Chapter 231 Ambush

As three red flares rose into the air, the first batch of hundreds of tanks of the British First Armored Division rumbled towards the Italian defense line.

The one leading the way was actually a "minesweeper tank", which was similar in structure to the minesweeper tank invented by Qin Chuan, except that the British army used special rollers and chains with spherical counterweights because of its strong industrial and transportation capabilities, and also added a small compartment on the right side of the tank... This small compartment was only big enough for one person to get into, and it accommodated the operator of the minesweeper roller.

Such an improvement was obviously much more advanced than the simple "minesweeper tank" of the German army, and because it was modified from the "Valentine" tank with a lower failure rate, it ran very smoothly, whipping forward and detonating mines one by one.

At the same time, the timing of the British attack was just right... The British tanks were located in the east, and the sun had just risen. The sunlight cast shadows on the British tanks, but it hit the eyes of the Italian gunners directly, making it difficult for the Italian tanks and anti-tank gunners to aim at the target, while the British tanks could hide in the shadows.

In fact, even without these factors, it was difficult for the Italian gunners to aim at the target. As mentioned before, the Italian tanks did not even have gunners, and machine gunners were used temporarily when they needed to fire.

So the shells from the Italian direction always hit the sand near the British tanks.

In fact, even if they hit, it would be useless. The Italian M13 tanks were equipped with 47MM artillery, which had to be at least 300 meters away to penetrate the British "General Grant" tanks. At this time, the British First Armored Division had strictly followed Montgomery's order of "only long-range combat is allowed, not close combat", and the two armies were at least 700 meters apart.

On the other hand, the British "General Grant" type, with its 75MM tank gun, could easily penetrate the armor of the Italian M13 tank at this distance, so one by one the Italian tanks turned into balls of flames in the whistling sound of the shells, and some were even beaten into scattered parts.

A few minutes later, when British fighter planes swarmed up to join the battle, the Italian army began to retreat completely.

Rommel's order to the Italian 132nd Division was: "Fight for a while and pretend to retreat!"

This task was actually easy to complete, so the commander of the 132nd Division, Major General Greco, agreed to it.

But what Rommel didn't expect was... the Italian army didn't have to pretend at all, but really retreated.

The difference is that if they pretended to retreat, they should have buried anti-tank mines behind them to slow down the speed of the British tanks, but the Italian army did not do so, which caused the Italian army to lose almost half of its tanks in the following battle because the speed of the tanks was far less than that of the British tanks.

(Note: The maximum speed of the M13 is 33 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed of the "General Grant" tank is 42 kilometers per hour.)

Major General Eberle was extremely excited when he saw the retreat of the Italian Armored Division... For the Armored Division, the most proud thing was to destroy the enemy tanks. Although the opponent was the vulnerable Italian tanks, every time he saw the enemy tanks being blown into balls of flames and scrap metal in an instant... The comfort and pride of being a commander is something that outsiders cannot understand.

"Attack, boys!" Eberle's face flushed with excitement. He waved his hands and shouted in the walkie-talkie: "Use your shells and tracks to teach these Italians who don't know their own strength a lesson. Victory belongs to us!"

Major General Eberle finally vented the humiliation he suffered in France and the doubts and contempts he received in his own country at this moment.

Major General Eberle's behavior was actually normal. The failure of the First Armored Division in France made Major General Eberle feel fear and inferiority on the battlefield, which was one of the reasons why he had never dared to accept this task.

When the situation turns around, inferiority complex will often turn into another extreme...arrogance.

Major General Eberle's performance at this time is the arrogant side.

In this respect, Major General Eberle is not a qualified general, because he does not have the determination of "not being arrogant when winning and not being complacent when losing".

So this doomed the failure of the 1st Armored Division...

"Fire!" With an order, the German army, which had been ambushed on both wings and prepared, fired shells one after another.

The German army did not have many tanks, so most of the anti-tank guns fired at this time. Most of their gun bodies were hidden in the bunkers, with only one gun barrel exposed. In addition, it was just dawn and the light was not very bright, so the British army chasing them all the way did not notice the black gun barrels facing them.

"What happened!" Major General Eberle watched his tanks being destroyed one by one and asked in surprise: "What destroyed our tanks?"

"General!" The staff officer seemed to see the problem: "We were ambushed by the enemy, and the shells were fired from both wings!"

Major General Eberle turned the telescope to the flank, and sure enough, he saw that the area that looked like a yellow sand was intensively firing shells at the British tank group, but the British "General Grant" tanks, due to the problem of vision and firing range, did not even find where the shells that destroyed them came from.

"Retreat!" Major General Eberle hurriedly ordered: "Let them withdraw immediately!"

But it was obviously too late to withdraw now.

Dozens of German tanks suddenly emerged from the sand, covering the German troops to penetrate the two wings and rear of the British tank group.

At the same time, the German fighter planes also joined the battle group in time and fought with the British fighter planes...

Major General Eberle's face turned pale. At this moment, he realized that the 1st Armored Division would fail again, and it would probably be the worst failure.

In fact, this cannot be blamed on Major General Eberle, nor can it be said that the 1st Armored Division was not strong in combat effectiveness... Although this is true, it is precisely because of this that the 1st Armored Division was quickly converted into a "non-combat force" and then disbanded after the war.

However... the moment Montgomery got the map and believed that the information on the map was true, this failure was doomed, no matter which British army came in.

Because the British army was facing not one armored division, but three armored divisions: two German armored divisions on the left and right, plus an Italian armored division.

Although the Italian armored division did not have much combat effectiveness, and the two German armored divisions did not have many tanks, but under the ambush of a large number of anti-tank guns... and the weak parts on the side were exposed to the anti-tank gun group, the result can be imagined.

There are even a few 88 anti-aircraft guns among them... If used for offense, this thing will be too large and easily bombed by fighter planes, but hidden in a bunker and with air cover, it can still play a role in a defensive battle.