Take Taobao to fight against Japan

The battle is still going on, and the casualties are still increasing. It is strange that Yang Fan and others can enjoy themselves with shocking data and information.

So far, more than 720 Allied fighter jets have been damaged, and the total number of losses has exceeded one-third. Undoubtedly, this is an extremely heavy number of casualties.

The main reason is that the current British and American air forces in the North African battlefield are basically flying fighters with relatively backward performance such as Spitfire fighters and P40 fighters. They are obviously at a disadvantage when facing German fighter jets.

In turn, the number of fighter jets lost by the Luftwaffe was much smaller, and preliminary statistics have not exceeded 400.

This is equivalent to 2 Allied fighters to fight off a German fighter. I have to say that such a record is very sad. In Yang Fan's view, this record can only be described as being crushed.

However, the difference is that Auchinleck, Ted, Barton and others were calm about this data, and even had some small surprises.

Because not long ago, when they faced the German Air Force head-on, they had at least a 2.5:1 battle loss ratio, and sometimes even three or four fighters were needed to replace a German fighter.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the fighter pilots of the Huben Air Force performed very well, and can even be described as eye-catching.

Although it was the first time for them to confront the Luftwaffe, which has excellent personal qualities and fighter performance that is almost the same, they did not have any stage fright.

After a series of adaptive battles, they all quickly entered the state. At present, they have played the role of the mainstay. At present, the Huben Air Force has shot down 237 German fighter jets, accounting for more than half of the total record.

It is also because of the excellent performance of the fighter pilots of the Huben Air Force that although the Allied Air Force suffered heavy casualties, it has not collapsed so far.

However, if you kill one thousand enemies, you will lose eight hundred. The Huben Air Force itself also paid a considerable price. A total of 119 Mustang fighter jets were shot down by German fighter jets, and the number of pilots killed reached as many as 67.

"Minister Huang, what's the current situation on the frontline battlefield?"

After smoking a cigarette and putting the stack of information in his hand on the table, Yang Fan seemed to come alive all of a sudden.

Chapter 1328

"Report to the chief seat!"

Huang Hong, who had been standing on the sidelines all the time, quickly replied: "The German-Italian coalition forces starting from the West Dubai Lani line have now advanced to the Matruh Port area, and are working with the 1st Group Army of the Chinese Expedition, the 6th Army of the U.S. Army, and the British Army." The 13th Army of the Chinese Army fought fiercely, and the battle was very fierce..."

While listening to Huang Hong's detailed report, Yang Fan stood up and walked to the large sand table in the center of the war room.

At this moment, the sand table is already covered with wargame models of the enemy and us, and at a glance, it can be seen that the frontline battlefield is already in a state of fierce exchange of fire.

After the air force launched the offensive, the ground forces of the German-Italian coalition also began to move simultaneously.

After several hours of large-scale demining operations, the German-Italian coalition forces have opened up a safe passage nearly 20 kilometers wide and tens of kilometers long.

It is also because of this that the German-Italian ground armor group was able to pass through the vast minefield along the coastline and steadily advance to the forefront of the Allied forces at the Matruh Port line.

The self-propelled artillery units of the German-Italian Allied Forces, whose artillery range can already cover the frontline positions of the Allied forces, are engaged in fierce firefights with the artillery units of the Allied forces. Hand to hand.

In order to be able to provide maximum support to the ground forces, the German and Italian bomber fleet and ground attack fleet from the Tobruk Fortress have been dispatched many times. The attack plane was shot down and crashed.

Similarly, while the air forces of the Allied forces fought against the German and Italian fighter groups, they also dispatched a large number of bombers and ground attack aircraft to bomb and straf the ground armored forces of the German and Italian forces regardless of the danger.

The helicopter brigade under the Huben Army has not yet appeared, because in the absence of absolute air supremacy, these helicopters can only be living targets, not to mention that the German armored forces are not weak in air combat capabilities.

These helicopters converted from transport planes actually have limited ground attack capabilities, and it's okay to bully infantry without air defense capabilities.

As for another trump card, the self-propelled rocket launcher unit, Yang Fan has not yet played it out. The main reason is that the German-Italian coalition armored forces have a wide spread and strong mobility, and the air supremacy is not completely in their hands.

At this time, it is also not a good time to use the rocket artillery unit as a big killer.

Just as Yang Fan stared at the sand table and groaned, Auchinleck said with a worried face: "General Yang Fan, it can be said that Rommel's African Army has exhausted its attack this time. The only strong fortress is here, we must not lose it!"

Matruh Port is only 250 kilometers away from the most important Port of Alexandria of the Allies. Once it falls into the hands of the Axis Army, they will not only obtain an excellent port supply point, but their bomber fleet will directly threaten the The Mediterranean Fleet in port is safe.

The key issue is that Rommel's North African Army will advance to a solid forward fulcrum of more than 150 kilometers, directly threatening the final line of defense of the Allied forces.

"General Auchinleck, don't worry, things are not that bad!"

Yang Fan raised his eyebrows slightly, and said murderously: "Rommel's Afrika Korps has nothing to fear, since they are so eager for success and attack regardless of the cost, then we will accompany them to the end!

I don't believe it, they were able to capture Matruh Fortress from under my nose! "

"Yeah, at the moment, we can only carry it like this, let's see who can persevere until the end,"

Standing aside, Stilwell frowned slightly, and said in a determined tone: "I firmly believe that we will be able to defend the Matruh Fortress, and we will definitely be able to defeat the attack of Rommel's African Army."

At present, there is already tens of 10 armored clusters in a melee. It is not possible to come up with a good strategy to defeat the enemy and change the situation of the battle with a slap of the head and a frown.

The only thing to do now is to fight for the air force, artillery, tanks and armored forces, infantry, and fighting will.

In a word, the brave wins when we meet on a narrow road. At this moment, we can only grit our teeth and use up our strength. There is no other way!

"I hope so! We really have no way out!"

"Yes! This battle can only be won but not lost!"

"The total strength of Rommel's North African Army is more than 120 million. Now we have less than 70 left. Can we really stop it?"

"If the Matruh Fortress falls again, it will really be the only way to attack the city."

Rommel's Afrika Korps came menacingly, covering the sky and the earth, dispatching a huge combat group of 30 to [-] in one breath, and the Allied forces on the North African battlefield were under unprecedented pressure in an instant.

In particular, senior generals such as Auchinleck, Rich, and Patton were worried, with unresolved anxiety and fear in their brows.

They were extremely worried that the frontline troops of the Allied Forces, which had been defeated repeatedly before, would not be able to withstand the strong attacks of the Axis forces, and would experience a chain collapse, losing the last solid barrier.

"Everyone, don't worry, the sky won't fall, as long as we grit our teeth, there will be a turning point soon!"

Regarding this, Yang Fan was really not flustered, because judging from the current battle situation, although his side was under a lot of pressure, it was obvious that there was no sign of headwind collapse yet.

Especially for the air force, after four or five hours of bloody fighting, although the overall casualties were heavy, as the Huben Air Force pilots gradually entered the state, the situation began to improve.

This time he went to North Africa, although Yang Fan had requested all the technical equipment and logistical supplies of the Huaxia Expeditionary Army to be provided by the United States.

But the life and death of more than 20 expeditionary soldiers and the success or failure of the Allied forces were at stake. Yang Fan really had no choice but to come here empty-handed just to save a few dollars and leave his future and destiny to the US government.

At least on the surface, you have to do enough work, because you have to blatantly open and hang in full view under the watchful eyes of the public. Such a showy operating system will never allow it.

Therefore, it is accompanied by a large number of technical equipment such as Mustang fighter jets, carrier-based aircraft, ground attack aircraft, helicopters, self-propelled rocket launchers, and Tiger tanks.

Among them, there are as many as 500 Mustang fighter jets alone. At this moment, these advanced fighter jets are playing the role of the mainstay, gradually tilting the balance of victory in air combat to their side.

As long as the German and Italian air forces can be repulsed so that they cannot wreak havoc in their own airspace, then the aces of self-propelled rocket launchers, helicopters, and ground attack aircraft can fully play their roles.

In addition, regarding the attack plan on the port of Taranto, Yang Fan is also speeding up. After emergency transformation of 4 4-ton giant ships, they have turned into 96 aircraft carriers that can carry a maximum of [-] carrier-based aircraft.

The naval forces are stepping up their drills, running in with the British navy, and will soon be able to carry out sneak attacks as planned.

There are two more chapters tonight!

Chapter 1329 The Battle of Conferred Gods

When the Allied generals were in a state of desperation, the atmosphere in the command room of the Tobruk Fortress Headquarters was also extremely solemn.

Rommel stood in front of the sand table with a tense face, staring at the sand table intently. At this time, not only the senior generals of the German-Italian coalition stood around the sand table, but also many combat staff were updating the sand table in real time based on the information that was constantly coming back. The wargame model of both the enemy and us.

In the past few days, the attack on Malta Island suffered serious setbacks, and the amphibious landing force suffered heavy casualties. After the German and Italian coalition forces paid a series of heavy prices, they have only conquered Gozo Island, which is far from the final desired strategic goal.

For today's battle of Alamein, Rommel has exhausted his mind and made sufficient preparations, mobilizing an extremely powerful combat group and various strategic resources, in order to be able to win the battle and conquer the last strong line leading to the port of Alexandria barrier.

Moreover, Rommel came to the Tobruk Fortress three days ago to sit in charge.

Tobruk is located in the northeast corner of Libya. It is a harbor of great strategic significance. As early as after the First World War, the Italians built Tobruk as a fortress.

There are not only railways, but also a complete road network and ports, and the largest airport in eastern Libya - Halfa Airport is 15 miles away from Tobruk Port.

At a location about 14 kilometers away from the city center, the Italians built a 50-kilometer-long ring fortress.

The reason why it is a circular fortress is because the terrain here is flat. If you don't adopt this method of defense and include all those commanding heights, I'm afraid there will be no sense of security.

On the south side, there are cliffs that separate the Great Desert from Tobruk, forming a barrier.

In the early days of World War II, Prime Minister Mussolini of the Kingdom of Italy, in order to cooperate with Germany's operations in Europe and take advantage of the fire to fish in troubled waters, the 10th Army of the Kingdom of Italy began to officially send troops to invade Egypt.

However, what makes people feel funny is that the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is far worse than that of its ally, the German army.

Therefore, when the Allied forces launched a counterattack against its invasion of Egypt, within only ten weeks, they not only completely destroyed the arrogant Italian Tenth Army, but also captured more than 130000 prisoners.

Even this strong fortress that has been in operation for a long time is lost!

Therefore, under such circumstances, Germany, at the plea of ​​its ally Italy, sent troops to help.

And when General Rommel received the mission, he immediately commanded his German Afrika Korps and arrived in Tripoli to quickly reinforce their Italian allies.

When he first arrived in North Africa, the situation Rommel faced can only be described as a chicken feather, because the Italians lost so badly.

At that time, the morale of the Italian army was completely low. After the British Compass operation, the Italians lost almost no pants left.

The Italian army has been wiped out, and their precious "Tripoli" is about to be defeated by the British who built a defense line in Aqera.

If the British attack at this time, the Italians will have no choice but to be driven into the sea unless God himself comes to the battle wearing a steel helmet.

Tobruk was a good supply base for the German army and a fortress to Egypt for the British army.Both Britain and Germany were determined to win, and Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Army, decided to stick to Tobruk.

After weighing the pros and cons, General Rommel did not follow the orders of the German High Command and the Führer to "stick to the original line of defense". Instead, he dispatched troops immediately after making a very short preparation.

The German Supreme Command urgently dispatched Rommel's good friend, Lieutenant General Paulus, to North Africa, trying to dissuade Rommel from this crazy move.

Because, at that time, the German army was not only half of the British army, but also faced Tobruk's extremely strong fortifications.

Therefore, any reasonable soldier would think that this is simply a disguised suicide.

At this time, the head of state was focused on aggressively attacking the Soviet Union, and had no intention of concentrating on Africa on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike the head of state, the British prime minister regarded the "North African flank" almost as important as the British Empire itself.

When the British army was driven out of Cyrenaica, the British Prime Minister resolutely decided to increase troops in North Africa regardless of the fact that the local troops were insufficiently equipped.

However, under such an extremely unfavorable and absolute disadvantage, Rommel resolutely led a force that was far inferior to the British army in strength and equipment, beat the British army to the ground, and captured Tobruk, one of the main positions of the British army, in one fell swoop. ,

Mosshead, commander of the British fortress, led 3.3 defenders to surrender to Rommel. In this battle, Rommel captured enough supplies and a large amount of fuel for 3 people to use for the previous season.

At this point, Rommel conquered the entire Cyrenaica.

It is precisely because of this battle that Rommel can be said to be a god in World War I, and his extraordinary military talents were fully displayed. At the age of 51, Rommel was promoted to the German Field Marshal by the head of state.

The reason why Rommel, who has always been calm and calm, came to the Tobruk Fortress three days in advance to take command in person was mainly because this battle was of great importance. It not only related to the survival of the African Army, but also further affected the third The rise and fall of empires.

In addition, Rommel actually had a small thought in his heart, that is, he hoped that he could have some luck in this military fortress that made him a god in the first battle, and he could create brilliant achievements again, so as to move towards another milestone in his life. Top!

It's just that this world is an objective material world, and everything will not be transferred due to personal consciousness.

In this battle, the German army and air forces were all elite, and they played a fierce momentum and a great advantage at the beginning of the game.

But the problem is that the allied troops, driven by the China Expeditionary Force, have long been unable to retreat. Both the air force and the ground troops are fighting extremely tenaciously.

From this, Rommel keenly discovered a serious problem, that is, the British and American coalition forces, which had no fighting spirit not long ago and could only be beaten passively, suddenly became brutal.

Both the air force and the army fought extremely tenaciously and resolutely, and the elite German troops tried their best to take advantage of it.

If it's just that, then that's fine. The big deal is that it takes more effort, more dead people, and more technical equipment.

But the problem is that the long-term inability to attack Malta Island has become Rommel's heart disease. The long and unsafe Mediterranean supply line is still a fatal shortcoming of the African Army.

If you can't make a quick decision and conquer the Port of Matruh and Alexandria as soon as possible, you won't be able to completely guarantee the command of the sea in the Mediterranean!

The African Legion would not be able to compete with the Allied camp with strong logistical supply capabilities.

And this is what Rommel is most worried about at present!

Chapter 1330

Matruh Fortress 126 Heights, located 15 kilometers north of Matruh Harbor.

This is a winding five-six-kilometer-long hilly area, and the 1th Brigade of the 4th Division of the 7st Army of the Huben Expeditionary Army is responsible for stationing this hilly area.

In the large area around Matruh Harbor, there are dozens of such winding hilly landforms, with an average height of about 100 meters in the sea. The terrain is not dangerous, let alone easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But what I want to say is that compared to the endless desert area in the south, this is undoubtedly the best area for defense and building solid fortifications.

Although they are not dangerous, they can be connected to form a defensive fortress with mutual horns, which can effectively block the advance of the German mechanized troops and become a solid outer barrier for Matruh Port.

Therefore, a long time ago, the British coalition forces began to spare no effort to build infrastructure frantically, and built an unknown number of permanent fortifications around Matruh Port.

Now the 1st Army of the Huben Expeditionary Army has led its troops into this defensive belt with a radius of more than [-] square kilometers, and divided troops with the British and American Allies to station in the rolling hills.

On Height 126, Nie Qingshi, commander of the 7th Brigade of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, was lying on the observation hole of the bunker with a telescope to observe the enemy's situation ahead.

Through the binoculars, he could already see the German tanks and armored units billowing black smoke in the distance very clearly, and he could also see the German and Italian infantry following behind the armored units step by step.

In addition, Nie Qingshi could still see the shells exploding on the ground continuously, as well as the land mines exploding from time to time, causing continuous casualties to the advancing enemy tanks and infantry!

Prior to this, their anti-aircraft artillery units had intercepted and bombarded the roaring enemy aircraft fleet, and because of this, they also suffered a large-scale air force bombing.

Fortunately, thanks to the heroic combat of the Allied Air Force, these enemy bombers can only come and go in a hurry, and there is no way to carry out precise bombing of the Allied defensive positions around Matruh Harbor.

"Pass my order, the artillery units are all aimed and beaten hard, and the rest of the units are ready to fight! This is the first battle of our brigade after entering Africa, no matter what it is, I must fight it beautifully!"