Romanian Eagle

When the first-line positions were attacked, General Catroull had already received the news.

"The Romanians are finally willing to come out."

In the face of this telegram, Cattle finally let go of the worry he had been worried about. Because he is not afraid of Romania appearing, if it does not appear, then he will order to slow down the attack. He should have gotten information that the Romanian troops arriving in Tripoli are currently between 10,000 and 20,000.

And for the Romanian army, Catroux paid more attention to it than the Italian army. Because the record is there, the Romanian army's record in the past 20 years is quite sturdy. It beat Bulgarians, Austria-Hungarians, Germans, Soviets, and Poles. There is no one to mess with, and Romania Everyone is victorious.

The British also sent intelligence before, saying that in the battles on Crete and Cyprus, the Romanian army was so powerful that it could not be regarded as a lower existence than Germany.

With so much information showing that the Romanians are not easy to deal with, how could he, as a commander, ignore it. In fact, after the Romanians landed in Tripoli, Catroull had already been prepared. And now that Romania is showing up, and it is also showing up in an offensive way, then Catrou, as the commander, will naturally not be polite.

It's time to show his means and show the Romanians that France is not afraid of them. The Germans who were so sturdy in the previous war were dragged to death, and the Romanians who only dealt with the second-line German army were not afraid of France.

I saw Cattle giving orders. "Immediately order the defenders of Razanhal to prepare for defense. Then order Ban Luk's 51st Division to send the remaining troops to Razanhal for reinforcement. The other 21st Division's remaining troops are also sent over, as well as Colonel Jean Jacques. Send his troops to Razanhal."

In the face of the attacking Luoyi coalition, Katru had already chosen the interception point, which was Razanhal. To the north are the cliffs of the sea and the terrain is not suitable for vehicular traffic. To the south is a swamp, from which a river called Madir flows, making it a very rare swamp in Libya. So the centered Razanhal is the point.

In addition, this is also the granary of Tripoli, and the food it produces ensures the living needs of the residents on the four floors of the city.

Prior to this, Razanhal was also the focus of the Italian army's defense, but it was captured by the French army. Catroull deliberately left a battalion of defensive forces in view of the importance of this place. But now the offense and defense are out of position, and the Italian army is coming to attack.

The backbone of the attacking Italian-Romanian coalition this time was the temporarily formed armored force led by Colonel Jacques. This unit was specially prepared by Katru. In the previous battle, Romania liked to use armored assault so much, how could it be impossible for him to defend against it. And he has a lot of armor in his hand.

At present, in addition to the armored reconnaissance battalions owned by the divisions (equipped with Hatchkiss H35 light tanks and Renault R-35 light tanks,

32), and Catroull also held a unit in his hand, the 1st Tunisian Cavalry Brigade.

The brigade was called cavalry, but was actually armored. At its core is the 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment, which consists of three squadrons of medium tanks equipped with S-35s and one squadron of light tanks equipped with H35s. Each squadron has four platoons (5 vehicles), plus 1 headquarters vehicle and 2 reserve vehicles, and each squadron is equipped with 23 tanks.

In addition to this regiment called armored cavalry, which is actually a tank, there is also a motorized infantry regiment and a mixed artillery regiment.

In addition to its own armored strength, Catroull also recruited nearly a hundred H35 and R-35 tanks from various divisions to supplement the cavalry brigade. Now the armor of the brigade has already reached the level of the light mechanized division formed locally, and now is the time to use it.

Of course, as an excellent commander, how could he allow the Italian army to be so presumptuous. "In addition, send a report to the 19th and 28th divisions on the front line to send troops to retake the gap."

That's right, he intends to encircle this daring army in the area of ​​Razanhal, and even the retreat will not leave them behind. And as long as this army is annihilated, the morale of the defenders of Tripoli must be greatly reduced.

While Catroux was looking forward to the future, the two Roe commanders were also planning for the next battle.

The Luo Yi coalition army, which had just broken through the first-line position, was advancing mightily into the French army. The swarms of tanks, carrying vehicles laden with soldiers, headed for their next destination, and the smoke they raised could be seen from afar. And behind them, there was a large group of trucks pulling artillery and various supplies and following in their footsteps.

In the command car, Antonescu was explaining to General Messi.

"Lieutenant General Messe, next I expect to encounter the most difficult moment. The enemy will definitely stop us at the point of Razanhal."

"So we need to speed up and take Razanhar before the enemy supports."

General Messi was not slow to respond, and he also saw the difficulties they might encounter next.

"Yes, so marching speed is very important to us."

"Report, I just received the news from the reconnaissance plane that a large number of French troops are gathering in the direction of Razanhal, and there are also a large number of armored troops."

A communications staff officer took the message just translated and reported to the two generals who were talking.

"bring here."

Antonescu reached out to take the telegram and began to read it, his brows sinking deeper and deeper with the telegram.

"Look at it."

After reading the telegram, he handed it to General Messi.

Messer took the telegram and saw that the reconnaissance plane found that three groups of enemies were advancing towards Razanhal, and one of the French troops was only eight kilometers away from Razanhal. And these enemies are fully equipped, and one of them looks like a division-level armored unit.

"We should step up."

After reading the telegram, Messi expressed his opinion worriedly.

"Immediately let the armored regiment and motorized infantry regiment speed up their pace, let them seize Razanhar first, and send a report to the air force, let them air strikes to delay the enemy's reinforcements. Especially the enemy armored forces, let them seize Arrive in Razanhal before us."

Antonescu also knew where the key points were. Razanhal had to be taken first, otherwise the big things would be left alone.

"Also let my troops keep up, at least to enhance the offensive strength."

Messer also knows that now is a critical time, and also puts forward his own views.

With the unification of the two, the mighty force was immediately divided into two parts, and the armored regiment and the motorized force sped up their pace. They had to take the point of Razanhar before the enemy reinforcements arrived.

...

"Woo~woo~woo!"

"Air raid, lie down!"

The high-pitched whistle stopped a French army that was marching in a hurry. They were the troops of the 51st Division, and they were ordered to immediately reinforce Razanhal. However, things went wrong with their reinforcements this time, and they were attacked by the enemy's air force shortly after departure.

The incoming fighters killed their comrades recklessly on their heads, making the officers and soldiers of the 51st Division extremely angry.

"Ta, tower, tower..."

The fighter jets strafed through the air, leaving many French soldiers in a pool of blood.

"Hurry up and organize anti-aircraft fire, hurry up."

Without the commander's shouting, the French officers and soldiers immediately operated their 25mm anti-aircraft guns and began to fight against these air-strike aircraft. It's just that there are too many incoming fighters. They only carried two companies of 12 anti-aircraft guns this time, and one of them was specially enhanced for them. This anti-aircraft firepower did not make the incoming aircraft feel jealous.

"boom!"

A 105mm howitzer was hit by the enemy's aerial bomb, and even the car with the gun was destroyed.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Bombing from the enemy cost them more heavy equipment.

"Damn, our Air Force is there!"

The air force that the commander shouted has been suppressed by the air force of the two countries. The MS.406 fighter jets currently equipped by the French Air Force are not the opponents of the Italian and Romanian fighter planes at all, and for this air strike, they are preparing Nearly 200 battles have been fought, and it is not a target that it can solve.

If the 51st Division encountered an air attack, it would be difficult for the armored units led by Colonel Jacques to move. The airstrikes they encountered were greater, and these airstrikes not only hit the troops, but also damaged the roads, which made Colonel Jacques feel helpless.

Originally they should have arrived at Razanhal in two hours, but now they were lucky to be there in four hours.

For Razanhar, whom he had always been obsessed with, it was another scene now.

The troops of the two armies of Roy, who had no regard for the follow-up troops, were attacking Razanhal.

"Fire now."

Facing the incoming enemy, the defenders could only rely on fortifications to resist them, trying to hold them back.

It's just that their ideas were a bit unrealistic. An R20 tank ran over a piece of debris and appeared in front of the defenders' position. The sound of gunfire suddenly exploded, as if to stop the tank from coming. But these are useless, neither the defenders' machine guns nor anti-tank guns can stop them.

Speaking of the 25mm anti-tank guns equipped by the French army to the battalion level, this anti-tank was developed in the 1920s, and the main target was a wide variety of light tanks at that time. It's just that this anti-tank gun has already fallen behind, let alone use it to deal with the world's most advanced R20 medium tank.

The sound of "ping ping pong pong" is the sound of the gun shooting the tank, but its power is not enough to penetrate the armor of the R20.

"boom!"

An anti-tank gun was blasted into the sky.

"Buck, blah, blah!"

The vehicle-mounted machine guns also suppressed the defenders' firepower.

With the advantage of tanks, the accompanying soldiers rushed to the battlefield in one fell swoop.

This is the case everywhere in Razanhal. As the most basic tactic, the cooperation between the two armies was played very smoothly by the soldiers of the Italian and Roman armies.

More importantly, the defenders only had one battalion, and the attacking Luoyi army was nearly ten thousand people, plus the advantages of armored artillery, which made them how to defend.

After less than an hour of resistance, they fled the place that had turned into purgatory for them.

The news also shocked Catrou, because he had no idea that Razanhal would be lost like this. In this case, the three front-line divisions will be blocked from the back. Could this be the purpose of the Italian-Luo coalition that attacked?

Thinking of this, Catrou couldn't sit still. He immediately sent a report to the front-line troops, asking them to stick to it immediately. In addition, a report was sent to the reinforcements, informing them of the result, I believe they knew the consequences.

In Razanhal, a battle that decides to change hands is about to begin.