Six Hundred and Forty-Three Why Not Be Fooled

For the northern part of Africa, the boundless yellow sand is the unchanging theme. It is extremely hot here, and everything can be related to the temperature.

A lizard is lazily lying on a rock, and a small pile of dry and withered bushes in front of it is its whole world. It relies on the temperature of the sun light source on its skin to increase the temperature of its blood, and accumulate enough heat for its own exercise. .

The sound of rumbling guns in the distance seems to have nothing to do with it. Human activities here are still not huge enough to change the world. This is still an area ruled by nature, and everything here still maintains a relatively primitive style.

Compared with lizards, humans don't seem to like the distant sun very much in the desert. The high temperature makes people feel extremely uncomfortable, and they can't take off their clothes to resist the heat. In order to reduce the evaporation of sweat and maintain the humidity of the skin surface, it must be tightly wrapped, and try to cover yourself as much as possible.

Rommel stood on his car, held his binoculars in both hands and looked into the distance. There was the position where his troops launched an attack. Black smoke, and fighter jets that have become small black spots in the distant sky.

The air was steaming and tumbling due to the heat, and all the scenery on the ground was distorted and deformed by the air waves. Rommel still had an old scarf wrapped around his neck, which was covered with yellow sand and looked very old. But he still likes to wear this scarf that is a bit torn at the corners, because it is something his wife sent him from the motherland.

He loves his wife deeply, and misses his family. He is like a good man without blemishes, and he can be called a rare model husband. And when he was working, he had the rigor and thoughtfulness unique to traditional German men. It can be said that he is a tall character who only appears in storybooks.

Scherner did not disappoint. As soon as the general with the title of the beast arrived on the front line in North Africa, he launched a new offensive with his army that was not yet fully in place. The German army was devastated in Egypt and broke through Montgomery 3 Now they are storming towards Alexandria. Once they occupy there, the situation in Egypt will be irreversible.

What makes people uncomfortable is that the resistance consciousness shown by the British army is much greater than estimated. They defend every line of defense at all costs. They fought fiercely with the German army one trench after another. Rommel took turns to attack for 20 days. During the attack time, he only advanced a short distance.

"General, my troops need to rest, and your troops also need to rest! Order to stop the attack, at least we have to find a way to transport the shells from Tobruk before making plans!" Standing beside Rommel's car, the Italian General Garibaldi asked to stop the attack. In the past few days, his Italian 1st Army has stormed the British positions 17 times, losing 41 tanks and a large number of infantry. Yesterday he inspected the front-line combat troops and found that these Italian soldiers were ragged, yellow and muscular.

It is no different from a beggar.

After all, not all armies are as powerful as the German Wehrmacht. The Romanian Expeditionary Force that recently arrived in North Africa is obviously not suitable for the harsh desert environment. The performance of this army group under Scherner's command was very average. They fought a battle After that, you can only perform logistical tasks such as guarding the warehouse.

In order to speed up the attack, Rommel used his trump card today. He ordered a regiment of armored troops to participate in the attack, and launched an assault on the flank of the British defense line not far away. Now that the two sides are fighting fiercely, the final result depends on what the report from the front line says.

"The first batch of attack planes of the Air Force have run out of fuel, and they are returning after notifying us." An Air Force liaison officer walked behind Rommel with a document in his hands, saluted and said loudly: "The second wave of bombing planes took off. They are already flying in formation and are expected to arrive over the battlefield in 7 minutes."

Not far behind Rommel is the headquarters of the entire African Army, where more than a dozen huge radio antennas are erected, and more than a dozen armored command vehicles are parked together. A spider's web of wires connects to each vehicle, eventually converging and plugging into the back of a truck with a diesel generator.

The Luftwaffe's dominance over North Africa is much greater than imagined. At least in North Africa, there is no P-40 latest improved aircraft equipped with Rolls-Royce engines. The air power of the Allied forces here is still based on the old British Hurricane fighter jets. And the most original p-40 fighter-based. These aircraft are obviously somewhat reluctant to fight against the battle-hardened German FW-190D fighter jets, so when the German Stuka dive bombers visit the British positions over and over again, they rarely encounter Allied fighter jets taking off to intercept them.

But Montgomery is also not an idler. Although he is not a powerful character in terms of offense, he is obviously very capable in terms of defense. The lines of defense he arranged were criss-crossed, and there were specially reinforced key fortifications not far away, so that the German army could only pull out one by one, and could not intersperse and break through on a large scale.

The two sides fought repeatedly on the ground. Because of the visual interference effect caused by the surface temperature in the desert area, some things close to the ground could not be seen clearly from a long distance, so the troops of both sides fought at a very close distance, and the casualties were huge. You can imagine.

Just this morning, Kurlo, the commander of the 12th Division of the German SS, was hit in the head by a stray bullet while commanding the front-line battle and died on the spot. This loss caught Rommel by surprise, but then the 12th SS Division, under the command of the acting division commander, advanced 8 kilometers forward and captured 700 British soldiers, avenging their former division commander.

"Never think what we can do after Alexandria has fallen! Gentlemen, it will never fall!" In front of Rommel, across the line of fire between the two armies, extending deep into the British position, Montgomery faced his men The generals said sensationally: "We can't lose Egypt, never!"

In one day, two generals of the British Army were killed in battle, and the troops of the two divisions were completely disabled, but it seemed that the British Army did not intend to take another step back this time. They held their positions to the last soldier and still did not take a step back.

The loss was simply unbearable. During the 20-day battle, more than 29,000 British soldiers were killed, more than 40,000 were injured, and about 10,000 were captured. Lost 3 full defensive positions, and the 4th was also riddled with holes - but they also made the Germans pay a heavy price. Rommel lost 170 tanks and assault guns, most of them Italian junk. In addition, the African Legion killed more than 9,900 people, and 18,000 were injured and missing.

Montgomery is in a good mood now. He relied on his 9th Army to hold the defensive position, which doubled his confidence and made him more confident in stabilizing the situation in Africa. Behind him is General Patton's 8th Army, a reserve force of the entire army. Almost all the tanks and armored vehicles in the Allied North Africa region are in the hands of the 8th Army. Defensively counterattack and defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps.

"Rommel has nothing to be afraid of! As long as we hold our defensive positions here and here, Alexandria will become the most stable supply base behind us! Everyone, the fate of the British Empire is here, please be sure Fight to the death and do your best for your country!"

"General! Please rest assured! The officers and men of the two divisions of the 9th Army of the 9th Army, with their backs to Alexandria, will never take a step back!" As the most important position in the entire defensive position, Montgomery's most elite troops were also deployed in the After arriving here, they were responsible for defending the outer positions of Alexandria until General Patton launched a counterattack.

Unlike other defensive positions, the defensive positions here have been carefully arranged, and are covered by naval ships and forts in Alexandria. Rommel has not invested too much offensive force here. It seems that the Germans seem to want to Like Tobruk, first encircled Alexandria from the flanks, and then slowly conquered here.

"Don't worry! We are on the flank of Alexandria, and we would rather die than take a step back!" The general of the 19th Army also patted his chest and assured Montgomery that with the steadfast defense of these two troops, Rommel would have to Make a big circle, and that will leave a huge opening for Barton behind.

Just as the Germans in Poland dug a huge trap for the Soviets, in North Africa, Montgomery also set up a tempting trap for Rommel. The bait is Alexander, the most important port in North Africa. It depends on whether Rommel will be fooled. up.

"Fucked! Why not?" Rommel pointed to the map to show Garibaldi and Frederick and other generals his attack plan: "Siege Alexander from the flanks. Although it is risky to do so, I don't think it is an irreparable problem. mistake!"

"However, General, we have not waited for Patton's 8th Army to appear. If we are counterattacked by Patton during the encirclement process, the losses will be very heavy!" Frederick is still relatively conservative, and he does not approve of such a risky action. plan.

"Don't worry! General Frederick, we still have a unit yet to dispatch, so...Alexandria, we are bound to win!" Rommel couldn't help laughing as he remembered the bold action plan sent by Wolf's Lair up.