That night, Chen Dao and Mandol stayed in the villa area of senior Italian officers on the south side of the port of Benghazi.

Knowing that Chen Dao was coming, Marshal Graziani, the Governor of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Army in North Africa, carried forward the fine style of Italian hospitality and allocated Villa No. 17 as Chen Dao's temporary residence.

Walking into Villa 17, which is fully equipped with various facilities in the villa area, after seeing the appearance of Mandolfil with the help of the lights, Chen Dao's nose was sour, and tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, almost crying.

At this time, Mandol's lips were scattered with cracks, his white face turned black, the skin on his cheeks and the corners of his eyes was cracked and peeled, his short hair had become curly and dry, and his eyes were bloodshot.

You don't need to ask Chen Dao to know that the tragic scene of Mandol was obviously devastated by the harsh weather of the Sahara Desert in North Africa.

"It's not too late for you to come, the summer in North Africa hasn't passed yet, it will entertain you with heat of more than forty degrees, endless hot winds, and sandstorms that cover the sky, and in less than two weeks you will be like me."

Mandolfir's mood was clearly inversely proportional to his appearance, and he teased Chen Dao with great interest.

"I can't ask for it, so that the soldiers don't feel distance from me." Chen Dao calmed down and said to Mandolfil with a smile.

After a few more pleasantries, the two walked into the restaurant for a sumptuous Italian-style dinner, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

Chen Dao was accompanied by an anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the Luftwaffe. There are also the 101 Special Air Service Battalion and the DreamWorks Special Forces. After waiting for a day and a night, the three troops were unloaded and assembled. Chen Dao and Mantufer led their troops to set off for Tobruk, 400 kilometers away.

Chen Dao soon experienced the extreme natural environment of the Sahara Desert, where the surface temperature rises sharply to over 40 degrees Celsius after dawn, like an oven.

As far as the eye can see, there is hardly anything else to be seen on the ground except gravel and sand dunes, and there are not no plants, but only cacti are still cacti.

looked at Chen Dao, who was a little sluggish under the scorching heat. Mandolfil was thoughtful about some of the anecdotes he had seen and heard since his arrival in Libya.

"You know what? How did the last governor of Libya, Field Marshal Barbo, die? ”

"Marshal Balbo? I heard that he was flying a plane to patrol the harbor when he was attacked by British troops, and then he was shot down by an enemy plane and killed. Chen Dao asked curiously.

"This is not the case with the inside story, Marshal Balbo went out on patrol on June 28 in an S79 catamaran seaplane, and when he arrived in Tobruk, he was mistaken for a Royal Air Force aircraft by the cruiser Gildeo, and was fired more than 280 shells, and then fell to the ground with black smoke." Mandolfil waved his right hand and made a gesture for the plane to fall.

"Lovely Italian, poor Marshal Balbo, I hope we don't meet those Italian anti-aircraft gunners, it's too horrible." Chen Dao sighed.

"After the death of Marshal Balbo, there were rumors in the Italian army that Mussolini had deliberately murdered him. The reason was that he opposed the declaration of war on Britain. However, these are just rumors, and there is no evidence to prove them. Mandolfil said.

"Any other interesting news?" Chen Dao asked.

"In order to strengthen cooperation with us. Italians often hold dinners to promote friendship with us.

About two weeks ago, I had dinner with General Rommel and several Italian generals in a hotel in Tobruk, and at first we had very little communication because of language problems. Later, an Italian major general, as if trying to break the dull atmosphere and find a topic that would please General Rommel, asked him where he got the blue Marx medal around his neck, and you know? Mandolfil spread out his hands and shrugged his shoulders, a wry smile on his face.

Chen Dao slapped his forehead painfully, and said in his heart that Lao Long's blue Max medal was obtained in the summer of 1917 in the battle of Longenorn on the Southern Front of World War I.

Lao Long led a company to constantly harass an Italian infantry division stationed in the town, and then cooperated with the incoming reinforcements to annihilate the Italian division, capturing nearly 10,000 people.

This victory led directly to the dismissal of the then Italian Chief of Staff Cadorna, for which he was awarded the Blue Marx Medal by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

To put it bluntly, Lao Long's blue Max medal was awarded for beating the Italian efficiently and beautifully, and the Italian major general asked what was wrong and asked this question.

"In the style of General Rommel, I can imagine how embarrassing it was to say that the medal was awarded in Longenorn." Chen Dao said with a wry smile.

Mandolfer's face was also full of wry smiles: "The Italian general then said that the exchange of the evening was over, and then we ate with our heads down, and never said a word to each other. ”

"Alas, lovely Italians." Chen Dao sighed.

"It's not optimistic to play alongside the Italians in this atmosphere." Mandolfil said.

"Although the combat effectiveness index of the Italian army is only five, it is still a positive number after all, although it can't help much, it will not hold us back, don't worry too much." Chen Dao said.

"Have you forgotten what happened to Marshal Balbo?" Mandolfil kindly reminded.

Chen Dao was speechless.

Chen Dao rubbed his temples in distress, and said in his heart that as far as what happened to Marshal Balbo was concerned, the performance of the Italian army could no longer be described as five scum, and the minus five was about the same.

At the thought of fighting alongside these poor and lovely Italians, and still accepting their command, Chen Dao suddenly felt as if he was sitting on a cactus, and he couldn't sit at ease for a moment.

More than ten seconds later, Chen Dao broke the silence in the carriage.

"What is the talent of Marshal Graziani? He is our immediate superior, and his talent will directly affect our performance and the course of the campaign. ”

"He was brilliant at suppressing the local indigenous rebellion, but I think he was an Anglophobe when it came to dealing with the British, and his fear of the British was etched into his bones.

As far as I know, he also wanted to postpone the attack on Egypt for a month, but Mussolini vetoed it. Although he had decided to attack on time, I did not see any preparations from the Italian army. The assault on Egypt is still up to our troops. ”

"Which unit under Marshal Graziani is the most combat-ready? How many armored divisions are there? Chen Dao asked.

"There were no armored divisions, all the armored divisions were transferred. He had only infantry divisions at his command, and there were six divisions planned for the attack on Egypt, of which the first and second blackshirts were more combative, especially the second blackshirts, which were the only motorized division under Marshal Graziani. Mandolfil said.

Chen Dao nodded with satisfaction, and said in his heart that these were all very important information, and it seemed that Mantuofeier's pre-war preparations were quite sufficient.

"I think it is necessary for me to get in touch with Marshal Graziani and cheer him up, and I must not let his Anglophobia affect the course of the campaign." Chen Dao touched his chin with a thoughtful look.

"At least let the Italians go from minus five to five." Mandolfil reminded.

"Okay, I'll take care of that. Italy is our ally, and whether we like them or not, we will fight side by side with the lovely Italians. We can't solve any problem by ridiculing and accusing them of being behind their backs, and we must find a way to wake them up in the head, to muster their fighting spirit, and to make them a reliable ally, starting with Marshal Graziani. Chen Dao said.

That evening, while the convoy was spending the night in Al-Bayda, an airwave flew towards Berlin.

At two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, a Ju-52 transport plane took off from Berlin and flew to Tobruk via Rome, the capital of Italy.

Another day later, the troops led by Chen Dao arrived in Tobruk. (To be continued......)