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- But throughout World War II, the biggest headache for the Germans was Italy's failure to live up to expectations. *.*
Mussolini¡¯s participation in the war and France¡¯s rapid surrender further exacerbated the difficult situation of the British war of resistance. The spearhead of the offensive of the German and Italian fascist armies is now mainly directed at Great Britain and its colonies. On September 13, the main body of the Italian army began the long-awaited operation, crossing the Egyptian border and advancing forward. Their army has a total of 6 infantry divisions and 8 tank battalions. The British covering force included 3 battalions of infantry, 1 battalion of tanks, 3 artillery squadrons, and 2 armored convoys. They were ordered to fight and retreat at the same time. Due to their quality and ability to adapt to the desert, they were suitable for this method of warfare.
The Italian army began its attack by violently bombarding the British position near the border market in Sulum. When the smoke and dust disappeared, the British army saw that the fascist army's lineup was extremely neat. In front of the position, motorcycle troops were neatly arranged front, rear, left and right. Behind them were light tanks and several rows of motorcycle vehicles. In the words of a British colonel, the scene was like "a birthday celebration held at Long Valley in Aldershot." Facing such a majestic formation, the 3rd Coldstream Guards of the British Army Slowly retreating, while the British artillery pounded the numerous targets so magnanimously placed before them.
Further south, Mussolini ordered two columns to move into the vast desert south of the long mountain range that ran parallel to the coast and could only be crossed at Halvaia, the "crater of hell", This place played a role in every subsequent battle of the British army.
Each Italian column had hundreds of vehicles, as well as tanks and anti-tank guns. Artillery in front, infantry in trucks in the centre. The British called this formation used many times by the Italian army "thorn-wei".
In front of this huge team, the British troops retreated, taking advantage of every opportunity to attack this group of erratic and hesitant fascist enemies. Graziani later explained that he had decided at the last moment to change his plan and not to carry out an encirclement movement in the desert, but "to concentrate all my troops on the left wing in order to rush along the coast to Sidi Barani". Therefore, this huge Italian team slowly advanced along the coastal road in two parallel routes. They attacked with infantry on trucks in groups of 50 vehicles each.
Over the course of four days, the Coldstream Guards deftly retreated from Sulum to interconnected positions, inflicting heavy losses on the Italians as they retreated.
September 17, Italian troops arrived in Sidi Barani. In this battle, the British army suffered 40 casualties, while the Italian army's casualties were 10 times that of the British army, and 150 vehicles were damaged. Here, the Italian army's communication line was extended by 60 miles. They stopped and planned to station here for three months. They were constantly attacked by small British mobile units and encountered serious difficulties in replenishing supplies. Ciano said that Mussolini was "ecstatic at first. He had taken full responsibility for the attack and was proud to say that he had done the right thing." However, after a few months, he The excitement gradually disappeared.
However, Churchill did not take the situation lightly. He estimated that within two or three months, Mussolini would launch a larger-scale attack in an attempt to occupy the Egyptian Delta.
In addition, the German army may appear on the African battlefield at any time!
Just as Mussolini was preparing to launch a larger-scale offensive, there was a certain degree of relaxation on the Western Front. Hitler's "Sea Lion Plan" to attack Britain was basically going bankrupt. The easing of the Western Front created conditions for the British army to take tougher actions in the Middle East. Churchill prepared to focus more energy on dealing with Mussolini. Strong reinforcements and large amounts of military supplies were continuously transported from the Mediterranean to General Wavell's headquarters. Two tank regiments have reached the desert. Maitland, who commanded what is now known as the "Nile Army". General Wilson spoke highly of the power of the "Matilda" tank.
By this time, the British army's defensive position in Matruh Port had been greatly consolidated, and the staff and planners in the Middle East Command had begun to prepare some new plans. Obviously, their next important task is to mobilize troops from Britain and India to strengthen British forces in the Middle East, especially in the deserts of West Africa.
At this time, Army Secretary Eden came to inspect North Africa and arrived in Cairo on October 15. He and General Wavell and Maitland, who commanded the Desert Corps. General Wilson explored it thoroughly. They were confident of repelling Mussolini's attack.
General Wilson estimated that the maximum force Italy could use to attack Matruh Port would not exceed three divisions. The limiting factors were supplies, especially water and transportation. In the offensive against the Italian army, he had the 7th Armored Division and the newly transferred tank regiment, the 4th Indian Division, the Matruh Port garrison consisting of 5 infantry battalions, 1 machine gun battalion and 1 artillery team. The Sixteenth British Brigade and the New Zealand Brigade had arrived from Palestine. An Australian brigade was stationed west of Alexandria?.
With the extension of the front line, the scale of the war is also getting larger and larger. Hitler really felt powerless and stretched. Therefore, he tried every means to collect cannon fodder, and the first thing he thought of was Franco, the partner he and Mussolini had helped.
But this treacherous fox follows the wind and refuses to get into the water easily.
Throughout the war, his policies were entirely "selfish and callous." He never considered how to repay Hitler and Mussolini for their aid.
This vicious tyrant only wants to save his country machine, which has been drained of energy and blood, from another war. The long civil war killed 1 million Spaniards. Poverty, high prices and hard times have left this desolate peninsula lifeless.
"Spain can no longer be easily involved in war without complete assurance." This dictator used this attitude to understand and cope with the huge turmoil that shocked the world at that time.
Franco was greatly surprised by the sudden fall of France and the possible collapse or destruction of Britain. In June, he expressed his readiness to join the ranks of the fascist victors and share the spoils. Partly because of his insatiable desires, and partly because of his shrewdness, he clearly pointed out that Spain's demands were quite high. However, at this time Hitler felt no need to win over allies.
Like Franco, he estimated that the major hostilities would end in a few weeks or even days and that Britain would soon sue for peace.
Therefore, he is not very interested in Madrid's aggressive approach.
By August, the situation had changed. Britain will fight on, and the war is likely to be long.
Since Britain had contemptuously rejected Hitler's peace proposal of July 19, Hitler began to look for allies. In addition to the dictator whom he had aided in the past and who had recently expressed his intention to side with him, Hitler began to look for allies. Who else could I turn to?
But Franco raised his asking price for the same reason.
On August 8, the German ambassador in Madrid told Berlin that Franco demanded: first of all, guarantees that Gibraltar, French Morocco and part of Algeria, including Oran, would be transferred to Spain, and that certain territories of the Spanish African colonies should be expanded. .
In addition, appropriate military assistance and economic assistance are needed, because Spain's food is only eight months enough. Finally, Franco believed that Spain could not participate in the war until the Germans landed in Britain, "so as not to prematurely delay the war and make Spain unbearable, and in some cases become the source of endangering the current regime." At the same time, Franco He also wrote to Mussolini, reiterating his demands and asking for his support.
Mussolini wrote back on August 25, advising the commander-in-chief "not to stay outside European history."
Hitler felt troubled because Franco's demands were too high, so he put it aside for the time being.
In September, it appeared that Great Britain could withstand the German air offensive.
The handover of 50 US destroyers has left a very deep impression on European countries. Spain feels that the United States is gradually heading towards war. Therefore, Franco and Spain adopted various demanding policies and made it clear that their demands must be agreed to in advance.
The two German and Italian leaders discussed this, and they agreed that the main goal at that time was to defeat the British. The only question is: how to defeat? When is it defeated?
Mussolini said: "Either the war will end before spring, or it will be postponed until next year." He believed that the latter was more likely, so he must make effective use of Spain's card.
Ribbentrop believed that if Spain declared war, it would be a new heavy blow to Britain.
When Spain became increasingly cold and greedy, Hitler's desire to win their support became stronger and stronger.
On October 4, Hitler and Mussolini held a meeting to persuade Spain to join the war. They thought Franco was too demanding and too slow. Agreeing to Spain's request would have two direct consequences: Britain would occupy Spanish bases in the Canary Islands and French colonies in North Africa would join de Gaulle's movement. This would force the Axis powers to greatly expand the scope of their operations. In order to convince Franco, the head of state decided to take action personally.
On October 23, Hitler traveled to Handay on the border of France and Spain to meet with the Spanish dictator.
Not only did Franco not take pride in Hitler's condescension, but, according to Hitler to Mussolini, he made "demands that were extremely disproportionate to his strength."
Spain demanded the revision of the boundaries of the Pyrenees, the cession of French Catalonia, the cession of Algeria from Oran to Cape Blanco, and almost all of Morocco. The talks were conducted through interpreters and lasted nine hours.
The two sides only reached a vague protocol to make arrangements for military negotiations. Later, Hitler angrily said to Mussolini in Florence:
"I would rather pull out three or four teeth than have to negotiate like this again!"
<a href="www.piaotia.com</a>" target="_blank">www.piaotia.com</a>??Ask" target="_blank">http://www.piaotia.com">www.piaotia.com</a>??Ask almost all of Morocco. The talks were conducted through interpreters and lasted nine hours.
The two sides only reached a vague protocol to make arrangements for military negotiations. Later, Hitler angrily said to Mussolini in Florence:
"I would rather pull out three or four teeth than have to negotiate like this again!"
<a href="www.piaotia.com</a>" target="_blank">www.piaotia.com</a>" target="_blank">http://www.piaotia.com">www.piaotia.com</a> - Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report
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