Sousse is a city with a long history, founded in the 10th century BC, and has been an important trading port on the Tunisian coast since ancient times. It was a famous Carthaginian city that was conquered by the Romans and fell to the Arab Empire in the 7th century.

In addition, Sousse is a strategic place in Tunisia, and it has always been a battleground for soldiers, and at this time two groups of troops are fighting here.

"Attack with me!"

As soon as the artillery had subsided, looking at the position where a large number of defenses had been destroyed, an Italian officer, shouting the slogan of attack, raised his right hand with a gun, rushed out of the trench and ran towards the enemy position.

Behind him, groups of Italian soldiers, also with their weapons raised, shouted and rushed towards the enemy positions. If you put it on a larger battlefield, you will find that at this time, the Italian army rushed towards the French position like a tide, and its momentum was like a rainbow as if it was about to pierce the sky.

In the face of the Italian attack, the French officers and soldiers, as the defenders, were of course reluctant to let them seize the positions under their feet. So, with the help of the orders of the French officers, leather shoes and pistols, the colonial soldiers, who had been hiding in the trenches and shivering, raised their rifles and prepared to counterattack.

"Phew!"

"呯~呯~呯~"

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from the position, followed by a dense burst of gunfire from the position.

"Damn bastard, who's shooting around, I'm going to kick his ass."

A French officer was running angrily to the location of the first shot, followed by an interpreter, and it was clear that the lucky man who had fired the shot was out of luck.

What happened on the positions must have been noticed by the attacking Italian officers and soldiers. At this time, the center of gravity of the attack was obviously deflected.

"Bang Bang Bang ......"

At a distance of a thousand meters from the position, the mortars were firing shells at the positions under the operation of officers and men.

An explosion sounded from the position, shrapnel flew in all directions, and bursts of screams rang out from the periphery, it was the soldier who was hit by the shrapnel.

"Fire!"

Seeing that the troops were unable to fight back by enemy mortars in the position, the position commander did not know that he would lose his morale if he did not fight back.

So under his order, a burst of gunfire rang out from the position, and the sound of Lebel's rifle and the sound of the Saint-Etienne M1907 heavy machine gun resounded through the battlefield.

Although the guns in the position were constantly fired, their accuracy was worrying, and looking at these colonial soldiers, they either raised their guns high, and those who didn't know thought he was going to hit the sun, or they just closed their eyes and thought they were too asleep. At this time, only one or two out of ten soldiers on the battlefield could use their weapons correctly.

All this is caused by tension, although I know how to use it during training, but the bullets and shells flying on the battlefield, the screams of my comrades and the corpses in the trenches make the adrenaline rush of the soldiers who have not experienced this, and their brains completely forget everything handed over by the instructor, and only know how to fight blindly.

Besides, for these colonial soldiers, going to the battlefield did not have the passion to defend their homeland and country, and it was the first thing to be able to live with the money and promises given by the French lord.

Different goals lead to different approaches. So the low morale of the colonial soldiers, combined with the nervousness of the first battle, was enough to make it a disastrous performance.

On the side of the Italian officers and soldiers, in the face of the opponent's weak counterattack, their morale was naturally greatly boosted. Although the officers and soldiers of the 15th Division had informed these French colonial troops of the situation, they could only know the truth and falsehood after facing them in person, so the Italian offensive became more fierce.

At this time, Lieutenant General Grierie, commander of the 13th Army, who was the commander of the operation, was in a trench and could carefully watch the process of the battle.

"The blow is good, we can break through the enemy's position in a day at most."

Looking at the battle situation on the battlefield at this time, Lieutenant General Grilli spoke his judgment.

"The commander is right, the enemy of the Sousse cannot withstand our attack."

Major General Sapas, who had been the vanguard of the whole army and was now watching from the sidelines, responded to his boss's words.

At this time, Lieutenant General Grilli, who was the commander of the army, put down the telescope in his hand and looked at the veteran who was his subordinate. "Major General Sapas, this time the battle of Sousse did not allow your 15th Division to participate, do you have any ideas?"

"No, let the officers and men of the 37th and 49th Divisions feel the combat effectiveness of the French colonial troops, which will play a very big role in the next battle in Tunisia. Our 13th Army will definitely be the main attack, and if we can't clearly know the enemy's level, it will not be conducive to the next battle. ”

Faced with the question of his own army commander, the veteran Sapas casually replied to this paragraph.

As for not allowing his troops to participate in the battle of the Sousse, Sapas saw it very clearly. In addition to the reasons that are said in your own mouth, there are also reasons that you have not said, you can't eat meat yourself and not let others drink soup. As the vanguard, their 15th Division is already beautiful enough, and if they continue to eat alone like this, this is not to make the friendly troops who eat ashes behind them nothing.

In the face of Sapas's words, Lieutenant General Grilli believed it, after knowing him for so many years, this person's temperament is still very clear, and he deserves to be a veteran.

At this point, he looked at Sapas and said. "Lieutenant General Tabarez will be transferred after he finishes fighting in Tunisia."

Lieutenant General Tabares, to whom Lieutenant General Greeri is mentioned, is the deputy commander of the 13th Army, and the deputy commander of one of the few corps who has not been transferred since the outbreak of the war.

As for where these deputy commanders are transferred, of course, it is a newly formed unit.

Commander Grieli told him the news, which shocked Sapas, who had already thought of something, but could not ask the commander.

And Lieutenant General Grieli didn't play dumb riddles, looked at him and asked directly. "After Lieutenant General Tabares leaves, our 13th Army will lack a deputy commander, you have qualifications and achievements and are familiar with our 13th Army, are you interested in being this deputy commander?"

Lieutenant General Grillery's words confirmed his thoughts, but instead of being pleased that he was about to be recommended to be lieutenant commander, he asked. "Then who should the 15th Division be handed over?"

Obviously, this veteran can't let go of the 15th Division, although he has been in many troops, but what makes him happiest is when he is in the 15th Division, so he can't let go of it in his heart.

"The 15th Division is the first-class main force of our army, you should work part-time first, and then consider handing it over after you find a suitable candidate."

At present, many Italian troops are like this, because of the rapid increase in troops, resulting in a shortage of qualified senior officers, then only flexible means can be used.

At present, more than half of the units in the Italian army use this model of concurrently serving as deputies. As for the effect, it is not bad, it can maximize the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

While the two were talking, cheers rang from all around, and it turned out that the attacking troops had already entered the position.

"Commander, it looks like we'll be able to spend the night in Susé today."

Major-General Sapas knew too well about the temperament of the colonial troops. Halfway through the battle, the enemy will be routed, and then pursue them all the way until they drive them out of Sousse.

"This shows that the combat effectiveness of the 36th and 49th divisions has not lagged much behind its 15th division, which is good news, and you don't need to sleep on a tent marching bed tonight."

And the end result was as they thought, and in the afternoon the French colonial troops escaped from Sousse, and Lieutenant General Griery slept comfortably in the Soucet governor's palace.

(End of chapter)