The decisive battle against the Third Reich

As mentioned before, the Junkers 52 had a slow flight speed because its landing gear could not be retracted. It took 50 minutes to fly a straight distance of more than 200 kilometers.

The advantage is that... the Junkers 52 can land almost anywhere, so it landed directly near Rommel's headquarters. Two people, an adjutant and two guards holding MP40 submachine guns quickly walked into Rommel's headquarters.

The headquarters was full of people. The commanders of various divisions came, including General Neumann and Colonel Franz, the commander of the 36th Division. The only one who couldn't come was the 155th Infantry Division stationed in Morocco... Not because it was too far away, but because the 155th Infantry Division had a simple mission, which was to block the Strait of Gibraltar. The war in the Mediterranean had basically nothing to do with it, so there was no need to attend the meeting.

"Gentlemen!" Seeing that almost everyone was present, Rommel raised his head and said, "First of all, let me officially announce a good news to everyone. Colonel Slaine and Captain Frick have discovered a location with a high probability of oil and are exploring and digging there with the exploration team!"

With a "boom", the news immediately exploded in the headquarters.

Most of the people present were senior German commanders, and they certainly knew the significance of discovering oil to the African Corps and even Germany.

Then, amid a round of "crackling" applause, several generals congratulated Colonel Slaine and Qin Chuan.

"Great, Captain!" said General Strike, "You always surprise everyone!"

"You are the glorious captain of the empire!" Major General Neumann said passionately while shaking Qin Chuan's hand, "I don't know how to express my gratitude to you. God, your tunnel fortifications have enabled us to win a great victory on the Gabes Line, and now we have found the oil we are in short supply! You are simply a genius!"

...

Colonel Slaine seemed a little embarrassed when responding, because he deceived everyone and accepted these compliments, but Qin Chuan felt at ease because he was sure that this would become a reality soon, so it was not actually a lie.

"Gentlemen!" After everyone quieted down again, Rommel continued, "The next is bad news, the war is coming... Two hours ago, at seven in the morning, the British dispatched fifty bombers to bomb the Sicily Airport, and then carried out intensive bombing of the defense facilities and airports on the coast of Sicily!"

The officers did not react much, because they almost guessed that this would be the result, and some people had even received the news before.

"We think this has something to do with the colonel and the captain!" Rommel said, "Of course, I'm not saying the colonel and the captain have anything to do with the British!"

The officers laughed.

Qin Chuan added in a very cooperative tone, "Sorry, General. I didn't ask them to bomb!"

With a "boo", the officers laughed even more happily, and even the usually serious Rommel couldn't help laughing.

"Well, Captain!" Rommel said, "If you have that ability, you should let them bomb here!" After laughing for a while, Rommel continued, "I believe you have all guessed that finding oil is a good thing for us, but a bad thing for the enemy, so they try to stop us from digging or using the oil. But they can't do it because they have been defeated by us, at sea and on land. If it happens again in the air, I believe it will be the same result!" "So!" General Neumann said proudly, "They just want to avoid us and find a breakthrough from Sicily, where the Italians are stationed?!" "Absolutely correct!" Rommel pointed at Neumann and said, "Gentlemen, Major General Neumann has been in North Africa for only more than two months, and he also knows the Italians!" "Come on, General!" Neumann replied, "No one doesn't know!" The generals laughed again. "I know!" After a pause, Rommel pointed to the map and said, "But Sicily will indeed be a problem for us, because if it is lost, there will be a big gap in our defense line, and then not only will the Tunisian Strait lose its meaning, but our transportation line will be cut off again. Isn't this what they want? As long as our transportation line is cut off, even if we dig up oil, we can't or it will be difficult to use it!" "Then what are we waiting for?" Major General Strike said: "Reinforce Sicily immediately!" "I think we should report to Berlin!" Major General Jonas, commander of the 15th Armored Division, suggested: "We don't have enough troops, while the Allies have several times more than us. They can attack Sicily while defending or even attacking the Gabes Line. If we divide our troops to reinforce, we will be caught between the front and the rear."

"Yes!" Major General Neumann agreed: "Knowing that there is oil in North Africa, I believe the Führer will support our defense. Just like he transferred the 24th Air Wing to Sicily, he will also send reinforcements to Sicily!"

"Gentlemen!" At this time, Major General Voigt, the commander of the 90th Light Division, stood up and said: "Don't you think this is a bit strange?"

The officers' discussion quieted down.

"Tell me what you think, Major General Voigt!" Rommel encouraged.

"Yes, General!" Major General Voigt straightened his body slightly towards Rommel, and then continued: "We know that the British have always been good at hiding their true intentions, or it can be said that they are good at playing intelligence deception. And this time , Why do they expose their strategic intentions so obviously?”

After Major General Voigt said this, the officers felt that it was indeed the case.

Rommel then asked Major General Voigt: "Major General, what do you think the British will do?"

"I don't know, General!" Major General Voigt replied: "Either the British want to trick our troops into landing on Sicily, or the real intention of the British is not to land in Sicily but somewhere else, but no matter How... I believe that the British will not expose their strategic goals to us so easily. They even bombed Sicily. This seems to be an obvious telling to us... Come on, we are going to attack Sicily. Gather the troops to Sicily and get ready!"

Rommel couldn't help but nodded after hearing this. What Major General Voigt said made sense. It seemed so obvious that it was so obvious that people couldn't believe it.

At this time, Qin Chuan thought of the word "Meat Mince Plan"... The British "Meat Mince Plan" began.