Six Hundred and Sixty-Three Geniuses Plan

While the Italian soldiers were stunned, a German ju-52 transport plane slowly stopped on the runway of the airport. There were still a few bullet holes in its wings, but its sturdy structure allowed it to return safely to the control of the German army. area.

Immediately afterwards, the second plane also stopped on the runway, and the endless German transport planes in the sky, the butcher bombers covering these transport planes, and the 110 fw-190d fighter jets responsible for covering missions all explained to everyone How huge is the size of the German paratroopers this time.

There are a total of 800 ju-52 transport aircraft, plus the new ju-62 transport aircraft that has just entered service for a short time, and the number is only 70. If you count the 200 butcher bombers that were bombed in advance and put into battle as cover and 110 fw-190ds, this time the Germans invested nearly 1,200 aircraft in one go.

Such a large aircraft fleet marks the maturity of the Luftwaffe's aircraft formation command and air control experience, and also marks that Germany is now capable of sending a large number of paratroopers into distant battlefields at a time to carry out sabotage tasks behind enemy lines.

Originally, the German ju-52 was very difficult to travel between several airports on Crete and the area east of Alexandria under the condition of high load. As a result, Aka was deeply influenced by the one-way bombing plan of later American long-range bombers. Duo, came up with a plan that shocked everyone.

Inspired by another time and space, American bombers did not return to the starting base after bombing Japan, but flew directly to China to land, and drew up a bold plan for airborne paratroopers: the ju-52 transport fleet departed from Crete, After completing the mission, return to the field airport in Egypt, and then return to Crete after replenishing fuel. This plan was immediately implemented by Student, and Rommel even mobilized the second-line Italian troops to undertake the task of building the airport.

Two German airborne divisions that were not fully staffed, nearly 21,000 German paratroopers, together with 170 gliders and 40 tank gliders, were thrown into the North African desert battlefield in one breath. These German paratroopers even had long pants , gray-green.

These German paratroopers were issued some light yellow desert-painted raincoats. Even after completing all preparations for combat in the desert, they were still studying a small manual on desert combat before boarding the plane, learning how to prevent desert scorpions from crawling into themselves. in the boots.

And it was such a hasty but effective plan that completely disrupted the combat deployment of the U.S. Army and the British Army, and pierced the heart of the U.S. Army like a steel knife. The American army was originally composed of mercenaries. Although many regular army troops were added later, not all of them were elites. It was barely enough to fight regular battles under Patton's command. Let them fight at the risk of being surrounded. That would be a little difficult.

What's more, when Patton knew that his rear was robbed, he immediately took the main force under the army headquarters, that is, the 8th Armored Division and some independent armored combat units,

Including a main infantry division, they retreated quickly, causing the command to be interrupted for a while, and the scene immediately became chaotic.

As a result, American soldiers, mixed with the Indian federal army, which was originally weak in combat effectiveness, began to surrender to the opposite German army on a large scale. The soldiers of the 8th Army, who could not see the edge, raised their hands high, blocking the road and waiting for their opponents to come to receive them. Hundreds of soldiers did not know what happened, so they were surrounded by the chaos and began to rout .

It wasn't that Patton was too sensitive and fled early, ignoring more than 100,000 friendly troops. Instead, he received a telegram a few days ago, which was jointly signed by the newly appointed Supreme Command of the United States, General Eisenhower and President Roosevelt. The above content requires Patton to retain the main force when it is most dangerous, and must ensure that the Suez Canal can be used as a line of defense to prevent the German army from continuing to advance eastward.

The United States is not the younger brother of the United Kingdom. The mission of Patton's U.S. Army is not to help the United Kingdom defend Egypt. In fact, Patton's highest goal is not the same as Montgomery's. Hold the Suez Canal—Even Cairo is not an area that Patton needs to defend, so there is no need for him to fight the Germans here.

The moment Patton learned that his rear was cut off, all he could do was to keep as many troops as possible in his hands. As for the miscellaneous troops and British allies, he could only help as much as he could. He didn't dare to wait, so he could only race against time to get back the lost rear supply line and run away.

Patton's idea is very simple, that is to let the troops left behind slow down the pace of Rommel's eastward advance. As long as it takes two days, he can lead his troops to wipe out the German paratroopers behind him. Most of the nearby British troops will be able to safely retreat to Cairo, at least in the short term the situation in North Africa will not collapse.

"Send a telegram to Washington! Let them explain why the German paratroopers suddenly appeared in Egypt! Can their planes really be able to complete the round-trip flight?" Patton asked his chief of staff angrily, because no one People once talked about the threat of German paratroopers on the North African battlefield. After all, Crete has been occupied for a long time. In any case, the Allied forces should have a combat forecast report against the opponent's paratroopers.

"There are about 40,000 troops entangled by the Germans. They are not mobile enough, and more than 30,000 can only be left on the battlefield. The biggest losses are cars and tanks. We lost almost half of them." The staff officer ignored his chief's complaints , He just got the report on the estimated loss of the troops. The 8th Army lost almost one-third at once, and some troops could not be contacted for a while.

Patton nodded. Now he felt that he still had a three-point chance of winning. After all, the plan of the German paratroopers was a bit too bold. As long as he returned to the horse and shot him beautifully, at least he could eat the German paratroopers who had been making the Allies choke. So this time, it's not so much that Barton ran fast enough, it's better to say that he made a quick decision and decided to make a vigorous exchange.

"General Montgomery is calling. He is asking you to open up the transportation channel. He will hold back as many German troops as possible in Alexandria." Ten minutes ago, the communication between the 9th Army and the 8th Army was restored, and Montgomery also knew about Patton After lamenting the unconstrained nature of the German airborne plan, Montgomery hoped that Patton could kill the blood and ensure that the two armies returned to Cairo smoothly.

"I really can't hesitate, German paratroopers - became famous in the Netherlands and Belgium, cleaned up the local garrison troops in one meal, and then made great contributions in the landing battle of the British mainland, and then fought in Malta and Crete They fought two beautiful independent battles." Patton closed the battle records of the German paratroopers, and praised his opponent with admiration.

This German paratrooper unit known as the Green Goblin is really not a powerful character who can be dealt with by sending some troops casually. If I hadn't made a decisive decision a few hours ago, I might really want to run now but I can't run away. With such a unit blocked behind, it is really hard to say whether they can break through the defense line organized by these paratroopers if they wait until the battle is defeated and then turn back.

But now I still have hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles here, plus almost 50,000 infantry, and intermittently 20,000 people may catch up to join the battle. In this way, Patton still has the confidence to eat these Germans , successfully fled to Cairo with the troops.

"Order the tanks of the Independent Armored Brigade, all tanks, to attack along the road. Break through the defensive positions arranged by the opponent!" Patton drew a straight line on the map with his hand. He didn't want to waste time, so he decided to use the simplest and most direct method to cut open The opponent's line of defense: "Then the 8th Armored Division rounded to the left, and the 8th Mechanized Rifle Division moved to the right, encircling all the German paratroopers and fighting a war of annihilation!"

The battle deployment is very simple. Use the superior armor power to cut the enemy from the middle, and then outflank the opponent from the two wings, divide and encircle, and defeat each one. And at this time, the Americans still have a trump card: the heavy artillery units that could not keep up with the army's attack are now in the army every time they come and go, and the American troops have an advantage in firepower than before.

"Notify all the troops that the enemy is just a light infantry unit without many heavy weapons. As long as we fight steadily, we can surround them within a day!" Patton still did not forget to cheer his subordinates up at this time. Although he lost many troops, However, he also lost a lot of burdens. In his opinion, it is still unknown who will win the game!

At the same time, everyone in Rommel's headquarters was struggling with the large number of prisoners and the occasional resistance. A front-line commander pointed to a map and told Rommel the difficulties he encountered: "The troops who surrendered were blocked on the road, the trucks were abandoned because there was no fuel, and the resisting troops behind were firing. The scene was too chaotic. No, my troops cannot advance now."

"The reconnaissance plane spotted Patton's rearguard troops. They are retreating rapidly and have left the battlefield." The staff officer added: "If we want to solve the various troubles in front of us, clear up the road, and catch up with Patton, we must at least Two days, if the opponent's defenders resist tenaciously, the time may be longer."

"Proceed with the fastest speed!" After being silent for a while, Rommel finally gave his first order after winning the battle: "Then catch up with Patton at the fastest speed! This is what I gave The order is very simple: don't let a single enemy go!"