The German troops soon returned to Bairdi in Libya with the fuel left behind by the British, in their captured cars. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

This time they successfully counterattacked, relieved the siege of Baildi from the British, and annihilated the living forces of the British Army Group Nile.

In this battle, with their own strength of about 3,000 troops, they counterattacked all the way and captured more than 10,000 British soldiers, and also captured two senior British commanders.

If this is not a big victory, it is too few victories in the past.

Rommel laughed and climbed into his car, and then, under the gaze of Marshal Graziani, drove away.

Marshal Graziani also knew that the Germans were really gone, and he reluctantly let his Italian troops stay, and it was estimated that he would only end up delivering food to the British.

So the Italian marshal did not hesitate, shook his head and got into his car, took the Italian soldiers, followed in the footsteps of Rommel, and withdrew from the danger zone overnight.

One of the characteristics of the North African operation is that the infrastructure of both sides here determines that neither side can invest too many and too large combat forces.

Under such a premise, the number of troops will always be insufficient, and the vast space determines that the rhythm between the attack and defense of the two sides is in a wide open and closed mode.

So Rommel didn't have the slightest nostalgia at all, and went straight back to Baierdi with his troops. This time, what he brought back was glory, the hearts of countless Italians!

Attacking Matroux from the outskirts of Tobruk, Rommel's army not only captured more than 10,000 British soldiers, but also rescued more than 60,000 Italian troops who had already been captured by these British troops.

Now, these captured Italian troops simply regarded Rommel's Afrika Korps as a savior, which they admired from the bottom of their hearts.

Coupled with the supplies recaptured from the British, Graziani unexpectedly found that his 10th Army had returned so inexplicably......

Although the Italian attack on Egypt also lost at least 40,000 men, after all, the battle was effectively stopped.

Although it is unlikely that the 100,000 Italian troops will go to the front line to fight, these captured prisoners will still be much better than the local migrant workers to build the oil fields in Libya as engineers.

Marshal Graziani also thought that this arrangement was very good, and at least he could find something reasonable to do for these "soldiers" who could not fight.

Since the marshal, who knew that the Italian army was not ready for battle and was not suitable for offensive operations, agreed to this arrangement, Rommel unreservedly assigned a large amount of work to the Italian friendly forces.

This included the construction of a road from Tobruk to Baildi and the construction of a new wharf in Baildi to dock supply ships.

Others, Rommel asked them to take over the construction of Libya's oil fields. And ordered them that the basic construction of this oil field must be completed next year.

Originally, the German officers were worried that such an arrangement would not cause dissatisfaction among the Italian rank-and-file officers.

After all, it is a discriminatory act to ask friendly soldiers who have just been rescued to do some dirty logistics engineering work.

But soon they found themselves worried—hearing that they no longer had to go to the front to fight, the Italian captives nodded happily in agreement, and immediately set up camp and hit the road......

"Mr. Marshal, how many troops do you have in your hands that can fight now?" Rommel looked at the Italian soldiers, who were willing to go to the rear and work hard, and asked Graziani, who was rushing back to Bairdi with him.

The Italian marshal was also very embarrassed now, and he felt that his face was gloomy when he saw his so-called soldiers make such a humiliating choice.

However, when the German general asked himself how many troops were left in Italy to fight, the marshal became infinitely pessimistic.

He turned his head sideways, looked at Rommel, thought for a moment and replied, "If it is according to the standards of the troops under your command, Your Excellency...... Obviously, not a single one. ”

As a military man, admitting that the other person is better than you is a painful thing in itself. But now having seen the combat effectiveness of the German army, poor Graziani really can't think of comparisons.

He estimated that if they did their best to provide logistical supplies for these German troops, they would be able to attack and capture Matru as long as they were given three to four divisions.

Half a month ago, he commanded the entire 10 divisions of Italy, but he returned home in Matru.

The huge gap between the German and Italian armies in terms of combat effectiveness in heaven and earth really left this Italian marshal speechless.

"Uh...... Your Excellency, Marshal! Don't be so pessimistic...... I may not be stating, I mean to say, if I attack, how many Italian troops do you have to fight with us. Rommel was embarrassed for a moment, then quickly explained.

Of course, he could not demand the Italian army according to the standard of the German army, and he had long seen the stragglers in Italy who had been "captured twice", and it was better to count on them than to look to God.

What Rommel meant was to use some of Italy's fighting armies to make up for Germany's lack of infantry and artillery, and to form a complementary bloc.

Although I don't expect the Italians to have such an amazing battlefield performance, it is still possible to use them for some vigilance in non-key defensive directions, including the protection of logistics troops.

That's why Rommel asked Marshal Graziani how many Italian troops he could continue to fight.

Hearing Rommel's question, Field Marshal Graziani fell into thought, and he tried his best to raise the bar for his subordinates, so that he could lead these troops to fight with the German army.

After thinking about it, Graziani continued to be pessimistic...... He was a little embarrassed to explain the situation of his army to Rommel: "Actually, my troops need to rest, and after a crushing defeat, now they are demoralized and are not fit to continue fighting. ”

After two sentences of explanation, the poor Italian marshal came to a conclusion that he himself felt a little ashamed: "If you intend to strike back immediately, General, then the troops we can accompany the battle are only about 5,000 men." ”

Just listening to this answer, you can understand what a huge blow the Italian army suffered in this defeat.

There were almost 100,000 Italian troops, and as a result, there were only a pitiful 5,000 troops that were now convenient for immediate counter-attack......

In fact, Rommel also knew that it was impossible to expect immediate support from Italy in terms of large troops.

Think about it another way: if the Italian army could immediately give Rommel decent reinforcements, then why did they retreat from the periphery of Matrux?

"I know the difficulties of the Italian side!" Glancing at the Italian marshal, who was already a little decadent, Rommel opened his mouth to comfort: "I know that your troops have suffered heavy losses, and it will take time to recover and recuperate. ”

He spoke seductively and said to the Italian marshal, "That's why I ordered the retreat from Matru, didn't I?" ”

At this point, he paused and continued to organize his words: "I mean, in 10 days, I will suddenly fight back at the border...... Do you have the means to give me 8,000 to 10,000 troops? ”

Listen to what they have to say! What does it mean to be reasonable? What does it mean to think what others think? The Germans are not only able to fight, this kind of thoughtfulness is really manly!

Shaking his head, some inexplicable thoughts came out of his mind, Marshal Graziani, who had already been reduced to a small loss in terms of identity, was already about to be moved by Rommel's thoughtfulness.

"If it's 10 days later...... Then I can come up with at least 8,000 people! Your Excellency, do you want to? Marshal Graziani, moved, opened his mouth and gave Rommel his promise.

"I want to raid Matroux in 10 days, and in a field environment, try to kill as many British troops as possible, and occupy Matroux Harbor as quickly as possible!" Rommel replied.

In Rommel's considerations, he did not intend to waste too much time on the outskirts of Matru, after all, the fact that he was backed by the longest supply line was a situation that no general wanted to face.

That's why Rommel orchestrated this retreat, intending to force the British soldiers, who had already been struck by his attack, to disperse.

Then he used a lightning attack, sweeping the perimeter of Matroux and eliminating the British troops who did not have time to retreat back to Matroux.

If all goes well, then he can capture Matru almost bloodlessly, avoiding the embarrassing process of consuming his supplies on the transport lines.

After all, this is a desert, a desert wasteland far from the main battlefields of Europe. Before a war was fought here, the most calculated was the consumption of relevant materials.

It is precisely because of the small scale of the battle, the large combat space, the high consumption of materials, and the small preparation of materials that so many classic counterattack battles can be born.

"But, General, even if I can give 10,000 men to support you, with the forces in our hands, we still can't be sure of occupying Matru!" Graziani's mind was full of this question.

With less than 15,000 men to capture Matru, this is not a very sure option. If Graziani had to choose, he would rather wait a few more troops.

"I don't need it, because in the past 10 days, the reinforcements I need are almost here!" Rommel confidently said to his friendly marshal.