The sun shines through the pure blue sky, and the cool sea breeze blows across the seashore. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoA few fishing boats are toiling in the sea for a day's harvest in the distance, and further away are several steel giants of the industrial era cruising in the sea. The whole sea and sky are unusually peaceful.

Blue sky and white clouds, seagulls chirp softly. Zhang Cheng, who was smiling at the corner of his mouth, clasped his hands in front of his chest with great interest, stood on the balcony of a luxurious coastal villa, and watched a group of Ming officers and soldiers wearing white ** on the beach in the distance rush to the sea to swim and cool off.

Zhang Cheng knew that it was not white**, and no one in the army would wear white**. That's because the weather in North Africa is hot, and the Ming officers and soldiers who can't stand the heat are busy wearing only one ** many times. Under the sun's exposure, only the parts that cannot be described below the neck are not tanned, and it looks like they are wearing white**.

"I'm ready to return to the Imperial Capital." Zhang Cheng's words made Wang Dexiang, who was standing aside, secretly relieved in his heart. No matter who it is, they don't want to have a boss dangling in front of them all day long, and Wang Dexiang is no exception.

Although Zhang Cheng didn't hear it, he could also understand what Wang Dexiang was thinking at this time. The corners of his mouth curled up and smiled indifferently, and then said, "I can't leave for too long, I need to deal with affairs everywhere on the battlefield." So I have to go back. After a pause, Zhang Cheng turned to look at Wang Dexiang and the senior officers of the Daming North African Theater behind him, and said with a smile: "But I hope to see you capture the port of Tunis before I leave." ”

At this time, Zhang Cheng had returned to Tripoli from the front line and was preparing to leave the North African theater and return to the imperial capital. But before leaving, Zhang Cheng hopes to see a decisive turning point in the war in North Africa. After crushing the elite field forces of the Allied forces in North Africa, the Ming North African theater of operations had an unusually obvious advantage.

Most of the Allied forces in North Africa were encircled around the area centered on the port of Tunis, and the Allied forces in this encirclement were their main field forces in North Africa. The other Allied forces in Algeria and Morocco were essentially garrisons that did nothing but maintain law and order and demonstrate their presence.

Although the Allies also saw the urgency of the situation, they began to desperately carry out reinforcement operations in North Africa. But the Allies had lost their strategic posture before, and now they are at an absolute disadvantage, where is it that they can be changed if they can be changed? Moreover, when it comes to competing with the army, Daming will not be afraid of any opponent.

Within a short period of time, both sides began to mobilize large quantities of troops and weapons around the port of Tunis. The first war that will decide the fate of the North African theater of operations is coming.

The Allied forces, which had suffered heavy losses in the previous battles and suffered a great blow to morale, were all frightened after retreating to the port of Tunis, and no longer had the ability to resist stubbornly and fight bravely. It was only at this time that it dawned on the Allies that the previous pre-war retreat was simply an idiotic act.

It's just that there are all kinds of things sold in the world, but there are no regret pills for sale. It is not an exaggeration to describe the Allied forces retreating to the port of Tunis. If it weren't for the desperate resistance of the Germans who came to support and the surprise blow to some of the Ming troops who had advanced and caused a disconnect in the counterattack, then perhaps the Ming army would have entered the port of Tunis.

No one could re-boost the morale of the army, which was on the verge of collapse, in a short period of time, and the Allies could only transport as many new troops as possible. Reinforcements from mainland France across the Atlantic arrived in Tunisian port. As a result, the number of troops here swelled rapidly in a short period of time. However, most of them were recruits who had not been tested by the war, and it would be unrealistic to expect them to resist the attack of the wolf-like Ming army.

Moreover, Daming did not wait long. After a short period of rest and replenishment, the Ming quickly launched an attack on the port of Tunis.

Because both sides are constantly transporting troops by sea, the navies of both sides are also engaged in a large-scale naval duel around the Mediterranean. Each side wants to crush the other's maritime forces and thus repel the other's maritime support forces. In order to provide support to the North African theater, the navies of various European countries abandoned their previous soy sauce status and quickly began to attack strongly.

However, the Ming Dynasty occupied Malta, an important key to the Mediterranean, forcing the Allied naval forces to fight only by submarine or by night sortie. Because of the protection of Malta, the Ming seaborne troops were able to send supplies to ports close to the front line. From this point of view, the Allies did not choose to take Malta by storming Malta when they did not have the advantage in the early days of the war, and now they have to swallow the bitter fruit of their own brewing.

The navies of both sides fought fiercely. At night, European naval warships continued to cross the strait between Tunisia and the island of Pantelleria into the waters near Port Sousse to shell the Ming port. The Mediterranean Fleet of the Ming Navy did not show weakness, mobilizing a large number of warships to engage in fierce battles with the naval forces of the allies.

The two sides fought fiercely around this sea, and every night there was a fierce battle like lightning and thunder. A large number of warships between the two sides were sunk, especially the light warships with high speed and firepower. Because so many warships were sunk in this area, it was called the Iron Bottom Sea by the navies of various countries.

At the beginning of July, the Daming North African Theater, which had completed its preparations, began an attack on the port of Tunis.

During the previous short recuperation, Daming also provided a large amount of assistance to the North African theater. Among them are heavy artillery divisions, which have always been used as strategic forces.

Originally, according to Zhang Cheng's meaning, this kind of heavy artillery unit with poor mobility was no longer necessary to exist in this era. It's just that it's wartime, and there's no need to cut the troop for no reason. And Zhang Cheng also has to consider the conservative soldiers who still have strong influence in the army. For the people of their time, the idea of the supremacy of the cannon had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Fortunately, this kind of heavy artillery unit is not really useless at all. In battles like the attack on the port of Tunis, they were able to do the unexpected. With the naval warships and air power of both sides pinning each other down, artillery on the ground has a place to play.

It is said that it is an artillery division, but in fact its combat effectiveness and equipment far exceed the establishment of the divisional level. In order to take the port of Tunisia as soon as possible, Zhang Cheng personally ordered the transfer of the Fifth Artillery Division.

This artillery division has a regiment of 203-mm howitzers, armed with 24 powerful 203-mm howitzers. This long-range howitzer is extremely powerful, and if you use specialized destruction shells, it can destroy extremely strong permanent fortifications, which is a powerful weapon. Basically, if one shot hits, at least one platoon of troops can be wiped out in the entire fortification.

In addition, this division is armed with a 155 mm howitzer regiment and a 155 mm cannon regiment. Each regiment was armed with 36 heavy guns. These guns were very effective against strong fortifications. In addition, the division has air defense, communications, medical, anti-armor and ground garrison units.

It's not that the Ming didn't have larger-caliber artillery. Before Zhang Cheng, the Ming Army, which attached great importance to artillery, had a powerful artillery force and larger-caliber artillery. For example, there are also many guns of 280 mm caliber or 305 mm caliber.

It's just that the mobility of these large-caliber guns is really poor. Most of them were ordered by Zhang Cheng to be sent to the garrison. There are very few places on the battlefield where they can be used.

The port of Tunis has been an important stronghold under the rule of the Ming Dynasty for many years. Because it is closest to the European continent, the Ming Dynasty has always operated it as a wallhead.

The fortifications of the port of Tunis are so well developed that it is not an exaggeration to say that they are impregnable. However, most of the fortifications faced the sea and were used to resist attacks from the sea. After all, the whole of Africa was in the mouth of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

The French began to operate the port of Tunis after they took it in the early days of the war. Even when the German North African Army was at its peak and had already reached the Egyptian border, it did not relax its management here. I don't know if they had the foresight to predict that Da Ming would eventually come back, or if they were guarding against their allies.

However, the French had limited national power and were short-lived. No matter how painstaking experience is, it is far from being able to resist all attacks. When the heavy artillery of the Ming Dynasty began to bombard fiercely day and night, the defensive positions that the French had painstakingly managed were soon destroyed in large numbers. Many of the defenders were buried in the fortifications by heavy artillery shells from the Ming army and heavy armor-piercing shells dropped by bombers in the sky.

And not just the heavy artillery of the 5th Artillery Division. The artillery belonging to the troops at all levels of the Ming Dynasty all began a fierce shelling. They didn't care about the massive consumption of shells, and thousands of shells pierced the sky like meteors and flew towards the defenders' positions, and then blew up the positions everywhere.

"We're all done with this." In the face of the fierce offensive of the Ming army, de Gaulle, whose mouth was bubbling with bubbles, found Patton and said in a deep voice, "We need strong support." The air forces must go all out to destroy the artillery positions of the Ming army, otherwise we will not be able to hold out for long. ”

"Destroy the artillery positions of the Ming army?" General Patton looked at de Gaulle with a strange expression: "General, are you joking?" ”

After a pause, Barton continued, "We have suffered heavy losses in air power in North Africa, and we have not been able to replenish it until now. You let them take a huge risk to attack their well-guarded artillery positions under the siege of the superior fighters of the Ming Dynasty and the powerful anti-aircraft fire on the ground? I'm sorry, but I can't give this kind of order to my subordinates. If you insist, General, you can entrust this glorious task to the French Air Force. I think they will sacrifice their lives to do it for the country. (To be continued.) )