My Italy - Chapter 692 Battle of Egypt (1)

Christmas in 1914 was not a happy holiday for continental Europe. Although the officers and soldiers fighting on both sides had a day without gunpowder, no one knew what their fate would be next.

In Libya, North Africa, Italian navy and army officers and soldiers spent a happy Christmas. Although it is a bit hot, the material support is very good. The abundant supplies transported from the Apennine Peninsula allowed the officers and soldiers to have a happy holiday.

Although British submarines were at sea during this period, in the face of Italian airships and warships equipped with various sonar and depth bombs, these submarines not only had limited success, but also suffered heavy casualties. For this reason, the British Admiralty had to suspend submarine attack missions. After all, only four out of ten ships came back, which no matter how rich the family background is, it can’t stand it.

By the way, sonar and depth bombs are new equipment developed by the Italian Navy. They are great weapons for submarines that can only dive for one or two hours and lack tactics.

In addition, at this time, Italian troops gathered on the Tobruk front line.

As for the Army, there are many units such as the Second, Fourth, Eighth, and Tenth Army, with a total strength of 470,000.

In addition to the ground army, the cooperating navy is also not weak. Just four Rome-class battleships equipped with 380 mm main guns are a problem that the Allied Mediterranean Combined Fleet cannot solve. Not to mention that after the two Roman-class ships were put into service one after another, the Italian-Austrian combined fleet was even higher in number than its opponents.

However, even though he was superior to his opponents in terms of strength, as the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian campaign, Prince Filiberto attached great importance to the campaign.

Compared with nephew Carlo’s limited military talents, this one should have focused all his skills on military affairs.

Considering the importance of the battle and the coordination of the army, the Egyptian campaign must have a person who lives in the town.

The first choice is General Simeone, who has always kept his word in the army. He can completely suppress those arrogant and powerful generals. But considering the importance of coordinating the overall situation, this is also the most unlikely candidate.

Therefore, after some consideration of candidates, Prince Filiberto, the commander of the Northern Army Group, was finally selected.

He was very outstanding when he served as the commander of the Northern Army. Coupled with his status as the king’s uncle, he was also able to restrain those arrogant and powerful generals. Compared with the other Prince Amedeo, this military-obsessed prince is much better.

At this time, the prince was holding a combat meeting in Tobruk’s headquarters.

In the combat conference room, a large sand table occupying a quarter of the room was placed in the center of the room. Among the stars twinkling in this room, the most numerous are lieutenant generals, followed by major generals. If a heavy artillery shell were hit here at this time, the Egyptian campaign would be postponed for at least half a year. But if you want this place to be exposed to cannonballs, God will have to fire the cannons himself.

In the tightly guarded headquarters, His Royal Highness was holding a baton and assigning various combat tasks to the generals present.

“Admiral Leifer, your combined fleet mission is very important. To ensure the safety of sea transportation lines, the supply safety of our army will be left to you.”

“Your Excellency, please rest assured that our combined fleet will definitely protect the safety of the transport fleet and will not allow Teijin any chance to threaten the transport fleet.”

Faced with the prince entrusting him with the most important task, Admiral Leifer, as the commander of the combined fleet, of course agreed without hesitation.

The importance of the Egyptian campaign to the navy cannot be said much.

As long as Egypt is captured, the combined fleet can move out of the Indian Ocean and threaten the British and French colonies in Asia and East Africa. This will have a huge effect on combating the war potential of Britain and France.

“Not bad.”

Prince Filiberto was satisfied with the navy’s unhesitating answer.

“In order to ensure the mission, I will arrange for spies to monitor the enemy’s fleet, and there will be enough airships patrolling outside Alexandria to ensure that every move of the enemy is within our surveillance range.”

Prince Filiberto seems to attach great importance to intelligence and reconnaissance work, allowing the enemy to observe every move he makes.

Of course, he only assigned tasks to the navy, and not to the army. , although the army’s mission is simple, it still needs to be arranged. “General Gardner, your Second Army serves as the forward and is responsible for clearing the way.”

Admiral Gardner replied loudly. “As commanded.”

Although Admiral Gardner answered loudly, Prince Filiberto still had a few words to explain. “Your Second Group Army has a very heavy task. In addition to defeating the enemy’s defenders along the line, it also needs to repair the roads along which the army travels, and also arrange supply points. Therefore, I will hand over the 1st and 3rd Cavalry Divisions to you, and additionally I will hand over the 2nd and 4th Engineer Brigades to you.”

“Our officers and soldiers of the Second Group will definitely complete the tasks assigned by the Commander.”

The reason why General Gardner handed over the forward to the Second Army was not because its commander was loud, but because the other party had been deployed in Tobruk and was familiar enough with the situation in the area, so that he could get twice the result with half the effort by opening the way.

As for Admiral Gardner getting the forward position, he was quite excited. Watching friendly forces fighting fiercely in this world war while he could only wait in Tobruk was too difficult for an ambitious soldier.

Now that he is the forward with the heaviest task, this is an affirmation of the Second Army. No matter what, he must let the Second Army show its edge in this battle.

After explaining the candidates for the forward position, Prince Filiberto continued to lay out the tasks. “Admiral Bartlett.”

“arrive.”

The same loud reply came from General Bartlett, the commander of the Sixth Army.

“Your Sixth Army follows behind the Second Army and is responsible for supporting and maintaining principles.”

“As commanded.”

The mission of the Sixth Army is not very good. Although it is ranked second, it can at best be regarded as the reserve support force of the Second Army.

Judging from the current deployment of the Allied Powers in Egypt, they can’t even drink soup and can only work as road maintenance workers. Because the Allies only deployed five divisions west of Alamein, including three British-Indian divisions, one South African division, and one Australian division. The direction of deployment is also in this arrangement and is deployed eastward in sequence.

It can be said that unless the Allied commanders are not clear-headed and want to fight the Italian army in the coastal desert for life and death, otherwise these enemy troops will not be enough for the Second Army.

“General Wagman, your 10th Army will set off last, and other troops will advance with my headquarters.”

Prince Filiberto said and glanced at Crown Prince Vittorio, the meaning of which is self-evident.

Vittorio still didn’t understand the look in his cousin’s eyes. You are not allowed to run around, you have to follow him.

Their respective tasks have been set, and it’s time for the battle to begin.

“January 7th is the time when the battle will be launched. Everyone, please go back and prepare.”

With Prince Filiberto’s words, the war meeting came to an end. The commanders of each army left one after another, and they needed to rush back to make final preparations before the battle broke out.

(One more thing, Carlo is the son of the eldest brother, Umberto I, and Prince Filiberto is the son of the second son, Amadeo I. Encyclopedia shows that he is the son of his grandfather, Victor Emmanuel II, which is wrong. Outrageous)