Six Hundred Fifty-Nine Bullets
The same hail of bullets, the same fearless charge, happened in another corner of the earth. This is the endless desert in North Africa, and this is the main battlefield where the German-Italian African Army attacked the flank of Alexandria.
The bullets flew over the flat ground like raindrops, hitting the thick armor of the German tanks, just like real raindrops hitting the eaves of the neighbor's house. The German tank moved forward slowly, its wide tracks rolled up the sand bit by bit, and it slowly approached towards the enemy.
Suddenly, the steel behemoth stopped, and slowly turned the huge turret in front of a trench. The slender barrel pointed at its target little by little with the swing of the turret, looking majestic and imposing. With the rotation stopped, within a few seconds, the tank fired its shells.
The huge air wave kicked up the dust around the tank. The dry environment and the sand and dust raised in the desert accumulated a lot of sand on the tank. With this devastating shot, the dust and sand were all blown up. , forming a cloud of smoke. However, the cannonball had already accurately flown towards its target, covering a distance of a thousand meters in an instant.
And this shell fired from the 75mm cannon of the Leopard tank actually penetrated the bunker accumulated with sandbags at once, and pierced through an American-made m3lee tank equipped by the British Army hiding behind the bunker . Then the tank burst into flames, billowing thick smoke.
The nearby British soldiers began to retreat, and the heading machine gun in front of the Leopard tank began to make a unique sound of tearing linen. The bullets swept towards the British soldiers who had been firing violently just now, and easily penetrated these soldiers.
After experiencing the initial bloody battle, although the German army lost part of its strength and ammunition reserves, it actually wiped out some of the main British forces entrenched in North Africa. Take it down for a rest.
After these hard peripheral defensive troops were exhausted, the British had to supplement the flanks of the position with Indian divisions with weak combat effectiveness and mercenaries from the Middle East. This kind of headwind performance is indeed not as good as the orthodox English team.
So Montgomery began to mobilize the few armored troops in his hands, enter his preset positions, and strengthen these Indian divisions that were not strong in combat effectiveness, hoping to support these divisions to hold their positions.
However, when Rommel threw in a new armored regiment and cut into Alexandria's southern defense line, the situation on the battlefield became clear. British troops began to collapse from the flanks, and Alexandria was now surrounded by German forces on both sides. Only the eastern region remains, which is still under the control of the British.
"Turn around to the two wings! Consolidate the position after occupying the trenches! Arrange observation posts on both sides! Signal the battalion headquarters! Say that we have controlled the enemy's first line of defense!" A German company commander shouted loudly after jumping into the trench issue orders,
On one side of him, two machine gunners were setting up a new machine gun position, one with a machine gun belt around his neck, and not far away, two grenadiers were firing violently with their G43 rifles. Under their feet, The body of an Englishman lay there, already covered with a layer of fine sand.
"Hey! If we attack the high ground on the left, how many people can you take out to cover us?" On the edge of the position, the commander's cabin door of the Panther tank that had just fired was suddenly pushed open. The binoculars exposed his head, and he asked the infantry company commander in the trench loudly, not paying attention to the crackling sound of enemy bullets hitting his tank.
"If you attack the high ground on the left, I will send two squads of soldiers to follow you! I can also cover your back, but after you capture there, you'd better retreat. I'm worried that the British will counterattack here." The company commander glanced at the high ground in the distance, and then shouted loudly to the commander on the tank.
The commander nodded, and then he got back inside the tank and closed the hatch of the tank. Then the tank's gearbox was put into gear, and the sound became even louder. Following the noisy sound, the tank drove towards the high ground in the distance.
"Kerkhov! Dispatch two squads of soldiers and follow the tank to attack north! Cover the tank's flanks and rear! After occupying the high ground, find a way to hold it there!" After passing through a trench that was more than ten meters long, he found his subordinates and assigned his own tasks.
As soon as their offensive preparations were completed, two Stuka bombers swooped down from high altitude. These two planes were part of the air force supporting this German attack. 110 Stukas were prepared for today's attack on the German army. Ka and 50 -217 bombers, these planes took turns to greet the positions of the British army, and have destroyed many solid fortifications.
A Stuka dropped a huge bomb hanging under the belly at a low altitude close to the target. With a howling sound, the Stuka quickly pulled up and returned to the sky under the cover of another Stuka.
Another covering Stuka bomber used two 20mm cannons on the wings to leave two strafing barrages on the enemy's position. In just a short moment, the British army position on this high ground was ravaged by two Stukas, and then the British soldiers stationed here were horrified to see a German Panther tank slowly driving up to this high ground .
"Don't fire! We surrender!" An Indian soldier raised the rifle in his hand and shouted loudly, and then the second and third Indian soldiers also raised their hands. This highland hardly passed anything A decent battle was occupied by the German army.
The fighting continued, and the British did not give up the remaining positions. In some areas, the British held on to the last moment. They ran out of ammunition, and were finally driven out of their trenches by the German soldiers who rushed up. The smoke of gunpowder rose on the horizon, and the fierce battle exhausted both sides.
"There is still 19 kilometers away from Alexandria. As long as we advance a few kilometers, the German artillery can bombard that port. By that time, the British Mediterranean Fleet will really go away!" In the tent, General Garibaldi was obviously very satisfied with the current progress of the battle. The Germans didn't seem to have much demand for the interests of North Africa. They only wanted a piece of desert as a future weapon experiment base, and then they asked for co-management of the Suez Canal.
Mussolini agreed to these conditions very happily, because as the leader of Italy, he knew that without the help of the Germans, the Italians, let alone such an important place as the Suez Canal, would be a problem whether they could hold Tunis. So the two parties signed a memorandum and decided to jointly manage the Suez Canal, and the time limit turned out to be permanent. As for the attitude and requirements of Egypt, the owner of the Suez Canal itself, it seems that everyone has forgotten it.
However, the staff officer of General Garibaldi obviously has no extravagant expectations for these things. He is more concerned about the fragile logistics of his army and the high number of casualties: "My general, Cairo and Suez are very important to us. In fact, it is still very far away, based on the current consumption rate of shells and the casualties of the troops, it is estimated that there will only be one company when we reach the city of Cairo."
While the Italian troops lamented their heavy casualties and attrition, Montgomery's side was actually devastated. The reserves in his hands are already stretched, and most of the few remaining troops are the remaining Indian troops, and their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the original British Expeditionary Force and New Zealand troops.
The Japanese army is rampant in Southeast Asia, and the threat to the Indian border is increasing. There are not many troops that can be transferred from Mountbatten. Now Montgomery is in a state of internal and external troubles, and the reinforcements are cut off. In other words, in the current battlefield situation in North Africa, the Americans are already the main force, and the British are doing their best on the outskirts of Alexandria.
After hesitating again and again, Montgomery still grabbed the phone in his hand, and with a voice that he could feel trembling, he said to General Patton's headquarters, "General Patton, the British Ninth North African Army is powerless. We can only rely on your counterattack to finally decide the ownership of the entire North Africa and even the Suez Canal!"
Patton's voice came over the phone, but the content was not what Montgomery wanted to hear: "General Montgomery, I regret to inform you that the supplies transported by the United States were blocked by the German army. This matter is arguing with each other, the key is that there are many new m4 tanks used to stabilize the North African battlefield in the sunk ships, which makes me have to postpone the counterattack time."
After a pause, he said earnestly: "Wait for me for three days, three days later, I will invest in counterattack forces to attack the troops on the outskirts of Alexandria! Believe me, this time I will definitely launch the attack on time!"
Montgomery sighed. He also heard about the attack of the American transport ship by German submarines and cruisers. Although there is no shortage of gasoline in the Middle East, the lack of equipment and ammunition is a problem that has to be solved. The United States transports military equipment to North Africa. It is too far away, so once the Germans interfere, there will be very serious consequences.
"Okay! George, I hope that the Americans will defend their interests in North Africa and the Middle East. I hope you can start the counterattack on time!" Montgomery was silent for a while, and finally said.