Chapter 146: 【Tunisia Campaign】Rommel

Duan Yu entered the game.

Having not played for over half a month, he was surprised to find he felt no discomfort upon returning to the game.

Perhaps because 【Huaxia】 and "World War II: Rise of the Empire" were from the same company, the transition was incredibly smooth.

"Earth" was still that "Earth," just at a different point in time.

But there was one small difference.

Because...

The moment Duan Yu entered Leningrad, his gaze fixed on the trees in the city.

In an instant.

He felt as if he were no longer hungry.

Everywhere he looked, there were trees standing tall with intact bark.

These were all food!

How had he never realized Leningrad had so much food before?!

A smile appeared on Duan Yu's face.

He scanned his surroundings, deciding which tree to eat today.

Elsewhere.

On Sky Shark Live, in Yu Feng's stream.

Yu Feng, who had been teaming up with Fang Ming to play the 【Huaxia】 closed beta, had also long since returned to "World War II: Rise of the Empire."

He was streaming here.

Fang Ming, on the other hand, had gone off to stream 【Huaxia】, doing nothing else every day but choosing identities in immersive mode.

Sometimes, a single identity had dozens of sub-categories that would take three days to finish playing.

And there were thousands of such identities, dense as a forest.

Although players couldn't play them all, they loved watching, and through the different identities, the player-generated identity database was constantly being perfected.

But even so.

There were still many unexplored areas, so 【Huaxia】 had plenty of fresh popularity; if one wanted to break out of their niche, they had to stream 【Huaxia】.

Yu Feng had no interest in experiencing various identities and ran back to continue streaming "World War II: Rise of the Empire."

He was currently on the 【North African Battlefield】.

Yu Feng was in a moving truck, sitting in the passenger seat, looking at a map of North Africa in his hands.

On the 【North African Battlefield】, following last year's "Battle of El Alamein," the Empire's crushing defeat had caused the scales of victory in North Africa to gradually tip toward the Allies.

At the same time, it exposed the Empire's most serious problem.

A lack of resources and supplies.

From July, when the first "Battle of El Alamein" began, the two sides were locked in a war of attrition, forcing the Empire's famous general, Rommel, to switch to defense.

And in October 1942, during the second "Battle of El Alamein."

Even though the European theater was raging, and the Empire's leader had ordered an air unit to support North African supply transport.

Even under those circumstances, the Empire still lost due to running out of fuel.

The armored forces commanded by Rommel had no fuel to launch a counterattack and were forced to retreat and defend.

However, following the victory in the 【Battle of Kharkov】 in February in the European theater.

Rommel, on the northern battlefield, had also made quite a stir; not long ago, Rommel led the Empire's 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions to raid Sidi Bouzid.

The US forces, having just won on the Pacific battlefield, hadn't even had a chance to show their stuff on the North African battlefield.

Before they were slapped hard by Rommel.

The US 1st Armored Division's combat group was almost completely wiped out.

And Rommel led the 10th Panzer Division to continue a blitz advance; in just a few days, the US forces retreated over 50 kilometers.

Their defensive line collapsed.

Only then did the US forces realize that naval warfare and land warfare were truly not the same thing.

Although they had Japan screaming in the Pacific.

The steel torrent commanded by Rommel was simply not something the US forces, accustomed to naval warfare, could withstand.

But there was good news too.

Although Rommel had reversed the overall situation, the old problem remained... a lack of supplies.

He dared not continue to advance and expand his gains.

This gave the Allies a chance to reorganize their defensive line, and the unit Yu Feng was currently in was heading there to provide support.

The support vehicles sped through the desert.

Yu Feng pulled up the "Real-time Map" on the Polar Star official website to compare it with the map in his hands, chatting with his stream:

"As this war goes on, it feels like the protagonists have swapped."

"Originally it was the Kingdom of Italy invading North Africa, now it's the Empire holding the front."

"Originally it was the British Commonwealth resisting Italy, but now the American Free Federation's great army is holding the front."

"Fighting until now, it's hard to tell who the protagonist is anymore."

Not only is it hard to tell who the protagonist is, but now neither side can retreat.

The Empire has suffered so many losses fighting until now, how could they easily retreat? If not for the lack of supplies, the situation in North Africa might not be what it is.

And the American Free Federation has won consecutive victories in the Pacific; having suffered such a big loss just after arriving to support North Africa, they clearly cannot retreat either.

It's just that no one knows what will happen next.

After all, Rommel's command ability is no joke.

Although the Blue Star players have never faced him head-on.

The Axis powers' disadvantages on the North African battlefield have been pulled back several times by Rommel's maneuvers.

He is still one of the Empire's three famous generals officially recognized in the 【Hall of Fame】.

Guderian goes without saying, Manstein's command in the 【Battle of Kharkov】 was also a situation-reversing existence, plus Rommel's several maneuvers in North Africa now.

The Empire's three famous generals are well-deserved.

Yu Feng looked at the situation on the North African battlefield, moved his gaze to the "Real-time Map," then shifted it to the European theater, zoomed in to look for a while, and said:

"The situation in Europe is about the same as in North Africa."

"【Battle of Stalingrad】 and 【Battle of El Alamein】 were both just won, only to be turned around by the Empire's famous generals with extreme maneuvers."

"Looking at the overall situation on 'Earth' right now."

"Only Japan in the Pacific is getting beaten, right?"

"The Axis powers have some decline, but it's not obvious."

"Speaking of decline..."

"Actually, it's mainly the Empire's supply problem."

"The signs were already there last year."

"Because they diverted an air unit to transport supplies to support the North African battlefield, many Imperial soldiers froze to death in the European theater, but the situation on the North African battlefield didn't get any better."

"The support supplies arrived, but the 【Battle of El Alamein】 still failed because of supplies."

"Even now, Rommel is unable to expand his gains because of supply issues."

"And the Allies don't need to consider supply issues at all."

"In the end, it's a matter of base numbers."

"Before the Empire started the war, they only had 470,000 square kilometers; from 1939 to now in 1943, they've been fighting for 4 years, and what could be consumed has basically been consumed."

"Now it's just like Japan, their domestic resources are exhausted, they run to Southeast Asia to grab a wave, lasting as long as they can, except the Empire is grabbing from Europe."

"And the American Free Federation just joined the Allies, their domestic area before the war was 9.63 million square kilometers, and their oil and military resources haven't been consumed yet."

"Looking at the Empire, they've been fighting for four years."

"The American Free Federation is quickly reorganizing their defensive line, while the Empire is still debating whether to continue the pursuit, even a famous general like Rommel can't do anything."

"Because there really is no fuel and supplies..."

"War in the end is a war of attrition."

After speaking, Yu Feng inexplicably thought of the Battle of Stalingrad.

That was a true war of attrition.

On a small hill of less than two square kilometers, over a hundred thousand people died.

In the end, the Empire couldn't take the casualties anymore.

Subsequent support couldn't keep up.

That was how the victory of 【Stalingrad】 came about.

The Empire was also quite aggrieved.

To fight for a city, they fought for months, the Empire suffered over 800,000 casualties, fighting until every inch of Stalingrad was covered in shell fragments.

The casualties of the Soviet military and civilians had already exceeded 2 million, it had become an empty city.

As a result, the Soviet Federation launched "Operation Uranus."

Gathering troops from the Far East and various regions, the Southwestern Front, the Stalingrad Front, etc., they gathered over 1.1 million people to surround them.

And at that time, the Imperial troops in Stalingrad only had 200,000 left.

The situation on the North African battlefield is actually about the same.

Although Rommel's maneuvers reversed the situation, the American Free Federation is almost done reorganizing their defensive line.

Yu Feng looked at the "Real-time Map" and discussed the upcoming battle with the viewers in the stream.

He felt the Allies had a better chance of winning.

It's just that no one knew how fast the Kingdom of Italy would surrender...

One day later.

North African battlefield.

Outside the Kasserine Pass, American Free Federation defensive line.

The Empire stopped attacking after breaking through the Kasserine Pass; it was learned through various channels that it was because the Empire lacked supplies, which was why Rommel didn't attack.

It's just that no one dared to test it.

The two sides just stood in a stalemate here.

Yu Feng followed the main force and had already arrived here; player identities were relatively free, and most of the time NPCs would ignore them.

Yu Feng wandered around for a while.

Suddenly.

Boom!!!

A muffled sound came, followed by continuous muffled sounds, and sharp shell whistling appeared in the sky, while the surrounding American Free Federation soldiers shouted:

"Those guys from the Empire are attacking! Fight!"

"Prepare to fight!!!"

Yu Feng rushed toward where he had just come from; his tank crew was there.

At this moment.

A few large characters suddenly appeared before Yu Feng's eyes.

【Tunisia Campaign】

The appearance of the text made Yu Feng realize he had triggered a hidden plot.

However...

Tunisia Campaign?

Didn't they attack Tunisia last year? Why is it still the Tunisia Campaign now?

Could it be that it hasn't ended?

Last year, the Allies attacked Tunisia, and although they didn't take it, the situation reached a stalemate, and later, because of various battles, there was no follow-up.

At this moment, it actually showed it was still the 【Tunisia Campaign】.

Does that mean the core point is "Tunisia"?

Yu Feng thought to himself.

Boom—!!!

A shell landed, crashing right into the camp.

A few panicked US soldiers let out a scream and went silent.

The blast wave from the explosion sent mud and debris flying everywhere; Yu Feng endured the pain of the debris hitting him.

He rushed to his tank and climbed in.

The other members of the internal crew were already in position.

Yu Feng commanded the tank to start, the engine roared, and he turned to charge toward the Imperial tanks pushing out from outside the defensive line, commanding the cannon to fire.

Boom!

Yu Feng in the tank felt a jolt, then saw through the periscope that the shell had hit the Imperial tank.

However, before he could feel happy.

He discovered that under the explosion of the shell, the Imperial tank was still able to move; Yu Feng gasped.

"Hiss—"

"Tiger tank?"

This Imperial tank, which appeared at the end of last year and shone brightly in the 【Battle of Kharkov】, Yu Feng knew a little about, but he didn't expect there to be any in North Africa.

And there were quite a few.

Looking through the periscope, there were at least a battalion (20) of Tiger tanks.

Yu Feng gritted his teeth and ordered:

"Load armor-piercing shells!"

The loader immediately loaded the armor-piercing shell, however...

Boom!

Accompanied by a muffled sound, Yu Feng looked through the periscope; the armor-piercing shell hit the Imperial Tiger tank, deflected slightly.

Then it slid off.

He didn't know where it flew.

At this moment.

The voice of the US defensive line commander came over the radio:

"Our cannons are useless against them! Repeat! Useless!!!"

"Do not attack! Retreat! Retreat!!!"

Clearly, he was shouting at the support troops who had just arrived, because it wasn't just the tank Yu Feng commanded that rushed out; other tanks had also rushed out.

They didn't know about the power of the Tiger tank.

The American Free Federation troops had already developed "Tiger-phobia"; their first reaction to seeing a Tiger tank was to run, not fight.

And as Yu Feng and the others commanded the tanks to shell the Imperial tanks.

The Imperial Tiger tanks also turned their barrels, then... Boom—!!!

A shell hit the tank next to Yu Feng directly.

The sound of tearing steel was heard clearly by Yu Feng inside the cabin, and the impact from the explosion made the tank he commanded tremble as well.

Yu Feng felt a chill in his heart.

He didn't need to think to know the fate of the tank next door.

What the hell is this?

He knew the Tiger was fierce, but watching videos and actually encountering one were two different things.

And no one said armor-piercing shells were useless.

His armor-piercing shells hitting them were like throwing pebbles, while one of their shells could blow up a tank directly.

Clang—!

Before he could think more, Yu Feng felt something hit the tank.

It's over!

As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, his body crouched down rapidly to cover his head, and then a violent explosion impact spread across the tank.

The sound of tearing steel rang out.

The turret above Yu Feng's head was blown off directly, and in an instant, the tank became open-air.

Fortunately, this shell was slightly high, only blowing off the turret; otherwise, if it had been lower, everyone inside the tank cabin would have died.

Yu Feng was shocked by the explosion, blood flowed from his nose and mouth, and his ears were ringing, unable to hear anything.

He struggled to stand up, ignoring the others, crawled out of the tank through the opening where the turret had been blown off, rolled away quickly, and then crawled toward the distance.

Yu Feng hadn't crawled twenty meters yet.

Boom—!!!

The tank behind him was hit by an Imperial shell again, and this time... it was the hull.

Tearing tank fragments flew.

Pfft!

Yu Feng couldn't react at all; the broken tank fragments crushed directly toward him, hitting his left arm, and the entire left arm was torn off by the huge impact.

Along with his whole body, he rolled away, and an instant of severe pain surged through his whole body:

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

Even though the pain sensitivity had long been set to 30%, he couldn't take it; while screaming in pain, he opened the settings and hurriedly adjusted it to the lowest 5%.

Only then did it ease up.

Yu Feng's face was pale, cold sweat flowed, and he lay on the ground panting heavily.

His left arm had been torn off by the huge impact, and it was now a bloody mess; fortunately, Yu Feng didn't look there, otherwise, the first-person view would have scared people.

With the pain sensitivity lowered, Yu Feng, having recovered, struggled to move his body.

With his remaining right hand, he took out the pistol from his waist, bit the slide to rack it with his teeth, then lay paralyzed by the huge tank fragments, trying to keep as still as possible.

Looking from afar, Yu Feng now looked like a piece of collateral damage.

The Imperial tanks shouldn't specifically target him, but those Tiger tanks were followed by infantry, and Yu Feng wasn't sure if he could survive.

He could only try to keep as still as possible.

After all, in this situation, the Empire's main target should be the military camp, not a piece of collateral damage...

Yu Feng tried to breathe steadily.

The pain in his arm stimulated him, keeping him awake.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Mainly because he thought he would die quickly, either shot by bullets or blown up by shells, but now an arm was broken...

... but he still hadn't died.

It was almost a complete simulation of reality.

Inexplicably.

Yu Feng suddenly thought, if he survived.

Then what about this arm?

This game shouldn't restore it, right?

So he could only be an amputee?

This thought flashed through his mind, and the roar of shells in his ears interrupted Yu Feng's train of thought.

Looking through half-open eyes.

With the Imperial Tiger tanks leading the way, all the American Free Federation soldiers in the camp had no will to fight.

They had already begun to scatter.

He didn't know how much shadow these Imperial Tiger tanks had brought them to make them like this.

The only counterattacks were from the newly arrived support troops.

It's just that the armored tanks they brought were easily torn apart by the Imperial Tiger tanks, and the heavy firepower and light machine guns hitting the Imperial Tiger tanks only sparked.

Armor that even armor-piercing shells couldn't penetrate, machine guns were even more useless.

Yu Feng suddenly realized that this seemed hopeless; there was no way to fight this.

Watching the Imperial Tiger tanks advance, the newly supported soldiers had no choice and began to retreat with the original defensive line soldiers.

And the infantry following behind the Imperial Tiger tanks began to pursue; at the back of the team appeared Imperial soldiers wearing masks.

Following the Tiger tanks into the camp, the flamethrowers held in their hands burned everything they could see without mercy.

Including those American Free Federation wounded soldiers who hadn't died yet.

Screams mixed with the smell of charred flesh swept across the battlefield with the strong wind.

Some wounded soldiers had already raised their hands to surrender, but the Imperial soldiers' submachine guns shot through their chests without mercy; clearly, they didn't intend to take prisoners.

This scene made Yu Feng terrified.

He was afraid of exposing himself, but fortunately, the Empire was quick to fight and didn't seem to intend to stay long.

After dealing with the wounded and confirming there were no survivors, they began to loot the supplies in the camp, and some Imperial soldiers even started driving the American Free Federation trucks in the camp to load supplies.

Seeing this.

Yu Feng and the netizens in the Blue Star stream were even more certain that the Empire was truly short of supplies.

They were already fighting and looting for supplies.

At this moment.

Behind the Empire's main force, a command vehicle drove over, and a figure flashed past the window.

But Yu Feng was streaming.

He just replayed it and saw the blurry figure clearly; Yu Feng's heart jumped.

Rommel?

It was just that despite the victory, Rommel's expression in the car wasn't very good; instead, he frowned, and his complexion looked a bit off.

(A family member is hospitalized, I went to see them today and spent another day running around the hospital, sorry, I will try to make up for it tomorrow.)

(My family member is hospitalized. I went to visit today and spent the whole day running around the hospital. Sorry, I will try my best to make up for it tomorrow.)