Secretary of State Hull nodded: "What Your Excellency the President said is extremely true, the visit of the First Lady has caused a great sensation, and the United States and even the entire Allied camp have set off an anti-Nazi and anti-fascist tide. This is indeed a very good opportunity, and the US government should take advantage of the situation to further stimulate the potential of the anti-fascist allies in the world and accelerate the growth and expansion of the forces of the world anti-fascist alliance. Marshall, chief of the U.S. Army General Staff, continued: "At present, the Huaxia Kingdom is no longer the Huaxia Country of the past, and they already have the strength to rival the military powers of the world, and it is indeed time to adjust our policy and stance on the Huaxia State." ”

"Good!" Then, President Roosevelt threw out his thoughts and said, "As everyone said, whether it is for the present great cause of anti-fascism or for the post-war world situation." We should all show enough goodwill and pay enough attention to China, so I decided to continue to increase aid to China and at the same time, I advocate that Western countries cancel the unequal treaties signed with China in history! ”

"Your Excellency the President has a far-sighted strategy!" "I agree too!" "As it should be!" Hull, Marshall and others nodded their heads and happily reached a consensus. In fact, a few months later, at the initiative of the United States, several Western powers successively canceled the unequal treaties they had signed with China.

In the Great War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese people won independence, sovereignty and equality in the world, and stood on their own feet among the nations of the world. "Then it was decided, and now we move on to the next topic, which is the current anti-fascist war." Hearing that everyone agreed, Roosevelt laughed happily, and President Roosevelt changed his words and said, "General Marshall, what is the current situation in the North African theater, and how long will this stalemate last?" ”

Marshall hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency, according to the information sent back by General Stilwell, the Allied Command in North Africa is conducting a counteroffensive campaign deployment, and it must soon officially turn from defense to offensive and launch a counterattack against the Axis forces in the North African battlefield" "Oh, yes? That would be great! President Roosevelt raised his eyebrows and nodded, "This is indeed a pleasant good news, and I am also looking forward to Jiang Qiang's amazing performance again."

The Allied camp has survived the most difficult period, but this is far from enough, and the world security situation is still extremely serious! Marshall nodded and said: "The Allies have already seized the initiative in air and sea supremacy in the North African battlefield, Jiang Qiang is a commander with a very strategic vision, and he will definitely seize the opportunity to expand the results!"

Besides, he is now more anxious than we are to turn the tide on the battlefield in North Africa, and I think he will do his best to win this battle! "So when will the United States switch from defense to offense in the Pacific theater?" Don't we now have the ability to retake Guadalupe Island and drive the damned Japanese invaders far away from the west coast? Without waiting for Marshall to reply, President Roosevelt said in a loud voice with an angry expression:

"I've had enough of days like this, and now even Huaxia can fight such a beautiful victory on the domestic battlefield. There is no reason for our great America to continue to shrink its defenses, and it is time for us to make our anger felt by those vile and shameless aggressors. When Pearl Harbor was attacked and the Pacific Fleet was destroyed, President Roosevelt declared in Congress that he would be an eye for an eye for a tooth in front of the world.

However, a whole year and a half have passed, the Pacific theater is still under the control of the Japanese, the US Pacific Fleet has been unable to set sail for a long time, and the US West Coast is still under the threat of the Japanese Combined Fleet at all times. Marshall replied, "Your Excellency, I think it would be more appropriate for General Stark to answer this question. Chief of Naval Operations Stark met President Roosevelt's inquiring gaze and nodded, "Your Excellency, I am very pleased and proud to tell you that the Pacific Fleet of the United States of America is now quite combat-ready.

Air Force lads of the United States of America, after months of tireless fighting, we have firmly grasped air supremacy on the West Coast. Now that the Japanese Combined Fleet no longer dares to continue to attack and harass the west coast of the United States, we naturally have the conditions to recapture Guadalupe Island, and it will not even be long before we can launch a counterattack in the Pacific theater! ”

President Roosevelt's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said loudly with excitement: "In that case, then what are you waiting for? The great United States should become the backbone and leader of the World Anti-Fascist League. If we want to dominate the world pattern in the future, we must show sufficient strength and responsibility! ”…… At 10 o'clock in the evening of May 4, it was a calm and clear moonlit night, and the "Light Foot Operation" of the Battle of Matroux officially began. It began with a five-and-a-half-hour continuous shelling of 1450 guns, by which about 700 shells had already been fired from each of them.

During that time, a total of more than 300 tons of shells fell on enemy positions. There is a legend about this shelling that the ears of the Allied gunners bleed from the deafening sound of the shelling. The name "Operation Light Feet" has a source. The first sortie was the light demining vehicles and infantry, they did not trigger anti-tank mines, because their weight was too light, so the whole plan was called Operation Light Foot.

While the demining vehicles lead the infantry forward, the rest of the demining vehicles and engineering units will open a safe passage for the subsequent armored units in another direction of breakthrough. The passage will be more than 30 meters wide and 30 kilometers long, allowing at least 5 tanks to move forward side by side, and the tank armored units will strike forward in columns. If you rely on manual work to search and clear mines one after another, it is not only too dangerous, but also consumes a lot of time and costs, as well as a lot of manpower and material resources.

In order to improve efficiency and quickly break through the minefield, Jiang Qiang deliberately used a demining vehicle called the "Formula 1 Mine Detection Vehicle" from Shanghai. The rover looks a lot like a car, except with large "Formula 1 tires". From the outside, it does look like the main body of the "Formula 1 car", which is made up of parts of an ordinary car, similar to a small bulldozer with an elevated cab. The cockpit is constructed mainly of armor and is designed to protect the operator from damage from mine explosions or small arms fire. At the bottom of the cab, there was a V-shaped reinforced base that pushed explosives away from the lower part of the demining vehicle.

Its sensors resemble rectangular wings, perpendicular to the cab and close to the ground. The principle of its design is simple: make the vehicle as light as possible, usually without detonating anti-tank mines, so that mines buried in the soil can be turned over and detected. When the troops are moving, the demining vehicles usually lead the way in front of the convoy and can travel at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour. Demining vehicles remove or detonate mines in front of the infantry, ensuring that the follow-up convoy can move safely.

It should be noted that this wheeled demining vehicle is only suitable for demining under flat land and road conditions, and cannot be used for steep mountainous areas where it is difficult for people to walk. As for the more advanced modern demining vehicles and demining robots, they are not yet sold there in Shanghai, and this "Formula 1 mine detection vehicle" can be considered the most advanced and practical type.

Jiang Qiang's battle plan is similar to the Second Battle of El Alamein, in which the Allied forces will spend 15 days in three steps: "breaking in, fighting, and defeating" to achieve victory. The Allied forces spread out from north to south in the Matru area, with the entire attack line stretching for more than 50 kilometers, and the main force carried out the main assault on the northern section of the front, first by the British 10th Army to break through the opponent's defensive line, and then by the 1st Chinese Army, the 15th Army of the US Army and other troops to carry out in-depth assaults.

At the same time, the U.S. 6th Army and the British 13th Army will feint directly from the south to pinpoint and pinch, and they will engage in fierce exchanges of fire with the German and Italian Panzer Divisions there. In this way, the Axis forces in the south would not go north to reinforce them, so that the main Allied forces could concentrate their superior forces and annihilate the main German and Italian forces in the coastal area.

Two months before the battle, Yang Fan had already begun to use some deception tactics against the Axis forces in order to catch the Axis powers by surprise when the war began. Jiang Qiang not only had to deceive them at the place of battle, but also let them get the wrong time to initiate. These deceptions were codenamed "Operation Troy". In March, the Allies dumped discarded items in the north, such as dismantled suitcases and ammunition boxes, and camouflaged them to make them look like ammunition depots and granaries.

Naturally, the Axis forces spotted them, but the Allies did not launch a large-scale attack after that, and the location of the "ammunition depots" and "granaries" did not change after some time, so the Axis forces did not take them seriously. This allowed the Allies to exchange the waste at night on the front line for real ammunition depots, oil tanks and granaries without being detected by the enemy.

At the same time, the Allies also began to build a fake oil pipeline on the Southern Front. This would cause the Axis forces to believe that the campaign would begin after the Allied planned start time, and that the location would be in the south. To further confuse the enemy, the Allies covered the jeeps with plywood in the south to make them look like tanks, while the tanks in the north were covered with plywood to look like convoys.

In tonight's "Light Foot Operation", Yang Fan plans to use two commandos to pass through the minefields laid by the German army in the north and clear them, and then the armored troops will pass through here to defeat the German armored forces. At 10 p.m., when the massive artillery bombardment began, the infantry of the British 30th Army Corps followed behind several demining vehicles that were side by side.

Their goal was to advance to an Axis center and destroy the Axis outer defenses there, after which the Allies would send an armored force to consolidate their positions, thus forming a pivot point for the forward position. At the same time, in the north of the main attack, the engineering units began large-scale demining operations, opening a sufficiently wide and safe passage for the armored forces. On 5 May, at 4 a.m. the next day, under the cover of continuous artillery bombardment, the infantry of the British 30th Army successfully captured the central outer defensive line of the Axis army.

The engineering units on the northern road also failed in their mission to open up a safe passage 30 meters wide and 30 kilometers long. The U.S. 6th Army, the British 13th Army Corps and several other units had already set out an hour earlier and launched a feint attack on the southern line of the Axis forces. "In that case, what are you waiting for? Order all troops to attack by land and water according to the original plan! ”

At this time, Jiang Qiang and others were already in command at the Allied Headquarters. With an order, 200 tanks of the Central Route Army and 600 tanks of the Northern Route Army started to march at the same time, and as the leading tank had entered the minefield, billowing smoke was spewed out from behind the buttocks, and at the same time, billowing dust was rolled up.

Soon there was no visibility along the road at all, and they had to rush forward one after another, and the congestion became more and more serious. But fortunately, the armored units are all in a straight line, as long as they are close to each other and do not fall behind, there will be no getting lost, and there will be no problem of going crooked and plunging headlong into a minefield to play self-detonation. At the same time, the naval fleet began to anchor from the sea near the port of Matruo and march along the coastline to coordinate with the army forces.

As for the air force, hundreds of bombers took off from the port of Matruh and further away from the city of Cairo, protected by a large number of escort fighters, to fight against the Axis lines on the um Saad. It has to be said that the industrial production capacity of the United States is very strong, and in just a few months, although the Allied forces in the North African theater have consumed extremely serious technical equipment, under the frantic replenishment, the Allied tanks and planes have increased instead of decreasing. Especially in terms of combat aircraft, which had already thrown the Axis troops out of a few streets at this moment.

Moreover, compared with the "tactical air force" of the German army, the "strategic air force" created by the Americans is really so powerful that it has no friends. The concept of "strategic air force" first originated during World War II when the United States launched a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against Germany and Japan. The original concept referred to an air force "with a strategic bomber force". Whereas, a strategic bomber refers to a large bomber that carries out long-range bombing to weaken the enemy's ability to fight war.

Unlike tactical bombers, which are used to bomb troops and military equipment in a certain theater of operations, the role of strategic bombers is to carry out strategic bombing, that is, to fly into the heart of the enemy to strike at strategic targets such as major military installations, factories and cities. The Ju-88, He-111 and Do-17 bombers used by Germany in World War II were relatively light and unsuitable for strategic bombing missions.

The only heavy bomber they could call heavy was the Junkers Ju 89, a heavy bomber developed by the Luftwaffe before the outbreak of World War II, which was cancelled before it could enter production. The range of the Luftwaffe combat aircraft was only more than 1,000 kilometers, and they could only ensure attack cover on the battlefield, and had no ability to carry out large-scale attacks on the enemy's rear. Because Germany did not possess the ability to attack strategically, it would be a mess in an air battle in Britain, let alone a thousand-mile attack on the enemy's rear industrial base.

The B29 bomber owned by the US Air Force has a range of 6,000 kilometers, and is equipped with a large number of weapons and has the ability to protect itself, and can rush thousands of miles to attack the industrial base in the rear of Germany, which is called the strategic air force. The U.S. military's long-range bomber fleet has the ability to fully bomb the Axis defense lines in the North African theater, and even cover the entire territory of the Italian mainland.

Especially in the case that the German fighter unit has lost air supremacy after a series of wars of attrition, this advantage is still infinitely magnified. Over the past few years, the U.S. military's fleet of long-range bombers has taken a toll on Axis forces, with Tobruk, Benghazi, and even the Libyan capital of Tripoli being bombed several times.

At about five o'clock in the morning, before the Allied armored forces were about to engage the Axis forces, the Allied bomber group after a long run turned into a mode of indiscriminate bombardment in the dense German anti-aircraft artillery. Chirp, one after another heavy bombs with a sharp scream like a torrential rain.

Boom! A series of earth-shattering explosions exploded on the German positions, clouds of black gunpowder smoke rose into the sky, and the soft desert was stirred up with billowing dust.

After a few moments, a thick cloud of smoke mixed with billowing dust obscured the sky and covered a large area as if it were suddenly back at night. Under the carpet saturation bombardment, the German artillery and tank units, which had been waiting in the minefield for a long time and were ready to meet the Allied armored forces that were about to rush out, were dealt a heavy blow at once.

Although the German ground anti-aircraft fire was desperately resisting, causing many casualties to the Allied bomber formations, it was impossible for them to stop the Allied bombing without strong air force assistance. Rommel spent a lot of effort to lay more than 500,000 mines in front of the defensive line, and from the beginning he never had the luxury of expecting this vast minefield to block the Allied attack, and his real intention was only to hinder the Allied attack.

In this way, the Axis forces could mobilize enough artillery and armored troops to intercept the Allied armored forces at the exit of the safe passage opened by the Allies before the Allies broke through this minefield, and give them a head-on attack. The long, narrow and straight passage was in fact vulnerable to bombardment by the bombers and artillery of the Axis powers.

They didn't need to make much effort, they only needed to beat the dozens of tanks in front of them, and this safe passage that had been opened up with great difficulty was equivalent to being scrapped. The safe passages created during the Lightfoot operations planned by Montgomery in the original history were only two narrow passages only 7 meters wide that could only be used by a tank in a column. As a result, under the double bombardment of Axis aircraft and artillery, it was directly abolished, which led to a stalemate, and the armored forces could not break through the minefield according to the predetermined plan and start a decisive battle with the Axis army.

But it is clear that Jiang Qiang is unlikely to repeat the mistakes of the past. Moreover, this time, the safe passage opened up by the Allies was not only 7 meters wide, but a full 30 meters wide, enough for at least 5 tanks to advance side by side. Even if the Axis forces were in a position to carry out a frenzied bombing and artillery bombardment, it would not be easy to paralyze this safe passage.

What's more, with the time route planned, Jiang Qiang still has too many hole cards to break the blockade of the Axis forces at the exit. "Brothers, hit hard!" "Kill these Nazi fascists!" "Kill!" Not long after the bombing of the bomber group had ended, and the smoke and dust that had shrouded the sky and earth had not yet dissipated, the Il-2 ground attack aircraft swept across the desert and rushed in front of the armored troops, starting a new round of dive strafing.

Strings of armor-piercing shells and rocket shells cut a line in the air, blasting at the infantry, artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles of the Axis armies like a storm, and all visible military targets were their targets. It rained overnight, and before the Axis troops could recover from the overwhelming bombardment, they saw a group of black Grim Reaper flying from the distant sky. These ground attack aircraft, known as "tank killers" and "black reaper", are not in vain, not only have heavy armor all over their bodies, but also have bulletproof glass with a thickness of 57 mm in the cockpit, which can completely defend against direct hits from small-caliber bullets, artillery shells, and grenades

Moreover, due to the strong power of the engine, the normal bomb load of the Il-2 aircraft reached 400 kg, the maximum travel speed could reach 410 km/h, and the maximum range was 720 km, with sufficient ammunition and attack radius to carry out devastating strikes against enemy ground military targets. "Nicely done! Our air force units are just amazing! "Oh my God, is this still worth us?" "Damn Nazi fascists, now see how you can stop our steel torrent!"

"Gentlemen, for the sake of world peace and justice, charge!" "Rush, kill these damned devils!" The Il-2 ground attack aircraft group was still raging wildly on the Axis positions, and the British 10th Army armored units were dragged by more than a dozen demining vehicles to advance step by step to the vicinity of the Axis defense line. Looking at the battlefield that was almost in ruins in the distance, the British armored soldiers were all like chickens, both excited and happy.

Before, they were worried that the exit would be blocked by the Axis forces that were waiting for them, but now that the problem is not there. Soon, the armored units of the British 10th Army successfully broke through the minefield and engaged in melee and fierce fighting with the Axis ground forces, which had already been beaten to the point of inhuman appearance.

As the British armoured forces continued to rush out of the safe passage, and the surrounding Axis armoured forces quickly gathered and attacked, an unprecedented fierce tank battle broke out. "Brothers, rush! The British have broken through the frontal lines of the Axis armies, and it's up to us to come next! ”

The First Army of China, the 15th Army of the US Army, and many other troops, which had set off two hours late, followed closely behind, marching along the safe passage that had been opened, and the vigorous full-speed assault once again rolled up the dust. Their task is to carry out vertical and horizontal assaults on the Axis forces, disrupt the enemy's deployment and defenses, carry out penetrating attacks, and eliminate the living forces of the Axis forces as much as possible.

Although the Axis forces near the exit of the safe passage were inflicted heavy losses on the main offensive on the northern front, and the British armoured forces were able to break through the minefield, this did not mean that the battle was a foregone conclusion, but only a good start. Because the Afrika Korps in the current time and space is a cluster of millions of heavy troops, not just a few hundred thousand people in the original history. The next battle will be more brutal and intense, and it will not end in a day or two!

At the same time, on the southern flank and the central battlefield, several units such as the US 6th Army and the British 13th Army Corps had also begun to exchange fierce fire with the Axis forces at this moment. In order to provide maximum fire support to the ground forces, the air and navy of the Allied forces were at full firepower. Bombers, fighter planes, and ground attack planes came and went, taking off and landing at various airfields from dawn onwards, and frantically recklessly on the battlefield.

The strong endurance has played a huge role, so that these combat aircraft have enough time in the air and give full play to the great power of air supremacy. The Allied ground armored forces, which were already stronger than the Axis armies, fought more smoothly, although the German tank forces were still strong and the German anti-aircraft guns were still sharp. However, under this kind of crushing three-dimensional combat of land and air, the Axis armies are facing tremendous existential pressure in all battlefields and are being consumed at an extremely rapid rate.

The helicopter brigade served as a transport and ambulance mission, constantly delivering supplies to the front-line troops and transporting the wounded back to the rear for first aid.