Chapter 573: Artillery Fire

To capture Tobruk, Rommel used a very clumsy old method: attacking a fortified defensive system with large-caliber artillery. But in North Africa, due to transport and technical problems, it was difficult for either side to use cannons with a caliber of over 300mm; even cannons over 200mm were rare.

To secretly transport large-caliber artillery to a barren land like Africa was clearly not realistic. So Rommel naturally thought of the Italian Navy, which had large-caliber guns in abundance. Thus, a report on using the navy to support army operations was sent from Africa to Berlin, and a plan named “Big Lightning” was freshly baked in the High Command.

This plan was to call upon three old Italian battleships to conduct a fire support operation for the Tobruk area. However, when the Italians received this fire support plan, Mussolini immediately ordered the navy to assemble all the forces it could find. The entire Italian Navy was holding in a breath of resentment, so this time they intended to prove themselves.

And so, apart from the battleships that had suffered heavy losses in the South Atlantic, Italy gathered all sorts of combat vessels they could find. Some of the old battleships that were not presentable were more than adequate for land support. So the Italian Navy, mixing the old with the new, brought out a super-luxurious lineup of four battleships.

As for why a French battleship had appeared here, it was entirely due to a strange twist of fate. Originally, de Gaulle’s Free French government-in-exile did not want to live under someone else’s roof, but several of its overseas colonies had been turned upside down by the attacks of the Axis powers. So de Gaulle had set his sights on the relatively strong French forces in North Africa and had unhesitatingly intervened in the struggle for French Somaliland.

At this time, Britain was actually supportive of the Free French government increasing its forces in Africa, so it had adopted a tacit attitude towards the Free French government’s intervention in French Somaliland. This was the last straw for Vichy France. So Vichy France had sent out its own navy to join the Italian fleet to retaliate against the British and the de Gaulle government they supported.

This time, the Vichy government of France had been personally stung, so it had sent out the battleship Courbet. Although this old battleship was not very suitable for high-intensity naval combat, its five twin-gun turrets on the broadside were a terrifyingly powerful weapon for land support.

Such a massive fleet had not yet been fully assembled, because the flagship of the French fleet, the Richelieu, was on its way with the newly repaired Dunkerque. If you also counted these two battleships, then the number of battleships assembled by the Axis powers in the waters near Tobruk would be as high as seven, and the number of large-caliber guns at that time would exceed 50. The test for the entire Tobruk defensive line would be unprecedented.

The Italian and French navies participating in the battle off the coast of Tobruk were different from the last time they had helped the Germans land in Britain. At that time, the two navies had no experience of cooperating, and they had both been forced by the pressure of the German army to send troops to go through the motions. So the naval shore bombardment support for the German landing in Britain had been very chaotic.

So this time was not the same as the last. The Italian Navy was eager to prove its existence in the Mediterranean and was ready to risk its life to show its strength. And the French Navy had come entirely for revenge and was even more dedicated than before. So their performance at Tobruk was much better than in the waters off Britain. Dozens of large cannons opened fire fiercely, blasting the British positions into a complete mess.

The Italians had the design blueprints for Tobruk. Although these blueprints were very rough and unprofessional, they were still a very important reference document. Some of the fire points and trenches could be reinforced and modified, but some of the important defensive facilities could not be moved, such as the ammunition depots and large barracks. Even if they no longer had their original design functions, they were still important targets worth bombarding.

By comparing the Italians’ memories with the reconnaissance photos from the German Air Force’s reconnaissance planes, Rommel had confirmed most of the military facilities and some concealed important targets. This time, with the support of the navy’s giant cannons, he was unhurriedly clearing out the known enemy concentration areas, one by one.

“Cavour! Your shell missed the target! Correct south by 17 meters! Yes! Correct south!” a German artillery school NCO, his face pressed to a scissor periscope, was guiding the fire of the Italian battleship. With the help of these observation posts, the Italians discovered that their artillery could actually be described with the two words “accurate.”

After a long wait, finally, the next round of firing from the battleship Cavour slammed into the British positions. A very solid-looking machine-gun bunker was hit by a large-caliber shell, and the entire top was blown off. The surrounding fortifications, which had been reinforced with reinforced concrete, were also completely destroyed by the huge vibrations. The bodies of many British soldiers lay scattered around.

“Beautiful! Cavour! You’ve hit the target! The enemy is completely destroyed! Now, re-aim your guns, coordinates, 53, 77! Fire!…” One after another, the British positions were visited by the large-caliber cannons. The morning quickly passed, and the British discovered that the German army had not launched a frontal assault on any area of their defensive line, but most of these lines had already been destroyed by the artillery into a pile of ruins.

In another timeline, the several factors that had defeated the Desert Fox, Rommel, had now, in turn, become the Desert Fox’s winning trump cards. This had to be said, was a very interesting thing. The British Mediterranean Fleet had been withdrawn due to the defeat on the mainland, which had led to the entire Mediterranean being controlled by the Italian Navy. This had deprived Montgomery of the favorable condition of naval gunfire support. At the same time, the loss of Malta had meant that the amount of supplies Rommel received greatly exceeded that of the British army in North Africa.

In his previous life, Rommel, who had been short on supplies and stretched to his limit, had been forced by logistical pressure to give up many of the fruits of his victories. Now, the German Afrika Korps, with its relatively more abundant supplies, was showing its sharp fangs to the British.

If Rommel could launch a series of dazzling offensive operations when his supplies were insufficient, then there was no need to doubt his offensive determination when the strength in his hands had greatly increased. The moment the number of his tanks exceeded the 1,000 mark, he had unhesitatingly given the order to General Friederici and General Garibaldi to re-encircle Tobruk and begin the attack.

Of course, there was another important reason for him to launch an attack immediately: the Führer had already instructed the High Command to send a newly formed K Army Group to the North African front to ensure that the Axis achieved a decisive victory in North Africa before the end of 1940. The objectives of this victory included advancing into Egypt, occupying Cairo, and controlling the Suez Canal, to extend the hand of the Axis into the Middle East.

It was no wonder Akado was in such a hurry to take a German colony in North Africa. The main reason was that Akado’s promise to the entire Jewish financial consortium had to be partially fulfilled. After all, the Jews also wanted a result; they were not supporting Akado’s arbitrary squandering of their funds for nothing.

And Akado, after some analysis with August and the others, had decisively decided to carve out a region in the Middle East for the future “Israel.” Its location was almost identical to that of Israel in later generations.

This was also one of Akado’s plans to disrupt the Middle East. The world’s most important oil-producing region in the future could absolutely not be controlled by a single country. So the more chaotic the situation here, the better. The more chaotic it was, the more favorable it would be for the Germans to insert their own influence in the Middle East in the future.

Coupled with the consideration of the German high command to give the United States a warning, Akado’s authorization of Rommel’s attack on Tobruk this time could be said to be a powerful offensive supported by all parties under the circumstances of favorable timing, geographical advantage, and popular support.

Boom! Another shell landed on the British positions. This time, it hit an important underground ammunition storage depot. Although the ammunition inside had already been mostly moved out by the British, and the remaining space was being used as a miscellaneous storage warehouse, this one shell had destroyed the entire warehouse, which still made the British hearts ache. Inside were the uniforms of 40,000 soldiers, 3,000 steel helmets, and the tents and blankets of many soldiers. Anyone would have felt the pain for a while.

“Hello? This is the frontline command post. Yes! The German offensive is still ongoing. The enemy’s naval artillery is too powerful. We have already lost our first-line defensive positions. The enemy is now infiltrating our second-line defenses,” a division commander of the British Indian Army reported the battlefield situation to the core Tobruk general headquarters.

Because in the previous German attack, a high ground nearby had been lost, the German observation posts could observe the British deployment with impunity and guide their own artillery fire.

“There is no better solution. The most fatal thing right now is actually the German artillery observation post. Hold the position. When the enemy planes cannot take off to bomb at night, we will organize a counter-attack and retake the high ground,” the commander of Tobruk in the headquarters said. He had just received Montgomery’s order to hold out for 13 days. With no extra troops, he could only pin his hopes on something as routine as a night counter-attack.

The division commander of the British Indian forces also knew that under the current circumstances, there was really no good way to deal with the Germans. If they were to launch a frontal assault now, then with their superior artillery and tanks, the Germans could clearly easily repulse the British forces. This was also the result the Germans most wanted to see—the opponent coming out to counter-attack their superior armored forces.

“We can only wait for the night,” the commander of the British Indian division said helplessly with a sigh.

Published: 2025-09-07T03:23:29.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-02T16:41:51.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c573-fire-138319517

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