Chapter 292 Supreme Commander

This strategy is actually very simple. The terrain of Italy is like a boot extending into the Mediterranean Sea, with a ball on the tip of the boot... Sicily.

Sicily is placed between Italy and Tunisia, almost dividing the Mediterranean into east and west parts.

If the British navy located in the east wants to enter the west, it can only pass through the "Messina" Strait and the "Tunisia" Strait separated by Sicily.

The "Messina" Strait is almost impossible to pass through forcefully, because its narrowest point is only 3.2 kilometers. The Italian army's mortars can hit the other side, let alone use long-range artillery to block it, and the water flow here There are reefs and the Charybdis Whirlpool in the rapids. If you choose to pass through here, you can only say that you have water in your head.

So there is only one option, which is the "Tunisia" Strait.

But if the German army uses a fleet plus fighter planes from Sicily and Tunisia to cover it, it can be said to be almost foolproof.

"Excellent idea, Lieutenant!" said Major General Oakster.

"No, he is already a lieutenant!" Colonel Slain walked in, held up the telegram in his hand and said with a smile: "General Rommel personally appointed him, this is not common!"

"Congratulations, Lieutenant!" Major General Oxster leaned over and shook hands with Qin Chuan: "I think your ability is fully worthy of this military rank!"

"Yes!" Colonel Slain came forward and patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder: "General Rommel said that with your military exploits and wisdom, being a general is not too much."

"I understand, Colonel!" Qin Chuan replied.

"So..." Major General Oxter asked: "What is General Rommel's attitude towards the supply line plan?"

"Of course there is no problem!" Colonel Sline said with a smile, "Especially the lieutenant's suggestion!"

This is indeed the case. Rommel sent a telegram to Hitler at the first opportunity, and then Hitler sent a telegram to Petain.

"Dear Chancellor!" Hitler said: "As stipulated in the armistice agreement, Germany and France should cooperate as much as possible in political, economic and other aspects. Two German infantry divisions and one airborne division are assisting the French defense in North Africa. We need to France establishes a supply line to transport supplies, equipment and reinforcements. I hope France can fulfill its duties as stipulated in the armistice agreement!"

This sounds a bit bizarre. Germany occupied French Algeria and even snatched away the entire Toulon fleet, but it still used the armistice agreement to require France to fulfill its cooperation responsibilities. According to common sense, this is absolutely unacceptable.

but……

The underlying meaning of this telegram is that this is what France should do. If it does not agree, it will mean that the armistice agreement is invalid, and there is no need to say more about what will happen next.

Pétain was also a political veteran, so how could he not see the meaning behind this, so he could only sigh...or it could be said to be relieved, because this also explained Vichy's story from another aspect. The government still has value, and the German army will not go south for the time being.

Then of course Pétain did not dare to neglect, and immediately rebuilt the transportation line from France to Algiers.

In this regard, the Vichy government cannot speak of its suffering, but the French people cannot bear it... Germany occupied Algeria and even gave France a humiliation no less than the "Maginot Line" in the port of Toulon. Now it is about to We must transport equipment for Germany.

So French people organized marches and protests in groups, which temporarily embarrassed the Vichy government.

But that's all. The Germans didn't care about this. They only knew that a large amount of supplies could be transported to Algeria by rail and transport ships in just a few days.

The first ones to arrive were the navy transferred from Germany. Before they even got off the ship, they saw warships moored on the shore one after another at the port. They couldn't help waving their sailor hats and cheering loudly.

Qin Chuan can understand their mood. As a naval soldier, if there is no warship, it is equivalent to a tank soldier without a tank, or it can be said that the infantry has no guns. It is a very helpless feeling. Sometimes, he would rather go to the battlefield and fight with others. The enemy fights to the death.

Before this, these German naval soldiers thought that they would be treated like vases until the end of the war, but now they saw warships with cannons standing like chimneys waiting for them. How could they not be ecstatic? ? !

The military band played "The German March" at the port, and then groups of naval soldiers walked over from the other end of the port in neat formation, with their heads held high, like a military parade, and the streets were lined with With the German cross flag, the soldiers cheered loudly to welcome the sailors from their hometown. Several naval officers waved to the cheering crowds on both sides with friendly smiles on their faces.

In Qin Chuan's eyes, all this was like watching a scene in a movie, not real but yet so real.

When he saw an old-fashioned camera filming across the street, Qin Chuan thought: If his family and friends in modern times saw him in the image... I don't know what they would think.

"Lieutenant!" A communications soldier squeezed through the crowd and waved to Qin Chuan, shouting: "The colonel wants you to go to the headquarters!"

"Being there soon!" Qin Chuan replied.

Qin Chuan could actually guess the reason. The naval commander must have met with Colonel Slaine and others. Then of course the first thing they had to do was to meet Qin Chuan, the man who had captured the entire fleet for them. Legendary Staff Sergeant.”

In fact, Qin Chuan didn't like these social events. He preferred to stay behind the scenes and give some suggestions to Rommel or Colonel Slaine, and then they would just do it according to these suggestions.

As expected, when Qin Chuan walked into the headquarters, he heard Colonel Slaine report: "This is Lieutenant Frick!"

Qin Chuan noticed that there was a person sitting at the other end of the desk. Because the desk lamp was on, he couldn't see clearly. He habitually stood up and saluted, saying: "Lieutenant Frick, Second Company, First Battalion, First Infantry Regiment!"

A face appeared under the desk lamp, with neatly combed and shiny hair, and sharp blue eyes looking up and down at Qin Chuan, like a hungry wolf staring at its food.

At this time, Qin Chuan recognized from his shoulder straps that this was a marshal, and he couldn't help but open his mouth for a long time... He originally thought that the navy would send a major general, but he didn't expect to send a marshal.

What surprised Qin Chuan even more was that Colonel Slain then introduced him to Qin Chuan: "Lieutenant, this is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Marshal Erich Raeder!"

What? Supreme Commander-in-Chief? !