Chapter 270: Jehazo

The transport aircraft group landed in Gerhasso, which is about 200 kilometers away from Alexandria. The German army built an airport here in order to quickly transport troops and supplies to the southern section of the defense line in case of emergencies.

This surprised Qin Chuan a little, because this is the defense section of the 15th Armored Division, and the 1st Infantry Regiment should be with the 21st Armored Division.

As soon as Qin Chuan got off the plane, he was called to the command vehicle by General Slaine.

"Maybe you have found the problem!" Colonel Slain said, "We are in the southern section with the 15th Armored Division!"

"Yes!" Qin Chuan said, "Has this become the enemy's main attack direction?"

"You can say that!" Colonel Slain spread out the map while speaking, and said, "The situation is like this. We only found out last night that the British have been keeping their eyes on the Alexander Line... The situation they created on Crete is obviously fake. On the other hand, they must be secretly transporting and unloading at night, so we know nothing about their new tanks!"

"New tanks?"

Colonel Slain handed Qin Chuan a sketch and said, "This is a soldier who has seen it and drew it from memory!"

After receiving the sketch, Qin Chuan was so surprised that he opened his mouth for a long time and couldn't close it... It turned out to be a "Sherman" tank.

"Do you recognize this tank, Lieutenant?" Colonel Slain asked.

"No, Colonel!" Qin Chuan replied: "Never seen it!"

Of course Qin Chuan couldn't have never seen it, but as far as Qin Chuan knew, the British Army was not equipped with "Sherman" tanks until the Second Battle of El Alamein, which was at least a few months away from now...

But think about it, this seems normal.

In history, the British Army was not beaten all the way to Alexandria by the German Army like now, and the entire Eighth Army could only rely on Port Said for transportation like now... At this time, the British Eighth Army was truly unable to retreat, because once Port Said was taken, it meant that the Suez Canal was completely cut off.

So, of course, the British Army would deploy "Sherman" tanks in advance to try to turn the tide of the war.

"Our tanks can't stop the attack of this kind of tanks at all!" Colonel Slain said: "The news we got is... they can destroy the "No. 3" tanks at 800 meters away, but the "No. 3" can't do anything to them!"

This is of course. When the "Sherman" tanks first went to the battlefield, the German army only had the "No. 4" tanks to match them, but the entire African Corps had only a dozen "No. 4s".

"So!" Colonel Slain pointed to a section of the defense line in front of Gerhasso and said, "The 15th Armored Division suffered a disastrous defeat here last night. They almost lost all their tanks. What's worse is that they almost lost the confidence to continue fighting!" Qin Chuan knew how serious this was... The 15th Armored Division was not a mob. It had been fighting the British in the desert from the beginning. It was an elite force that was experienced and even comparable to the 21st Armored Division. If the 15th Armored Division was about to collapse, was there any hope of winning this battle? Later, Qin Chuan learned that Rommel had been strictly ordering the 15th Armored Division to hold the defense line, but Major Gro replied frustratedly: "General, our tanks are vulnerable. Half of the newly added fifty tanks were blown up in an instant. Even if the remaining half were sent up, they would die... This is meaningless!" "No matter what method is used, they must be kept out of the defense line!" Rommel ordered. Rommel had to do this, because if the Alexander Line could not be defended, it would mean that the German army would have to retreat to the Alamein Line or even the Gazala Line further behind.

In this way, Matruh would fall into the hands of the British. Once Matruh was lost, Crete would be in danger... In other words, the supply lines and industries that the German army had built with great difficulty were instantly destroyed.

"Yes, General!" Major General Gro answered numbly, but he had no hope of holding the line in his heart.

"So!" Colonel Slaine said, "Do you know why we are here?"

"Because we have rocket launchers!" Qin Chuan replied.

"Yes!" Colonel Slaine said, "We are the only troops equipped with rocket launchers and trained so far. This may be the only thing we can do to stop this new type of tank!"

So, the First Infantry Regiment began to build a defense line east of the village of Gerhasso, five kilometers away from the airport.

Transport planes flew in batches from Crete, bringing boxes of ammunition to the First Infantry Regiment, most of which were anti-tank equipment.

"Why don't we occupy the hill ahead?" the baker asked while digging trenches.

The baker was right. Generally speaking, infantry defense should occupy high ground, especially against enemy armored forces... Tanks have limited elevation angles, and they slow down when climbing. In addition, it is not easy to aim on the slope. This is no secret to the First Infantry Regiment, which was originally an armored force.

"Because we use rocket launchers!" Qin Chuan explained: "The range of rocket launchers is only 160 meters... Although this range is quite good, it is still within the range of enemy mortars!"

The baker couldn't help but say "Oh" when he heard this.

If the trenches are built on the hill, they will undoubtedly be suppressed by enemy artillery fire.

Of course, trenches built behind the hill also have this problem, but at least the artillery cannot see and need artillery observers or reconnaissance aircraft to guide, which will also cause coordination problems for the enemy and give themselves more chances of survival.

But in fact, the benefits are not just that.

About half an hour later, the German soldiers ushered in the first batch of defeated troops.

This is a group of German troops, obviously soldiers of the 15th Armored Division... The Italian troops had withdrawn as soon as possible after suffering the first round of attacks last night.

Qin Chuan had never seen German soldiers like this before. Their faces were stained with blood and blackened by gunpowder smoke, and their eyes were full of terror.

When they saw the crude fortifications built by Qin Chuan and others, they shouted to Qin Chuan and others: "You'd better run away, it's useless!"

"You can't stop them, no one can! We lose!"

…

"Army!" Werner shouted at one of them.

The German soldier stopped, and then Qin Chuan recognized that it was Dürer who was studying with them in the military academy and was nicknamed the Military Assassin. Qin Chuan clearly remembered that he was an excellent scout and was not afraid of anything. .

But at this time, Dürer seemed to have changed. He glanced at Qin Chuan and others, and then shook his head: "Second Lieutenant, even if you come, you can't stop them!"

"We can!" Werner said: "Stay and fight with us!"

"No!" Dürer shook his head: "You don't know what happened, you don't know anything!"