An hour later, two more convoys of large convoys joined Hewitt's fleet. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In the dark sea, the navigation lights on the ship constantly flashed red and green.

At the same time, hundreds of blocking balloons were suspended in the air, preventing a sudden sneak attack by the German air force.

In addition to these blocking balloons, there are more than 100 P-40 fighters and P-38 fighters patrolling and covering the skies above these ships.

When the fleets were combined, they silently followed Hewitt's 'Monrovia' through the port of Bizerte and sailed in a zigzag formation at a speed of 15 knots in the direction of Cape Bang Peninsula and Sicily.

Looking down from afar, this huge fleet looked like a black and oppressive bison army marching.

By this time, Eisenhower had already left Algiers by plane and arrived at the Verdara Palace in Malta.

After casually strolling around the palaces, meeting rooms, and other places; He went to his gorgeous room and stroked the lucky coin in his hand.

These lucky coins are a silver coin, a French franc and a 5 shilling coin.

These lucky coins are usually stored in a zippered wallet that he carries with him, and whenever he is in a nervous mood or irritable, he can't help but touch these lucky coins; to calm your emotions or pray to God.

Eisenhower, who was always cautious and kind-mannered, paced up and down in a depressed mood in his ornate room with a high ceiling.

Before the launch of Operation Torch, Marshall's unique vision allowed him to take over the command of the Anglo-American Allied forces in Britain for the North African campaign; He commanded hundreds of thousands of troops, as well as hundreds of high-ranking British and American officers.

And with his firmness, decisiveness, and magnanimity, as well as his full trust in his subordinates, and his clear distinction between rewards and punishments, fairness, and diligence, all the battles under his command were smooth and smooth, and he achieved great results.

As a result, he became an invincible and indispensable commander in chief among the British and American allies.

Even Churchill's chief of staff praised and supported him.

Especially after the North African campaign and the Tunisian campaign, his status and fame reached the highest peak.

Therefore, at the launch of the Sicilian Campaign, all the members of the Anglo-American Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously agreed to continue to let him serve as the commander-in-chief of the Anglo-American Allied Forces and command the operations of the Sicilian Campaign.

Having won two large-scale battles, he was still quite confident in the actions of the Sicilian Campaign.

However, after several battles on the Cape Bonne Peninsula and on the island of Pantelleria, he felt that the Germans were not as easy to deal with as he had faced before.

Moreover, the more the battle with the German army commanded by Chen Yanlong, and the approaching day of the Sicilian Campaign; The more an ominous sixth sense came over him, making him restless and unable to sleep.

After Eisenhower had smoked more than 30 Camel cigarettes alone, suddenly there was a knock on his room door. Biddle? Smith's anxious knock on the door.

Hearing that it was his chief of staff, Eisenhower hurried to open the door for the other party and let him in.

"So soon to finish talking to the commander of the British Navy, Admiral Cunningham? Lieutenant General Smith! ”

As soon as they met, Eisenhower immediately asked with a bright smile that he had not seen for a long time.

"Yes! Commander! ”

Lieutenant General Smith nodded hurriedly in response.

"Did they accept Montgomery's battle plan?"

Eisenhower continued to ask.

They reluctantly agreed! However, Admiral Cunningham and his Admiralty were more inclined to disperse the forces of the Navy in order to seize more airfields and ports! ”

Lieutenant Smith replied.

"Sure enough, it was exactly what I thought! That's right! How many troops have we gathered now? ”

Eisenhower sighed and continued.

"5 British divisions, 4 American divisions, a total of 9 divisions have converged on ships at our secret assembly point! However, there are still 11 divisions left before we have to assemble 20 divisions! ”

Lieutenant General Smith thought for a moment.

"That can only be handed over to Lieutenant General Hewitt! In fact, this time my strength is 7 more divisions than the original planned 13 divisions! This is thanks to the strong support of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill! ”

Eisenhower nodded with some satisfaction.

"Yes! And we also sent two airborne divisions to support the airborne! ”

Lieutenant General Smith smiled.

"Hmmm! This battle is important for our allies! If you lose, it will not only be a battle for the islands, but the morale of the entire Anglo-American allies! So we can't afford to lose again! ”

Eisenhower suddenly said solemnly with a solemn face.

"I understand!"

Lieutenant General Smith was silent for a moment, then replied briefly.

"Hmmm! Let's work together! And what about the Italian Navy, how is our intelligence investigating? ”

Eisenhower asked suddenly, straight to the point.

"7 battleships, and 12 cruisers; However, these ships lack radar and fuel; As for the aircraft carriers, there is not a single one, and there is not even a shadow of carrier-based aircraft! The combat effectiveness is much weaker than that of the Japanese army! ”

Lieutenant General Smith reported with a happy smile.

"What about airplanes? What is the current situation of the aviation forces in Italy? ”

Eisenhower continued to ask.

"At most, there are only about 1,000 of them, because the past wars cost Italy almost 3,000 aircraft, which greatly reduced the strength of their aviation units, and now Italian aviation and all mechanized units that need fuel for operations are seriously short of fuel!"

"And in the future, Italy will have a large-scale rebellion in the future because of our carpet bombing, and the lack of food and all kinds of resources, as well as the workers' strikes, and the shortage of other living materials!"

Lieutenant General Smith added with a happy smile.

"The Italian army was not at all strong in combat, as we already knew from the North African campaign; So our focus now should be on the movements of the German army! Especially the recent situation of their new weapons and equipment, we all need to know clearly! ”

"Otherwise, we will be caught off guard by the Germans again!"

Eisenhower waved his hand and said solemnly.

"Yes! Commander! ”

Lieutenant General Smith also replied earnestly.

"Then tell me about the current deployment of the German troops, and where are the sources of their advanced weapons and equipment? And there are those types! ”

Eisenhower stared at Lieutenant General Smith with sharp eyes and said solemnly.

Hearing this, Lieutenant General Smith was speechless for a while, lowered his head in embarrassment, and was silent.