"Who's to say it isn't! But in the end, it's the result of everyone's collective efforts, and this is my own credit. Hearing these words of praise, Mr. President couldn't help but be overjoyed, and then spit out with a touch of disgust: "The funny thing is that just a few days ago, that dead fat man was still complaining and protesting to me, saying that we, the United States, were harboring and conniving at Jiang Qiang, and overriding the battlefield command of the British Empire, and also asserted that we would pay a heavy price for this!" After a pause, Mr. President raised his eyebrows very proudly and said, "Now that British dead fat man should know the role of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, right?" He must have nothing to say, right? ”

Hull nodded and said: "That's natural, these arrogant and stupid British, after Jiang Qiang arrived in the North African theater, also made a series of targeted provocations, and once extremely uncooperative and resistant. Thanks to Jiang Qiang, who is a person of means, otherwise, if it were someone else, the Allied forces in the North African theater of operations would probably still be scattered. ”

Marshall replied at this time: "But let's not be too happy, although Rommel's Afrika Korps was frustrated in Matru and the loss of technology and equipment was very serious, but at present, they have the control of the sea in the Mediterranean, and it is very convenient to replenish, but our supply line is in difficulty." Mr. President frowned and said: "Yes, if the convoy cannot safely cross the Mediterranean, then it will have to make a detour through the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, which will not only be more than twice as long, but will also add more dangers."

This is not a small increase in the burden for the United States, and the war situation is still not good! Hellius muttered: "Since transportation from the United States is several times more difficult, why don't we consider deploying supplies from the Burma theater to feed back to the North African theater?" General Marshall shook his head lightly and said: "Those basic materials such as grain, ammunition, oil, and transport vehicles are partly transferred from the Burma theater, but not in terms of technical equipment, after all, when we helped build the industrial base in Myanmar, the production lines we helped build were all production lines that were about to be eliminated in China."

The tanks and planes produced could compete with the Japanese in the Asian theater, but they could not fight the Germans at all, which would not only increase casualties and losses, but also undermine the morale of the front. "Well, that's really a problem!" Mr. President sighed lightly, if he had known that this would be the situation in front of him, he should have invested a little more money when he aided the construction of Myanmar's industrial base.

"General Marshall, Your Excellency the President, have you forgotten something?" However, at this time, Hull said: "Didn't you think that Jiang Qiang also built a lot of military factories in Burma, and the weapons and equipment they produced were not only not inferior to the German army, but also more advanced and powerful!" "This! Can it really be? Mr. President naturally knew about this situation, but as soon as he thought of the agreement he signed with Jiang Qiang and Jiang Qiang's ability to urinate, he automatically blocked this possibility.

Now that Hull has brought it up, Mr. President is back alive. "Nothing is impossible." Hull nodded very firmly and said: "Jiang Qiang is indeed very shrewd and good at settling accounts, so he has never suffered losses, but this is also a great weakness of his. ”

"What do you mean?" Mr. President's eyes lit up at once, and he clearly grasped the point. "Yes, Your Excellency!" Hull nodded tacitly and said: "Otherwise, he would not have carried so many technical equipment and individual weapons to the African battlefield, in the final analysis, he cherishes the lives of his soldiers more than us, and is more eager to win this war." So with this common denominator, we can do a series of bargaining and have reached a new equilibrium of 3! ”

"Well said! Let's take a look at it now! If you can directly transfer heavy tanks and advanced fighter jets from Burma, which are coveted by Americans, it will not only greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the allies in the North African theater in a short period of time, but also save the United States a great burden.

General Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Cairo. Three days and two nights is not long, but it is not short. During this time, Jiang Qiang spent almost all of his time in the headquarters, and although the mansion was only a few minutes away from the headquarters, it was rare for him to go back. There's no way, the pressure has been too great lately, and I can't do anything, so I simply hang up the battle flag and stay at the headquarters to be idle.

I have to say that the German army is much more ferocious than the Japanese army, and Jiang is a man who drives through the country, and he is so frightened that he can't eat and sleep, and he is uncomfortable. In this first tough battle, 1,700 tanks and armored vehicles, more than 1,000 combat aircraft of various types, and more than 2,200 artillery pieces were consumed in one go, and the consumption of guns and ammunition was innumerable.

If it weren't for the previous United States sparing no effort to frantically smash equipment, so that the Allied forces in the North African theater have an extremely strong foundation of technology and equipment, not only would the casualties have more than doubled, but also the technical equipment would have been consumed a long time ago. If these losses were borne by oneself, it could really only be described as a return to liberation. Even if the Allies shared the firepower, after the battle, more than two-thirds of the Tiger tanks and Mustang fighters brought by Jiang Qiang were consumed, leaving only 37 and 158 aircraft.

If you don't replenish it as soon as possible, in the face of the next attack of such intensity, you can really only fill it with your life. Thinking of this, Jiang is now apprehensive, sure enough, the German tank is still the same German tank! "Boss, come, go to Huazi to relieve fatigue!" Huzi took out a pack of Great China from his pocket, handed over a good cigarette with a flattering face, and hurriedly lit a cigarette for Jiang Qiang.

"Good!" Jiang Qiang nodded with a smile, although it was not good for this mouthful, but at this time he really wanted to relax and smoked one bite after another. After smoking a cigarette with Jiang Qiang, Liu Qiang asked with a smile: "General seat, the battle of Matlu Fortress is over for the time being, when will our navy be able to implement the sneak attack plan?" Seeing that the brother troops are fighting the fascists, we can't be idle all the time. ”

"What's the hurry, sharpen the knife and don't cut the wood, what's the use of just being in a hurry!" Jiang Qiang waved his hand, if it weren't for the fact that the Flying Eagle 5 fighter was too seriously consumed, according to the plan, it would be ten days and half a month at most, and it would be time to do it. But now it has to be replenished with a wave of fighters, otherwise the assault on the port of Taranto will be a risky suicide attack.

Killing 1,000 enemies and losing 800 self-losses, even if you can blow up some Italian warships, what is the use?

Huzi cheekily said again: "Boss, I don't want to share your worries and sorrows, as long as we can kill the Italian fleet, we can control the Mediterranean." At that time, even if Rommel had the ability to do it, without the support of the supply line, they would not want to be rampant! "That's right, that's right! But the losses of our fighters were too serious, and it was necessary to replenish a large number of them in order to ensure the success rate of the operation. ”

After Jiang Qiang briefly explained, he instructed in a serious tone: "These days, you should study more modestly, practice more carrier-based aircraft combat, and have a good relationship with the British Navy." After all, our navy is still too weak after all, and if we want to win control of the Mediterranean, we have to rely on the British fleet! You don't need to be in a hurry, once the time is ripe, you will naturally have the opportunity to make contributions to your navy! ”

No tricks, who called Jiang Qiang is a person who values feelings, and he has always liked that fat water does not flow into outsiders' fields! "I understand! Rest assured, I know what to do! Huzi hurriedly nodded in response, although he was eager to fight, but he knew better what it meant to be a small person who couldn't bear it. Okay, you can go back and rest first. It's rare to calm down, everyone is tired these days, it's time to relax, relax and combine work and rest, so that you can work harder and forge ahead! ”

Jiang Qiang smiled and waved his hand, then lowered his head and sniffed his sweaty clothes, and said to himself: "I also have to go back and take a good bath and sleep comfortably." In the past few days, I have been exhausted! The time soon came on May 10th, the day when the fortress of Matrou was once again under the frenzy of the Axis forces.

After a week of adjustment and replenishment, Rommel once again launched a large-scale attack on the fortress of Matru, and this time it was a three-dimensional operation on land, sea and air. True, a week earlier, Rommel had assembled a heavy force to launch a decisive assault on the fortress of Matru, using almost all of its combat aircraft and nearly half of its armored forces on the ground. But it is a pity that under the command of Jiang Qiang, the Allied forces fought for every inch of territory, whether it was the air force or the ground defense forces, they fought extremely resolutely and decisively, and finally successfully resisted the crazy attack of the Axis Afrika Korps.

At that time, in view of this situation, Rommel had a bold idea, that is, to organize a three-dimensional operation of land, sea and air, with more powerful attack power to smash and destroy the defense force of the Matru fortress, and to overcome the biggest obstacle in the way of progress at any cost. After being replenished with a large amount of technical equipment and the Italian naval fleet was mobilized to the Libyan port of Tobruk, the Second Battle of the Fortress of Matroux finally began.

At three o'clock this morning, before dawn, the German-Italian bomber group began to take off from the Tobruk fortress airfield and launched an indiscriminate bombardment of the Matrou fortress on an unprecedented scale. When the enemy bomber group flew over the fortress, the anti-aircraft artillery groups on the positions in various positions of the Matrou fortress did not hesitate to launch a resolute counterattack. More than 400 88mm anti-aircraft guns and M1A1 90mm towed anti-aircraft guns formed a powerful anti-aircraft fire network, intertwined into a series of brilliant bullets, dividing the dark night sky into countless small pieces.

The humming of motors, the sharp screams of bombs falling, the rumbling of cannons, and the earth-shattering explosions have suddenly become the main theme of heaven and earth, constantly stirring the nervous systems of soldiers on both sides of the enemy. Knowing that Rommel would never give up the pursuit of the Matrou Fortress because of a setback in an attack, and the German tank would never stop like this, Yang Fan took advantage of the confrontation in the past few days to send a strong construction team to urgently repair and strengthen the Matrou Fortress.

In addition, Jiang Qiang also put all the 88mm anti-aircraft guns in the inventory in the Matlu Fortress, and even the freshly arrived American M1A1 90mm towed anti-aircraft guns also invested more than half, forming a powerful ground anti-aircraft firepower of more than 400 anti-aircraft guns. Before the outbreak of World War II, the main anti-aircraft gun in the United States was the 3-inch M1918 (76.2 mm L/50), and the American army was always looking for more competent weapons, and in 1938 issued development requirements, 120 mm, 90 mm caliber are intentions.

So in 1940 the M1 90mm anti-aircraft gun was designed, and in May 1941 it was modified to become the M1A1 90mm towed anti-aircraft gun. The gun weighs 8.618 tons, has a muzzle velocity of 823 m/s, a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute, a maximum effective horizontal range of 17,823 m, and a maximum fire height of 10,380 m. In May 1943, it was transformed into the M2 after operational improvements, and the main changes were increased depression angle to have the ability to fight tanks, an electric plucker, a shield to protect the gunner, and a fire computer, making the M290mm one of the best American anti-aircraft guns in World War II.

Later, it evolved into the main guns of the M36 destroyer and M26 Pershing tanks, as well as the main guns of the M26A1 and M46 "Patton", and was also used in coastal defense for anti-torpedo boats. Jiang Qiang's Shanghai Weapons Research Institute has actually developed this M1A1 90mm towed anti-aircraft gun, as well as the more advanced M2 90mm anti-aircraft gun.

However, judging from the data, the 90-mm anti-aircraft gun did not have an advantage in other aspects except that the rate of fire was a little faster and the maximum effective horizontal range was three kilometers farer, and it was even much worse than the 88-mm anti-aircraft gun in terms of the muzzle velocity of the shell. Therefore, Jiang Qiang did not consider purchasing 90-mm anti-aircraft guns to replace 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, anyway, the United States can continue to produce them, at least on the African battlefield.

It is also thanks to the timely arrival of these 90-mm antiaircraft guns and new combat planes of the United States, otherwise it would have been really difficult to do with the 88-mm antiaircraft guns and Flying Eagle 5 fighters in Jiang Qiang's hands. There's no way, you can't hang it in a supernatural way under everyone's noses, this is the principle set by the system. It will take about a week for the planes, tanks, and artillery that he urgently dispatched from the Burma theater to reach the Suez Canal in Egypt.

But Rommel won't give himself this time, and after only a week of rest, he started to do crazy things again. The war room of the General Headquarters of the Allied North African Theater of Operations in Cairo. After learning that the radar station had detected a large number of planes going to attack the Matlu Fortress, Jiang Qiang got up and came to the Allied General Headquarters as soon as possible. At the same time, Stilwell, Li Jinglin, Barton, Auchinleck and others naturally couldn't continue to sleep with peace of mind, and it didn't take long for them to come to the war room with sleepy eyes.

"Oh, Shet! Are these damn Germans finished? It's only been quiet for a few days, and here they are again! "I don't know if it was because I was overworked last night, or if I have been under too much pressure recently, Auchinleck walked into the war room with a tired face, yawning constantly, and a little angry to get up." General Auchinleck, start with a cup of coffee to refresh yourself. ”

Stilwell reached out and picked up a cup of freshly baked coffee, handed it to Auchinleck with a smile on his face, and said, "This must be a matter of time, as long as the Mediterranean sea control is still in the hands of the Axis forces, they will not die to Egypt." "Even, three grams of oil." Auchinleck hurriedly took the coffee, nodded at Stilwell, and said, "Those damn Germans, they won't even let us have a good Christmas and New Year's Day, God will definitely punish them!" ”

"Evil does not prevail over good, good and evil will be rewarded in the end, that is inevitable and necessary!" Jiang Qiang smiled and said: "However, we can't sit back and wait for God to punish those war criminals, in the end, we have to punish them by ourselves, right?" "General Jiang Qiang, you're right. Since those war maniacs are going to bring about their own destruction, we must destroy them on behalf of justice! ”

Auchinleck smiled and nodded, "As long as we can stop this crazy attack of the Axis army, we will definitely be able to inflict a heavy blow on them." After this battle, I believe they will be honest for a long time. Patton smiled and replied, "That's right, so the top priority is to win this war beautifully, completely defeat their spirit, and then it's time for us to launch a strong counterattack." ”

After the wave of rhythm driven, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became much more relaxed and pleasant, even if it did not solve any substantive problems, at least it was not as solemn and tense as before. After chatting a few words, Auchinleck asked very seriously: "General Jiang Qiang, this time the Axis army has used the navy, land and air forces, it seems that it is determined to win, and the Matru Fortress cannot be lost."

How exactly do we respond? Should we also use our naval fleet to participate in the war? "It's going to be tough, there's no doubt about it!" "The last time we were able to thwart the attack of the German-Italian army, in addition to our own efforts and stubborn resistance, in fact, a large factor was the enemy's lack of anticipation of our real strength."

"However, I believe that Rommel will not be as reckless as he did last time, and there will be a big tactical adjustment. I have to say that the other party is a difficult master tactician, once he has enough war resources, he can play a flower. Facing everyone's eyes, Yang Fan did not hide it, let alone shout empty slogans, but told the truth.

Because this is the lice on the bald man's head in the first place, it is impossible to avoid and necessary to modify the difficulties and dangers in front of him. After a pause, Jiang Qiang said again: "But then again, even if he is a difficult tactician, so what? We are now in a defensive war, not a sports war with a wide opening and closing, even if he has the ability and strategy, then he has to gnaw hard bones.

So we only need to do one thing, that is, not to give an inch, resolutely and thoroughly fight a positional defensive war with them, and just play with them. As long as we get stuck at the key nodes, no matter how powerful the enemy and the cunning opponent are, they will have a hurdle to get through! "At this time, there is really nothing to say, just like the Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Leningrad and the Battle of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union, when there is no way to retreat, you can only live and die, and you can only see who can't withstand it first.

The Matroux fortress really could not be lost, and once this fulcrum and defensive barrier were lost, Rommel could gain a solid fulcrum of advance and advance the front by one or two hundred kilometers in one fell swoop. In that case, Alexandria would be exposed to German-Italian bombers, the Mediterranean Fleet would be able to place five places, and the Suez Canal and the supply lines in the Red Sea would be directly threatened.

At that time, the Allied forces in the North African theater of operations will completely lose their strategic room for maneuver. In this case, even if he can go crazy, he will not be able to withstand and consume the three-dimensional attack of the more than 1 million axis troops without worries. As for whether the naval forces will be put into the battlefield to participate in the decisive battle, Yang Fan is still unable to make a decision.

The main reason is that there is still a precondition missing, that is, the Allied air force must be sufficiently powerful, the German fighter group must be exhausted, and the most basic air supremacy must be guaranteed. Otherwise, if those naval units take the liberty of participating in the war, not only will their ships suffer a devastating blow from the three-dimensional naval and air operations of the German-Italian coalition, but even if they directly dispatch carrier-based bombers and torpedo planes to carry out air raid operations, it will be a wave of death at best, and it will be difficult to achieve the expected combat results.

Therefore, at this time, we have to endure it, and we have to decide whether to play the trump card of the navy according to the specific progress of the battlefield. As Jiang Qiang expected, Rommel's offensive routine this time has changed significantly. Instead of being as riotous as the last time, the king bombed at the beginning, and directly dispatched a powerful combat aircraft group to find the main force of the Allied air force for a decisive battle, and at the same time, dispatched a huge armored group to launch a crushing attack on three sides of the Matru fortress.

Such a strategic intent is nothing more than to first get rid of the Allied air force in a quick and decisive way, and to take advantage of the opportunity when the Allied air force has no time to take care of itself, to break the morale of the Allied forces with an incomparably fierce offensive and disrupt the tactical defensive deployment of the Allied forces. Such a ferocious tactical routine has a strong connection with blitzkrieg, and with the chips in Rommel's hand, it is indeed possible to use this ferocious crushing tactic to directly crush the enemy's defense system and will to fight.

If it had been more than a month earlier, Romet would have been able to get such a huge supplement of technical equipment, perhaps at that time, with such ferocious tactics, he would really be able to defeat the Allied troops with low morale in one fell swoop. But alas, Jiang Qiang and the Huaxia Expeditionary Force came. A month ago, Jiang Qiang conquered the allied army's sea, land and air generals through a series of combination punches, and retrieved the soul of the allied army.

Jiang Qiang and the Huaxia Expeditionary Force have become the backbone and spiritual pillar of the Allied forces, and as long as they do not fall, the banner of the Allied camp will not fall. So under a series of fierce blood and tear, Rommel couldn't stand it first, so he could only withdraw his troops first with scars, and then regroup and change his posture to come again. In this attack on the Matrou Fortress, Rommel adopted a tactic of advancing by land, water and air, concentrating his forces on a few small heights to the west of the Matroux Fortress and pushing hard and horizontally little by little.

It's like turning your strength into a sharp spear, piercing a point in the defense system of the Matru Fortress, unswervingly breaking through from one direction, crushing all obstacles in your path layer by layer. This kind of offensive method does not pay attention to how gorgeous it is, nor does it seek how fast it advances, it only needs to unswervingly force to one place and continue to attack, even if it is a solid shield, it will be smashed open!

Once the gap was opened, the German-Italian forces could storm all the way, increasing their gains until they reached the heart of the Matru fortress and dismantled the entire defense system. In this way, the Allies had a hard time making it difficult.

The first few positions were fought in full swing and fought to the death, with planes, tanks, artillery, and naval guns doing everything they could, and tons and tons of bombs frantically venting without money, inflicting great damage on the Allied positions.

On his side, he couldn't help, so he could only watch his comrades in front of him fight bloodily with the enemy, withstanding wave after wave of crazy attacks, and at the same time they continued to pay heavy casualties. This kind of local surgical attack will undoubtedly weaken the crossfire advantage and defensive geographical advantage of the defensive fortress system to the greatest extent, making it difficult for a large part of the fortifications to fully function.

Therefore, for the attacker, although it is necessary to attack a solid defensive system with strong defensive firepower in unfavorable terrain, it will pay several times the cost of casualties, but it has the advantage of being the first mover and the advantage of active attack. As long as you take advantage of these advantages, many times it can work wonders.

The enemy's offensive routine has changed, and the offensive has become more and more ferocious, and the Allied side is very uncomfortable, but they will not give up on treatment because of this. From the very beginning, the Allied side tried their best to resist, and anti-aircraft guns, shore defense guns, heavy artillery, mortars, and battle defense guns opened fire with all their might, completely ignoring whether they would be treated as priority targets after exposing the target and eliminated at a fixed point.

As long as the enemy's ground forces are within range and have sufficient military value, the Allied artillery units will not hesitate to open fire and crush any enemy that comes into effective range.