Romanian Eagle

The offensive and defensive battle in Tripoli continued. The French offensive was still fierce in the past two days, but the Italian defense became a little shaky.

This was the result of the troops being transferred, which caused the defending troops to drop a lot, and naturally their defensive capabilities would inevitably decrease, which also caused the attacking French troops to see hope of breaking through their positions again.

It's just that the French army did not know that in the city, an army sufficient to carry out Antonescu's plan had been gathered.

Dadiff, just outside the city, was less than 8 kilometers from the fighting positions, and this was the starting point chosen by Antonescu, from which it was possible to reach directly near the coast. The breakthrough point chosen by Antonescu was the 47th Division of the French Army on the edge of the coast. The division suffered great losses because it was close to the coast, so Antonescu chose it as the first target.

For this operation, Antonescu formed an assault group (division level) with the troops in his hands. He organized the existing tanks into a tank reinforcement regiment (115 tanks, followed by 18), a mixed artillery regiment (25 self-propelled artillery, 68 other towed artillery), a motorized infantry regiment , an infantry regiment, and units such as air defense battalions, engineer battalions, and armored reconnaissance battalions.

On the Italian side, most of the Rams Armored Division and one of the Brescia Infantry Divisions are also ready. Among them, the Ram Division will serve as the two wings of the armored regiment to improve its attack capabilities, and the units of the Brescia Infantry Division will also be responsible for the follow-up combat tasks like other Romanian units.

This temporary corps-level unit will be commanded by Antonescu, with General Messi as his deputy.

Antonescu looked at the time and spoke to Messi. "Then let's begin."

"Well, we can start."

As the two ordered the troops to move, the rumbling roar was not too far away. Only the sound of gunfire on the front lines drowned out its sound. It's just that when the armored vehicles are all started, the vibration brought by the earth can't be concealed.

"How is this going?"

Soldiers on both sides of the battlefield felt the ground shaking.

"It's alright, pay attention to shooting the enemy."

This is the answer from the officer on the defender's side.

As for the French side, it is not that the officers did not notice anything.

"Like the sound of a tank?"

A French military officer explained why.

"I've felt it before in the exercise, it's like the shaking of a tank driving, but this time it's much bigger."

Following the officer's words, a large number of tanks appeared behind the position, and these steel monsters were driving towards them.

The attack of the tank caused the morale of the attacking French soldiers to drop immediately. Everyone knew that it was difficult for the infantry to deal with the tank. Not to mention that they are in an offensive state, and it is impossible to carry anti-tank guns to attack.

"retreat."

And just when they felt embarrassed, a shout relieved their embarrassment. The officers in command of the battle had already discovered the situation of the enemy's attack, so naturally they had to transfer the troops back first.

Of course, the commander didn't just recall the troops, he also had other solutions.

"Quick, the anti-tank guns are ready."

At the French position, following his orders, the 25mm and 47mm anti-tank guns on the position were immediately ready. The 25mm anti-tank gun in his opponent's requirements is to deal with Italian tanks, and the thicker Romanian tanks are handed over to 47mm anti-tank guns.

It's just that in his hands, there are only a dozen anti-tank guns, but he won't be stumped. Because he still has a group of Miss 75, this artillery was used to temporarily serve as an anti-tank task.

The commander's response was more than that, only to see him pick up the phone.

"Hey, is it the division commander, there is an emergency here, the enemy has nearly 300 tanks charging us. Not all Italian CV33s and M11/39s, half of them are Romanian R10s and R20s. I need reinforcements, whether it is Artillery or tanks, you need reinforcements, so you don't have to collect the corpses for us."

That's right, asking for help. The situation is already obvious. Although he has done so much, it is impossible for him to stop the enemy's attack without reinforcements.

And his opinion was right. Before the tank could approach, the roar of the fighter planes in the sky arrived. It was visited by a combined Romanian and Italian air force, the fighters driving away the French and the bombers plundering over them.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The twin-engine RU28 bombers dropped bombs on their heads. A large number of French soldiers who had no time to escape fell into such a bombardment, and the air force of the Italian-Romanian coalition took the lead to strike.

This is not the existence of the fears of his army soldiers. What they fear most is the RU18 dive bomber. The bomber with its shrill whistle is the most worrying existence.

"Woo~woo~woo~"

Said Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived. The screeching sound appeared in the sky above the position, which aggravated the fear of the soldiers.

"boom!"

The precise bombing destroyed a Miss 75, which made the other 75mm artillery units feel the hardship of time.

"Woo~woo~woo~"

The high-pitched whistle sounded again.

"Forward, don't care about other forwards and attack the enemy's position."

In the command vehicle, Antonescu's is constantly ordering the armored regiment as the backbone of the attack. The core of this attack is the armored regiment, of which 53 R20 medium tanks are responsible for the siege.

And its tall body has become the target of many anti-tank firepower.

The ping-pong-pong sound made the members of the R20 tank seem to be listening to a symphony. It's just that the people listening to the music were so frightened. And only being beaten without fighting back is naturally not the style of the officers and soldiers of the Second Armored Division.

"Three o'clock, enemy anti-tank guns!"

Inside an R20 tank, a sweaty commander and observer in big pants counted out loudly. Looking around the car is exactly the same as him. The temperature in the car is nearly 40 degrees, and no one can pay attention to what he wears. The person who talks about grace will forget about the word grace if he has been a tanker for less than a week. The armored soldiers envied by outsiders are basically like this in the car. The high temperature and oily environment make them all dressed like this.

The commander's words made the loader quickly take out a grenade from the magazine and put it into the barrel.

"Filled."

"receive."

The loader reported loudly, and the gunner who was turning the turret answered him equally loudly.

"parking!"

With the command of the commander, the driver stepped on the brakes, and the more than 30-ton R20 tank stopped with a crunch.

"Fire!"

The commander's order made the gunner who used the vehicle-mounted observation equipment aim at the anti-tank gun. Not only did he clearly see the anti-tank gun, but he could also clearly see the soldiers operating the gun. The panicked expressions on their faces being aimed at by the tanks were so comforting to him.

"boom!"

As he finished firing, the tank shook violently. This was the recoil from the firing of the main gun, and at the same time, the shells flew out of the gun chamber and attacked the anti-tank gun directly.

One second after firing, the commander saw that the targeted anti-tank gun had been hit accurately. The explosion of the cannonball detonated the hoarded cannonballs, leaving nothing left on the cannon position.

"Hit the target!"

The commander reported the victory loudly to the crew members.

And he was then caught up in the search for the target.

"At 11 o'clock, another anti-tank gun."

...

The anti-tank guns and machine guns on the position were called by the R20 tanks one after another, which greatly lowered the morale of the position.

As the second oldest officer of the Second Armored Division, he was skillfully using his artillery to call out the firepower points of the defenders on the ground.

This made Antonescu, who observed the results, satisfied. The boys in his family did not waste their painstaking efforts in training them.

The officers and soldiers who followed the tanks charged in, even taking advantage of the firepower of the positions to be suppressed by the tanks. The submachine guns and semi-automatic rifles it is equipped with are even more powerful weapons in the trenches.

In 58 minutes, the position was broken.

Lieutenant General Messe, who glanced at his watch, also felt the power of the Romanian armored force for the first time, which also strengthened his confidence in the role of the tank as the protagonist of the battlefield.

After breaking through the position, the coalition soldiers followed in the footsteps of the tanks in their vehicles and rushed to the rear of the enemy. They still have more difficult tasks waiting for them.