The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Both Wavell and Rommel made careful arrangements for this battle.

Wavell invested in this battle two armored divisions, an Anglo-Indian division and the 22nd Guards Brigade, with a total strength of 80,000 and 250 tanks.

The British army was divided into three parts,

The first part consists of the 5th British Indian Division and the 15th Armored Brigade under the 15th Armored Division. It has 50 "Matilda" tanks and is responsible for attacking the Halfa Valley.

The second part consists of the 22nd Guards Brigade and the 13th Armored Brigade under the 15th Armored. It has 100 "Matilda" tanks and is responsible for attacking the village of Capuzo.

The Halfa Valley and the village of Capuzo are actually not suitable for tank operations, especially the Halfa Valley... It is the junction of the Egyptian coastal plain and the Libyan desert. The terrain is high in the west and low in the east. Although it is only 150 meters long, the passage winds like a long snake and extends to the Libyan desert, which is very disadvantageous to the attacker.

Therefore, Wavell's attacks in these two directions were actually feints, and the real main force was the third part... the 7th Armored Division.

The 7th Armored Division has 100 tanks, including 50 fast "Crusader" cruise tanks. Wavell wants to rely on these 50 tanks to unexpectedly penetrate from the left wing, that is, the right wing in the direction of the German army, to the German army's flank. Then circle to the position of the second unit and then circle to the position of the first part to defeat the German troops guarding there.

Objectively speaking, Wavell's plan is still feasible. His main idea is to defeat the German army on the defensive line instead of letting them escape back to Tobruk, which would cause a lot of trouble to the British army, but Rommel happened to also want to Interspersing from the right wing... This was something Wavell did not expect, because he thought that with Rommel's small number of troops and tanks, it was already very difficult to hold the defense line. How could there be tanks intersecting? !

But Rommel really did.

The strength of the German army is obviously much smaller than that of the British army. In fact, Rommel only had two armored divisions with more than 30,000 men at his disposal, and there was also the 16th Italian Division with more than 10,000 men... This division had 60 M13 tanks, but Rommel had no intention of sending them to the battlefield from beginning to end.

On the one hand, this is because Tobruk needs troops to defend, and on the other hand, Rommel knows that if these Italians are sent to guard the frontline strongholds, it will almost be giving the strongholds to the British.

So Rommel put all the Italians and their tanks in Tobruk without thinking.

Rommel adopted a bold new tactic in this battle, which was to use infantry against enemy tanks.

You must know that tanks are indispensable equipment in desert operations. The reason is that there is almost no danger and nowhere to hide in the desert. Even if fortifications are built, these sandy trenches can easily be destroyed by artillery fire... This is why Tobruk is called Because of the fortress, it is rare for the British army to spend three months and a large amount of steel and concrete to build a group of bunkers in the desert.

Therefore, infantry often can only bring their own bunkers or bunkers... These bunkers and bunkers are tanks.

It can almost be said that whoever has an advantage in tanks in a desert war has a greater chance of victory.

And Rommel actually dared to use infantry against British tanks...

On the one hand, there are terrain factors. As mentioned before, the terrain of Halfa Pass is very dangerous.

On the other hand, Rommel had an anti-tank artifact... the 88MM anti-aircraft gun, which could destroy targets beyond the range of enemy tanks.

Therefore, in the direction of Halfa Pass, Rommel arranged only one infantry regiment. This infantry regiment only used ten 88 anti-aircraft guns to defend the enemy.

In the direction of Capuzo Village, Rommel put the newly reinforced 15th Armored Division in charge with 40 Panzer III tanks.

The main force, the 5th Light Division, with 50 tanks, was waiting on the right wing to penetrate to the rear of the British army.

Not long after the battle began, bad news came:

"General!" The staff officer who received the telegram hurried to Rommel and reported: "Major General Prittwitz has been killed!"

"What?" Rommel was stunned when he heard this. It was only an hour before the war started, and this was also Major General Prittwitz's first battle, and he was actually killed? !

It turned out that Major General Prittwitz was eager to join the battle, and he rushed to the front of the troops to take command as soon as possible... There was no problem in doing so, as many German officers did.

But he made a fatal mistake. He stood next to a car, which is an easy target for enemies on the battlefield.

So, without any warning and no time to react, a row of artillery shells suddenly roared in. While the shells blew up the car, they also blew Major General Prittwitz into pieces.

Rommel immediately ordered his adjutant, Major General Gro, to take over the command of Major General Prithvi Chiang... The responsibilities of the adjutant in the German army are different from those of the secretary or staff officer. Although the adjutant has the meaning of deputy, he is also the quasi-successor of the official position. Being a deputy is to learn the command and work habits of the principal and be prepared to take over.

However, the situation of the German 15th Armored Division is still not optimistic. They only have 40 tanks, while the enemy has 100 "Matildas" with surprisingly thick armor.

So not long after, Major General Groh asked Rommel for help on the walkie-talkie: "General, we can't hold on any longer. The enemy's attack is very fierce. I believe this is their main force... The 'Matilda' tank is like a tide. They are all coming towards us, at least a hundred of them!"

Rommel nodded. This was exactly what he wanted. He used the 15th Armored Division to contain the main force of the British army, and then sent out the 5th Light Division, which had rich combat experience and had more tanks.

But Rommel didn't expect that the British troops with more than a hundred tanks were not the main force of the British army at all.

"An order to Major General Strike!" Rommel said to his staff: "It's time for him to show off!"

"Yes!" the staff officer responded and passed on the order.

Qinchuan and the soldiers were waiting anxiously behind the hills, and then the orders were conveyed one after another:

"Everyone aboard!"

"Everyone aboard!"

…

The troops started to move. The tank crews rushed towards the tanks quickly. The driver rushed into the cab. Then almost at the same time, the tanks, cars, armored vehicles, and motorcycles all started. Hundreds of engines rumbled and emitted exhaust gas. The formation It's shocking to watch.

Qinchuan followed the soldiers and climbed into the car one by one with the help of Kuhn and the orderer... This was the German army's emergency boarding procedure. The platoon leader and another assistant were responsible for pulling other soldiers into the car. On the one hand, this can speed up the process of getting on the bus, and on the other hand, the platoon leader can also count the number of people.