"Why is this happening?" In the city of Tripoli, I could see the billowing smoke and dense fires rising from the battlefield in the distance, and listen to the endless roar in my ears. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info eyes were distracted, and Rommel, whose face was stiff, muttered to himself in a low voice. He couldn't believe that his orchestrated operation had been so easily repulsed.

It was already after Christmas 1939, and the Ming Army was besieging Tripoli.

Rommel had previously sent armored troops to make a detour through the desert Gobi in an attempt to cut off the Ming army's logistics line when the Ming mechanized corps attacked Tripoli. Unexpectedly, the Ming Mechanized Corps commanded by Zhang Cheng did come to attack Tripoli, but the armored troops sent out by Rommel early crashed headlong into the iron plate.

More than 300 tanks of various types, a larger number of armored vehicles, and a huge logistics transport convoy were met by the Ming armored forces and powerful air power when they rushed out of the desert and the Gobi and attacked the Ming logistics line. The entire armored group suffered heavy losses and had to retreat in general.

Zhang Cheng, who had no worries, quickly mobilized his troops and launched a fierce offensive towards the city of Tripoli. Five alone. The artillery regiment and its artillery units were frantically tilting shells at the defenders of Tripoli, blowing up the entire city and the outlying positions.

The First Air Force of the Luftwaffe and the Third Air Force of the Daming Army engaged in a fierce battle, and the sky was full of fighters from both sides crashing to the ground with black smoke and strange noises, and the people who watched the chains of bullets flying across the sky were dizzy. It was the largest clash between the two air forces in North Africa.

Germany's 1st Air Force lost hundreds of fighters on the first day of the air battle in Tripoli. The Third Air Force of the Daming Army Air Force was also not comfortable, and the number of fighters that were destroyed, damaged, or scrapped was as high as nearly 100.

However, Zhang Cheng quickly replenished the battle damage with the authority of the commander of the army aviation, and even strengthened his strength. The Germans, on the other hand, were much slower. Under the condition that the pilots of the two sides are almost the same in skill and courage, the Daming Army Aviation will soon gain the upper hand in replenishment in a timely manner and the quality of the fighters is slightly superior.

Rommel organized several counterattacks against the Ming army. He used the last of his armor reserves, and even launched a night battle. But all of them failed without exception. The last of his armor was depleted. Although there has been an urgent call for help from the country, it is almost impossible to get strong reinforcements in a short period of time.

Zhang Cheng never has a soft heart when facing an opponent, because it is an enemy. After repelling the last counterattack of the German armored forces, Zhang Cheng quickly ordered Lu Zhiyuan to lead his 2nd Panzer Division to land a beautiful left hook. From Fort Schial, they launched a ferocious attack on the port of Zawiyah along the German defensive line in Tripoli, trying to encircle all the more than 100,000 German North African armies in the Tripoli area.

In fact, the Germans were not much worse than Zhang Cheng's troops. But they lacked strong armor and air support. And in terms of heavy artillery, it is also inferior to the Daming artillery. With suppressed firepower, the Germans could not attack when attacking, and they could not resist the combined attack of heavy artillery and bombers when defending. Under these circumstances, the situation of the German North African Army Group became very critical.

By this time the main forces of the Germans had entered the territory of Russia to support the Russians in the battle. Although they still have a strong presence in Europe, they do not have much maritime capacity in the Mediterranean. After all, in the past hundred years, this sea was a pond of the Ming Dynasty.

Add to this the fortress of Gibraltar and Malta, and the Germans' desire for large-scale reinforcements to North Africa is definitely not something that can be done in a short period of time. In this situation, the German Prime Minister urgently went to Paris to negotiate with the French, trying to get help from the French.

By this time the French army in Africa had already swept through Algeria and Morocco under the command of General de Gaulle, capturing the important city of Casablanca. The fortress of Gibraltar, a powerful fortress that had been painstakingly operated by the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years and had never been captured in previous wars, was completely isolated.

The French, who were in a good situation, were reluctant to fight for the Germans, and were not interested in the rescue of Tripoli, which the German Prime Minister had requested.

However, the French are not stupid, and they can naturally see that after Zhang Cheng recovers Libya, he will seriously threaten the food that the French have already eaten. Although they did not want to send troops to the aid of the German North African army, they also agreed to allow the Germans to provide reinforcements to the North African Army Group through Tunisia, and agreed that the German army in North Africa could retreat to Tunis to rest if necessary.

General Paulus, deputy chief of the General Staff of the German Army, personally flew to war-torn Tripoli to ask Rommel if he could hold on to Tripoli. And Rommel's answer was "I don't know." ”

After urgent discussions, the German High Command decided to transfer Rommel back to recuperate. The German North African Army Group was commanded by General Anim, who had fled back to Tripoli after the failure of the offensive.

This is actually the German prime minister protecting his favorite general, unwilling to let him bear the charge of losing all of Tripolinia. General Anim is the one who bears the blame.

Rommel boarded a German transport plane alone in the midst of the rain of bullets flying in the port of Tripoli. Under the strange and complicated gaze of the surrounding soldiers and officers, he left the city that was about to fall.

Before New Year's Day in 1940, the Germans launched a large-scale naval retreat with all available sea forces at their disposal. They rescued about 40,000 German soldiers from the encirclement of Tripoli and then shipped to Tunisia by sea.

The Ming air force and long-range artillery units dealt a great blow to this sea retreat. A large number of ships and German soldiers were sent to the bottom of the sea under heavy air raids and artillery shelling. Subsequently, the German North African Army Group, whose morale had collapsed, announced its surrender before New Year's Day in 1940.

On New Year's Day 1940, Zhang Cheng walked into the headquarters of the German North African Army Group in Tripoli and accepted the surrender of General Anim. Tripolinia and Libya as a whole returned to the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

About 70,000 men of the German North African Army Group were taken prisoner, dozens of tanks and hundreds of artillery pieces of various calibers, as well as a large amount of materials hoarded in the port of Tripoli, all became Zhang Cheng's trophies. The Germans in North Africa were almost swept away.

All the newspapers and radio stations of the Ming Dynasty are desperately reporting this matter, and Zhang Cheng once again walked into everyone's eyes as a hero, and his prestige at this time is in full swing.

Now everyone knows that Zhang Cheng will continue to attack the French in Tunisia, and then take back Algeria and Morocco from the French, and relieve the siege of the fortress of Gibraltar. It's just that Zhang Cheng has no intention of attacking immediately. For him, now is not the time to strike.

Although the recapture of Libya boosted the morale of the army, Zhang Cheng knew that this was not a good time to continue the offensive. Tunisia is not a flat Libya, with many rivers and mountains. And the French troops stationed in Tunisia were not the same as the German ones.

The Germans liked to use the method of quick combat, and when attacking, they would be unstoppable. The French army, on the other hand, likes to adopt a steady and steady strategy, and there are few things that are rash, and it is not easy to defeat the French army through movement warfare and large-scale intersperse. After the French got Tunisia, they began to levy the local natives to build many fortifications on a large scale, and at the same time stationed heavy troops to defend them. To put it simply, it's easy to defend and hard to attack.

Zhang Cheng read the domestic newspaper sent to him by Wang Yan and knew that the heat had passed. The country has blown him to the sky, thinking that he Zhang Cheng is an invincible and victorious general, and no opponent can stop him. Zhang Cheng saw the shadow of killing in this.

Zhang Cheng didn't know who was pushing for the hype, he only knew that he had to stay calm. Once you lose yourself in the endless flowers and applause, defeat is at hand. The higher you hold it, the harder it will fall when you fall!

Zhang Cheng's North African Theater troops were not unscathed, on the contrary, they suffered heavy losses in fierce battles with German North African troops. At the same time, because the supply line is too long, the logistics supply has not been able to fully meet the requirements of the front. In such a situation, recklessly ran to attack the French, and there was a high probability of defeat.

Zhang Cheng ignored the orders of the High Command to recover Tunisia and rejected the demands of his subordinates to fight. In Tripoli, he asked the Navy's Mediterranean Fleet to do everything possible to secure sea lines and Malta, and on the other hand, to continuously build up its military presence in Libya. Only when the conditions are ripe in all respects and the strength in his hands is sufficient will Zhang Cheng launch an attack on Tunisia.

Subsequently, Zhang Cheng handed over the affairs of the North African theater to Lu Zhiyuan, and he boarded the plane to the imperial capital to explain his next military operations to the Supreme Command.

"The safety of the Mediterranean route must be guaranteed, and without logistical supplies, our mechanized corps will lose most of its combat capability." Standing in front of the transport plane, Zhang Cheng looked at the edge of the road in front of him and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, sir." Lu Zhiyuan nodded firmly.

"Do not rush to the offensive, pre-war reconnaissance work can begin. But the massive offensive will not begin until I return. Do you understand? Zhang Cheng, who was still a little uneasy, continued to advise.

"Please rest assured, sir, I will definitely guard the troops." Lu Zhiyuan smiled and raised his hand in salute.

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng looked at the edge of the road and opened his mouth to say something more, but in the end he didn't say anything. After raising his hand and saluting, Zhang Cheng turned around and walked onto the transport plane. The transport plane with roaring engines rushed into the sky with Zhang Cheng roaring, and flew towards the far east under the cover of dozens of fighters.

Zhang Cheng thought that this was only a short voyage, and he would soon return here after returning to the imperial capital and explaining to the Supreme Command. But what he didn't expect was that this trip to the imperial capital would encounter a major event that would change the direction of history! (To be continued.) )