My Italy - Chapter 664 Battle of Tunisia (1)

Greece and Bulgaria are attracted by the Entente and Alliance camps respectively. It is still unclear whether this is a blessing or a curse for these two countries. But for Italy, as the three giants of the Allied Powers, now the most well-prepared Tunisian campaign and preparations have begun.

In Ben Gardan, a town on the border with Tunisia, there is a large number of soldiers in the town. At the same time, groups of cars and soldiers pass through the place. It can be seen from the uniforms of the soldiers that these are Italian soldiers.

Yes, this is the Italian Eighth Army preparing to attack Tunisia. The army has five infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, and various other ancillary unit configurations, with a total strength of 130,000. Since Crown Prince Vittorio served as the nominal commander of the army, the army was also called the Crown Prince’s Army.

Since it is the Crown Prince’s Corps, all materials and equipment must be sufficient. This is indeed the case. The Eighth Army’s personnel and equipment are fully equipped. In addition, the most outstanding thing about the Eighth Army is its affiliated units. New units such as armored battalions, independent heavy artillery regiments, airship brigade, and aircraft brigade can all be seen in the Eighth Army.

The current headquarters of the Eighth Army is in Ben Gardan, and Crown Prince Vittorio, the commander of the army, just arrived at his loyal army headquarters yesterday.

At this time, he was listening to the deputy commander, Lieutenant General Brazo, introducing the current specific situation of the army group.

“Your Excellency, Commander, currently the 15th Division of the 13th Army forward of our Eighth Army, with the cooperation of the Navy, has occupied this place after repelling the French Algerian 14th Division stationed in Gabes.

Currently, according to reports from our country’s intelligence department, the French army has 240,000 troops stationed in Tunisia, mainly defending northern Tunisia. There are only four divisions and nearly 50,000 troops in the south. And most of these troops are troops gathered from Algeria. The Tunisian troops have six divisions and more than 70,000 people. Three of the divisions were deployed in the south: the Shaal Division, the Sfax Division, and the Luktay Division.

In the north, the French army deployed an army in Sousse, and the main force of the French army was deployed on the line from Abenroth to Tunis. It is obvious that the French army is trying to use the terrain to lengthen our supply lines and use our supply lines to make trouble, so as to achieve the purpose of defeating us. “

Before the battle was launched, the Eighth Army took action, and its advance layout was conducive to the subsequent battle.

As for the French army’s deployment in Tunisia, Lieutenant General Brasseau saw through the opponent’s intentions at a glance. After all, the French army in Tunisia is basically a colonial army. Although there are 240,000 troops, they are certainly no match for the Eighth Army.

Therefore, appropriate tactics must be adopted, and Tunisia’s desolate south and rich north are perfect for luring the enemy deep. There is no telling how many tribal armed forces are hidden in the interior of Tunisia. Although these armed forces cannot face the enemy head-on, they are definitely quite good at attacking supply lines.

As for the Eighth Army, which is about to launch the Tunisian campaign, they have long been considering using luring tactics by the enemy. After the intelligence department sent back the enemy’s layout, the response method had already been in Lieutenant General Brazeau’s mind.

One more thing, the Italian intelligence service has always been a key area for Tunisia, and we all know the reasons.

Crown Prince Vittorio, who was listening to Lieutenant General Brazo’s story on the sand table, spoke at this time. “Then do we have any solution?”

“Yes, Commander.”

As he spoke, Lieutenant General Brazeau talked about how to deal with it. “As for the enemy’s layout, our Eighth Army Operations Office has formulated a very good plan. That is to use the sea to change routes, so that the enemy has no way to cut off our supplies.

First we need to capture Xfax. After obtaining the sea transportation line, we can make our supply line on land irrelevant. Then we relied on this place to conquer Sousse all the way, and then relied on this place to continue approaching the city of Tunis. After the French army in Tunis City is eliminated, we can then spread out and sweep other areas. “

The method described by Lieutenant General Brazeau is very simple, that is, to rely on ports to supply the Eighth Army, and also to reduce its troop deployment on the supply line, allowing the Eighth Army to devote more troops to the Tunisian campaign. .

The tactic that Lieutenant General Brazeau said is a bit like the island hopping tactic used by MacArthur during World War II. However, compared to avoiding the heavily defended islands of the enemy in World War II, Lieutenant General Brasso’s tactics are more about using port cities as supply bases and using the port cities in Tunisia to maximize the use of the Eighth Army’s forces. .

Of course, the ports that can supply the Eighth Army’s consumption needs are limited. According to the analysis of the staff, only a few ports in Sfax, Sousse, and Tunis are available. After all, the Eighth Army consumes three thousand tons of supplies every day. This is simply not possible for most of Tunisia’s ports, which are still handling manual operations.

Although Vittorio was only a nominal commander, he still understood the basic military situation and thought the plan was very good.

“Lieutenant General Brazeau, this plan is very good, I am very satisfied. Is there anything else our army is lacking at the moment? I can think of a solution.”

Well, His Excellency the Crown Prince is self-aware and knows what capabilities he has in combat command and other aspects, but he also has his own role, which is to need supplies, all kinds of supplies that can help the Eighth Army complete the campaign.

The crown prince’s words made all the officers present show a look of joy. This crown prince is so considerate. The officers and soldiers of the Eighth Group really met a very good crown prince.

As for Lieutenant General Brazeau, he knew what cards he had in his hand since he took up the post of deputy commander of the Eighth Army.

“Your Excellency, Commander, we have enough equipment and supplies. The 1,500 trucks of three car transport groups are enough for material transfer. In addition, the Navy has also set up a transport formation to be responsible for our maritime transportation and safety issues, so currently we have no Need other supplies.”

The trenches are inhumane. According to Lieutenant General Brazo, the Eighth Army attacked Tunisia this time. All supplies are more than enough, there is no need to take anything else.

Think about it, there are currently a total of 18 automobile transport regiments in the Army, but there are only six automobile regiments mainly equipped with F75 trucks, and half of them are assigned to the Eighth Army.

Some people may be wondering, isn’t Fiat’s annual truck output reaching 30,000 units? Why does the Army only have 18 truck transport groups with more than 9,000 units?

This number is correct, because Fiat’s trucks before the war were sold all over the world, and sales in Italy were less than 30%. Moreover, the service life of these early trucks is far less than that of later generations, and Italy also needs trucks, so it is impossible to give them all to the army.

Currently, the Italian army has 23,000 trucks, but many of them are assigned to the troops. In addition, the Navy also took away more than 4,000 vehicles, so the Army can have eighteen separate regiments, which is already very good.

After hearing that the Eighth Army now wanted nothing, His Excellency the Crown Prince had nothing to say.

“Then, let’s wait for the battle to begin.”

“Crown Prince, please rest assured that our officers and soldiers of the Eighth Group will not disappoint your expectations and will definitely bring Tunisia back to our country.”

Despite the two men’s words, the war in Tunisia will begin.