North African theater.

A day later, General Garibaldi, who was on a submarine, finally reached the Benghazi front in the Libyan theater of North Africa.

It was not surprising that the morale of the Italian army was low at this time, which was only natural after the defeat at the defeat of the Western Dubai Rani.

General Garibaldi first gave a morale-boosting pre-war mobilization and an inaugural speech to the Italian officers in North Africa.

It has to be said that the third governor of Libya does look like that, at least his speech will not sound very twisted like Mussolini.

"The 300,000 troops from East Africa have already set out from Ethiopia and Eritrea, and they will join us in Cairo....... We must believe in the decision of Mussolini, believe in our ability to unify Africa, and complete the leader's vision of the new Roman Empire! ”

The officers and men present burst into thunderous applause, and they seemed to be full of vitality as if they had regained their life.

It was evident that Garibaldi's strategy was correct, and the Italian army seemed to be regaining its vitality under his guidance.

Add to that Mussolini's recent order to transfer new tank destroyers to Africa, the Stalker tank destroyers he imported from Germany at a high price.

At this time, Garibaldi was fully confident that he would resist the British attack in Benghazi until the Italian army in East Africa attacked Somalia and Sudan, thereby relieving the pressure on the Italian army in North Africa.

In fact, a big reason why Graziani lost so much was because of the pit tanks equipped by the Italian armored forces, these Italian mini tanks weighing only a few tons, in the face of the British army's heavy main battle tanks of dozens of tons, not to mention the slightest advantage, but have been chased and beaten by the British army.

Garibaldi now had 50 German-made Stalkers, and his anti-tank capabilities had suddenly risen several levels.

Not to mention that the Stalker was originally a powerful weapon against any tank before 1943.

In terms of the characteristics of this tank alone, it is even more suitable for the African battlefield than the Leopard tank, which the German army regarded as a secret weapon.

After all, in North Africa, the harsh environment, flying sand, can be more terrible than enemy shells.

In the original historical time and space, whether it was the German Army's No. 1 to No. 4 tanks, or the British Crusaders, Matilda tanks, due to the raging wind and sand in North Africa, the turret and even the internal structure of the hull were seriously worn.

In the deserts of North Africa, the worn turret of an ordinary tank will be very difficult to rotate, and there is only constant repair, repair, and repair.

Convertible weapons such as the British Archer Anti-Tank will basically have a huge turret attrition.

But the Stalker tank destroyer, like a sealed soapbox, and without a turret at all, does not need to worry about the wear and tear of the wind and sand.

In addition, its front armor can almost ignore most anti-tank weapons, and the overhead machine gun can easily climb up and control the machine gun to kill and injure enemy soldiers.

The low body and desert-colored camouflage livery make it difficult to spot them in the desert.

It's just that....... The 50 hunters have just been delivered to Italy by Germany, and they are still parked in China, waiting to be loaded and transported, and it is estimated that it will take about half a month for all of them to be delivered to North Africa.

Moreover, their drivers were all SS panzers gifted by Reinhardt.

On the surface, it was Reinhardt's fear that the Italians would not be familiar with the use and would not be able to quickly make the sent pursuers form a fighting force.

In reality, however, Reinhardt sent SS panzers to drive the pursuers, out of fear that the pursuers would be captured by the British.

After all, judging by the combat effectiveness of the pursuers, not to mention the British Matilda, the Crusader tanks, even the Germans' own Leopard tanks, and even the KV tanks of the Soviets, will be threatened.

If the British had captured a German stalker, Reinhardt would have cried in the toilet.

Therefore, the pursuers sent by Reinhardt only allowed the Italians to operate the top machine guns, but they were not allowed to act as drivers. In the event of an accident, the SS fanatics who drove the Stalker would naturally pull a cluster grenade from the inside and destroy the Stalker's tank destroyer.

All in all, this Stalker anti-tank unit is Garibaldi's hole card in the deck, but he hasn't drawn it yet.

Before he could draw this card, he had to play wall defense.

At the same time, the Italian commander of East Africa, General Oster, was leading 300,000 Italian troops in East Africa on the orders of Mussolini himself, launching an offensive according to Garibaldi's plan.

In Eritrea and Ethiopia, 300,000 Italian troops were massed in Tsenay and Hirabo in preparation for attacks on Somalia and the British garrison in Sudan.

The Italian forces of Eritrea have now succeeded in attacking Kassala westward from Tsené, and thus have mastered the north-south road route through Sudan.

His forward force, which had now advanced north along the road line, was aimed at Port Sudan, an important port city for the British army in Africa.

As long as the Italian army mastered Port Sudan, it would be able to control the Red Sea, and then the southern gate of the Suez Canal, so that all British ships passing through the Suez Canal would be exposed to the range of Italian artillery.

In other words, mastering Port Sudan was like controlling the British army's rear supply line, and the Italian army could cut off the British supply from the rear in North Africa at any time, and indirectly support the Italian army in Benghazi on the North African front.

And even if the British commander Wavell ordered the transfer of troops, withdraw the attacking troops from the Benghazi front, and return to Port Sudan. The siege of North Africa will also be lifted as a result, and the 200,000 North African Italian troops will be able to reorganize and restore their combat effectiveness.

In fact, the Italian army attacking Port Sudan was only half of the 300,000 Italian troops in East Africa.

The remaining 150,000 Italian troops are heading south through Beledweyne, south of Shirabo, along the north-south highway in central Somalia, attacking Bloburti, Jowhar and Baalad, and then encircling the capital Mogadishu.

If the Italians were to occupy the strategically important cities of Port Sudan and Mogadishu, the non-British forces would be in a desperate situation.

The British commander, Admiral Wavell, knew very well that if Italy's offensive in East Africa succeeded, even if he took all of North Africa, wiped out all 230,000 Italian troops in Libya, and lost the British army in the rear, it would be impossible to achieve a final victory.

Fortunately, the 7th Infantry Division and the 9th Infantry Division sent by Australia have already landed in the Middle East and will soon be able to enter the African theater of operations. And Wavell did not send back the British division, which should have been replaced by these two Australian divisions.

Therefore, the forces in Wavell's hands are far from exhausting.

At the same time, with the reinforcements of two Australian divisions about to arrive, the will of the British troops on the front line was also greatly encouraged.