My Italy - Chapter 670 Battle of Tunisia (7)

Sousse was captured, which meant that Tunisia was indeed the most important city. Tunisia would face the Italian army’s attack.

This also caused the attitudes of many Tunisian tribes to change faster, and the French naturally did not want to see it.

“Chief Abshin, you can’t treat me like this.”

In Kasserine on the banks of the Hatay River in central Tunisia, Bekas was dragged away by several Haji tribe warriors.

Chief Abshin, who was being called out by him, was watching him accompanied by everyone. At this time, Becas was no longer in glory. Not to mention his disheveled appearance, even his face was swollen purple and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. He did not look like a French liaison officer at all.

“Chief Abshin, for the sake of our friendship over the years, please let me go.”

At this time, Becas knew what he was going to face, so he gave up any dignity and pride for his last chance.

Facing Bekas’s plea, Chief Abshin showed a sneer. “If you still regard me as a friend because of our long-term friendship, then you should not start a rebellion in my tribe. Our Haji tribe welcomes you back at any time. As long as you can defeat the Italians, we will still obey you. But since you are rebelling in my tribe, you do not regard me as a friend but as an enemy. God tells us to take an eye for an eye with an enemy and take him down and execute him.”

Stoning is a punishment for adultery in the Arab world, and the stoning of Bekas was a sign of dissatisfaction with France when Chief Abshin died of an dishonorable death because the other party started a rebellion in his tribe. .

Under the orders of Chief Abshin, the soldiers ignored the wailing of the former distinguished guest, Mr. Bekas, and dragged him directly to the square. The place was already crowded with people watching. People who had lost their families or finances in the rebellion were looking at the French people like dead dogs with hatred.

After placing him in the pit, two soldiers grabbed his hands and began to bury him in the soil until he was up to his neck. At this time, only Bekas’ head was exposed.

After setting up his French ‘friend’, Chief Abshin delivered an impassioned speech, and then the exciting execution began.

The firing squad consisted of victims who had lost family members. They all held a stone weighing more than a kilogram in their hands and threw it at five meters away.

piece!

Two pieces!

Stones continued to be thrown at Bekas. His head was bruised and bloody, and he screamed. As time went by, the screams gradually subsided. But the execution did not stop. After everyone had finished executing, the target of the execution was covered with stones.

There are many French people like Bekas in Tunisia who have liaisons with indigenous tribes. Faced with the change of attitude of the indigenous tribes when they saw that the situation was not good, they sometimes succeeded in preventing the tribe from changing their attitude. But these are very few, most of them ran back in despair, and there were also quite a few who failed like Bekas.

However, no matter how Tunisians continue to pick sides between Italy and France, in fact, the battle to determine Tunisia’s ownership has nothing to do with them.

This pair is in Tunisia. The French commander Lieutenant General Aquino is also worried about the situation in Tunisia, or more accurately, he is worried about the gains and losses of the city of Tunisia.

“Moxley, what other telegrams should you send personally?”

“It’s a telegram from Hammamet.”

Faced with Commander Aquino’s inquiry, Mosley, the chief of staff, gave the answer.

Upon hearing the telegram from Hammamet, Lieutenant General Aquino suddenly sat down instead of standing up. “Is it a telegram of defeat?”

Mosley nodded.

“Damn it, I know these Tunisians are unreliable. These people break like eggs. We must find a way to let these Tunisians know the consequences of not fighting well.”

At this time, after hearing the news, Aquino finally couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Commander, what are you going to do?”

As Chief of Staff, Mosley certainly knew that these Tunisians were unreliable. There had been countless examples in previous battles. The two of them also thought of countless ways to enhance the Tunisian people’s desire to fight, but they were not easy to arrange for various reasons. Now Commander Aquino had an idea, which naturally led to Major General Mosley’s inquiry.

“There is only one way, and that is to split the 35th Division into a supervising team and go to the battlefield to enforce military law.”

The 35th Division that Aquino mentioned was the only French infantry division in his hands, and it was also the role of the Tunisian Army in holding the battle. At this time, Aquino, who was desperate for the colonial army, decided to dismantle it and serve as a supervising team in each army.

As the chief of staff, Mosley did not look happy after hearing Commander Aquino’s words, but asked. “Your Excellency, Commander, have you decided?”

Of course Aquino understood the words of the Chief of Staff, which referred to the dangers caused by dismantling the 35th Division. We must know that the mission of this division is to deter other colonial divisions, and it is not too risky to dismantle it at this stage when the war is about to begin.

“I have thought about it. Instead of holding the 35th Division as a reserve force, it is better to release it out to supervise the battle. At least with a supervising team, these natives have to work hard for their own lives to prevent our Tunisian Army from losing too ugly. “

Achino said this with bitterness. Can their Tunisian Army compare with the Italian Eighth Army?

In terms of personnel, weapons, supplies, intelligence, etc., they were all far behind the Crown Prince’s Corps opposite them. This battle is destined to be a defeat, but there is knowledge in how to defeat it. There is a big difference between being defeated at a stroke and being defeated in a fierce battle, which is enough to make the treatment of the two of them very different.

“This method is our only option at the moment.”

After some thought, Chief of Staff Mosley admitted that what Commander Aquino said was the only way at present.

When the French army was adjusting its deployment in Tunisia, Lieutenant General Guerrieri, commander of the 13th Army, who had just captured Hammamet, received a telegram from the group army headquarters at his temporary headquarters.

Lieutenant General Guerrieri immediately issued the order after reading the telegram.

“Immediately order, and now arrange the next battle plan. The 15th Division attacks Ghulambaliya, the 36th Division attacks Beni Hayad, and the 29th Division and other troops of the army provide support.”

“As commanded.”

After the communications staff member answered loudly, he immediately prepared to convey the order.

After the communications staff member left, Lieutenant General Guerrieri picked up the telegram and started reading it. The above telegram was jointly issued by the Crown Prince and Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Brazeau. He was required to immediately launch a battle on the outskirts of Tunisia after capturing Hammamet.

As for why he was so anxious, the telegram did not say. However, as a soldier who has served for half his life, orders from superiors must be carried out, especially such mindless orders, and orders must be carried out without compromise.

As for why, it is obvious that this kind of mindless order does not tell you the details because you are not qualified yet, which also represents the importance of the task.

As for what situation caused the Crown Prince’s army to speed up?

Yes, it is more important than the Battle of Tunisia. The Battle of Nice-Corsica is about to begin.

After the battle begins, the importance of the Tunisia Campaign will be reduced a lot. By then, even if the crown prince is in charge, the importance of the Eighth Army will plummet.

Therefore, starting the battle for Tunis City as early as possible is a wise choice for the Eighth Army.