The decisive battle against the Third Reich

There are two more chapters in the afternoon.

The result of this confusion was that the German army was unable to obtain accurate information from the prisoners.

Therefore, German intelligence units could only use limited intelligence and sometimes relied on the British army's organizational habits to guess the strength and equipment of the British army.

However, the British army's supply speed and quantity of equipment far exceeded what the German intelligence units could imagine.

Therefore, General Strike and even Rommel thought that...as long as the 15th Armored Division in Matruh was trapped, the British army would not have much or even no armor capable of blocking the German and Italian offensives.

"Sergeant!" While Qin Chuan was in a daze, General Strike raised his glass and said to Qin Chuan: "As usual, your suggestion plays a decisive role this time. Your wisdom is really impressive. ! Cheers to our sergeant..."

As he spoke, General Strike and the officers raised their glasses and cheered.

"General!" Qin Chuanqian took a sip of wine and said, "Although I also hope that we can win in the near future, I don't think the situation is so optimistic!"

"Oh, why?" General Strike asked.

"I'm worried that the enemy's troops and tanks will be much more than we imagined!" Qin Chuan said: "As we know, the United States has been helping the British, and they will soon be able to obtain more equipment!"

"So what if they can get more equipment? We will still defeat them like before!" Colonel Olbridge became a little moody after drinking some wine, or it can be said that the 21st Armored Division A series of impressive achievements made him underestimate the enemy... After all, Colonel Olbridge was the commander of the 5th Armored Regiment, and the 5th Armored Regiment was the main force of the 21st Armored Division.

"It's different this time!" Qin Chuan shook his head.

"Tell me about it, Sergeant!" General Strike asked, "What's the difference?"

"General!" Qin Chuan asked without answering, "I want to know how you plan to fight this battle next?"

General Strike replied without thinking: "Besiege Matruh and completely destroy the British army of Matruh. I mean, at least not let their tanks escape back, so that our armored forces can move eastward with overwhelming force. attack!"

"So, how many days do you think it will take to do this?" Qin Chuan asked again.

General Strike thought for a while and said: "Given the terrain of Matruh and the powerful New Zealand 2nd Division, I think we need three days!"

"Three days, and then continue to attack eastward, right?"

"Yes!"

"General!" Qin Chuan walked to the map, then pointed to a location on the map and said: "This is Alamein, which is two hundred kilometers away from Matruh and seventy-five kilometers away from Alexandria. I wonder if you have discovered it. Is its geographical location very special?”

"Huh?" General Strike looked at Alamein's position, but didn't see any reason.

"To be precise, the special location is not Alamein, but a basin 55 kilometers south of it!" Qinchuan pointed to the map and explained: "This basin is called Katara Basin. I happened to talk about this basin with the guide before. , it is very similar to the desert we have traveled through before, with yellow sand everywhere. This yellow sand is a nightmare for mechanized troops, because even jeeps will get stuck in it, let alone a truck full of supplies. Cars and bulky tanks!”

Hearing this, General Strike's face couldn't help but change color slightly, and said: "You mean...it's only 55 kilometers?"

"Yes!" Qinchuan replied: "It starts from the coastal city of Alamein in the north and ends at the Katara Basin in the south. It is only 55 kilometers in total!"

"That is to say..." General Strike nodded: "This is a choke point. If the British concentrate all their equipment here and build a line of defense, such as placing mines in front of the line of defense..."

General Strike couldn't help but frown as he said that, and he no longer dared to think about it any further.

After a pause, General Strike ordered: "Let the Air Force conduct reconnaissance immediately!"

"Where to scout, General?" asked the adjutant.

"Of course it's El Alamein!" said General Strike. "Let's see if the British build a line of defense there!"

After a while, the adjutant hurried back and reported: "General, the British have indeed built a defense line in El Alamein, and they also found a large number of tanks!"

"A large number of tanks?" This reconnaissance result surprised General Strike.

From the beginning of the war to the present, the German armored divisions have defeated the British armored forces again and again and won by a large margin. Now they even besieged the 15th Armored Division in Matruh, and there are actually a "large number" of tanks on the Alamein defense line. ! !

"General!" Colonel Slaine looked at the map and said: "Matruh may be a cake given to us by the British. They used this place to attract our attention so that they could have enough time to build fortifications in Alamein! "

In fact, this is because Colonel Sline overestimated General Auchinleck. At this time, the British were already beaten to a pulp and all they wanted to do was defend the Alamein line and save Alexandria... Alamein was the last line of defense in Alexandria. line of defense.

Alexandria is no small matter. It is the main port for the British army's foreign aid supplies, and it is not far from the Nile River and the Suez Canal. If this port falls into the hands of the German army, the German army can directly use the air force to bomb and block the British army's logistics supply lines... ...The reason why the British army can compete with the German army until now is equipment, troops and supplies. If even this advantage is lost, then the British army will simply surrender.

General Strike nodded, then turned to Colonel Olbridge and asked: "What do you think?"

General Strike wanted to know whether Colonel Olbridge had the confidence to break through the Alamein line.

"I'm not sure, General!" Colonel Olbridge, who was full of confidence just now, replied solemnly: "We know too little information. How many tanks are there in a 'large number'? How strong is the defense line? To what extent? We don’t know how many troops the enemy has!”

After a pause, Colonel Olbridge continued: "But one thing that is certain is that if we delay in Matruh, the Alamein line of defense will become stronger and it will be harder for us to break through...especially this line With only a 55-kilometer-long defense line, we cannot outflank and can only attack from the front, which is very disadvantageous for us!”

This is the characteristic of the Alamein Line of Defense. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Katara Basin to the south. Indeed, as Colonel Olbridge said, it is "insurmountable and can only be attacked head-on."

Frontal, brainless defense is what the British army is best at. On the contrary, all German tactics and even the high mobility of mechanized troops are difficult to work in front of this line of defense.