One hour later, two more escort fleets joined together with Hewitt's fleet.

On the dark sea, the navigation lights on the ships kept flashing red and green lights.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of blocking balloons are suspended in the air, preventing the German aviation troops from a sudden attack.

In addition to these blocking balloons, there are more than a hundred P-40 fighters and P-38 fighters patrolling and covering the air above these ships.

When these fleets gathered, they silently followed Hewit's "Monrovia" through Bisseda Port, and drove in a zigzag formation towards the Ponkok Peninsula and Sicily at a speed of 15 knots.

From a distance, this huge fleet seemed to be marching with a large army of black bisons.

At this time, Eisenhower had already taken a plane to leave Algiers and came to the Verdara Palace in Malta.

After casually strolling around the palace, the living room and other places, he came to his gorgeous room and caressed the lucky coins in his hand.

These lucky coins are a silver coin, a French franc and a 5 shillings coin.

These lucky coins are usually stored in a zippered wallet with him. Whenever he is uneasy or irritable, he will involuntarily touch these lucky coins to calm down his emotions or pray to God.

Eisenhower, who was always cautious and kind, was pacing back and forth in a depressed mood in his gorgeous room with a high ceiling.

Before launching Operation Torch, Marshall had a unique eye for him to take over the command of the British and American Allies in the North Africa campaign in Britain; he was responsible for commanding hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of high-level British and American officers.

With his firmness, decisiveness, magnanimity, full trust in his subordinates, clear rewards and punishments, fair work, and diligent work, all the wars he commanded were smooth and he achieved great results.

This made him a standing and indispensable commander among the British and American Allies.

Even Churchill's chief of staff praised and supported him.

Especially after the Battle of North Africa and the Battle of Tunisia, his status and reputation reached its peak.

Therefore, when this time of the launch of the Battle of Sicily, all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to continue to let him serve as the commander-in-chief of the British and American Allies and command the battle of the Battle of Sicily.

He had originally won two large-scale victories, but he was quite confident in the actions of the Battle of Sicily.

But after several battles on the Ponteleria Peninsula and with Pantelleria, he felt that the German army was not as easy to deal with as he had faced before.

Moreover, the more he fought with the German army commanded by Chen Yanlong and the approaching combat days of the Battle of Sicily; the more he felt an unknown sixth feeling that emerged in his heart, making him uneasy and unable to sleep.

After Eisenhower smoked more than 30 camel cigarettes alone, suddenly the anxious knock of his chief of staff Walter Biddle Smith rang out in the door of his room.

Hearing that it was his chief of staff, Eisenhower hurriedly opened the door for the other party and let the other party come in.

"You'll finish chatting with British Navy Commander General Cunningham so soon? Lieutenant General Smith!"

As soon as they met, Eisenhower immediately asked with a bright smile that he had not missed for a long time.

"Yes! Commander!"

Lieutenant General Smith nodded quickly and responded.

"Did they accept Montgomery's combat plan?"

Eisenhower continued to ask.

"They reluctantly agree! But Admiral Cunningham and his Admiralty are more inclined to disperse the navy's power to seize more airports and ports!"

Lieutenant General Smith continued to answer.

"It's true that it's the same as I thought! By the way! How many troops have we gathered now?"

Eisenhower sighed and continued.

"Five British divisions, four US military divisions, a total of 9 divisions have already joined the ships at our secret rendezvous! However, there are 11 divisions away from the 20 divisions we want to assemble!"

Lieutenant General Smith thought for a moment.

"That can only be handed over to Lieutenant General Hewitt for handling! In fact, this time my troops are more than the 13 divisions planned, and there are 7 more divisions! I have to thank President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill for their strong support!"

Eisenhower nodded in satisfaction and replied.

"Yes! And we have dispatched two airborne divisions for airborne support!"

Lieutenant General Smith smiled.

"Well! This battle is very important to our Allies! If you lose, it will not only lose one island battle, but the morale of the entire British and American Allies! So we must not lose any more!"

Eisenhower suddenly said solemnly.

"I see!"

Lieutenant General Smith was silent for a moment and replied briefly.

"Well! Let's work together! And the situation of the Italian navy, how is our intelligence department investigating?"

Eisenhower suddenly asked straight into the subject.

"Seven battleships and 12 cruisers; however, these ships lack radar and fuel; as for aircraft carriers, there is not a single one, and the carrier-based aircraft has no shadow! The combat power is much weaker than that of the Japanese army!"

Lieutenant General Smith smiled happily and reported.

"What about the plane? How is the current situation of the Italian aviation force?"

Eisenhower continued to ask.

"There are only about 1,000 aircraft at most, because the war in the past has caused Italy to lose almost 3,000 aircraft, which greatly reduces the strength of their aviation forces. Moreover, Alitalia and all mechanized troops that require fuel to fight are seriously short of fuel!"

"And in the future, Italy will cause large-scale rebellion to their people's livelihood due to our felt bombardment, food, and the lack of various resources, as well as workers' strikes, and shortages of other living supplies!"

Lieutenant General Smith continued to smile happily.

"The combat effectiveness of the Italian army is not strong at all. We already know this clearly in the North African battle; so our focus now should be on the movements of the German army! Especially the recent situation of their new weapons and equipment, we must all know it clearly!"

"Otherwise we will be caught off guard by the Germans again!"

Eisenhower waved his hand and said seriously.

"Yes! Commander!"

Lieutenant General Smith also answered seriously.

"Then tell me about the current deployment of the German troops, and where are their advanced weapons and equipment? And what types are there!"

Eisenhower stared at Lieutenant General Smith with a sharp look and said solemnly.
Chapter completed!