing a few mines at the exit and deploying some fighters and bombers.

Montgomery drew famous signs on the map and continued: "Moreover, judging from our previous naval battles, the Italians stationed in Sicily were basically unprepared! Think about the previous battles, Ike! Our planes can actually fly into the air like no one." Deep into the hinterland of Sicily, there are no aircraft to intercept and there is not much anti-aircraft firepower. Obviously, the Italians think that we are still fighting in North Africa and do not think that we will launch an attack on the Italian mainland! The Italian army was stationed there, so I thought it was safe!”

Then, Montgomery stood up straight with some pride: "As long as Sicily is taken, the Tunisian Strait will be useless. At the same time, it can also be used as a springboard to attack Italy. By then... even if the Germans dig up oil in Algeria , and what role can it play?”

Eisenhower never spoke. After a long time, he asked Montgomery: "Monty, I have a question. How many troops are needed to attack Sicily?"

Montgomery thought for a while and replied: "According to our intelligence, there are probably 200,000 Italian troops on Sicily!"

"So how many troops should we send to Sicily?" Eisenhower then asked: "One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand? Or three hundred thousand?"

"Two hundred thousand!" Montgomery replied: "They are Italians. I believe that two hundred thousand can defeat them!"

"Very good!" Eisenhower said: "Our current total strength is only 250,000, but you want to use 200,000 of them to attack Sicily? And this is while the Germans occupy Algeria and Tunisia. , what if Germany launches a counterattack when we attack Sicily? Don't forget that the Germans still have three armored divisions. They will occupy Tripoli under the command of Rommel as before, and then fight all the way to Alexandria. I will be trapped on this small island of Sicily and never get out!”

(Note: The British Eighth Army in North Africa at this time had a total of 200,000 people and the U.S. Seventh Army had 50,000 people)

Of course what Eisenhower said makes sense, and no one can ignore Rommel's existence. The German army led by Rommel was right in its defense of Tunisia, but this did not mean that the Allies could mobilize their main forces to attack Sicily.

"Yes, we don't have enough troops!" Montgomery said: "But why can't we invest more troops? We can attack Sicily while defending, and the Germans will be finished!"

"Oh, really? This is your real intention, to move more American troops to North Africa instead of Britain, right?" Eisenhower glared at Montgomery angrily.

"Whatever you think!" Montgomery spread his hands and replied: "I'm just doing what I have to do. If you have a better solution... tell me!"

The focus of the dispute between Eisenhower and Montgomery was the difference in the main battlefield, or it can also be said that the difference in national interests.

Since Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin asked Britain to cross the English Channel to open a second battlefield in Europe. The reason was that 70% of the 267 German divisions and the most powerful troops were deployed on the Soviet-German battlefield. The Soviet Union Under tremendous pressure.

At this time, if Britain could move the troops withdrawn from Dunkirk across the English Channel to attack France, then Germany would be on fire in its backyard and would have to call back a large number of troops from the Eastern Front to defend France and Italy... Stalin estimated that this would at least start from The Soviet-German battlefield attracted more than 40 German divisions, as well as a large amount of strategic supplies.

But British Prime Minister Churchill was a cannibal, and how could he be willing to give up such a good opportunity to reap the benefits... But this is understandable, from the national point of view, it is a benefit.

Britain's interest is to watch the Soviet Union and Germany have a big fight. It is best for both sides to suffer losses, and in the end Britain will come out to solve the endgame.

Therefore, it is obviously not cost-effective to attack France prematurely, because it will make the British face more and more powerful German troops.

As for the North African battlefield... Although the Afrika Korps under the command of Rommel was also very powerful, it only had three armored divisions and three infantry divisions. The others were all Italian troops, especially the British who still had the upper hand in North Africa. took the initiative.

Therefore, Britain actually preferred to continue the stalemate until the Soviet Union and Germany decided the winner. Therefore, Britain will want to invest more troops and spend more time attacking Sicily.

But the same cannot be said for American interests.

President Roosevelt actually saw early on that the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union had different dreams, so he believed that it was necessary for the United States to become a link between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, that is, to unite two countries with different interests into a whole, so that they can effectively fight against each other. The most powerful enemy of the Axis Powers...Germany.