The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Lieutenant General Cunningham was later admitted to the hospital, and doctors determined that he suffered from severe catatonia.

In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that this is just a gentlemanly behavior of the British... They cannot think that Lieutenant General Cunningham has made meritorious service in commanding the Italian army in the previous battle, so he should give Cunningham a very good Good excuse to retire.

This is the cruelty of reality. War is a monster that devours civilization. Whether it is an enemy or a friend, this monster only recognizes the winner.

Although Major General Neil Rich is not as good as Lieutenant General Cunningham in military rank, he is one of the few generals who want to fight this battle.

General Auchinleck believed that regardless of whether Major General Rich had any commanding ability, at least he was not intimidated by the German victory and momentum.

"So!" General Auchinleck asked Major General Rich: "How do you think we should fight this battle?"

After thinking about it, Major General Rich replied: "General, I don't think we should be led by the Germans, that is, always chasing the German 21st Armored Division... In fact, this is very difficult to do. This is not only because the Germans are marching very fast, but also because the dust cover makes it difficult for our reconnaissance planes to detect their position! "

General Auchinleck nodded. Major General Rich was right. The mistake General Cunningham made was that he had been adjusting his troops according to the movements of the German 21st Armored Division, while the strategic intentions of the 21st Armored Division had always been It is difficult to predict, so the British army has superior strength but is always in a passive position.

"So..." Major General Rich said: "I plan to keep General Cunningham's arrangement unchanged, and the reinforcements and the 7th Armored Brigade will attack and recapture the Gabusali defense line. In this way, the 21st Armored Corps that broke into our defense line will The division will be completely deprived of supplies, and they won’t be able to do much!”

General Auchinleck nodded and said: "So they have only two options, either to fight back from the Halfa Gate defense line or the Gabusali defense line!"

"I think they'll fight back from the Gabsali Line!" Major General Ritchie replied.

"Why?" General Auchinleck asked.

"Because they are Germans!" Major General Rich said, "Because their commander is Rommel!"

Although Major General Rich did not explain clearly what he meant, General Auchinleck understood what he meant... The Germans won victory after victory, and Rommel was even promoted to general. Of course they would choose A vigorous battle with the main force of the British Armored Division achieved another impressive result.

Major General Rich was only half right on this point. Rommel actually wanted the 21st Armored Division to continue to advance, but Major General Strike began to worry...

"Stop!" General Strike ordered.

So the tanks, cars, etc. all stopped. Qin Chuan and others were sleeping soundly in the rickety back compartment. They were awakened as soon as the convoy stopped.

Qin Chuan opened his eyes and found that it was already dawn, but there was a lot of wind and sand outside, and it was hazy like a haze.

"What happened?" Werner stretched and asked as if he had completed a journey: "Are we there?"

"Of course not!" replied the baker. "If we had arrived, the battle would have begun!"

Qin Chuan knew why. General Strike was worried about the supplies of the 21st Armored Division, so he wanted to pull the troops back for a decisive battle with the British 7th Armored Division.

If General Strike was right to disobey Rommel's order before, then General Strike was wrong this time... because he didn't know that at this time, the 21st Armored Division was only 10 kilometers away from the water source and supply base of the British 8th Army. 24 kilometers.

24 kilometers, it only takes more than half an hour at the marching speed of the 21st Armored Division, and even at a slower speed in sand and dust, it only takes an hour.

And if the 21st Armored Division turns back to fight the British 7th Armored Division... it will fall into the British trap.

The British army had already deployed tanks and anti-tank guns at the Gabusali defense line, waiting for the Germans, and also had the air force ready... Originally, it would be difficult for the British Air Force to detect the Germans due to the windy and sandy weather, but if the German troops returned to Gabusali As for the defensive line, the position is determined.

Therefore, the 150 German Panzer III tanks had to face the 200 "Stuart" tanks of the British 7th Armored Division, as well as the 50 "Valentin" and 50 "Matilda" tanks that had been reinforced successively. .

Although the "Valentin" and "Matilda" tanks have poor maneuverability and are not suitable for mobile combat, it would be different if they were waiting for the Germans on the Gabusali defense line.

Then there were British fighter planes and bombers in the sky constantly strafing and bombing.

Although the German army eventually won the battle, because this day happened to be Germany's "Martyrs Sunday", a day when Germans commemorated their compatriots who died in World War I... The German officers successfully used the shame of the past to evoke The British 7th Armored Division suffered the heaviest casualties since the beginning of the desert war.

but……

The German 21st Armored Division also suffered a tragic victory. Only 20 of the 150 tanks were left, and the mortality rate of the officers was even more than half.

This directly caused the African Corps to have to retreat to Cyrenaica...If the African Corps' tanks were lost, it would be difficult to replace them, but the British tanks could be quickly shipped from India, and even at the time of the battle, there were already two hundred A "Stuart" tank landed in Egypt and was transported to the front line by train.

Qinchuan originally thought that none of this would happen, because he had already changed history... Historically, Tobruk was not included in Rommel's territory during this war. Rommel's supply situation at that time was much more difficult than it is now. Moreover, the African Legion in history still suffered from the double attack of "domestic and foreign invasion".

Internal worries refer to the British troops relying on the Tobruk defense line. They may break out of the defense line at any time to launch a counterattack.

The foreign invasion is the Eighth Army under the command of Auchinleck pressing on the border.

Now that Tobruk is already in the hands of the German army, the German army has quickly replenished a large amount of supplies and personnel. In addition, there is no such problem of internal and external troubles... In any case, it should have more advantages.

But Qinchuan did not expect that the German army would eventually face this choice, that is, whether the 21st Armored Division would continue to attack or return for a decisive battle with the British 7th Armored Division.

The 21st Armored Division could not be allowed to return to the Gabshali defense line for a decisive battle with the British army.

You must know that only half of the officers survived that battle, but what about the soldiers?

And Qin Chuan is a part of this army.