Imperial Overlord

With one hand on the pistols of the five British officers, the British officer turned his head subconsciously and saw his own officer, O'Connor, shaking his head sullenly. 【Full text reading】

Just listen to the British frontline commander say to his adjutant: "No need! We have to be responsible for the lives of ourselves and our soldiers..."

The adjutant looked at his superior, wondering why the other party became so passive all of a sudden. There are also many British soldiers around them. If they want to resist, they may not be able to escape.

"Operation Compass has been defeated... We are now... even if we get away, what can we do?" Unlike his adjutant, O'Connor now sees it very clearly.

To leave, Admiral Wavell is enough, and his troops are almost completely wiped out, so it is useless to escape all the way back to Matrouh.

"Go and deliver the order to surrender... We have fought for the motherland as best we can, and the war that belongs to us is over." Looking at his adjutant, Lieutenant General O'Connor said helplessly.

When he spoke, the second German No. 3 tank had rushed onto the road, and in the middle of several British trucks, the invincible it slowly rotated the turret and swept the firing British team to the ground.

The machine gun blazed, and the tracer rounds nearly formed a straight line, piercing through anything in that line.

One after another, helpless British soldiers fell in a pool of blood, and in a short period of time, at least 200 people were killed by machine guns.

"Surrender! Surrender!" A British soldier raised his hands, and more soldiers followed.

The British soldiers who had lost their organization naturally chose to surrender as their retreat. After all, their legs could not run the tracks of German tanks.

On the south side of the roadbed, a German soldier with a weapon, leaning behind an empty truck parked on the roadbed, holding a Mauser 98K rifle, watched in shock as the enemy raised his hands, from the car and the road to another. side out.

They came out one by one, as many as a hundred people, because they all held up their hands and dropped their weapons, so the German tanks temporarily stopped attacking.

When the third tank rushed onto the road, most of the British soldiers here had already surrendered to the German infantry with only a few dozen people.

There are about 50 officers at all levels, because this is a logistics and baggage unit with a headquarters, so the number of officers who surrendered in this period of the British army alone shocked the company commander of the German tank company.

More than 300 British soldiers surrendered, and the Germans also seized more than 30 cars, together with the supplies on them.

Many of the captured British trucks were munitions transport vehicles, which were also the military supplies that the British demanded to bring back to Matrouh when they retreated.

After all, it is relatively easy to find food and fresh water for the defense operations at the port of Matrouh, but weapons and ammunition have become important military supplies that need to be hoarded.

It's no wonder that the German tank hit a truck full of arms with one shot just now, mainly because many of the trucks here are stuffed with some arms, it's just a matter of how much.

More than a dozen German soldiers guarded the British soldiers who had surrendered their weapons, and the remaining German soldiers, under the cover of tanks, swept along the road for a distance of about 1 km eastward.

As a result, within the distance of this kilometer, they caught about 300 more people, and then they saw the beaming battalion commander, with the tanks of the other two companies driving head-on.

This victory was the first battle for the German army to enter Egypt, and it was also a prelude to the attack on Egypt.

And now it seems that the battle is obviously brilliant. At least 1,000 British soldiers were captured, which can be regarded as a complete annihilation of the British "Western Corps".

The strength of the British Indian 4th Infantry Division is now out of ten, and the 7th Armored Division has also existed in name only. What is even more terrifying is that after this battle, Egypt's western border has been opened.

"I heard that you caught a big fish?" The battalion commander of the armored battalion asked his subordinates with a smile.

The company commander of the 1st Company smiled and nodded, and introduced to his battalion commander: "When the prisoners were counted, there was an officer who claimed to be Lieutenant General O'Connor and was the top commander here."

"Oh, O'Connor, I heard...that he defeated the Italians." The battalion commander looked at his men and asked, "Are there any casualties?"

"One soldier was hit by a bullet and died on the spot... The other three were injured." The 1st company commander replied a little embarrassedly.

He was in charge of attacking the British baggage troop, and he did not encounter the serious British combat troops, so it was easier to fight.

The encounter between the 2nd Company and the 3rd Company was more difficult. They just blocked the main force of the British, and the two sides fought hard for the road.

The German armored forces, which have hastily established defensive positions, suffered their first heavy losses. A full 10 No. 3 tanks were destroyed by the enemy when they broke through.

The crazy attack of the British soldiers made the Germans a little unexpected. The two sides fought fiercely on the road. The British infantry destroyed 10 German tanks with their anti-tank guns.

During the battle, at least 40 members of the German tank crew were killed and three others were seriously injured.

The British soldiers on the opposite side fell at least 400 people, and then more than 1,500 soldiers surrendered.

To the surprise of the Germans, they were lucky enough to capture another British commander in the chaos, Admiral Wavell, the supreme commander of North Africa...

In other words, in this battle, none of the two senior commanders commanded by the British and who participated in the Compass operation escaped, and both became prisoners of the Germans.

And after this battle, at least 30,000 Italian prisoners hoarded on both sides of the road were rescued.

Ironically, it was precisely because these Italian prisoners stretched along the road that they blocked the way for the British troops to retreat, allowing the German tanks to catch up with the retreating British troops.

As a result, from Salem to West Dubai Nila all at once became the occupation area of ​​the German army, and the Italian prisoners in this area escaped the fate of being transported to Alexandria.

When Rommel's counterattack stopped, they had already fought back under the city of Matrouh, and lived in the siege fortifications built by Italy at that time.

What Rommel didn't expect was that some of the cannons that the Italians had no time to destroy when they retreated were still in the fortifications, with intact ammunition piled next to them.

More than 300 artillery pieces were recaptured, and 2,000 German soldiers escorted 10,000 Italian prisoners to complete the second siege of Matrouh.

"General! On behalf of the British 7th Armored Division, and the Nile Army of the 4th Indian Infantry Division... I surrender to your troops! I hope you can abide by the convention and treat prisoners of war reasonably." Admiral Wavell now looks yellow and thin. Standing in front of Rommel's car, he whispered his lines.

On his side are some photographers that Rommel brought along with the army. Not unlike history, the Führer's confidant will love photography to the point of obsession.

The top commander of the Afrika Corps, wherever he goes, brings his own photographer and camera equipment.

If he is happy, he will take pictures himself, and he is willing to take the risk of taking the more dangerous gliders and simple reconnaissance planes in order to take good pictures.

History is full of photos that Rommel took himself, and he even leaned out on a plane to take a picture overlooking his army marching.

As for the scene of accepting the surrender of the enemy general and the lieutenant general, Rommel naturally wants to leave a photo to commemorate this important moment.

He was standing on his car. Although the adjutant had wiped the door of the car for the photo effect, he could still see how old the car was.

"Allow your surrender! Mr. Admiral! I promise on behalf of Germany that prisoners of war will be treated fairly!" Rommel said to Admiral Wavell with a smile.

As the commander of the African Legion, Rommel has no record of malicious abuse of prisoners, which is why his personal charm and commanding ability are respected by later generations.

Of course, now his promise is just a promise - he has changed history and brought General Wavell, who will be transferred to India next year, into his prisoner of war camp.

"Kacha" Although the size of the photographic equipment at this time was not small, there was already a very small device such as a small Leica camera.

It is enviable that Rommel is one of the richest people in Germany and likes Leica cameras.

The officers held cameras to record this great historical moment: about 36,000 British troops that defeated 200,000 Italian troops were wiped out by 3,000 German soldiers!

More than 36,000 British soldiers~www.wuxiaspot.com~ In the end, less than half escaped back to Matrouh, and the rest were either killed in Libya or captured by the German army.

And now, the British garrison in Mattrune has dropped to less than 20,000 - this number is very dangerous, you must know that behind the 3,000 German troops, there are 100,000 Italian soldiers who have gradually recovered. !

In any case, although these Italian soldiers were unable to fight, it was still possible to send 20,000 people to the German team to support the German team with their triumphs all the way.

"Send a telegram to the Führer! We have lived up to his hopes..." Rommel stood in his car, looking at the countless dejected British prisoners in front of him, and instructed his subordinates.

On August 30, in the hot Egyptian territory, the German African Army soldiers approached Matru, and the second Matru battle kicked off.

The two sides participating in the war this time, the British side are the remnants of the Nile Army, plus the Australian 6th Infantry Division, which has just been added to Egypt.

On the Axis side, there are 3,000 German Afrikaans, escorting the reluctant 20,000 Italian defeated...