The decisive battle against the Third Reich

This was of course Qin Chuan's idea.

Sidioma has been under the surveillance of British reconnaissance aircraft, which has a bad and good side.

The downside is that supply trucks entering and exiting Sidioma are often bombed, and the whereabouts of the 21st Armored Division are easily exposed.

The good side is that the German army can use this to counter the British army...

"We are ordered to reach Matruh within three days!" General Strike said: "That's a distance of two hundred and twenty kilometers!"

"We can do it!" Colonel Olbridge said: "We can advance at a speed of eighty kilometers a day!"

"The problem is that our air force is used by Rommel to cover the frontal attack of the 15th Armored Division!" General Strike replied: "They can only provide us with a few reconnaissance planes!"

Hearing this, the officers couldn't help but fell silent.

It can be said that the armored forces without air force cover will be unable to move forward unless they are covered by wind and sand like before.

But now that the sandstorm has passed, the sky is clear and the entire desert is empty. What's worse is that the British "Mosquito" reconnaissance planes are almost constantly circling Sidioma for reconnaissance. The aircraft came flying again, just like a relay race... It can also be seen that the British army was very afraid of the German 21st Armored Division, which had repeatedly defeated the British Armored Division.

In this way, it can be said that the 21st Armored Division will be spotted by British reconnaissance planes as soon as it leaves Sidioma, and then there will be bombings by the Royal Air Force along the way... Let alone eighty kilometers a day, can it walk four Ten kilometers is a problem.

"Why can't we march secretly?" Qin Chuan said.

"You mean not to let the British know that we are heading towards Matruh?" Colonel Olbridge shook his head and replied: "This is impossible. We can't reach Matruh by marching at night, not to mention that the British will send fighter planes. Search everywhere for our whereabouts, they will find us soon!”

Colonel Olbridge is right. With good visibility, it is not difficult for a reconnaissance aircraft to find an armored division. Armored vehicles are as obvious as lice on a bald man's head in the desert. Smoke and dust will also attract the attention of pilots, and even if they implement "air defense cover", it is difficult to avoid being discovered.

"What if they don't search for our whereabouts?" Qin Chuan said.

"This is impossible!" Colonel Albridge laughed: "The British are not fools!"

General Strike looked at Qin Chuan with a serious face and asked: "Sergeant, tell me how to prevent the British from searching our whereabouts!"

"It's very simple!" Qin Chuan replied: "Let the British think that we have been in Sidi Omar, just like General Rommel did in Tripoli!"

Hearing this, the general couldn't help but suddenly realized.

This is indeed not a difficult task. All you have to do is transform armored vehicles, jeeps and even tricycles into "tanks".

A little troublesome is that Sidioma is a village and the surrounding area is deserted and inhabited. It is difficult to find enough wooden boards to camouflage the tank.

But the trouble was quickly resolved.

If there are no wooden boards, use canvas instead. Just use branches to prop up the relevant nodes, and then cover the canvas like a tent... and each "tank" will be freshly baked.

Of course, these tanks will not be as realistic as Rommel's fake tanks made of wooden planks in Tripoli.

But there is a difference: the fake tanks in Tripoli were meant to deceive British spies and civilians, who could observe them at close range, while the fake tanks in Sidioma were meant to deceive enemy reconnaissance aircraft, and the pilots were restricted by anti-aircraft firepower. It can only be seen from a distance, and it's still on a high-speed plane, so it doesn't have to be so realistic to cover up the past.

Then, that night, the 21st Armored Division secretly sneaked out of Sidioma and went straight to Matruh. Sidioma left only about one battalion of air defense troops and several hundred logistics troops. Their mission Just drive the "tank" out for some exercise from time to time.

Of course, in order to be more realistic, some of them are real tanks.

The British reconnaissance planes were indeed fooled, and their reports to the headquarters were:

"Everything is normal, they are not moving!"

"Yes, they're still in Sidioma!"

…

Then the previous scene appeared...

When the German 21st Armored Division suddenly appeared on Matruh's flank, General Auchinleck thought the 21st Armored Division should be in Sidioma.

"Retreat, retreat immediately!" General Auchinleck ordered: "The New Zealand Infantry Division is responsible for covering, and the air force is ordered to intercept!"

"Yes!" The staff officer immediately conveyed General Auchinleck's order.

General Auchinleck is in disarray.

If General Auchinleck is still rational, he will know that he should choose to fight a tough battle with the Germans at this time. The reason is very simple... Most of the tanks owned by the 13th Army are "Matilda" and "Valentin" Infantry tanks, the two hundred newly arrived "Stuarts" are not even under the command of the 13th Army.

Due to their slow speed and thick armor, these infantry tanks are more suitable for defense than maneuvering and even unsuitable for retreat... "Valentine" is better, "Matilda" can only drive ten kilometers in the hot desert. , and it breaks down all the way, where and how far can it run? !

That's why it is said that Churchill did not have the wisdom and mind to employ people. If Wavell had continued to command, he would not have made this mistake, because Wavell had suffered such hardships in previous battles, and more than once... The British army was Tripoli had a very painful experience during its retreat to Tobruk. In the end, they even had to choose to blow up the tanks in Tobruk and escape alone.

Therefore, what should be done at this time is to let the 13th Army organize the tanks to defend. With the multiple effects of the "Matilda" armor, the British 6-pound anti-tank gun, and air superiority, it is impossible to say that victory can be won. , it is not a problem to persist for a few days and destroy a considerable number of German tanks.

Then, the German armored divisions that suffered heavy losses were unable to attack Cairo.

But the inexperienced General Auchinleck allowed the British army to make the mistake of retreating again.

The New Zealand 2nd Division moved very quickly. They immediately rushed to the flank and built a line of defense... They used everything that could be used against tanks, including mines, barbed wire, anti-tank guns, and anti-tank grenades. There are even homemade Molotov cocktails among them.

There is actually an incendiary grenade in the British army's equipment...the No. 76 incendiary grenade. As mentioned before, its main problem is that it is very dangerous to transport and store, so the troops basically do not use it.

But incendiary grenades are a very good weapon against tanks and infantry. So New Zealand soldiers simply put gasoline into glass bottles and stuffed the mouth of the bottle with rags to make their own incendiary bottles.