Chapter 236: Is the Italian Army Reliable? (The third update!)
The German army actually had no shortage of steel because their production capacity had not been integrated.

Once the integration is completed, the powerful foundation will soon burst out.

According to the original plan, we should enter a wartime system next year, when production capacity will enter a stage of rapid explosion.

But by then it was too late.

Because the German army lost everything in the winter of 42 and there was no hope of a comeback.

Now, because of Chuichi Nanyun, it is possible that we will enter the wartime system ahead of schedule.

Colonel Lutte could only convey Chuichi Nagumo's request for steel.

After all, he was just a small colonel and didn't have that much power.

"There is one more thing waiting for us now." Nanyun Chuichi took a deep breath and said while looking at the map.

"What?" The naval commanders of the other three countries asked curiously.

"Port Said, we must take this place." Nanyun Chuichi said seriously.

It was originally a small fishing village and was built with the opening of the Suez Canal.

Later it became the largest coaling station in the world.

It can be said that this place is a strategic point that controls the shipping routes of countries along the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. It is an important cargo transshipment port with complete loading and unloading, storage and ship repair facilities.

It is also an export port for cotton, rice, furs, etc. in the eastern part of the Nile Delta.

More importantly, there is a shipbuilding industry in the port, which means that if they occupy it, they can also build some warships.

And a large amount of supplies are now stored in Port Said.

If they can take this place, combined with the supplies from Alexandria Port, they will not lack supplies for at least a long time.

After listening to Chuichi Nagumo's analysis, the other three naval commanders pondered for a while and then agreed with his suggestion.

After a brief rest, the four countries' naval fleets began to march towards Port Said.

The results of their discussions were sent back to their respective bases.

First, Marshal Dönitz looked at the telegram sent by Colonel Rütte and fell into deep thought.

Psychologically, he agreed with the suggestion made by Chuichi Nagumo.

After all, this is a perfect benefit for the German army.

Especially the supplies on the two 30,000-ton cargo ships could definitely solve the German army’s urgent needs.

The German army is now in particular shortage of rubber and tungsten.

On the contrary, steel is not in such urgent shortage.

The German army did not suffer too much by exchanging steel and aircraft for these resources.

The only problem is that the Navy doesn't get much benefit.

"This is not a easy task!" Dönitz couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the telegram.

However, they were very interested in Chuichi Nagumo's proposal that if the German army could build an aircraft carrier, they could provide carrier-based aircraft and pilots.

The reason why the German Navy has no aircraft carriers is not because they cannot build one, but because even if they did build one, they don’t have the aircraft.

Unless they agree to transfer the command of the aircraft carrier to the Air Force, but in that case, wouldn’t there be no point in them building the aircraft carrier?
Thinking of this, Dönitz kept knocking on the table, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

To be honest, he agreed with this plan.

After all, the Japanese army is indeed countless times stronger than them in using aircraft carriers.

In the end, he decided to send the telegram intact to the Wolf's Lair and let the Supreme Commander handle the matter.

The result was as expected. Wolf's Cave responded that it could be accepted in response to Nagumo Chuichi's proposal.

But resources need to be doubled, and a mere tens of thousands of tons of supplies will not last long.

This involves another person, that is the suggestion made by Cun Yunsheng.

William relayed Cun Yunsheng's words to the Wolf Cave verbatim.

He also fully expressed his concerns.

If the German army could not replenish the losses on the front line to last year's level before winter came, it would inevitably fail.

Based on Cun Yunsheng's suggestion, the German staff conducted simulations and finally concluded that this winter was a crucial year for the German army.

However, the German army’s current reserves are simply unable to meet the consumption on the front line.

So when Dönitz's telegram arrived, the German commanders believed it was a blessing from God.

Without even thinking twice, he agreed to Nanyun Chuichi's proposal.

It also increased the need for resources, as the German troops on the Eastern Front numbered millions.

Not only that, Speer was also urgently put on the job and was responsible for the industrial integration of France and Italy at the same time.

According to the requirements, five to six light aircraft carriers must be built within two months.

At the same time, there are various tanks, airplanes, cannons and other equipment.

In addition to these, the German army also ordered Rommel to cross the Suez Canal as soon as possible and reach Persia to cooperate with the Persian army there to attack the Soviet army in the Caucasus region.

When Rommel received the telegram, he was completely stunned.

"What a joke, crossing the Suez Canal? And joining Persia?" Rommel looked incredulous, then looked at the telegram in his hand, very confused.

Is the Supreme Command crazy?

Don’t you know the specific situation of the North African Legion now?

Let him cross the Suez Canal?
Who will take care of the logistical supplies?

That’s several hundred kilometers.
wrong!

Aren’t the navies of the four countries going to occupy Port Said?

If they could capture Port Said, logistics would not be a problem.

For a time, Rommel was very much looking forward to the navies of the four countries being able to occupy Port Said.

"Your Excellency Marshal, what should we do about Cairo?" Lieutenant General Georg, commander of the 21st Armored Division, asked hesitantly.

"Leave it to the 3th Armored Division. They are equipped with hundreds of M tanks. Together with the Italian troops, it should be no problem for them to take Cairo." Rommel said this with a loss of confidence at the end.

How terrible is the Italian army!
The German army knew everything, and they joked that the Italian army was not even at the level of a kitchen team.

Does this mean that the Italian army cannot fight?
Do not!
The main reason is that the logistics cannot keep up, so there is no will to fight at all.

This is what made Rommel panic.

If the Italian army really gave him a surprise, it would be a big deal.

"Your Excellency Marshal, why don't we transfer the Italian troops here?" Lieutenant General Georg thought for a while and made a suggestion.

Hearing this, Rommel pondered for a while, then shook his head and said.

"Forget it. Let the Italian army take charge of the outer defense line. Also, let the 15th Armored Division speed up the attack and make sure to capture Cairo within three days."

"Your 21st Armored Division must also speed up. The vanguard must reach the canal bank within two days and collect boats to cross the river."

"Yes." Lieutenant General Georg responded quickly.

.........

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General, the fighter planes you requested will all be in place within ten days, but aren't one hundred too few?" When Colonel Lutte received the telegram from Dönitz, he went straight to Nagumo Chuichi and said expressionlessly.

To be honest, it's really inappropriate to ask him to do something like negotiation.

But there was no other way, because the German army couldn't spare a suitable person. And the Navy Department was considering whether to promote him to rear admiral.

Otherwise, the lowest rank of the other three countries was major general, and he was the only colonel, which was somewhat unfair.

"Ah? One hundred are too few?" Nagumo Chuichi was completely confused and didn't understand what this meant.

Originally he thought that one hundred planes were too many and the German army might not agree.

After all, the Stuka bomber is really good. In his eyes, selling one more of this advanced fighter will have a huge impact on national defense security.

The results of it?
Someone told him that he bought too little.

In fact, the German army now does not attach much importance to the Stuka bomber.

Because of the ju-88 bomber and FW190 fighter.

Especially after the modification, the performance of the JU-88 bomber is very powerful.

However, as the war becomes increasingly intense, the German army's current productivity is all focused on fighter jets.

So, when Chuichi Nagumo proposed to exchange Stuka bombers for resources, Air Force Marshal Goering agreed without saying a word.

After all, these are models that are about to be eliminated. Why not use them to exchange for a large amount of resources to produce more advanced fighter jets?

According to Goering's estimate, two 30,000-ton cargo ships should be able to add thousands of new fighter jets.

One of the important factors restricting the production of fighter jets is rubber.

Because the tires of airplanes need rubber for takeoff and landing.

Without rubber, the plane cannot take off.

Now that there is a large amount of rubber, the production speed of fighter planes can be increased again.

But these resources are simply not enough.

Therefore, in his telegram to Dönitz, Goering clearly stated that he could sell more Stuka bombers, but in exchange for more resources.

"Are you planning to not live your life anymore?" Nanyun Chuichi asked cautiously.

Facing the German army, a country that conquered the whole of Europe with its strength, Chuichi Nagumo was not so arrogant.

Although he is an excellent aircraft carrier commander, he is no match for Germany, Italy and France.

He spoke very cautiously, without any of his previous arrogance.

"No, these fighters are second-hand, but you can rest assured that we strictly follow the requirements in terms of maintenance, and after running-in, their performance is very good." Colonel Rutte shook his head and then explained the reason for selling these fighters.

After hearing this, Nan Yun Zhongyi understood immediately.

It turns out they are all second-hand phones, but second-hand is second-hand.

Now they are not qualified to choose.

And given the German army's rigor and stubbornness, the maintenance should not be too bad.

Thinking of this, Nan Yunzhong nodded and said.

"No problem, but what about the steel?"

"The first batch of 100,000 tons of steel can be shipped from southern Italy." Colonel Rutte breathed a sigh of relief.

He was really not suitable for this kind of negotiation and could only convey Marshal Dönitz's intentions.

"Thank you so much. With these things, we can hold back the American fleet." Nagumo Tadashi kept bowing to Colonel Lute.

This made Colonel Rutte look very embarrassed. Why did he like bowing so much?

"Our request is to bring in more resources such as rubber and tungsten. We are currently integrating European industries. With these resources, we can produce more weapons."

"As for your plan to build a light aircraft carrier, it has also been approved. However, our Dr. Speer suggested that we could first convert a few merchant ships." Colonel Rutte spoke again.

After reading the telegram relayed by Colonel Rutte, Dr. Speer actually inspected the shipyards in France and Germany, and combined it with the intelligence that the Allied fleet was about to arrive.

I think it is too slow to start building light aircraft carriers now. It would be better to learn from the US military and modify a few light aircraft carriers.

The war has reached this point, and the intelligence between the countries is roughly understood by each other.

The fact that the United States has a large number of aircraft carriers in a very short period of time will naturally attract the attention of intelligence agencies.

It’s just that the German army didn’t have enough resources to build aircraft carriers before, so no one paid attention to this information.

But things are different now, so the information has been dug up again.

"A merchant ship converted into an aircraft carrier?" Nanyun Chuichi really didn't expect that the other party could actually think of this.

Because the Japanese Navy has also converted a large number of merchant ships, the reason why they did not say it was naturally out of selfish motives.

That is an aircraft carrier converted from a merchant ship. Its quality is too poor and it can carry too few ships.

It is even called a special aircraft carrier by the sailors, as thin as a cicada's wing and as slow as a snail!
Therefore, at the original meeting, Chuichi Nagumo did not propose the suggestion of converting merchant ships into aircraft carriers.

He believes that given the mentality of the European powers, they naturally look down on these special aircraft carriers.

Who knows, they took the initiative to bring it up.

This made him a little puzzled.

Are you willing to modify this thin aircraft carrier?
But since the other party brought it up, he couldn't say anything.

The two sides are still negotiating some details of the cooperation.

Outside Cairo, fighting broke out again.

"These British troops are really a bunch of turtles. They really hide in the city." A German soldier put down the telescope in his hand, licked his dry lips, and said helplessly.

In desert areas, people are particularly prone to dryness and chapped lips, but there is very little fresh water available, so people often have to lick their lips to lubricate them.

This is all experience!

It’s only during this period that things feel a little better. It was really hard before that.

Next to the German second lieutenant was an armored reconnaissance vehicle. After being privately modified by the soldiers, this armored vehicle was hung with oil drums on both sides. Of course, there was no diesel in them, but fresh water.

"Give me a pot of water. I'm almost dying of thirst." The German second lieutenant ordered his men.

Soon, the subordinates handed over a kettle. Without saying a word, the German lieutenant unscrewed the lid of the kettle and poured the water into his mouth.

This kind of water in a gasoline barrel can be used to clean people very cleanly.

It smells like gasoline in there too!

So every time they drank water, they had to drink it with gritted teeth.

My mouth is full of the taste of gasoline, but I have to endure it in order to stay alive.

Rather than dying of thirst, they could still drink the gasoline-tasting water.

After drinking the water, the German lieutenant said to the soldiers on the armored vehicle: "We didn't see any signs of British activity. It seems that they are really planning to become turtles."

The weather was extremely hot. Even when it was the hottest, eggs could be cooked on the armor. Unfortunately, the armored vehicle did not have an exhaust fan, so it was definitely very uncomfortable to stay in such a hot armored vehicle.

Last time, we could have taken Cairo in one fell swoop, but the logistics didn’t keep up, so we temporarily stopped the attack.

As a result, the headquarters ordered the North African Corps to reach the Suez Canal as soon as possible.

As a result, the war in Cairo came to a standstill.

Now the 15th Armored Division and Italian troops arrived, so they launched a new attack.

"Second Lieutenant, are the Italian troops reliable?" The subordinate's words made the German second lieutenant silent.

(End of this chapter)