"Looking ahead?" Eisenhower was puzzled.

"Yes!" Montgomery said, "Do you know where the Germans have the advantage? The area where they found oil was in Algeria, which has a peculiar geographical location...... With the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the desert hinterland and impassable mountains to the south, Morocco to the west, and Tunisia to the east, any of our troops sent to attack the oil will not be able to get out safely! ”

Montgomery was talking about the Airborne Forces, and at this time the Allies already had two divisions of Airborne Forces in their hands, one each for Britain and the United States.

But carrying out this mission with parachute troops is almost suicidal.

"And it is almost impossible for us to attack the German line directly!" Montgomery went on to say: "The Germans have done a good job of defending themselves, and they can be described as watertight!" ”

Eisenhower seemed to hear what Montgomery meant: "So what do you mean...... Indirect offense? ”

"Yes!" Montgomery replied: "Why don't we put Algeria aside for a moment and turn here?" ”

As he spoke, Montgomery pointed to a point on the map and said, "Sicily!" ”

"Sicily?" Eisenhower's eyes showed shock: "But the Germans have a fleet, and the Italians have a fleet, and if by the time I land, their fleet ......"

"Their fleet can't get out!" Montgomery said: "The Germans were so focused on defense that they blocked the Strait of Tunis with mines, and the only thing that could enter and exit was the Strait of Messina, and the Strait of Messina was easily blocked!" ”

Montgomery was right, the narrowest point of the Strait of Messina was only 3.2 kilometers, and the British could easily block it by placing a few mines at the exit and arranging some fighters and bombers.

Montgomery gestured on the map and continued: "And, judging by the situation of our previous naval battles, the Italians stationed in Sicily were largely defenseless! Think of the previous battle, Ike! Our planes were able to penetrate deep into the heart of Sicily as if no one was there, with no interception and little anti-aircraft firepower. Obviously, the Italians thought that we were still fighting in North Africa and did not think that we would attack the Italian mainland! And the Germans, because Sicily was garrisoned by a large number of Italian troops, thought it was safe! ”

Then, Montgomery straightened up with some pride: "As long as Sicily is taken, the Strait of Tunis will be useless, and at the same time, it can also be used as a springboard for attacking Italy, and then the time comes...... Even if the Germans dug up oil in Algeria, what role would it make? ”

Eisenhower never spoke, and after a long time, he asked Montgomery: "Monty, I have a question, how many troops are needed to attack Sicily?" ”

Montgomery thought for a moment and replied, "According to our intelligence, there are 200,000 Italian troops in Sicily!" ”

"So how many troops should we send to land in Sicily?" Eisenhower then asked, "100,000, 200,000?" Or 300,000? ”

"Two hundred thousand!" Montgomery replied: "They are Italians, and I believe that two hundred thousand can defeat them!" ”

"Good!" Eisenhower said: "We have only 250,000 troops, and you want to use 200,000 of them to attack Sicily?" And also, with the occupation of Algeria and Tunisia by the Germans, what if Germany launches a counteroffensive while we are attacking Sicily? Don't forget that the Germans have three more panzer divisions, and they will take Tripoli under the command of Rommel as before, and then fight all the way to Alexandria, at which point we will be stuck on the small island of Sicily and never get out! ”

(Note: At this time, the British Eighth Army in North Africa totaled 200,000 people, and the US Seventh Army had 50,000 people)

What Eisenhower said certainly had a point, and no one could ignore Rommel's existence. Rommel's German defense in Tunisia was correct, but this did not mean that the Allies could move their main forces to attack Sicily.

"Yes, we don't have enough troops!" Montgomery said, "But why can't we put in more troops? We could have attacked Sicily while defending, and the Germans would be finished! ”

"Oh, is it? That's what you're really trying to do, to move more American troops to North Africa than to the British, right? Eisenhower glared at Montgomery angrily.

"Whatever you want!" Montgomery spread his hands and replied, "I'm just doing what needs to be done, if you have a better solution...... Tell me! ”

The main point of contention between Eisenhower and Montgomery was the difference in the main battlefield, or the difference in national interests.

Since the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Stalin has demanded that Britain cross the English Channel to open a second battlefield in Europe, because 70 percent of the 267 divisions of the German army, which is still the most effective troops, are deployed in the Soviet-German battlefield, and the Soviet Union is under tremendous pressure.

At this time, if Britain could cross the English Channel and attack France with the troops withdrawn from Dunkirk, then Germany would be on fire in its backyard and had to bring back a large number of troops from the Eastern Front to defend France and Italy...... Stalin estimated that this would attract at least 40 or more German divisions from the Soviet-German battlefield, as well as a large number of strategic supplies.

But British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was a man who did not spit out bones, so how could he be willing to give up such a good opportunity to reap the benefits of the fisherman...... But there is nothing wrong with this, from the perspective of the country, it is interests.

Britain's interest is to watch the Soviet Union and Germany fight a big fight, preferably lose both, and finally Britain will come out to solve the endgame.

Therefore, it was obviously not cost-effective to attack France too early, as it would expose the British to more and more powerful German troops.

And the North African battlefield ...... Although the Afrika Korps under the command of Rommel was also very strong, it only had three armored divisions and three infantry divisions, and the rest were all Italian troops, especially the British had the upper hand in North Africa and seized the initiative.

As a result, Britain actually preferred to remain in such a stalemate until the Soviet Union and Germany decided the winner. So Britain will want to devote more troops and spend more time attacking Sicily.

But this is not the case with American interests.

President Roosevelt actually saw early on that Britain and the Soviet Union were in the same bed, so he believed that the United States needed to be the belt between Britain and the Soviet Union, that is, to unite two countries with different interests into a single whole, so as to effectively strike at the most powerful enemy of the Axis powers...... Germany.