From a tactical point of view, the losses of the Americans were even more heavy. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 But they successfully interrupted the Ming Dynasty's fierce offensive and successfully curbed the Ming army's invincible arrogance. greatly improved the morale of himself and the allies, and let all the allies see that the Ming army was not invincible.

After the battle, the Americans quickly retreated north. The Ming did not launch a pursuit, and they stopped in the area near Sfax to rest.

The propaganda agencies of both sides declared a brilliant victory for their troops. Both sides exaggerated their gains, concealed their losses, and said that their own troops had inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, thwarted the enemy's offensive, and so on. This is also part of the propaganda war.

In the propaganda war of the Ming Dynasty, there was one thing that was constantly mentioned and vigorously promoted, that is, the Tiger Heavy Tank Battalion of the Second Armored Division fought against more than 200 US tanks with four tanks, and finally fought a 0-200 battle against the sky.

A discerning person will know that this matter is nonsense at a glance. The Ming armored soldiers drove tanks, not humanoid mobile weapons with black technology, and the armored soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not have anyone under the age of 16. And on the side of the Americans there are more than 200 tanks and armored vehicles, which is the strength of a whole armored division, not more than 200 pedal tricycles. No matter what, it is impossible to win in the end. It's just an artistic process that needs to be done for the sake of publicity. It's just a bit too much.

The Tiger heavy tank battalion was beaten with only four tanks left without mention, and the fact that only one tank still had combat effectiveness at the end of the battle was not mentioned, and the air power and long-range artillery and the battles of the ground infantry were all lost in the report. The press propaganda only said that all four tanks were all okay after the war and none of them were destroyed. And the Americans lost more than two hundred tanks and armored vehicles. Then these honors were naturally hung on Lin Shuo's body.

The four surviving crews were sent back to Japan by transport planes, where they preached their achievements in front of the crowds of citizens in the big cities.

All the speeches were provided by the propaganda department, and the armored soldiers were required to memorize them well. And what their speeches say is no longer about the battlefield, but more like the script of a science fiction movie. In general, it is a science fiction story of how their four tanks took out an entire American armored division in one fell swoop, and they themselves left the battlefield unharmed.

The 2nd Panzer Division, battered in the Battle of Sfax, had been sent back to Egypt to recuperate, and Lin Shuo had time to preach the script of the film to the excited citizens across the country.

The soldiers who have been wallowing on the battlefield for many years are very awkward about this kind of thing, because they know that the real situation is not like this at all. But this is a military order, and as soldiers, they can only choose to obey orders.

It wasn't until Zhang Cheng awarded Lin Shuo's crew the Gold Armored Hero Medal, which symbolized his honor for destroying more than 100 enemy armored vehicles. Lin Shuo couldn't help but bring up this matter to Zhang Cheng. He couldn't stand the endless speeches and speeches anymore. He just wanted to get back to the battlefield as soon as possible.

Zhang Cheng agreed to his request with a smile, and ordered Lin Shuo to cancel their tour plan on the spot and send them back to the front line in Egypt. After a break and replenishment, the 2nd Panzer Division has regained its combat effectiveness. Lin Shuo was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and in addition to receiving a bunch of medals, he was also appointed commander of the reorganized Tiger tank battalion.

"This time I was careless." When the Americans chose to retreat, the Ming reinforcements successfully rescued the besieged troops. Zhang Cheng held a high-level post-war summary meeting in the front-line headquarters. After the meeting began, Zhang Cheng first apologized for his mistake: "I made a mistake in judgment and led to the blind advance of the North African theater of operations, giving the Americans the opportunity to attack. I'm responsible for this. ”

According to the traditional view of the Eastern world, Zhang Cheng, as the biggest boss, has expressed his position, so someone will inevitably come out to explain to Zhang Cheng. There is never such a thing as everyone nodding their heads and saying yes, it's all your fault.

"I commanded the battle, and all the responsibility lies with me." As one of Zhang Cheng's important confidants, Wang Dexiang immediately stood up. He is the commander of the North African theater of operations, and he can only share the responsibility for Zhang Cheng, "I thought big, I thought about eating a fat man, but I didn't expect the bones of the US army to be so hard." ”

"Alright." Zhang Cheng waved his hand, "Although we have not been able to complete the predetermined battle plan, we have successfully broken through the French defense line, killing and wounding more than 100,000 French soldiers who have captured them. Moreover, the American army was also severely damaged in the Battle of Sfax, and there is nothing to talk about being responsible or irresponsible. Now let's take the next step. Zhang Cheng quietly brought this matter over.

"Now both the Americans and the French have their main forces in the northern part of Tunisia. They have amassed large numbers of troops and heavy equipment with the intention of holding on to the northern part of Tunisia. The chief of staff of the Daming North African Theater raised his hand and pushed his eyes, and began to explain the battle situation: "According to the announcement of the intelligence department, more than 40 division-level troops with different numbers have been detected in the northern region of Tunisia. It is assumed that the enemy army has more than two thousand tanks and armored vehicles. Artillery of various calibers is at least more than one thousand two hundred. Because of the strong attack of the army aviation, the Americans began to mobilize air forces to reinforce the Tunisian area, and conservatively estimated that the number of fighters of various types should be more than 1,500. ”

"The enemy is very strong." Zhang Cheng, who was sitting on the main seat, leaned back on the chair, supported his chin with one hand on the armrest, and gently tapped on the long table in front of him with the other, "But no matter how strong the enemy army is, we must destroy them!" Taking Tunisia would sweep Algeria and Morocco westward, reopen the road to the Atlantic, and relieve the siege of the fortress of Gibraltar, which had been under siege for nearly two years. In addition, France is to the north of Tunisia, and we can directly threaten France and Italy and bring the war back to the European continent. So, we are going to take Tunisia no matter what! ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." Wang Dexiang bowed slightly to Zhang Cheng, then looked at the senior generals present, and said in a deep voice: "Now I order the North African Theater to immediately begin preparations for a new campaign. This time, no matter what, take Tunisia and drive all those allies out into the sea! ”

Zhang Cheng would not personally participate in this level of combat. His identity is that of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, not the commander of a theater of operations. Before, he was originally preparing to return to the imperial capital, but Patton's sharp counterattack made Zhang Cheng's heart angry. He was determined to remain in the North African Theater for the time being, waiting for a decisive victory in Tunisia before leaving.

After the meeting began, Zhang Cheng only said something scene-based, and the rest of the things were left to Wang Dexiang to arrange, after all, he was the commander of the North African theater.

Of course, Zhang Cheng didn't do nothing. In order to ensure the success of this operation, Zhang Cheng transferred a large number of elite troops from various theaters to supplement the North African theater, intending to make a strategic breakthrough here.

At least six armored divisions and more than a dozen infantry divisions were transported from all over to North Africa. The permanent ground aviation unit in the North African theater of operations has also been expanded to four air corps. This is already the maximum number of operations that can be sustained in this area during wartime.

In addition, Zhang Cheng also mobilized a large number of strategic bomber units deployed in East Asia and other places to the North African battlefield and deployed them on large airfields from Egypt to Libya. These strategic bombers will fly across the Mediterranean to the heart of Europe to destroy the industrial base of European countries.

The horror of strategic bombing has been felt by the Japanese for the sake of all countries. After the surrender, everyone saw how miserable the fate of Japan, which did not even save the country, was. In order to defend their own countries, European countries had to significantly strengthen their defense forces in their respective countries.

Not only air power and anti-aircraft firepower, but also a large number of ground forces were deployed near the coastline to resist possible landing operations. Moreover, countries such as France, Italy, and Germany also have to spend a lot of resources on building coastal defense positions, which has greatly affected the combat readiness of various countries.

The most direct response was that the support of various countries for the main battlefield of Russia was constantly decreasing, causing the coalition forces to feel pressure in the face of the main army of the Ming Dynasty. If it weren't for He Ziqiu's desire to coerce troops to gain self-respect, then perhaps the main battlefield of Russia would have undergone earth-shaking changes within a year.

When the time came to the height of summer in 1941, the Pacific Ocean was turbulent, and the two largest Pacific fleets in the history of mankind, the Ming Dynasty and the United States, fought a series of tragic naval battles around the Hawaiian Islands, and the bottom of the central Pacific Ocean was filled with the remains of warships and officers and men of both sides.

On the main battlefield of Russia, the stubborn Russians refused to heed the advice of the allies and still insisted on launching a massive counterattack. The Russians, who had nothing but numbers, were doomed to defeat, and the confidence of the Russians was gradually consumed in the decisive charges. If it weren't for the support of the allies, if it weren't for He Ziqiu's other plans. Russia, which has begun to grow tired of the incompetent Tsar and who only knows how to fight back and fight back, may not survive next summer.

In some other small battlefields, the Ming Dynasty and the allied armies fought back and forth, but these battlefields did not have much impact on the entire war that affected the world. In the North African battlefield in the south of the heart of Europe, the regrouped and adjusted Ming Army is about to launch another onslaught against the Allied forces in northern Tunisia.

By this time, the Germans had sent a large number of troops south into Italian territory to assist in the defense. At the same time, they greatly strengthened the garrison of Greece and the Balkans.

And the center of the German defense is the Italian peninsula, because many years ago the Ming Dynasty entered the whole of Europe along the route of the Italian peninsula in Egypt and Libya!

The countries of Europe are in no way willing to accept the Yellow Peril from the Far East again! (To be continued.) )