Leaving the Bonifacio Strait in the west means that this Allied naval aircraft carrier group, whose strength should not be underestimated, can directly threaten the Mediterranean coast of France.

The Allies will be ready to land in Marseille, Nice, Montpellier and other important towns in southern France.

Of course, if you really want to engage France, why do you need to spend so much effort? It would be enough to send troops in Turin, Italy. After the Entente North Africa "Torch" plan, the overseas military forces of Vichy France and Free France were gradually unified under de Gaulle, and the German troops on the Western Front were quickly cleared of the French forces in the central and northern regions. The French army, loyal to de Gaulle, could only hide in the Pyrenees on the border with Spain and fight guerrilla warfare.

The Germans were focused on the general battles in the Don and Volga valleys, on the capture of Moscow, and had no time to care about the petty fights of the French.

Didn't Zeng Baojian's aircraft carrier formation even bother with the Gallic guerrillas who had already destroyed the country and used aircraft carriers to bomb the French militia? That's not fighting mosquitoes with anti-aircraft guns!

The Allied fleet, with the Gongjin as its flagship, turned south as soon as it left the Bonifacio Strait. Isn't it just to block the C fleet on the western side of the Tunisian Strait?

Surrounding and annihilating the C Fleet within the operational range of the Allied land-based air forces, Guan Canghai's operational plan caused an uproar at the Cairo headquarters.

A number of bigwigs, including the commander of the Italian Navy, Gilichiani, objected to this. But Jiang Yunzhi resolutely expressed his support.

The opposition to this battle plan was nothing more than the fear that their own fleet might be attacked by the Allied air forces, and that their own casualties and losses would be increased.

But in the eyes of General Chiang, how can there be immortals in war? As long as the C fleet can be encircled and annihilated, no matter how big the loss is, it will be worth it. What's more, His Majesty once clearly told him, "Don't worry about warships, sink one, I'll give you two more, as long as I can destroy Britain." ”

Moreover, the Entente has an air force, don't we have it? Fighting in the seas between Sardinia and Sicily, and still suffering?

Under the order of General Jiang, the four J-42 Raptor squadrons deployed in the Canal Zone were urgently transferred to join the 11th Air Force of Sardinia. While approving Guan Canghai's battle plan, codenamed "Broadsword", he also sent a telegram to the German-Italian Afrika Korps, which had been grinding in Benghazi for several days: "Close the net!" ”

Rommel's little life has been quite comfortable recently. In the headquarters of Muhaili in the desert oasis, he eats and drinks well every day, and when he is free, he can play ****, put his gun away, and send a few more clear-code telegrams to tease the commander of the British army in Benghazi on the opposite side, Field Marshal Brooke.

Compared to the gray face of the first Benghazi battle, this is a war. The main forces of the German army were beaten into a meat grinder in the Battle of Stalingrad, and the Führer was somewhat dissatisfied with Marshal Rundstedt in the southern cluster and wanted to transfer Rommel to Ukraine.

went there to designate that he could be promoted to marshal, but Romei still did not want to go, saying that he must stick to Africa and lay down the big oil fields of Libya for the Führer.

In fact, his idea was, "Blessed or not, go to the Soviet Union and suffer?" ”

In the Second Battle of Benghazi, after the implementation of the Bright Plan on the side of the Entente, Cunningham's C Fleet broke through the blockade of the Tunis Channel by the Allies, and a large number of transport ships came to Benghazi, and the life of British Field Marshal Brooke was much better, with supplies, the soldiers did not have to starve, and they did not have to worry about ammunition.

However, Brooke was skeptical of the retreat to Tripoli by transport. Under the premise that the C fleet has withdrawn from the Eastern Mediterranean, how safe can the Allied transport fleet in the Gulf of Sirte be?

At least not higher than staying in Benghazi.

In this matter, the British once again promoted their proud "democracy", leaving the commanders of each unit to choose whether to stay in Benghazi or to go to Tripoli by transport ship.

To the surprise of Field Marshal Brooke, many people said they wanted to retreat. If the battle is fought like this, staying in Benghazi, you can't escape the fate of surrender, and you can retreat by boat, and if you can succeed, you can jump out of the encirclement of the allies.

Brooke was silent, he wanted to say "Sirte Bay is not the Strait of Dover!" But after a moment's hesitation, he said nothing. The officers negotiated on their own, and finally decided by drawing lots that the British 3rd Army would be the first to board and evacuate.

In fact, before the last group of soldiers of the 3rd Army boarded the ship, Rommel had already given the order to "close the net and attack"!

After many days of repeated battles between the real and the false, most of the British positions on the outskirts of Benghazi had been lost. The remnants of the Eighth Army remained in the hands of only the two towns of Abyar and Jardine, which served as the outer line of defense for Benghazi.

Brooke rejected the offer to flee Benghazi on a transport ship with the Third Army, and as a field marshal, he could accept defeat but not flee.

Abjar was the first to be broken through by the German 15th Panzer Division, and the 3rd Army that boarded the ship was the unit that was originally stationed here.

There was no armored force to counterattack, there was no support from large-caliber artillery units. The small city of Abyar resembles a palm tree on the edge of the Libyan desert, swaying in a sandstorm and falling with a push.

An armored group of 300 Tiger tanks and 200 tracked armored infantry vehicles ruthlessly ran through the British positions. The 1st Canadian Division, which had been ordered to support, fought back heroically with the only 6-pounder anti-tank gun they had capable of inflicting damage on tanks.

Compared with some British troops, the Canadians who came from afar showed more courage.

But in modern warfare, in the face of armor and artillery, courage is only synonymous with recklessness. The 19th Army Aviation Division of the 7th Guards Airborne Army sent a brigade of WZ-40 Haidongqing helicopter gunships to join the battle, and they became the first unit to attack Benghazi, and also the last straw rope that overwhelmed Marshal Brooke's psychological defense.

In the face of the Allied armored forces, and even air strike forces, continuing to insist is just pointless to kill British soldiers.

Field Marshal Brooke, having contacted London and getting the expected answer, chose to send a coded telegram to Rommel, demanding a dignified surrender!

Such a battle did not make Rommel feel that he had washed away his shame, because Brooke was not Montgomery, even though Brooke was a British field marshal.

You know, in Britain, there are many naval marshals, but the army, the British field marshals in history are also counted.

On October 17, 1942, the Allies accepted Field Marshal Brooke's request for surrender, and the 160,000 British Commonwealth troops in Benghazi laid down their arms and were disposed of by the Allies.

Rommel, as a representative of the Allied forces, led the German-Italian Afrika Korps to hold a grand ceremony for the entry of Benghazi into the city. While accepting Brooke's letter of surrender, Rommel handed him an update on the Allied war.

This battle report made Field Marshal Brooke almost fall to the ground: the submarine of the Allied Mediterranean Theater of Operations, the submarine Zhuojun of the Han State, sank four British troop carriers in the Gulf of Sirte.

"It's a pity, Marshal Brooke, because there are too many soldiers overboard, and the submarine forces have not been able to save too many."

Rommel's eagle eyes showed a rare show of pity, yes, pity. In the eyes of the German generals, it was too cruel to sink tens of thousands of British troops into the sea with a few torpedoes!

Brooke shook his head, he had already expected this outcome when the 3rd Army boarded. Just ...... "General Rommel, I'm just a general, I'm not qualified to comment on this." I only ask the Allied side to be kind to the soldiers who surrendered, they ......"

"Rest assured that they will be sent to the prisoner of war camps built in the Kingdom of Israel, and that they will be treated humanely. And you will also be sent to Chang'an, and the Emperor of Han will invite you to be a guest. Of course, you can also choose to go to Berlin, and I can still help with that! ”

"Hehe, that's good! There is also an option, thank you, General! I hadn't been to Australia since South China was our British Overseas Territory, and I wanted to take this opportunity to check it out. "Field Marshal Brooke was quite open-minded, or rather, in his heart, he had already accepted his fate as a prisoner during the days he had been besieged in Benghazi. As for choosing to go to South China, no one would want to choose to go to that irascible Führer!

"Perhaps, it's not bad to meet the son of the god who is said to be like a god!" Brooke smiled self-deprecatingly.

The arrival of the captured British Field Marshal in Chang'an was sensational news. Aside from the way it came, Brooke was second only to Chamberlain in the status of British officials visiting South China! Or, in some cases, to the white inhabitants of South China, Chamberlain's visit to Han was far greater than that of Chamberlain, then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Perhaps, this is the purpose of His Majesty's arrangement for Brooke to come to Chang'an, but so what? This is the right of the victors. It's like the German-Italian Afrika Korps in the Mediterranean, which has been resting for a long time and is riding a big victory.

Rommel did not remain in Benghazi to deal with the British prisoners of war, and after leaving these seemingly trivial matters to his adjutant, he immediately led the four Panzer Divisions of the German-Italian Afrika Korps south to Ajdabia to join up with the 3rd Guards Panzer Army and the 4th Guards Infantry Corps of the Han Army. And in a week, push the front to Nauferje.

to the west, threatening the Libyan capital, Tripoli; To the south, it will flank the multinational forces commanded by Eisenhower with Hans and the Great Han African Army of Ink.

The defeat of Benghazi made the allies in Africa regain the strategic initiative, and the next thing to see is Jiang Yunzhi's choice, whether to concentrate on solving Jufra's Eisenhower Department, or continue westward, take Tripoli, and fight Alexander's multinational force Mediterranean Corps in Tunisia?

"How to choose?" Jiang Yunzhi in Cairo threw a piece of crystal clear sugar cube into the strong coffee, looked up at Lieutenant General Long Xiaotian, who had been chasing him for a long time, "I don't count what I said about this!" ”

"Don't make a fuss, chief, doesn't you say who says it? Could it be that His Majesty wants to decide the next strategy himself? ”

"Huh!" Jiang Yunzhi picked up the porcelain spoon that was as white as jade and gently stirred the coffee, "Your Majesty will not interfere with the decision-making of the frontline. This matter has to be decided by the commander of the Navy! ”