Libya has a typical Mediterranean climate, and even though it's December, the weather is still crisp and dry, and there is a pleasant smell everywhere. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After dinner, Zhang Cheng changed his clothes and walked leisurely on the seaside plank road in Port Brega.

The bright red sunset reflected the rolling clouds in the distance, and the fishy sea breeze rustled the tall palm and olive trees. From time to time, there were batches of Ming fighters whizzing past in the sky, these were the fighters who went to the distant front line to bomb the German positions during the day.

"The view is really nice." Zhang Cheng paused, raised the mobile phone in his hand to adjust the focus, and then began to take pictures.

For Zhang Cheng, a moment of leisure after a busy war and military affairs is a rare enjoyment. The coast, the beach, the sunset. This is the existence that Zhang Cheng longs to have in modern time and space, but can only be observed from a distance.

"What's going on over there?" A bunch of fishing boats appeared on the mobile phone screen, Zhang Cheng put away his mobile phone and looked at the many fishing boats crowded together on the sea not far away, and asked out loud.

"Sir, that's a local fishing boat. For the sake of defense and security, it is easy to manage them all in one place. Xiao Hongbao, who had been following Zhang Cheng's side, spoke softly.

"Oh." Zhang Cheng nodded, looked at the fishing boats that kept crashing into each other because they were too crowded, and shook his head slightly.

In times of war, any possible danger is nipped in the bud and does not need any justification. As for the losses of the fishermen, who cares? Zhang Cheng just glanced at it briefly and then stopped asking about it. For him, it is not a matter of concern for the local natives and the fishermen who have come from Europe to make a living.

After more than half an hour of strolling in the sunset, the sky was already dark. Zhang Chengyi left the seaside plank road of Brega Port and walked towards the port. Passing by a slum next to the port, Zhang Cheng glanced at the filthy, pungent smell of local natives and European fishermen who had come to make a living.

The civilians, who were forced to lie on the ground by the guards with guns, did not dare to raise their heads, were thin and short, their skin exposed to their tattered clothes dark and shiny, with the folds of molting after being exposed to the sun. His body trembled, as if he was about to go to the execution ground.

"Hey." Seeing this scene, Zhang Cheng raised his hand to cover his nose and laughed.

It is different from those Europeans who go everywhere in modern time and space, with a big and three bold physique. The Europeans of this era were robbed of the profits and benefits of the Age of Discovery by the Ming Dynasty, and in order to regain things from the hands of the Ming Dynasty, they saved money and constantly squeezed the country to carry out primitive accumulation. The largest items are agricultural products and animal husbandry. European countries exported a large number of these materials to the Ming Dynasty in exchange for valuable foreign exchange to develop their own industrial strength. This is a direct result of malnutrition among the population.

Of course, it's ordinary people who are malnourished. The lives of the real magnates and capitalists are not even worse than those of the rich and noble families of the Ming Dynasty. It was only after accumulating primitive capital through domestic exploitation that the countries of Europe were able to industrialize themselves. However, this has also led to the bankruptcy of a large number of poor people who have lost their livelihood and have to work in any subsistence industry.

In this era, it was very hard to work in the factory of Daming. While the pay is not much, the working hours and the level of hard work are constantly squeezing everything for the workers. After learning about this situation, Zhang Cheng already felt that the living standards of the workers in the Ming Dynasty were extremely poor. But for the workers of European countries, the workers of the Ming Dynasty simply lived in paradise.

The average working day of a worker in Europe is about 15 hours, and the danger rate of work is even more alarming. In the era of coal-based steam engines, the best anthracite in the world was considered to be anthracite from Cardiff, England. In the face of the massive orders provided by Daming, the British frantically provided coal to Daming with an astonishing probability of 15% work-related injuries, thus completing the first step of their own industrialization of the original capital accumulation. Without the coal that their own lives had been exchanged for, the British would never have been able to climb the path of an industrialized country by selling wool and agricultural products alone.

The peasants went bankrupt, and the workers were worse off than dead. This is the real state of affairs of ordinary civilians in European countries in this era. In order to have the strength to fight against the Ming Dynasty, European countries have squeezed almost every drop of blood out of their own countries. Under such circumstances, it is not difficult to understand that a large number of poor people are struggling to survive without adequate food and clothing, and their height and physique are poor.

Many Europeans have fled to earn a living because of the stress of life. The European fishermen who came from Italy and France to fish in the port of Brega were one of them.

Most of them were employed by the Ming people, who owned industries in North Africa. The Ming people sent out ships to let them go fishing in the dangerous seas, and then gave them a meager salary. Although the salary is not much, it is like heaven compared to when they were back in China.

And when they are fishing, they are driving fishing boats flying the Ming flag, at least they will not be afraid of being knocked over by the rampant Ming warships as they were in their own country.

In addition to fishing, Europeans do everything. From cleaners to florists, from pulling rickshaws to carrying bags at the docks. The Ming colonies were full of Europeans, and they competed fiercely with the Indians for any job. As for the war that has swept the whole world, most people really don't care.

Looking at the humble shacks again, Zhang Cheng shook his head and walked out of the slum. Zhang Cheng did not care about the life or death of the Europeans, what he wanted to do now was to defeat Rommel's African Army Group as soon as possible, so as to expand his military power.

Zhang Cheng didn't care about the external enemies of the Ming Dynasty. For him, as long as he does not make irreparable strategic mistakes, it is not too difficult to win this war with the industrial and economic strength of the Ming Dynasty. What Zhang Cheng is really worried about is the family consortium that can sell everything for profit.

The destruction caused by the internal enemy is always higher than that of the external enemy. Zhang Cheng has never let his guard down on these people. They can do anything. And they also have the power to do it.

"Sir, the 2nd Panzer Division is calling." After returning to the hotel, Zhang Cheng, who was about to rest, received a telegram from Lu Zhiyuan before going to bed. In a telegram, Lu Zhiyuan said that he had arrived at the Benjwad line with the 2nd Panzer Division. And there was a fierce battle with the German troops stationed there.

Lu Zhiyuan asked whether to launch an offensive against Benjwad Harbor now, or to wait until the main army had arrived.

The 2nd Panzer Division, the vanguard of the army, was marching extremely fast and had now reached the vicinity of Benjwad. Further on is the important port city of Sirte. At this time, the 177th Infantry Division, which was the rearguard force, had just left Benghazi.

Zhang Cheng put down the telegram in his hand, put on his military uniform and came to the temporary war room.

Looking at the high-proportion military map on the table, Zhang Cheng's brows gradually furrowed. Rommel's performance this time was very unusual, and he did not carry out large-scale blocking and counterattack operations along the way, and looked very negative.

It would be nonsense to say that the strength of the Afrika Korps has not been restored. Before the Battle of Malta, the Germans had been working hard to suppress Malta's air force. At the same time, it provided a large amount of assistance to the Afrika Korps retreating to Tripolitania.

Rommel now had at least two entirely new divisions and two divisions that had been maimed in previous battles and had been replenished. In addition, he had a large number of infantry and artillery units at his disposal. All kinds of materials are also very abundant.

For Rommel, who advocates attacking, when he has strength in his hands, he should carry out a large-scale counterattack. But now that Zhang Cheng has killed Benjwad, the gateway to Sirte, the main force of the German Afrika Korps has still not appeared.

"What does he want to do?" Zhang Cheng frowned and looked at the map in front of him, falling into deep thought. Rommel's unusual behavior made Zhang Cheng a little confused, this is not his combat style.

"Forget it." Zhang Cheng, who couldn't figure it out, shook his head, turned to look at Xiao Hongbao on the side, "Send a telegram to Lu Zhiyuan, ordering him to attack Benjwad tomorrow, and then not to continue the attack." Just there waiting for the arrival of the main forces. ”

"Yes, sir." Xiao Hongbao saluted and turned to leave.

Benjwad was the gateway to the port of Sirte, and Zhang Cheng did not think that Rommel would tolerate Sirte falling into his hands. Even if Rommel endured, the German High Command could not have agreed.

Benjwad is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the desert to the south. The other opponents don't know what will happen, but it is very likely that Rommel will send his armored troops to cut off the rear of the 2nd Panzer Division from the desert when the 2nd Panzer Division attacks Sirte.

The Tiger and Leopard are not Transformers, they are not invincible. If the supply lines were cut off, it was very likely that they would lie on their stomachs due to lack of fuel and become the spoils of the Germans. Zhang Cheng was unwilling to take risks when he had an advantage, and it was the best choice to wait for the main force to arrive before continuing to crush the past.

"No matter what tactics you use, I'll push all the way over and see what you do!" Zhang Cheng glanced at the map and whispered to himself.

......

"Didn't come?" Fort Buhadi, behind the port of Sirte, the front command of the German Afrika Korps. Rommel, with a frosty look on his face, frowned and put down the telegram in his hand.

Contrary to his expectations, the forward armoured forces of the Ming Assault Corps did not continue along the coastline towards the important stronghold of Sirte after capturing Benjwad, but stopped near Benjwad. The Ming regiment in the rear also increased the speed of the march and moved closer in the direction of Benjwad. This rendered Rommel's previous plan useless.

"Let the armored forces all come back." After a moment of silence, Rommel instructed his lieutenant to order the armored forces that had been lying in ambush in the desert south of Benjwad to retreat. There was no possibility of continuing the ambush operation.

"Very cautious." Rommel squinted his eyes at the map filled with flags of different colors, and said softly, "Sirte, you can hold back, I don't believe in Tripoli, you can hold back!" (To be continued.) )