Imperial Overlord

Benha, the only way to go south from Tanta to Cairo, is not a huge city. Like many cities in North Africa, everything here is small.

It is deceptive to say that this is a city, because the population here is only a pitiful 70,000 people today.

Compared with the overcrowded Chinese cities, this is only the size of a small town. Although there are many buildings, it is far from dense.

The buildings here are all decorated with yellow sand, and they look old and single in color. Fortunately, it was once far away from the war, so the buildings are relatively well preserved.

At this moment, everything has changed. On the road in the distance, smoke and dust have risen from the sky, and it is obvious that a large group of people are killing here.

Putting down the binoculars in his hand, a battalion commander of the 10th German Mechanized Infantry Division squinted at the enemy swept in like a sandstorm, and did not mean to be timid.

Beside him is an already-ready mg-34 machine gun, equipped with a complex tripod used to act as a heavy machine gun support fire.

Next to the machine gun, the soldiers of the German Afrika Korps in shorts were lying on the back of the low wall, looking at the enemy who gradually became clear in the sand and dust.

An American m3 tank is rushing along the road like here. Obviously, it is not only such a tank that is attacking, there are many such enemies in the sand and dust.

More tanks behind the m3 were obscured by sand and dust, and further afield were the trucks that followed behind the tanks, with groups of British soldiers in their compartments.

"Battle ready!" The German battalion commander reminded his soldiers loudly that his voice was not very loud, and even had a dry and hoarse taste.

Having lived in this desert for a long time, it seems that even the voice of speaking has brought local characteristics. Everything here smells hot, reminiscent of words like dry roast.

Those who answered the battalion commander's shout were the soldiers of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Division, the sound of the clattering of their gun bolts.

Although a large number of stg-44 assault rifles have been produced and equipped with front-line German troops, the largest weapon in the German army is still the Mauser 98k bolt-action rifle.

Pull the bolt, put a bullet in the chamber, the soldiers are ready for battle, lie down behind the crack in the wall, or on the roof of the window, use the gap in the front sight to press the enemy that is approaching in the distance .

Behind an artificially demolished low wall, with a few broken stones stacked on it, the Stalker tank destroyer used its 50mm cannon, which also aimed at the Allied tanks in the distance.

"Car No. 3! Car No. 3! Do you hear it? This is Car No. 2! This is Car No. 2!" Pressing the throat communicator, the commander of the Stalker's tank destroyer leaned half-length and asked. road.

A clear answer quickly echoed in the headset: "I'm Car No. 3, I heard your call! Very clear! Did you find anything?"

"In the combat manual, the British don't have this kind of tank... Maybe it's an American product!" Inside the binoculars, looking at the American m3 tank raising dust, the German commander said.

"It should be aid from the United States... Who knows? What? Are you going to give up the attack and let them go?" Inside the headset, the captain of Car No. 3 asked rhetorically with a smile.

The captain of the second car continued to hold the binoculars, ignoring the jokes made by his comrades: "Does the tactics need to be adjusted? It is the same as the British tanks?"

"There is no good choice. Aim at the car body and fire, and try to put it at a distance of 100 meters." The voice in the earphone replied.

"I fired at the nearest tank! It's over!" Finally, the commander of the second car closed his mouth, because the opponent's tank was already approaching a relatively dangerous distance at this time.

"Call the company commander! Call the company commander! Car No. 2 is aiming at the enemy tank closest to us, and I'm aiming at the one to the left of this tank! Yes... the one on the side of the roadbed!" Tank No. 3 reported its own target.

"Along the road! Along the road!" On the second car, the half-length commander leaned out and began to instruct his tank to adjust the aiming angle.

Because it is a turretless design, the aiming adjustment of the stalker tank is a bit more troublesome, and if necessary, it needs to adjust its hull.

However, because of the preset ambush positions, this defect is not prominent. The gunner began to move his guns, pointing little by little at the distant target.

In the eyepiece of the sight, the crosshair marked with scales moved with the muzzle of his artillery, and the m3 tank rushing in the sight became clear little by little.

"I found the target!" After completing his aiming, the gunner opened his mouth to confirm the tactical action.

On the other side of the Stalker tank destroyer, the same thing is being repeated. While the British tanks are gradually approaching, the German team is gradually preparing for its own battle.

"Even the reconnaissance unit is not arranged, what a layman!" A German infantryman leaning near the Stalker tank destroyer with a rifle, looked at the approaching British team, and said with a sneer.

"Maybe it's in a hurry." Beside him, a veteran was unscrewing the back cover of his grenade.

"The distance is about 600 meters! You can fire! You can fire!" On the radio, the voices of the German soldiers repeating the enemy's distance became more and more rapid and dense.

"Fire! Fire!" The command to start the attack was shouted in the earphones, and the German defender's position, which had been silent for a while, suddenly became noisy.

"Boom!" The 50mm caliber long-barreled artillery on the Stalker tank destroyer spewed out a burst of flame, and the shell rushed towards the distant target like a runaway wild horse.

In less than a second, the rapidly flying shell hit the moving target and hit the front armor plate of the m3 tank.

The huge force penetrated the fragile front armor of the m3 tank, leaving a dark hole in it. The m3 was affected by the impact force, and the whole body seemed to shake.

However, the hit tank did not stop moving forward, but just lost its direction and leaned towards the side of the road.

Then, as if it had lost its soul, the m3 tank that had penetrated the front armor washed down the roadbed, lost its center of gravity and overturned on the side of the road.

"Boom!" The second Stalker tank destroyer also fired at about the same time, and the shells hit another American m3 tank that was advancing on the side of the roadbed.

At this distance, the shells fired by the 50mm long barrel artillery equipped on the Stalker tank destroyer can easily penetrate the armor of the m3 tank.

So without the slightest variable, the m3 tank that the United States aided to the United Kingdom was also pierced through the front armor.

The difference is that this shell not only penetrated the front armor of the m3 tank, but also detonated the ammunition inside.

The huge explosion set the tank on fire in an instant, turning into a steel oven, and flames spewed from all the cracks in the tank, but no one escaped from the tank.

"Reload! Aim for a new target! Keep firing!" Seeing their results in the telescope, the German commanders shouted and ordered their tanks to continue to attack.

These low-profile tank destroyers are equipped with thick frontal armor, which is a nightmare for attacking tanks.

At the same time, the radio channel used by the attacking force of the British 7th Armoured Division was already in chaos due to the sudden attack of the German army.

"We are being attacked! We are being attacked! Hell!" On the turret of a British m3 tank, the British commander leaning on the hatch cover saw the tank on the road not far in front of him overturned on the side of the roadbed, shouted loudly on the radio.

Before his shouts could fall, the third and fourth tanks had already been hit by artillery shells flying from a distance.

Without exception, these British tanks that were hit were directly turned into scrap iron, and few of the soldiers inside were able to survive.

Lost several tanks at once. The British 7th Armoured Division finally recovered from the shock and confusion and began a tentative offensive.

Tank after tank drove off the roadbed, and from a more flanking direction, rushed towards the city of Benha, which they were about to attack and seize.

For a division-level force of 20,000 people, Haben, a small city of only 70,000 people, is not huge. Soon the war continued to the edge of the nearby city, and there were sounds of tanks fighting everywhere.

More than 170 US-made m3 and tanks under the British 7th Armoured Division attacked the German 10th Mechanized Infantry Division positions reinforced with 40 Stalker tank destroyers.

"The company commander's car was hit! He was hit! I can't see where the enemy is shooting, I can't see it!" Such shouts came one after another on the British radio.

Because the stalker is a weapon hidden in buildings, or covered with a camouflage net for a little modification, it can be subtly integrated with the surrounding terrain.

The German anti-tank weapons were low-profile and easy to hide, which suddenly put the British team in a passive state.

After attacking for more than an hour, the battlefield was full of burning wreckage of British tanks, and most of the British tanks that were repelled did not even see what their opponents looked like.

Oakley King put down his binoculars, looked at the commander of the 7th Armored Division beside him, and asked, "Which German army are we fighting?"

"I don't know sir, but what I can be sure of is that they are a very strong fighting force!" The division commander of the 7th Armored Division looked at the smoking wreckage of the tank in the distance and answered depressedly.