Anti-Japanese War: The whole world is a base vehicle

On the other side, Admiral Kan Anning was in the command room with a frown on his face, trying desperately to deal with the extremely critical situation.

In his opinion, although the combat effectiveness of the Italian fleet was not very strong, there was indeed a big gap compared with the British fleet. However, such a fleet, which he considered to be slightly inferior, was causing him great trouble at this moment.

This was a serious problem, mainly because the British fleet was diverted to deal with the Italian fleet.

The original battle plan was disrupted and the troops had to be dispersed, which made the current situation so difficult. If it weren't for the Italian fleet making trouble here, the situation wouldn't be so troublesome.

"Damn it." Admiral Kan An Ning was so angry that his face turned red. He cursed more than once. The angry voice echoed in the command room, which showed how angry he was at the moment.

"Commander, we only have two choices. Either continue to attack the French army in Oran Port, or choose to retreat." The subordinate reminded cautiously with a serious face.

He was well aware that the current situation was serious and that every second of delay would increase the danger, so he quickly put this crucial decision in front of the admiral, hoping that he could make a decision as soon as possible.

"I know." Admiral Kan An Ning glared at his subordinate unhappily. He knew all this in his mind, but he was still hesitant. After all, this was not an easy decision to make.

He was constantly weighing in his mind whether to continue attacking the French army in the port of Oran.

As of now, the results of their attack have not been as high as they had imagined.

He originally thought that he could sink a few more French warships and deal a heavy blow to the enemy, but the actual situation was that not many French warships were sunk, and the French fleet still had a certain combat effectiveness and was still resisting. This was the reason for his hesitation. If all the French battleships were sunk, the enemy's naval power would be greatly weakened, and there would be no need for him to continue attacking. He would definitely choose to retreat without hesitation, but now this situation was difficult for him to decide.

"Commander, we must make a decision as soon as possible. Those annoying carrier-based aircraft are causing great trouble to our warships." The subordinates looked at Admiral Kan Anning who had not spoken for a long time and became more and more anxious. They raised their voices again to remind him.

Those German carrier-based aircraft were like a group of annoying flies, constantly circling and attacking the British warships, putting the warships in danger all the time and seriously affecting the combat operations. If it dragged on like this, the situation would only get worse, so the subordinates were eagerly hoping that the admiral could make a decision quickly to get out of this passive situation.

Just as Admiral Cannen was still frowning, struggling with whether to continue attacking the French army in Oran Port or to retreat, an urgent telegram was handed to him.

He took the telegram and as soon as he glanced at the content, his face turned pale instantly, his body swayed violently, and he almost fainted.

"What did you say? Those rebels are attacking Cairo?" Admiral Kanan Ning widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief, staring at the communications staff in front of him, his voice trembling with shock and anxiety.

In his expectation, although the situation was somewhat complicated and chaotic, he never expected that the rebels would launch an attack on Cairo at this critical juncture. That was an extremely important stronghold of the British army in North Africa. Once Cairo was lost, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Commander." The communications staff officer straightened up quickly and explained seriously. He knew very well how bad the news was, so he did not dare to delay for even a second and wanted to quickly report everything he knew to the admiral.

Upon hearing this, Admiral Kan An Ning frowned even more tightly, as if he could pinch a fly to death. This was not good news; it was simply adding insult to injury.

More importantly, at this critical moment, the aboriginals suddenly rebelled, which seemed to be some ulterior conspiracy. He couldn't help but start to speculate, could it be that the French army was behind this?
After all, they are now confronting the French army, and it is not impossible for the French army to use such means to reverse the situation.

But then I thought, could it be that the German army was behind this?
The German army has always been cunning and perhaps they wanted to disrupt the British army's deployment by inciting indigenous rebellions, so as to take the opportunity to expand their advantage in North Africa.

"What's going on?" Admiral Kan An Ning took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down, and asked again.

There was an eagerness in his eyes, an urgency to know the details of the rebel attack on Cairo, so as to judge the severity of the situation and find a way to deal with it.

Hearing this, the communications staff officer did not dare to neglect and hurriedly explained in detail, telling all he knew about the size of the rebels, the route of attack, the defense lines that had been breached, etc. When it was mentioned that the rebels were equipped with Soviet weapons, Admiral Kananning's heart skipped a beat and his face became even gloomier.

"Soviet equipment? Could it be those damn bastards?" Admiral Kan An Ning cursed in a low voice while gritting his teeth.

He thought to himself that if the Soviet army intervened in this matter, it would be really troublesome.

But he had not noticed any sign of when the Soviet army got involved. This surprised him and made him feel extremely difficult. After all, once the Soviet army intervened, the war situation in North Africa would become more complicated and unpredictable, and he would have to find a way to deal with this sudden change quickly. But for a moment, he was really at a loss.

"Commander, it's time for us to retreat." The subordinates looked at Admiral Kan An Ning still standing there with a frown on his brows and hesitancy, feeling very anxious, and out of kindness they couldn't help but remind him again.

He thought that now that the rebels had begun to attack Cairo, the situation there was critical, and it would not be a good idea for them to continue wasting time there. It would be better to withdraw quickly, perhaps they could find a way to provide support.

"Tell me, what's the point of withdrawing now? We are just the navy, are we going to let our warships go ashore?" Admiral Kananning glared at his subordinates unhappily, his tone full of displeasure and helplessness. He knew very well that as the navy, their combat methods and scope of action were completely different from those of the army.

Even if they were to withdraw now, the warships could not sail to the land to help defend Cairo, and they could not directly join the battle in Cairo like the army did, so withdrawing would not have any substantial effect, it would just be a waste of effort. They were not the army, so if they withdrew now, they could still support Cairo.

Even if we withdraw now, it will be useless. It will not change the predicament faced by Cairo at all. On the contrary, it may make the combat results here go to waste, and we will be put in an embarrassing situation of not being able to take care of both ends.

"We must capture the French fleet in Oran Port now, otherwise when the French fleet recovers, they will definitely attack us." Admiral Cannin said with a deep gaze, a serious face and a firm tone.

He had a very clear and vicious grasp of the current situation, and he knew very well that compared with the critical situation in Cairo, the top priority at this moment was to completely eliminate the French fleet.

After all, if the French fleet recovers, it will definitely not give up and will definitely find an opportunity to launch a retaliatory attack on the British fleet.

If that time really came, if the German and Italian navies took the opportunity to unite and join forces with the French fleet to deal with the British fleet, the situation would be extremely bad. Even if Admiral Canniin had rich combat experience and excellent command ability, facing such a combined force would be enough to give him a headache. It would take a lot of effort to deal with it, and the British fleet might even suffer heavy damage.

Therefore, no matter what, we must first concentrate on taking down the French fleet in the port of Oran and eliminating this potential threat, and then consider other things.

"Yes." After listening to Admiral Kan'an Ning's penetrating analysis, the officers looked at each other. Although they were still worried about the situation in Cairo, they really couldn't find a better solution for the time being, so they could only nod in agreement.

After all, what the admiral said makes sense. The current situation is indeed very complicated, and we have to weigh the pros and cons of all aspects and cannot act rashly.

Seeing this, Admiral Kan An Ning frowned slightly, his eyes calm and firm, and immediately gave the order to hold on and wait for help.

He had his own plans in mind. According to him, even if the rebels had the support of the Soviet army, Cairo was surrounded by layers of defense by the British army and would not be easily breached.

In his opinion, even if a group of rebels had the help of external forces, it would not be possible for them to capture Cairo, a city with a strong defense line, in a short time. However, they would definitely have no problem holding out for ten days or half a month.

As long as we can deal with the French fleet in Oran as soon as possible and then spare some time to support Cairo, the situation should still be under control.

However, although the idea is good, the reality is not at all.

The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly and is often unexpected. The fighting power of the rebels is far stronger than Admiral Canniin had estimated, and their offensive strategy is also very clever. Combined with the equipment provided by the Soviet army behind them and possible tactical guidance, the offensive is like a tide, not giving the British army much breathing space.

Cairo's defense line has begun to crumble under this fierce attack, and it is not able to hold out for as long as Admiral Cunningham had expected. The British fleet far away in Oran Port is still stuck in a stalemate with the French fleet and has no time to take care of other things. A crisis is rapidly approaching the British army.

"Huh? Why is it quiet? Has the enemy reached us?" On the other side, Lieutenant General Archibald Wavell had just hung up the phone and was pacing back and forth in the command post with an anxious look on his face, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. Suddenly, the deafening gunshots outside weakened a lot. The sound that was originally continuous like firecrackers became sparse at this moment. This sudden change made his heart "skip" and he asked nervously.

"Sir, the enemy commandos must have run out of ammunition and are gathering strength. They may launch a larger attack." The chief of staff next to him looked solemn and hurried forward to explain.

As he spoke, he kept his eyes on the movements outside. He knew very well that this temporary quiet did not mean that the danger was over. On the contrary, it was probably the calm before the storm. Once the enemy replenished their ammunition and launched the next round of attacks, they would probably be even more ferocious.

"What a pity! If we had the air force, we could have launched a counterattack at this time." Lieutenant General Archibald Wavell said with regret, his brows tightly furrowed and a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

He thought to himself that if the Air Force could come to support him in time, and take advantage of the moment when the enemy had run out of ammunition and was resting, to launch a round of bombing and strafing on the enemy from the air, he would be able to organize an effective counterattack and maybe even turn the unfavorable situation around. Unfortunately, now he could only wait and do nothing.

The situation was indeed similar to what he said. The reason why the Independence Freedom Army stopped the attack was to prepare for the next move.

Although those automatic weapons were really fun to use during an attack, the soldiers only had to pull the trigger at the enemy, and the "da da da" sound of the gunfire was like the clarion call of victory. Large groups of British troops were suppressed by the fierce firepower and could not raise their heads.

However, this automatic weapon has a big drawback, which is that it consumes a huge amount of ammunition. It is like a "bullet-swallowing beast" and can use up all the ammunition it carries in a short time.

After the two lines of defense were breached, the commandos who acted as the spearhead had run out of ammunition in the fierce exchange of fire, so they could only wait for logistical supplies on the spot, seize this rare gap to adjust their status, and after replenishing their ammunition, they would continue to launch a more fierce charge on the British army.

"The British army is just so-so. I thought it would be so difficult to defeat them?" A young soldier in the team said nonchalantly while wiping the hot weapon in his hand. There was a relaxed look on his face, as if the battle was not as difficult as he had imagined.

"Yes, before the battle, it was specifically emphasized that the British army is different from ordinary armies and has strong combat effectiveness, especially with advanced weapons." Another soldier echoed, but he was also quite puzzled. He had been prepared for a tough battle, but when the fight started, he found that the British army didn't seem to be that difficult to deal with.

"Yes, our squad leader said so too." Another soldier nodded and said, everyone discussed it one by one, and they all felt that the British army's performance was somewhat beyond their expectations, but they did not dare to relax their vigilance because the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, and no one knew what would happen next. They still had to stay alert and prepare for the subsequent battles. (End of this chapter)