"Me. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info" Wang Fan swallowed with some difficulty, felt Zhang Cheng's cold gaze, took a deep breath, and responded in a firm tone, "I will always follow you and be your assistant." I will offer my loyalty to you. ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng responded, his gaze turned soft, and he nodded with a smile.

Of course, he didn't believe that the words of his mouth alone could achieve anything or sleep. What Zhang Cheng cared about was that Wang Fan said that he wanted to offer his loyalty. This is not something to be said casually, but to be truly expressed and told to everyone.

"So be it for Greece." Zhang Cheng casually snuffed out the cigarette and said softly, "Since things can't be changed, let's get used to it." I am in control of the war in North Africa. ”

"I've heard that the Germans are not easy to deal with." Wang Fan, who had recovered, sat down and said softly with a relaxed expression, "I heard that their commander, General Rommel, is very powerful, and his technical and tactical level is very high. In a short period of time, he went all the way from Tunisia to Benghazi. Hundreds of thousands of Ming troops were defeated. Do you have the confidence to deal with him? ”

"Faith?" The corners of Zhang Cheng's mouth curled slightly, and a strong battle intent flashed in his eyes, "Although the reputation of the desert fox is very big, I am not bad. I'm so confident that I'll be able to play him! ”

......

Although Rommel received strong support, his power continued to grow. But the cards in Zhang Cheng's hand are even stronger. Even if you don't need to use any tricks, you can defeat him with your upright strength. After all, Rommel could not have had the support of the entire German power. Both Germany and France were still focused on the Russians, who were constantly asking for help.

The Ming army of millions was pressed against the territory of Russia. Although the battle situation was not very smooth, it was a suffocating sense of oppression just for so many troops to be there. Not to mention Russia, which does not have Siberia as a deep space.

Britain, France and Germany all understood that once the vast Russia fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. With the inverted terrain of Europe, if millions of strong soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were crushed and pushed all the way from Russia, no one would be able to resist it.

Everyone knew that the real battlefield that could decide the fate of Europe was still on Russian soil. As for North Africa, it is a matter of expanding territory while maintaining flank security. It is impossible for them to devote their main energies to this side of the battlefield.

And Zhang Cheng has a strong support force. The strength of the Ming Dynasty is too strong, even if it is at war with the whole world, it still has a lot of resources to support various battlefields.

After Zhang Cheng came to North Africa, he personally ordered the First Airborne Division commanded by Major General Cui Yunjie, who was resting and replenishing on the Iranian plateau, and the Second Armored Division commanded by Major General Lu Zhiyuan to come to the North African battlefield. At the same time, Zhang Cheng applied for Major General Lu Zhiyuan to continue to serve as his chief of staff. This is definitely not because Major General Lu Zhiyuan's father is the chief of staff of the Ming Army.

At this time, on the battlefield in North Africa, there were about 200,000 Ming foreign legions in the Libyan and Egyptian theaters. These troops fought like a normal war, and their ability to escape was good. Rommel's armored iron fist struck everywhere and closed them down, but they couldn't catch them. However, Zhang Cheng will definitely not use these frightened foreign legions. At most, they do a logistical garrison.

After Zhang Cheng's application was approved by the Supreme Command, he carried out a large-scale reorganization of the troops under his command. Many of his hand-picked troops were sent to Egypt from all over the country, and the troops that had been stationed there were redeployed to recuperate. By the time Rommel had taken Benghazi and was resting and preparing to march on Tobruk, Zhang Cheng had already assembled a formidable military force in Egypt.

Zhang Cheng had twelve infantry divisions, two armored divisions, one airborne division and numerous local garrisons in Egypt. Artillery units, logistical support units, and much more. If you don't count the Foreign Legion, the total strength of the army has reached nearly 300,000! With more than 550 tanks and a larger number of armored vehicles, as well as hundreds of heavy guns.

In terms of air force, the air force originally stationed in North Africa was Daming Naval Airlines. However, after Zhang Cheng, as the commander of the Army Aviation, came to North Africa, he used his power to transfer the Third Air Force, which was originally stationed in the Caucasus to confront the Russian army, to North Africa. This is the old unit he commanded when he was in the Caspian Sea combat cluster, and the combat effectiveness is very strong. Coupled with the air power of Daming Naval Airlines stationed in North Africa, Malta and Crete and other places, Zhang Cheng's combat aircraft exceeded 2,000!

According to the order of Zhang Yue, the first assistant, Zhang Cheng, as the commander of the North African theater, will have overall command of all the naval and land forces in the North African theater. In other words, Zhang Cheng has the right to command the Mediterranean Fleet of the Ming Navy. With an army in command of the naval fleet, only Zhang Cheng has done this for so many years. Many people think that Zhang Cheng's future is limitless, and there is a big reason because of this.

Fortunately, Zhang Cheng's reputation in the navy is very high, and he is a well-known victorious general, and the navy has no dissatisfaction with Zhang Cheng's command of the fleet and the navy.

Because of the special geography of the North African battlefield. Except for the road and rail transportation lines near the coast, the rest of the place is completely desert and Gobi, which is impossible for large troops to pass. Therefore, for the warring parties, everyone is fighting logistics support forces.

The reason why Zhang Cheng had to hold on to Malta no matter what, was that the presence of Malta could effectively combat convoys departing from Europe and provide support to the front line.

Because of the strong strike force of the air force, the port is actually not very safe. It's not that the convoy can unload its cargo at just one port. Large transport ships need dedicated docks and equipment to unload their supplies. There are not many ports in North Africa that have such conditions.

And if you want to supply the front-line troops in close proximity, you need to be closer to the front-line ports. Rommel desperately attacked Benghazi and then targeted Tobruk. He needed to be closer to Egypt's logistical support ports.

However, after the destruction of the war and the deliberate destruction of the defenders, it was difficult for the port of Benghazi to be put into operation immediately. As for the supply of materiel to the front from a safe, well-equipped port from the rear. With the poor road conditions in North Africa and the technical capabilities of the vehicles and equipment, it is really a liter of gasoline to the front line that consumes ten liters on the road!

The French are okay to say in Algeria. From places like Marseille, they can unload their cargo all the way through the ports of Algiers and Oran. At this time, the garrison fleet of the Gibraltar fortress had been firmly blocked, and it was impossible to attack at all. However, after Zhang Cheng began to mobilize submarine forces to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare in the Mediterranean, life for the French began to become difficult.

And on the Germans' side, there is a blockade of Malta and Crete, and they will have to pay a much greater price to do it. It's just that because Malta is temporarily suppressed, this disadvantage has not yet fully manifested. After Wang Fan left for Greece, Zhang Cheng strengthened Tobruk's defenses and ordered the Mediterranean Fleet to reinforce Malta, especially the air power.

Daming's industrial strength is strong, and the replenishment of various materials is very fast. The previously depleted fighter force on the island of Malta was quickly replenished by the Mediterranean Fleet's aircraft carrier reinforcements, and the vast majority of them were excellent Fighting Falcons. They are constantly fighting with warplanes from all over the country that bomb Malta, defending Malta's air supremacy, and constantly being replenished.

The victory and promotion to general in Benghazi, coupled with the knighthood of the Order, gave Rommel a high spirit, who was extremely fond of the battlefield and the limelight. During this time, he held a telescope in his hand, and the photos of the large windproof goggles on his head continued to appear in newspapers around the world, surpassing Zhang Cheng and Tong Haifeng, who were in infinite scenery some time ago, and becoming the most well-known soldier in the world at this moment.

Indeed, with a force that does not have an advantage, he can expand his land and defeat an enemy who is several times his size. No matter how you look at it, Rommel was a successful general. His scenery at the moment is the reward he deserves.

The Ming army was huge, and conservative forces were rampant within the army, and there were actually not many new commanders like Zhang Cheng who were determined to innovate and forge ahead. A large part of the Ming army in North Africa was commanded by old-school officers, and even the daily technical and tactical training of these units was underway.

The Ming army, which was dominated by infantry and artillery, was slow to move and still fought in a dogmatic positional defensive war. In the vast North African battlefield, where there is no advantageous terrain to speak of, how can the infantry's positions defend against powerful armored forces? Moreover, the Ming North African garrison was unable to form an effective connection with the naval aviation fighters that provided support, resulting in a great reduction in combat effectiveness.

In contrast, the German Afrika Korps, which used the tactics of combining new armored forces with air assault forces, took its speed to the extreme. They crisscrossed the vast expanses of North Africa on a large scale under Rommel's command, especially in areas that many Ming officers considered impassable. For example, the sand sea, which took the infantry to cross for several days, rushed out in unexpected ways and inflicted heavy blows on the defenders.

Because of the lack of understanding of armored tactics, many infantry commanders on the Ming front did not know that the unfavorable passage of infantry did not mean that all branches of the military could not pass. Coupled with the strong support of the German elite air force, a large number of artillery units that the Ming army relied on as the tactical core were destroyed, which directly led to the great rout of the Ming army in North Africa.

In this case, the best way to deal with Rommel, who was proficient in armoured tactics, was to mobilize a large number of armoured troops to North Africa and have a commander who was proficient in armoured tactics. This is why Zhang Cheng came here. In the Ming army, who else could be more proficient in armored tactics than Zhang Cheng?

Zhang Cheng is the director of the armored corps! (To be continued.) )