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

On the island of the Italian battleship, Commander Arturo Ricardi was standing in front of everyone, his eyes full of ardent anticipation. He couldn't hide his excitement and said loudly: "If we take Alexandria, we can dominate the entire Mediterranean and even all of North Africa."

There was a sense of ambition and determination in that voice, as if as long as this port was captured, Italy would be able to open a glorious chapter of dominance in this vast area and let Italy's influence radiate like a sun at its peak.

When the officers present heard this, they couldn't help but feel excited. After all, having the opportunity to expand their country's influence was undoubtedly very attractive to these soldiers who had the ambition to serve their country. How could it not be exciting?
Moreover, the land of North Africa has long been like a treasure firmly held in the hands of the British. Italy has only been able to watch helplessly from the sidelines and has always been unable to break through the control of Britain and get its own share of the benefits.

Now, with such a seemingly glimmer of hope and the hope of changing the situation finally appearing, they are like treasure hunters who have seen a treasure. How can they be willing to let it go easily? They must do everything they can to seize this rare opportunity.

"But our fleet is all here." At this time, a staff officer with a worried look on his face could not help but break the warm atmosphere and expressed his concerns. In this operation, the Italian Navy is desperate and has assembled all its main battleships here, which means that they no longer have follow-up reinforcements to rely on. Once they get into trouble, it will be difficult for other forces to support them. Although the Italian fleet can indeed be ranked among the top five naval powers in the world, compared with the four naval powers in front, its naval strength is still a gap that cannot be underestimated. This gap often makes them seem a little powerless in actual naval battles.

"Then send the army. Our army is not far away and can definitely take down Alexandria. It's unrealistic to rely on those natives." Commander Arturo Ricardi still maintained his confident demeanor. He was not shaken by the staff's words at all. Instead, he put forward his own ideas in a firm and determined tone. In his opinion, the performance of those natives on the battlefield was really terrible. They could not achieve anything. It was simply a fantasy to rely on them to take down Alexandria. The Italian army, on the other hand, was a regular force that had been carefully trained by their own country and had a complete combat system. If they went out to attack Alexandria, they would definitely be able to take it down easily. He seemed to be fully confident of this.

Hearing this, the expressions of all the officers instantly became extremely awkward. Everyone looked at each other, with helplessness and doubt in their eyes. Army? They were all thinking in their hearts, what is the combat effectiveness of their own army? Don't they have a clear idea in their hearts? Back then, they were lucky enough to go to the French battlefield to pick up a loophole and take advantage. Who would have thought that as soon as they stepped into the territory of France, they were beaten by the other side like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves without any ability to fight back. That fierce beating made them dizzy. Not only did they not get the benefits they wanted to get, but they were beaten all over and suffered a great loss. After this battle, the army was like a deflated ball. They no longer dared to act rashly and became much more honest. Now they are still thinking about letting the army attack Alexandria. In their eyes, this is simply a foolish dream. Taking war as a child's play, can this be reliable?

Just looking at the confident and unquestionable look on Commander Arturo Ricardi's face, it seemed that he was not talking nonsense, but was really confident in the army. Finally, an officer could no longer suppress his worries and stood up and carefully reminded: "Commander, those guys in the army are unreliable."

"Why? We have so many warships, we can definitely provide them with fire support." Commander Arturo Ricardi looked at the other party with a puzzled look. He really couldn't figure it out. The three navies combined had nearly 200 warships. Although the number of warships that could actually fire normally and exert strong combat effectiveness was not as many as imagined, it could at least provide considerable fire support for the army. In his opinion, with such powerful firepower as a backing, it would be easy for the army to attack Alexandria. How could it not be taken? He had always stubbornly believed that the reason why Alexandria had not been successfully taken before was because the natives were too weak. If it were replaced by his own well-trained and well-equipped army, it would definitely be able to conquer it without any suspense.

"Okay, no need to say more. I will report the situation here to the Prime Minister and ask him to send the army to attack Alexandria. This is a great opportunity and we must not give it up." Commander Arturo Ricardi frowned and waved his hand impatiently, signaling his subordinates to stop persuading him. He had already determined in his heart that this was a great opportunity that could not be missed. Even if his subordinates had different opinions, he didn't want to listen anymore and just wanted to implement this plan.

Seeing the commander was so determined, all the subordinates had no choice but to shut up and said nothing more. After all, military orders are like mountains, and in the army, obeying orders is their duty. Even if they have many doubts in their hearts, they can only choose to obey the commander's arrangements.

On the other side, Marshal Rudolfo Graziani, who received the order, was sitting in his tent, looking at the telegram from his superiors in his hand, frowning tightly, with a complex expression of entanglement and helplessness on his face. Attacking the port of Alexandria in Egypt? He couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart, are these people crazy? Don't they know the real combat effectiveness of their own army? Others may not understand this aspect so thoroughly, but as a marshal, he knows the actual combat capability of the army very well. On weekdays, his own army can only bully those natives with weaker combat effectiveness, and sometimes even those natives can't beat them. Take the previous war in Ethiopia for example. Although the natives were supported by the British army, they didn't lose so miserably. The embarrassing battle situation still makes him feel ashamed when he thinks back to it.

Now, the army was actually asked to confront the British army head-on. To be honest, he had no confidence at all. After all, if they couldn't even beat the natives supported by the British army, how could they beat the regular British troops? As for the so-called naval artillery support, he just thought it was an unrealistic joke. He thought to himself, if the navy was really that powerful, they would have taken over Alexandria by themselves long ago. Would they still need the army to wade into this muddy water?
However, this telegram was an official order from his superiors. As a marshal, the consequences of disobeying military orders were quite serious and he could not afford it. Therefore, although he was very reluctant, he thought about it and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and decided to gather troops and attack Alexandria according to the order. After all, after careful consideration, the benefits of taking Alexandria were indeed very huge. If it could be successfully taken, it would play a pivotal role for Italy in expanding strategic space, consolidating its position in the Mediterranean region, and enhancing its international influence. Even he was really tempted by it. After some intense and busy preparations, Marshal Graziani personally led 200,000 troops and marched towards the west in a mighty manner, officially launching an attack. Such a large-scale military operation would be hard not to attract attention, and the British army soon noticed the movement. However, in fact, before the British army knew about it, Wang Jun was the first to notice the action of the Italian army.

The atmosphere in the headquarters became somewhat subtle due to Italy's sudden move. When Wang Jun heard that Italy was going to send the army, he was stunned at first, and then his face was full of surprise, and he blurted out: "Is Italy crazy? They are actually going to send the army?" His tone was full of surprise, as if Italy's decision was completely beyond his imagination.

"Are they trying to seize the fruits of victory?" Wang Jun frowned slightly and muttered thoughtfully. He knew that the situation surrounding Alexandria was complicated and all parties were competing secretly. Italy sent the army here at this time, which seemed to be a chance to grab a piece of the pie and take the fruits of victory for itself. This made him more suspicious of Italy's intentions.

"It looks like it." The subordinates beside him echoed his words. In fact, everyone had similar thoughts in their minds. They felt that Italy's move was most likely to seize the fruits of victory. After all, the value of Alexandria Port was there. Controlling it was equivalent to holding the key to many interests in this area. How could Italy easily let go of such a good opportunity.

"But are they confident that they can take it?" Wang Jun was curious, with doubt in his eyes, and tilted his head slightly, as if he was trying to think about something. To be honest, he did not have a very deep and intuitive understanding of the actual combat effectiveness of the Italian army. It was just that when he communicated with Lu Yuhua before, Lu Yuhua provided some relevant information. From the content presented in those materials, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army seemed to be relatively weak. He still remembered the undisguised expression of disdain on Lu Yuhua's face when he told him the news. It can be seen that in Lu Yuhua's eyes, the strength of the Italian army was really not very good.

"Sir, what should we do now? Should we give up?" One of the subordinates frowned and asked unwillingly, with obvious reluctance in his words. In his opinion, they had made a lot of efforts for the situation in this area, and victory was in sight. If they chose to withdraw at this time and gave the opportunity to the Italian army, they would feel very upset and it was really hard to accept.

"Give it up? How is that possible? If the Italian army really takes over Alexandria, who will have the final say in this area in the future?" Wang Jun sneered, his eyes instantly became sharp, and his cold gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the tent and look at the battlefield in the distance. He knew very well that Alexandria was not a simple port. Its strategic position was extremely important. Once it was taken by the Italian army, in the subsequent affairs of this area, Italy would inevitably take the lead in many aspects by virtue of its control over the port. At that time, it would be even more difficult for them to make any further moves. Therefore, no matter what, he would never watch Italy succeed and easily give up this key place.

"But we can retreat first, wait for the logistics supplies to arrive, and then launch an attack." Wang Jun held his chin with his hand, frowned slightly, and spoke slowly after thinking for a long time. He knew very well that although the current situation was tense, if the key issue of logistics supply was not resolved, the subsequent actions would be restricted everywhere. So after weighing the pros and cons, he felt that it would be more prudent to retreat temporarily and wait for the logistics supplies to arrive smoothly before launching an attack again.

You know, their transportation line is too long. During this long transportation, the loss of materials is a big problem. The total consumption is a considerable amount. Moreover, whether the logistics supply is sufficient is directly related to the sustainability of the front-line operations. If the supply cannot keep up, the soldiers will be hungry and lack ammunition. How can they compete with the British army on the battlefield and win? Therefore, he must first find a way to properly solve the thorny problem of logistics.

Previously, they had been busy with various affairs and had to put off the logistics issue for the time being. Now that the Italian army had joined in, it unexpectedly gave them some time and space to free up their hands to solve the problem that had been bothering them. However, Wang Jun was unsure about how long the Italian army could hold out in this operation. After all, if the Italian army could not hold out soon and was defeated, then even if they solved the logistics problem, it would be useless to do anything at that time, and the situation would become very unfavorable to them.

After hearing what Wang Jun said, all his subordinates looked at each other and said nothing more. Because they all knew that if there was a problem with the logistics supply, it would be like putting a yoke on the entire combat operation. If they didn't solve this problem first, it would be almost impossible to completely defeat the British army in front of them. So although they felt a little helpless about Wang Jun's decision, they all agreed. (End of this chapter)