The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1246 - 922 Smolensk

Chapter 1246: Chapter 922: Smolensk

Chapter 1246 -922: Smolensk

As the war progressed, the Spanish could no longer hold back.

In May 1937, after Germany had occupied vast territories of Russia Nation, more than 300,000 Spanish troops assembled in grandeur in Tetouan, with their sights set on the Frenchmen’s Northwest African Colonies.

To draw the attention of the French, Germany and Italy also decided to launch a new offensive in North Africa and reopen the North African front.

Italy mobilized nearly 300,000 troops from Sicily, and together with a German Army Group, an army of close to 500,000 landed in Tunisia and advanced westward.

The direction of the Spanish attack corresponded with that of the German-Italian forces; if they could achieve victory in North Africa, they hoped to quickly seize the French Colonies in the region and, using Algiers and the area around Tunisia, delay the Anglo-French forces’ advance.

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In the French Colonies, the number of French Army troops stationed was not large, barely totaling around 300,000.

A main reason for this was that, in the previous Libyan war, France had drawn over 500,000 troops from its North African Colonies to fight against the Italian Army, and this detachment had not been replenished.

To make their landing more secure, the Germans continued the strategy they had used against Russia Country, which was to clear the way with a large number of airplanes, prioritizing the destruction of French ground defenses and positions.

To protect the Native Land, France had not deployed many planes in its Northwest African Colonies. The only major military base was located in the mountainous area to the south of Tunisia, where a squadron of Fighter Aircraft and a small contingent of Bombers were stationed, with a total of close to 70 planes.

Clearly, these 70-plus planes stood no chance when faced with an attack from the German and Italian Air Forces.

Merely one round of air raids reduced the sole military base in the Tunisian region to ashes in an instant.

More than half of the 70-plus planes were entombed in the inferno, and the rest suffered various degrees of damage due to the bombing of the hangars where they were stored.

Without any planes, the French Army obviously could no longer prevent the unbridled German-Italian Air Force from dominating the skies.

The Italians could finally hold their heads high; when they had previously faced the Anglo-French forces alone in Libya, their defeat was disastrously and unbearably brutal.

Now, with the support of the German Army, the Italians had managed to ride on the coattails of German prowess and acquitted themselves fairly well in the Tunisian landing battle.

The combined German and Italian forces of over 500,000 troops took just over a day to successfully land in Tunisia and completely conquer the city.

The several dozen damaged French planes at the military airfield naturally became the Spoils of war for Germany and Italy.

Following that, in just two days’ time, this army captured Bizerte and was already nearing Constantine.

The German-Italian offensive successfully delayed France’s planned comprehensive counter-offensive. For the French, their Colonies in Africa, especially those in Northwest Africa, were of utmost importance.

As time evolved, the former Colonies in the Americas had successively declared independence. The only regions still in a Colonial state were Africa, South Asia, and most of Southeast Asia.

Among these areas, Britain and France held the lion’s share, currently the two undeniable superpowers of the Colonial Empire.

However, compared to the scope of British Colonies, French Colonies were more limited.

France’s African Colonies were mostly distributed in West Africa and North Africa, as well as Madagascar Island, which lies apart from the African Continent.

If Germany and Italy were to seize the coastal regions of Northwest Africa, this would cause a significant disruption to France’s Colonial Order.

After all, a significant reason why the French were able to maintain such vast Colonies was that France’s Native Land was not far from its African Colonies.

Especially the Colonies of Northwest Africa, which were just separated from the Native Land by the Mediterranean Sea. However, if the coastal areas were fully occupied by Germany and Italy, France would need to bypass the Mediterranean Sea and head for the Atlantic Ocean in order to communicate with its Colonies.

For France, ensuring the security of the Northwest African Colonies had become the current top priority. The French government urgently dispatched the 300,000 troops stationed in Libya, plus 200,000 Colonial troopers from West Africa, to head north to Tunisia.

Upon learning of the French Military’s movements, the German government could finally breathe a sigh of relief. With the additional forces needed to guard against Spain, the current number of troops France could mobilize was certainly no more than 2 million.

Even if Britain could also muster 2 million troops, the German government was confident that it could hold the current defensive lines with just 1 million troops.

After all, the combat effectiveness of the Anglo-French forces varied greatly, and even the troops recruited from the Americas did not compare to the regular Anglo-French forces in combat capability.

And the combat power of the regular Anglo-French forces was insignificant in front of the German Defense Force; given this comparison, the 4 million troops that Britain and France could mobilize were nothing but Cannon Fodder on the battlefield.

Having temporarily resolved the problem with France, the Germans now completely focused their attention on Russia Country.

After crushing Russia Country’s Western Front Army, the German Army had swiftly reached Minsk and completely surrounded the city.

To prevent the Russian army from the rear of Minsk coming to its aid, the German Army still employed strategies similar to those used in Brest, carving a breach toward the regions of Smolensk and Vitebsk, proactively cutting off the Russians’ support lines to Minsk.