Chapter 142 Glory

So the British army had to retreat. Otherwise, by the time the 21st Armored Division arrived at Sidi Ouma to replenish fuel and supplies, the British army's clumsy infantry tanks might not even be able to escape back to Egypt.

General Stryker was not aware of the British army's retreat. He was still in the command vehicle looking at the map and planning with the officers where the troops should attack after they regained supplies from Sidi Ouma.

"I think we should return to Tobruk!" Colonel Olbrich suggested, "Then we can unexpectedly stab the British in the back!"

"I think we should attack Halfa Pass!" Colonel Slaine said, "As long as we hold there, we can block the supply and retreat of the British 13th Army. In this way, they have only one choice, which is to abandon tanks and equipment and bypass the Halfa Pass defense line through the Gabshali defense line!"

General Strike did not answer. After a pause, he sighed, "No matter which choice is good for us, isn't it?"

"Yes, General!" Colonel Slaine and Colonel Olbrich answered in unison.

"I can't believe it!" said General Strike, "This situation was actually opened by a sergeant, a thief... Not long ago, I wanted to shoot him!"

"General!" Colonel Slain laughed, "If you really did that, we would probably be basking in the sun next to the tank without oil!"

General Strike nodded, "So we should be thankful, right?"

"Yes!"

As he was talking, a signalman handed General Strike a telegram and said, "General, General Rommel called!"

General Strike took the telegram and frowned.

"What's wrong, General?" Colonel Olbrich asked. He didn't understand what would bother General Strike at this time.

"The British retreated!" said General Strike.

"Oh!" Colonel Olbrich and Colonel Slain looked at each other and felt sorry.

The British retreated at a very bad time. If the 21st Armored Division had replenished its fuel in Sidioma, it could have chased the British deserters all the way.

But now...

The German army without enough supplies can only rush back to Sidioma first. When the German army is ready to pursue again, the British may have run away, so they can only watch the British escape.

After thinking about it, General Stryk laughed: "They found it!"

"What did they find?" Colonel Slaine was a little confused by General Stryk's sudden words.

"Supply!" General Stryk said: "Supply in Sidioma! The British guessed that we did not blow up the supply in Sidioma based on our marching route and direction!"

The two colonels couldn't help but say "Oh", and then several people laughed at the same time.

"So they retreated, right?" Colonel Slaine said.

"Of course!" Colonel Olbridge said, "Once we get that batch of supplies, they will be finished! So, it was that batch of supplies that defeated the British!"

"I really want to know Auchinleck's expression now!" Colonel Slain said, "If possible, I would also like to tell him that this was all a sergeant's idea, and he was defeated by a sergeant!"

"It's very simple!" General Strike raised his head in the direction of the radio station: "The British have been eavesdropping on our radio station. You send what you want to say in Morse code, and I guarantee that Auchinleck will receive your words!"

The officers couldn't help laughing.

The news of the British retreat soon spread to the carriage where the soldiers were riding, and the soldiers couldn't help but cheer:

"We won!"

"The British retreated!"

...

Alfredo said to Qin Chuan with emotion: "Sergeant, we survived again!"

"Yes, we survived again!" Qin Chuan nodded.

This battle was not too dangerous for the infantry. They did not suffer large-scale artillery bombardment from the enemy and were rarely bombed by enemy aircraft. They were more likely to march on the road or follow tanks to provide cover and fire.

However, no matter how fierce the battle was, everyone would feel like they had survived a disaster after each battle.

However, the battle did not end there. Rommel ordered the 15th Armored Division and even the Italian army to start chasing the fleeing British army.

The Italian army would not be assigned such a task under normal circumstances, but on the one hand, it was because the German army was short of manpower and there were really no soldiers available except the Italian army. On the other hand, it was a battle with a favorable wind at this time...

Fighting a battle with a favorable wind and fighting a battle with an adverse wind are two different things. A unit with good quality can fight a battle with a favorable wind and a battle with an adverse wind. A unit with poor quality will collapse like a pile of loose sand in a battle with an adverse wind, but in a battle with a favorable wind, it is possible to kill and rush like a group of bandits.

The Italian army was obviously the latter. They knew that the British army had been defeated by the German army and had to retreat. In addition, they had been beaten to a pulp by the British army before. Now, whether it was revenge or a desire to show bravery, they launched a massive pursuit of the British army after receiving the order. The Italian soldiers marched forward along the road in neat formations and in brand new uniforms, all with their heads held high, as if they had defeated the British in this battle.

The 21st Armored Division could not feel this "glory". They were ordered to garrison Sidioma.

The reason is that Sidioma has a lot of supplies, and Sidioma is located 70 kilometers inside Egypt... This makes this batch of supplies very important, because it is equivalent to transporting supplies from Tobruk to the front line for 100 kilometers. It provides a perfect front-line supply base for the German and Italian troops.

So Sidioma quickly became busy, and cars drove into the village, and then loaded with supplies, fuel and water to the German and Italian troops chasing the British in the north.

Qin Chuan and others built a defense line in Sidioma to prevent the British troops from suddenly attacking.

In fact, there is no great need to build a defense line, because since the British 7th Armored Division was defeated by the 21st Armored Division, the British Army has no armored forces that can match the 21st Armored Division, and it is difficult to imagine winning without armored forces on the open battlefield in Africa, especially offensive battles.

So what we really need to guard against is the air threat from the British Army. At this time, the wind and sand have gradually died down, and British reconnaissance planes are flying in groups in the air. After they detect that there are convoys entering and leaving Sidioma, bombers will come to bomb soon.