Christmas in 1914 was not a happy holiday for the European continent. Although the officers and soldiers who fought on both sides spent a life without gunpowder, no one knew what their fate would be next.

In Libya, North Africa, the officers and men of the Italian Navy and Army had a merry Christmas. Although it was a little hot, the material support was very good. The abundant supplies transported from the Apennine Peninsula allowed the officers and men to have a happy holiday.

Although the British submarines were at sea during this time, in front of Italian airships and warships equipped with various sonars and depth charges, these submarines not only had limited success, but also suffered heavy casualties. For this reason, the British Admiralty had to suspend the attack mission of the submarine. After all, only about four of the ten ships came back, and no matter how thick the family background was, it couldn't stand it.

By the way, sonar and depth charges are new equipment developed by the Italian Navy, which can be described as a big killer for submarines that can only dive for an hour or two and lack tactics.

In addition, at this time on the front line of Tobruk, the Italian army was gathered.

On the army side, there are many units such as the second, fourth, eighth, and tenth group armies, with a total strength of 470,000 troops.

And in addition to the ground army, the cooperation of the navy is not weak, just four Roman-class battleships equipped with 380 mm guns, is a problem that the Entente Combined Fleet in the Mediterranean cannot solve. Not to mention that after the two Roma-class ships entered service one after another, the combined fleet formed by Italy and Austria was superior to its opponents even in numbers.

However, even though he was superior to his opponent in strength, Prince Filiberto, as the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian campaign, attached great importance to the campaign.

Compared with his nephew Carlo's little military talent, this one should have focused all his skills on military affairs.

Due to the importance of the battle, and the coordination of the army, the Egyptian campaign had to be carried out by a man who had a town to live in.

The first choice was General Simeone, who was a man of his word in the army, and he was completely able to suppress those arrogant generals. But given the importance of the overall situation, this is also the most unlikely candidate.

So after some consideration of the candidates, the commander of the Northern Army, Prince Filiberto, was finally chosen.

He was very good as the commander of Army Group North, and with his status as the king's uncle, he was able to suppress those proud generals. Compared to the other Prince Amedeo, this prince who is obsessed with military travel is much better.

At this time, the prince was in the headquarters of Tobruk, holding a combat meeting.

In the combat conference room, a large sand table that occupies a quarter of the room is placed in the center of the room. In this room, the stars will twinkle, and the most will be the lieutenant general, followed by the major general. If a heavy artillery shell had been fired here at this time, the Egyptian campaign would have been postponed for at least half a year. But if you want to get this place shelled, you can't do it unless God himself fires it.

In the well-guarded headquarters, His Royal Highness the Prince was holding a baton to arrange various combat missions to the generals present.

"Admiral Leffel, the mission of your combined fleet is very important, to ensure the safety of the sea transportation line, the supply and safety of our army will be entrusted to you."

"Your Excellency, please rest assured that our Combined Fleet will protect the safety of the transport fleet and will not give the Teijin any chance to threaten the transport fleet."

Faced with the prince entrusting him with the most important task, Admiral Leffel, as the commander of the Combined Fleet, of course, did not hesitate to respond in one breath.

There is not much to say about the importance of the Egyptian campaign for the navy.

As long as Egypt is taken, then the Combined Fleet can go out of the Indian Ocean and threaten the British and French colonies in Asia and East Africa, which will have a huge effect on the war potential of Britain and France.

"Not bad, not bad."

Prince Filiberto was satisfied with the Navy's unhesitating answer.

"In order to ensure the mission, I can arrange for spies to monitor the enemy's fleet, and there are enough airships to patrol outside Alexandria to ensure that the enemy's every move is within our surveillance range."

Prince Filiberto seems to have attached great importance to intelligence and reconnaissance, allowing the enemy to observe his every move.

Of course, he just assigned the tasks of the Navy, and the Army was not arranged. Although the task of the army is simple, it also needs to be arranged. "Admiral Gardner, your Second Army, as the vanguard, is responsible for opening the way."

Admiral Gardner replied loudly. "Yes."

Admiral Gardner replied loudly, but Prince Filiberto had a few words to tell. "Your Second Army has a heavy task, in addition to crushing the enemy's defenders along the route, it also needs to repair the roads along the main army, and also arrange supply points. So I will hand over to you the 1st and 3rd Cavalry Divisions, and the 2nd and 4th Engineer Brigades to you. ”

"We, the officers and men of the Second Group, will certainly complete the tasks assigned by His Excellency the Commander."

Having Admiral Gardner hand over the front to the Second Army was not because its commander was loud, but because the other side had been deployed in Tobruk and was familiar enough with the situation in the area to open the way for him to do more with less.

As for Admiral Gardner getting this striker position, he was quite excited. Watching friendly units fight in this world war while he can only wait in Tobruk is too difficult for an ambitious military man.

Now that he is the vanguard with the heaviest task, this is an affirmation of the Second Army, and he will let the Second Army show its edge in this big battle.

After explaining who was going to take the striker position, Prince Filiberto continued to talk about the assignment. "Admiral Bartlett."

"Here."

The same loud answer came from the commander of the Sixth Army, Colonel-General Bartlett.

"Your Sixth Army is following the Second Army, and is responsible for supporting and maintaining the Truth."

"Yes."

The task of the Sixth Army was not good, although it was in second place, but at most it was a reserve support force for the Second Army.

With the current deployment of the Entente in Egypt, you can't even drink soup and can only work as a road repairman. Because the Entente had only five divisions west of El Alamein, including three Anglo-Indian divisions, one South African division, and one Australian division. The direction of deployment is also deployed eastward in this arrangement.

It can be said that unless the Allied commander is not sober-minded and wants to fight the Italian army in the coastal desert, otherwise the enemy's forces will not be enough for the Second Army.

"Admiral Wagman, your Tenth Army is the last to set off, and the rest of the troops are advancing with our command."

Prince Filiberto said and glanced at Crown Prince Vittorio, and its meaning was self-evident.

For the eyes of his cousin, Vittorio still didn't understand. Don't run around by yourself, follow him by yourself.

The respective tasks are set, and the next step is the start time of the campaign.

"January 7th, the time for the campaign to be launched, everyone go back and prepare."

With the words of Prince Filipbeto, this battle meeting came to an end. The commanders of the various units left one after another, and they needed to rush back to make the final preparations before the outbreak of the battle.

(By the way, Carlo is the son of the eldest Umberto I, Prince Filipberto is the son of the second Amadeo I, and the encyclopedia shows that he is the son of his grandfather, Victor Emmanuel II, which is ridiculously wrong)

(End of chapter)