Chapter 445 Strategic Focus

Monthly tickets, brothers! Today is the ninth update, tomorrow will be the fifth update, where are the monthly tickets! ! ! !

A few days later, Rommel convened a meeting with the German generals in Sicily.

"Gentlemen!" Rommel said tiredly but energetically: "The Führer congratulated us, we won the battle cleanly and neatly, and defended the transportation line from France to North Africa, which is crucial!"

When Rommel was about to sit back in the chair, his steps were a little unstable and he almost fell.

The officers looked at it and felt a little strange.

Then Rommel explained with a wry smile: "Perhaps you can see that when you defeated the powerful British and American coalition forces, I couldn't resist the attack of a mosquito!"

The officers couldn't help laughing, and then they knew that Rommel was infected with malaria.

"The good news is..." Rommel then said: "The Führer will give us more supplies, including the construction of a refinery in the Algerian oil field. In fact, as we speak, the equipment of the refinery has been continuously shipped from France to Algeria. I believe that it will not be long before the era of severe fuel shortage will be gone forever!"

Applause broke out in the conference room. Nothing in this era can make people more excited than having oil!

"The bad news is!" Rommel took a sip of the water handed over by the staff and continued: "According to the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Supreme Command believes that the Allies are likely to attack us again, but they are not sure whether they will choose Sicily or Greece next time!"

The officers nodded in agreement.

The reason is very simple. The German army only won a narrow victory this time, although it did achieve a great victory... In this battle, the Allied forces suffered 22,811 casualties and 13,281 prisoners. The victory of the navy and air force was also very prominent. In one air battle, more than 130 fighter planes were destroyed, and 17 ships were sunk and damaged, especially two British aircraft carriers were seriously damaged. All of these caused a considerable degree of damage to the British soldiers.

However, the Allied forces were not seriously injured, especially since they still had the advantage of sea and air.

The German army still had so many troops. Even if Hitler had reinforcements, they would be very limited because of the Eastern Front.

Therefore, the Allied forces could come back at any time.

"General!" Major General Neumann stood up and said, "I don't think we need to worry too much about the Allied attack!"

"Hmm!" Rommel asked, "Why?"

"The Allied landing sites cannot be limited to Sicily and Greece!" Major General Neumann said, "We know that Greece has a mountainous terrain. Why don't we use Captain Frick's tunnel defense tactics in Greece? As for Sicily, we can also gradually improve the fortifications here. If the Allies don't have a good tactic to deal with tunnel fortifications, I believe they will not land easily again after suffering such heavy losses!"

Rommel nodded and said, "In fact, we have already started to build tunnel fortifications in Greece. Not only Greece, but Italy has also started to learn about tunnel fortifications, but..."

Rommel couldn't help but smile, "Just like before, we can't pin our hopes on the Italians!"

The officers couldn't help but laugh proudly.

"Captain!" Rommel asked Qin Chuan: "You proposed the tunnel fortifications, so I want to know... Is there any way to deal with this kind of fortifications?"

"No, I don't know, General!" Qin Chuan replied.

This is true and it is indeed true. There is indeed no good way to deal with it in this era, so the United States suffered so badly in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Of course, the "pull-net clearing" tactics during the Sino-Vietnamese War can indeed be used, but it is very time-consuming, almost pushing forward little by little, and there will be considerable casualties when pushing forward, so this is not applicable to Britain and the United States.

But telling the truth is not the truth. For example, modern earth-penetrating bombs can drill into underground fortifications and explode... If such bombs are produced, the tunnel fortifications will basically become a grave for burying the enemy.

But at least there is no need to worry about this for now.

"Do you seem to have any ideas?" Rommel asked as he looked at Qin Chuan's thoughtful expression.

"Yes, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "I think the Allied forces' future strategic direction... is likely to shift, that is, North Africa and the Mediterranean will no longer be the strategic focus!"

"Hmm!" Rommel couldn't help but laugh: "You always say something shocking, Captain! Tell me why?"

"Just like what Major General Neumann said!" Qin Chuan pointed to the map and said: "Greece has many mountains and lakes, Italy has a similar terrain, and Sicily, we also know that the terrain is complex... These places are suitable for building tunnel fortifications for defense like the Gabes Line, but not for mechanized troops to attack. To a certain extent, this will greatly weaken the enemy's advantages in tanks, artillery, navy, air force, etc. If this is the case, why should the Allies go forward despite the difficulties?"

The officers nodded in agreement. The Battle of Sicily has fully proved this point. Even if the US military has air superiority and a large number of tanks and armored vehicles, it is difficult to capture the high ground where pure infantry is stationed. Even mechanized troops will be blocked and unable to move because the road passes under the foot of the high ground.

"But if their strategic focus is not in the Mediterranean, where else could it be?" Major General Neumann asked.

"I don't know!" Qin Chuan replied.

Of course, what Qin Chuan said was a lie, but he could only say so.

"I only know that they might open another front in another place, not to mention..."

"Not to mention what?" Rommel asked.

"We know that the British and American Allied Forces have always been dominated by the British!" Qin Chuan said: "The reason is very simple. The British have more combat experience. This is why the British got a more easily attacked and larger port to rely on in the Battle of Sicily!"

"Yes!" Colonel Slain agreed: "We often hear American soldiers complain about the British. Montgomery obviously has selfish motives for the British in command!"

This is no longer a secret.

"But what does this have to do with the strategic focus of the Allied Forces?" Rommel asked.

"That's it!" Qin Chuan said: "If the British army is dominant but suffers a disastrous defeat on the battlefield, such as the Battle of Sicily. Then..."

"Then next, they should be dominated by the US army!" Rommel said.

"Yes!" Qin Chuan replied: "So, next... the strategic focus of the Allied Forces will likely shift from favoring the interests of Britain to favoring the interests of the United States!"