My Italy - Chapter 681 Desire for Egypt

The battle in Nice is very important to Italy, but the battle for Nice is not all of Italy.

As the brain of the kingdom, Rome was extremely busy at this time, and all departments in the city were busy. At this time, bills and orders were sent from Rome to various places, commanding the behemoth Italy to fight in this war.

“This document is handed over to the Ministry of Education.”

“yes.”

A plan to improve patriotic courses and military training in universities, middle schools and primary schools was submitted from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Education. As long as the Ministry of Education feels there is no problem, each school will implement this plan.

“Send this report to the Interior Department.”

This is a plan for the Ministry of Education to organize a patriotic parade of students to request protection from the interior. I believe the Ministry of Interior will not refuse, even if the Ministry of Interior is currently as busy as a dog.

The war connected the military and government departments like gears, pushing the Italian tank to fight on the stage. And the person who controls this chariot, no need to think about it, is King Carlo, who is at the peak of his prestige in the kingdom.

At this time in the palace, which is the core of politics, Carlo is meeting a special person.

“Tell me what you think about fighting in Tunisia.”

Carlo sat behind his desk and asked his son, Crown Prince Vittorio. At this time, he was still very satisfied with his son. Although this battle was mainly commanded by his deputy, Lieutenant General Brasso, it was also quite clear that Vittorio also corrected his attitude and made good logistics, allowing the Eighth Army to fight The city of Tunis has no logistical worries.

In front of them, the Eighth Army, which had priority in firepower and was moving step by step, and the Tunisian Army of French Lieutenant General Aquino were retreating steadily, and soon they could only rely on the city wall for defense. Unfortunately, in the face of the Eighth Army’s unparalleled superior artillery, Tunisia’s civil structures simply could not withstand the blow.

Therefore, at the end of May, the French army could not withstand the attack. More than 50,000 French troops surrendered. However, most of them were recruited from the colonies, and the French army only had a few thousand local officers and soldiers.

The Tunisian Army of more than 200,000 people only had more than 50,000 people left after two months of fighting. One can imagine the combat effectiveness of its colonial army.

Faced with his father’s inquiry, Vittorio expressed his feelings. “Although I participated in this battle less, I still felt that it was not easy. The logistics work must not be sloppy at all, otherwise it will cause serious consequences. In addition, I also commanded a regiment-level battle and saw soldiers bleeding and dying in the battle. , I feel a heavy responsibility on myself. It is not easy at all to keep soldiers alive in battle as much as possible. I think I am still a long way from being a qualified officer, and this requires me to continue to work hard. ”

His son’s words made Carlo feel very gratified. The battlefield was no less than a big furnace. Even if he did not visit the front line of the battlefield, his son’s character still became stronger. This is the character of a future monarch.

Thinking of this, Carlo looked at him and said with a hint of tenderness. “Yes, there has been great progress. I am very pleased. When the Egyptian campaign breaks out, I will wait for your Eighth Army to perform well.”

“Father, please don’t worry, I will show you the performance of the Eighth Army.” After finishing speaking, the Crown Prince used a standard military salute to declare that what he said was not a lie, but a promise.

“I trust you.”

Carlo said and patted the crown prince on the shoulder to express encouragement.

At this time, facing his father’s words of encouragement, Vittorio smiled brightly.

Facing his son’s smile, Carlo had a little reflection at this time. Was he too harsh on him?

But he soon gave up this idea. If he were an ordinary person or even a prince, he would not be so strict. But he is the future king, and he needs to bear too much responsibility, so he cannot relax even a little bit.

“Okay, you go and visit your mother, wife and children first. You have been away for more than two months, and they miss you very much.”

“Okay father, I’ll go see them first.”

Vittorio knew that his father had many things to do and couldn’t leave at this time, so he didn’t bother him. To be honest, he really missed his mother, wife, and children.

When Vittorio walked out of his father’s office, he saw his mother, wife and children looking at him.

Looking at his family waiting for him, Vittorio said with moist eyes. “I’m back.”

Carlo missed the reunion of his son and his family because of many things.

At this time, as soon as his son left, the guard notified the ministers of navy and army to see him.

The two military leaders coming together must have something very important, so Carlo immediately let them in.

Sure enough, after the two men came in and saluted, Admiral Yagir, the Minister of the Navy, spoke. “Your Majesty, this is our plan to attack Egypt.”

As he spoke, he placed a thick battle plan in front of Carlo.

Carlo opened it and started reading, while the two military bosses waited in silence.

This military plan is quite satisfactory. The navy will first dispatch a combined fleet to seize sea power in the Eastern Mediterranean. The army then marched from the coastal areas, first seizing Alexandria, the home port of the Allied Mediterranean Combined Fleet, and then seizing Cairo, the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt has been a long-awaited destination for Italy, and now Italy is finally reaching out to seize it.

From a planning point of view, this is similar to the German-Italian Allied Forces’ march plan in World War II, both of which took place along the coastal areas.

There is nothing that can be done about it. The land passage from Libya to Egypt is only along the coast, otherwise it can only pass through the Sahara Desert composed of long yellow sand. Can these hundreds of thousands pass?

And there is another advantage to traveling along the coast, that is, you can get supplies shipped by sea. This is a huge benefit. Think about how much material consumption your hundreds of thousands of troops require. The demand for water alone requires nearly a thousand tons per day, not to mention food and other supplies.

However, there is currently only a dirt road from Egypt to Libya, the traffic conditions are worrying, and it is inseparable from supplies by sea.

In response to the desolate and lack of ports on Egypt’s eastern coast, the Navy has formulated a special supply plan, which is to use landing craft to complete the last section of the supply plan from sea to land.

The use of landing craft to complete the last section of sea transportation can be said to be a considerable use of resources.

Of course, all of this requires the navy to suppress the Allied navy, and the navy has full confidence in whether it can suppress the enemy.

For the current combined fleet, the strength of 13 battleships and 5 cruise ships is far stronger than the 12 battleships and 3 cruise ships of the Allied Combined Fleet.

Not to mention that in terms of quality, the two Rome-class battleships (Roma and Imperial) crushed the entire field. Although the two Rome-class battleships have only been in service for less than half a year, and the latest Imperial has only been in service for less than a month (the paint has not even dried), its 380mm main gun and armor that can defend against 350mm shells will definitely become It is a well-deserved heavy cavalry in naval battles, and no one can stop its attack.

As long as there is an advantage in naval warfare, then the supply lines on land will be unobstructed.

After Carlo read the battle plan, he looked up at the two military bosses and said. “This plan says I’m satisfied, so let’s implement it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At this time, the Egyptian campaign entered the preparation stage, and the next step was to mobilize troops from various places and transport sufficient supplies. It would be impossible to start the Egyptian campaign within three or four months. This was after the military had already transported a lot of personnel and materials within half a year.

Of course, the Egyptian campaign needs to start, and other battlefields need to be completed. Fighting two major battles at the same time is unaffordable for the Italian military industry.