In the calm waters of the Mediterranean, an Italian tugboat slowly approached the port of Sirte, which was already very different from a month ago, and it could be said that it was a good port. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

At least in terms of German planning, the port was to take on a large part of the oil transportation, so the construction plan was also quite large.

"Mr. Captain! A German-flagged patrol boat in front of us wants us to slow down the situation. The Italian crew, who was in charge of observing the nearby sea, said to his captain.

On the bridge, the Italian captain smiled wryly, once upon a time, in Libya, an Italian colony, it was the turn of the Germans to direct the traffic?

Not far from this tugboat of his, there was an Italian cruiser, and behind it, two more destroyers were patrolling.

But even with so many friendly warships, the Italian captain chose to obey the order when faced with a second-hand patrol boat with the German flag and bought from the French.

Because when faced with the poor outdated cannon on the patrol boat, for some reason, the Italian captain felt that the other side would really open fire on him.

"Slow down! Send a signal to the escorting Alberto di Giusano! We're ready to slow down! Let the Germans take over the pilotage! The captain looked through his binoculars at the distant port of Sirte and commanded.

This is not an expansion operation in peacetime, this is a transport construction operation in a state of war, and naturally everything must be carried out according to the regulations.

So what happens if it messes around? That may cost your own life, and it is extremely unworthy to lose your own life.

Don't think that the nearby sea is really so calm, both sides will secretly lay mines near the enemy's harbor, and of course defensive mine-laying near their own ports.

These mines laid by their own men do not have a system for identifying friend or foe, and if they do not listen to their dispatches, they are likely to run into these mines laid by their own men and sink.

A second-hand patrol boat bought from the French can be described as rudimentary to the truth, this kind of thing is not at all as good as the German S-type torpedo boats, and it is not combat-ready at all.

Except for being able to deter some pirates and hit some fishing boats, this kind of small boat with only cannons and radios is almost useless except fuel economy.

Even the range was very limited, making the German naval trainees who used it laugh at themselves as German "sailors" in North Africa.

Because the navy is developing greatly, and under the intervention of the Führer, the navy has a shortage of tens of thousands of people in one go, so the German "navy" in North Africa is almost a flock of landlubbers.

Temporary selection of army soldiers who can swim, plus one or two privates who have just graduated from the naval academy, are the daily configuration of patrol boats.

Of course, the patrol boat in front of him is the backbone of the command and dispatch in the port, so there is an experienced naval commander on the boat, a lieutenant of the Third Reich......

"O my God! It's even bigger than I thought it would be......" The lieutenant was surprised at the sight of the huge box dragged behind the Italian tugboat.

It was like a long floating box assembly of train wagons.

After the invention of this floating dock by the Führer, it was used for the first time in actual combat, because the wind and waves in the Mediterranean Sea are relatively small, so this equipment designed for the Atlantic landing in Britain is very suitable for the environment here.

"The port is ready, there are almost 400 professional construction workers, as well as 15,000 Italian military construction teams and local workers......" The German captain said as he looked at the behemoth next to the slowed down Italian tugboat.

His dinghy was next to the floating dock in the back, looking so small and cute, if I had to say that it was something to think about, it was a bit like the deck of an aircraft carrier!

There were preset anti-aircraft artillery defensive positions on both sides, and pedestals had been reserved in these places for the installation of 88-mm caliber anti-aircraft cannons soon.

And farther away, on the central axis of the wharf, there is also a place for the installation of cranes.

If the crane equipment is installed there, the terminal will increase the handling capacity of the port of Sirte by 10,000 tons almost immediately!

"Oh my God...... With this thing, I guess I can stop a battleship here next time! "Just by looking at it, it is certain that the pier extends to the sea and can definitely raise the draft of the port of Sirte several meters deeper.

"According to the engineers on the dock, according to the design, the 2-ton truck can be driven directly onto the dock for loading and unloading...... Loading and unloading speed has been tripled! A crew member used the rudder to control his dinghy as he spoke.

"Perhaps, next week, we will be able to see crates of French wine in Sirte......" The lieutenant joked optimistically in the face of the sudden increase in transport capacity.

The barges and other auxiliary vessels that had been prepared in the harbor had already been dispatched and began to help find their place at the huge floating dock.

"One, two, three! One two three! "Relying on huge cables, the Libyan inhabitants on the shore, lured by the 2 German marks a day, men, women and children, obeyed the command on the shore, pulling the huge structure on the sea.

Little by little, their efforts paid off, and the monster got closer, closer and closer, as the barge adjusted its position.

Including cars, mules and horses, countless laborers are working hard for this pontoon, and this floating dock is still just a backbone!

After fixing this backbone to the shore, the engineering team will pour some stone and sand into the shore and let it sit and sink there.

After that, the construction period was about 3 days, and the construction made the pier completely fixed and connected to the land.

Finally, the rest of the dock was connected to the perimeter, and fixed anti-aircraft guns and cranes were installed, and the work was completely completed.

When all is complete, the floating terminal will surpass Tripoli to become the largest port in North Africa on par with Alexandria.

After that, the second phase of the project will be fully launched, and the natural port close to the land will be massively transformed into a dedicated oil terminal connecting oil pipelines to load petroleum products directly to oil tankers.

According to the plan, if everything goes smoothly, the oil produced by the Libyan oil fields every day can be shipped from here to Italy and Germany.

At the moment, Germany has an Austrian oil production base and can buy 1 million tons of oil per year, and Romania can also provide 5 million tons of oil exports.

The Libyan oil fields, if planned, would be able to provide the Axis powers with at least 2.5 million tons of oil per year – close to 8.5 million tonnes of oil, close to the estimated consumption of the German war machine combined.

Strategically, at least, if Libyan oil production is maintained and can be increased year by year, Germany will have more than 10 million tonnes of oil production in the crucial 42 years.

With the support of this production capacity, Germany's battle plan against the Soviet Union does not have to revolve around the Caucasus, and for the army, everything has room for imagination and room to play.

In many cases, it is not the lack of imagination of the generals who command operations on the front line, but the basic situation of the country that determines that they cannot give full play to their command talents without restrictions.

For example, it was known that Japan's attack on Midway was a bad move, but the Japanese commanders at that time had no choice at all -- this was a strategic tragedy caused by the lack of resources.

At that point, Japan had only three options: to go north to the Aleutian Islands, to storm Midway, and to go south to Australia.

Going to the Aleutian Islands in the ice and snow to catch fish, even people with their brains will not choose, and attacking Australia with Japanese logistics is no different from suicide.

Therefore, it was not the United States that deciphered the Japanese code to determine the outcome of the Midway War, it was just the most superficial literary interpretation.

The top decision-makers of the United States have long realized that after giving up all possible directions of attack, a Japanese attack on Midway is the only option!

The deployment of a U.S. fleet to Midway to meet the battle is the uniqueness of a strategic decision in the true sense of the word -- it makes no difference whether the so-called deciphered telegram exists or not.

As the waves squeezed through the huge floating docks and the shore, and the water with fine foam lapped against people's feet, the huge device, finally crashing into the land, was fixed in a nice position.

"The error is no more than 7 meters! What a miracle! On the shore, the German engineer said in admiration.

Next to him, there are various measuring tools, and on a simple folding table, there are also many maps and rulers and compasses.

On the other side, a German officer stepped on a high place with his hands behind his back and one foot, looking at the construction scene very casually: "It's not good for the Italians to go to the front line to fight, but when the construction is hard, it is still very reliable." ”

The engineer smiled helplessly, if the army that had been trained for many years was not as good as the natives of Libya in terms of organization and dispatch - then the Italians were too bad.

"These Italian soldiers who retreated from the front line were very useful, they were disciplined and obedient to command, and they helped us a lot." Since these Italian soldiers were mentioned, the German engineers followed suit.

"I heard that there are more than 3,000 people in the east, and an airport is being built." The German officer looked into the distance as he spoke.

Then again, the Führer's movements in Africa are really getting bigger and bigger.