Chapter 121 Gabshari Defense Line

The result of this encounter was that the British 9th Armored Regiment no longer existed as a combat unit...

Colonel Gale, the commander of the British 9th Armored Regiment, was killed on the spot. Several German soldiers found his body in a destroyed "Mammoth" armored command vehicle. His headquarters and radio were also killed with him.

From this point of view, although the "Mammoth" armored command vehicle is comfortable, it is not safe on the battlefield. The main reason is that it is very different from the "Matador" car in appearance. German soldiers can recognize it at a glance and notify the tanks to destroy it... The German armor-piercing high-explosive bomb is not a waste. After penetrating it, it can explode inside the armored vehicle, so no officer inside is spared.

The loss of the radio and headquarters meant that although some tanks and cars of the British 9th Armored Regiment escaped, they could not contact their superiors. Driven by fear, they were at a loss and fled to the British defense line along the original route.

The 9th Armored Regiment was defeated silently, and they didn't even have time to report to General Auchinleck, so they became the first domino to overwhelm the "Crusader" plan...

At this time, the British front-line commander, Lieutenant General Cunningham, commander of the Eighth Army, thought that the 9th Armored Regiment was still on the way to the side of Halfa Pass, so the rest of the plan was still carried out as planned.

Regarding the loss of contact with the 9th Armored Regiment, Lieutenant General Cunningham thought it was just the radio silence of the 9th Armored Regiment. It was not until three hours later when the deserters of the 9th Armored Regiment met with the follow-up troops that Lieutenant General Cunningham learned the real situation...

"What? The 9th Armored Regiment has been defeated?" Lieutenant General Cunningham was shocked: "How is this possible?!"

"General, it is absolutely true!" The staff officer said: "They were attacked fiercely by the main German armored division, and only 9 tanks and more than 500 infantry escaped!"

In the military, it is taboo to use vague statements such as "the main German armored division" in reports. Generally, the enemy's number will be detailed. But under the circumstances at the time, the British army didn't even know which German army they encountered, so they could only report like this.

"How many tanks does the enemy have? How many troops? Which direction are they moving in?" Lieutenant General Cunningham asked a series of questions anxiously.

The staff shook his head helplessly: "They know nothing about the enemy's situation, but they guessed that they should be moving in the direction of the Gabushali Line!"

The Gabushali Line is the right wing of the German defense line, where the British built a line of defense.

"Damn it!" Lieutenant General Cunningham cursed, and then immediately ordered: "Order the South African 1st Division to prepare for battle and stop the enemy's attack at all costs! In addition, order the 22nd Armored Regiment to reinforce the Gabushali Line immediately!"

"Yes!"

Lieutenant General Cunningham was indeed nervous as needed. There is a saying in the military that "One careless move will lead to a complete loss!"

The 9th Armored Regiment was originally a brilliant move. It could attack Halfa's teeth from both sides and make the British 13th Army attacking on the front line like a flood.

But who would have thought that the 9th Armored Regiment not only failed to play a role but was also defeated by the enemy in one encounter, which reversed the entire situation...

If the German armored division arrived and captured the Gabushali Line, the entire German line would be connected, which would cut off the British supply line and surround all British troops that crossed the German line on the other side of the German line.

That was the entire 30th Army.

After thinking about it, Lieutenant General Cunningham ordered again: "The 8th Armored Regiment...call them back immediately!"

The mission of the 8th Armored Regiment was to attack Tobruk and contain the Italian troops stationed in Tobruk so that they could not reinforce the Halfagu Pass Line. Now that the 9th Armored Regiment has been destroyed, the mission of the 8th Armored Regiment has lost its meaning. ,

But the staff officer took a telegram and replied: "General, the 8th Armored Regiment has launched an attack on Tobruk!"

Lieutenant General Cunningham was very angry when he heard this. He didn't dare to call back easily after launching the attack, because it meant exposing his position and it was easy to be ambushed by the enemy on the way back.

After thinking for a while, Lieutenant General Cunningham ordered: "Order the 7th Armored Brigade to move closer to the Gabshali Line immediately!"

"Yes!" The staff officer responded.

This order also meant that the 7th Armored Brigade was running back and forth on the road in vain.

Just when Lieutenant General Cunningham arranged all this and wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, a signalman reported: "General, the Gabshali Line was attacked by the Germans!"

Lieutenant General Cunningham turned pale. The Germans actually arrived at the Gabshali Line so quickly.

"Order General Alger to defend the Gabshali Line!" Lieutenant General Cunningham ordered: "Reinforcements will arrive in two hours!"

"Yes!"

It was the 21st Armored Division that arrived at the Gabshali Line.

Compared with the British troops scattered into several regiments here and there, the German deployment was very simple. They had one line of defense and one base camp.

The line of defense was the Halfagu Pass Line of Defense, and the base camp was Tobruk.

Two armored divisions, namely the 15th and 21st Armored Divisions, were used as mobile forces.

The 15th Armored Division was mainly used for mobility on the defense line. They would rush to any place that was about to be broken through by the British army or needed reinforcements.

The 21st Armored Division was used as a mobile defense on the right wing... The German army had too few troops, and they could not build a defense line without gaps, so they could only use this mobile defense method.

The German army's battle plan was also very simple. When they found that there was an enemy in the gap on the right wing, they went straight to the front line to eliminate all enemies that crossed the defense line.

Sometimes the battlefield is like this. The simpler the plan, the more effective it is, and the more complicated the plan, the more hectic it is, and even if there is a problem in one link, the whole plan will be disrupted.

In this battle, the German army was obviously the former, and the British army was the latter.

One of the accidents that happened was that the road of the German 21st Armored Division to the battlefield overlapped with the forward route of the British 9th Armored Regiment, and they also met at one point... So the British army's overall plan was disrupted.

The result of this is that although the British army has much more total troops than the German army, the German army always has a force advantage in every local battlefield and can quickly defeat the British army.

For example, on the Gabshari Line, the British army had only one South African 1st Division, whose combat effectiveness was not up to par, and an armored battalion equipped with 80 Valentine tanks.

If there was any equipment worth mentioning, it would be the 9 surviving Stuart tanks of the 9th Armored Regiment.