Iron Cross

Whether the Eighth Army can launch an offensive depends not only on the will of the command, but also on the combat effectiveness and quantity of the troops. It was precisely on the last issue that Montgomery, after careful consideration, found that he was powerless - because the use of the Eighth Army's forces had now come to an end. maximum.

Before the battle began, the British Eighth Army had a total of 300,000 troops. Its main components include: the British Army's 1st, 7th, 8th (less than infantry brigade), and 10th Armored Divisions, a total of 4 armored divisions, with a total strength of 60,000, tanks The number is nearly 800; the British 44th, 50th, 51st and 56th Infantry Divisions, the 151st Infantry Brigade and the 201st Guards Brigade, with a total strength of nearly 80,000, basically no tanks; the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the South African Army, the 2nd New Zealand Division, Five Dominion divisions, including the Australian 9th Division and the Indian 4th Division, have a total strength of more than 80,000 troops and more than 300 tanks; four allied brigades, including the Free French 1st and 2nd Brigades, the Polish Brigade, and the Greek Brigade, have a total strength of nearly 30,000, and the total number of tanks is less than 100; the above-mentioned front-line combat units are mainly organized into the command sequences of the 10th Army, 13th Army, and 30th Army. The military headquarters of the three armies and related directly affiliated units (signal troops, engineers, guards etc.) has more than 10,000 troops; while the Eighth Army headquarters and directly subordinate troops under Montgomery's direct command have more than 30,000 troops, including the 1st Armored Brigade, 1st Tank Brigade, 2nd and 12th Air Defense Brigades, and 21st Indian Infantry Brigade (mainly composed of Gurkhas, responsible for escort tasks, and their combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of the 4th Indian Division), engineering and signal troops, etc., with more than 200 tanks, plus supply and logistics units distributed in the rear, a full 300,000 troops.

But it is a pity that these 300,000 troops have been fully utilized. In Montgomery's view, the strength is still not sufficient: in addition to the army headquarters, various military departments, and logistics units, there are about 250,000 front-line troops that can participate in actual combat, while the dominion and allied forces There are more than 110,000, accounting for nearly half. Relying on these troops, he not only had to maintain the Tobruk encirclement, but also ensure the logistics support line of more than 600 kilometers. He subconsciously believed that the troops were not enough, so even though he had a 3:1 strength advantage over the African Army and the In the encirclement of Tobruk, he still chose a solid defense and a resolute waiting strategy, hoping that he could wait for the arrival of 100,000 reinforcements in order to eat the African army in one fell swoop - anyway, they are all surrounded in Tobruk now, so he is not afraid Guderian flew into the sky, unless they were willing to take a boat to Italy in despair.

Is Montgomery's deployment and consideration wrong? Of course, the calculation cannot be wrong, because the German army still has nearly 100,000 troops in French colonies such as Morocco and Tunisia. Although their goal is to monitor Northwest Africa, this task is not unchangeable - once they forcefully attack Tobru The African Army in Croatia is likely to encounter a pincer attack by the two German armies. In just over a month, after New Year's Day in 1943, reinforcements from the British and American coalition forces will arrive. Why rush to advance?

However, Guderian's strategy planned for his wishful thinking and stalemate. When the African Army unexpectedly launched a fierce attack and continued to maintain a high-pressure situation in the east and south directions, Montgomery found that his wait-and-see strategy was shaky and completely unsustainable. Now, if the situation continues to develop, there are only two results, either the fish will die or the network will be broken - either the Eighth Army will be the first to conquer the internal defense circle and occupy Tobruk, or the African Army will break through the east and south defense lines and sweep the Eighth Army. As a result, after a heated discussion among the staff and combined with the battlefield situation in the past two days, most people seemed to be more inclined to the latter evolution outcome as being more likely.

When de Lagan fearfully handed Montgomery the results of his staff's discussion, the latter's already gloomy face was almost dripping with water, but even so, he could not turn a blind eye to the unfavorable news about the war situation - standing behind him From the perspective of the Western Theater Command, the current situation in the Western Theater is the best. After the collapse of the 7th Armored Division, the New Zealand 2nd Division and the Australian 9th Division quickly filled the loopholes. Today, they quickly launched an offensive to break through the German outer defense circle and even occupied a strategically important area. Jazala, behind them there is the 1st South African Division and the 50th Infantry Division that can be reinforced at any time, and they have the smallest number of German troops in front of them; the situation in the southern theater is the worst, when the 8th Armored Division and the 151st Infantry Brigade , the 44th Infantry Division, and the 2nd Free French Brigade suffered heavy losses, the Eighth Army could only count on the 10th Armored Division and the 201st Guards Brigade, which had just been transferred back from the west. They not only faced the assault of the German Armored Division but also the Facing the hard-to-destroy super tanks; the situation in the eastern theater was deteriorating. After the Polish and French brigades were severely damaged and the 1st Armored Division was severely weakened, he could only count on the 56th Infantry Division in the rear and the supplies coming from the supply line. Although the Germans did not use super tanks in the supporting 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, they were undoubtedly at a disadvantage in terms of tanks.

"There are probably no more than 4,000 enemies blocking our offensive in the west. We have a significant advantage in this theater. However, the German defense line is strong, densely mined and supported by many anti-tank guns, so the offensive progress is slow; as for other lines of defense... "De Lagan sighed, pointed to the small flag on the sand table and said, "We are completely at a disadvantage. There is only one armored division and one infantry brigade in the south, and there are only two infantry divisions and the 1st Armored Division with a reduced number of tanks in the east. , No matter which direction, the German attack cannot be stopped. We have found out that the attack in the south is two German armored divisions, and the attack in the east is a German armored division and an air force armored brigade. "

"The Air Force has an armored brigade?"

"It is now called the Flying Fortress Armored Brigade, which was renamed from the original Hermann-Goering Brigade."

Montgomery's heart suddenly sank: the Third Reich's troops with special names were not easy to mess with. Whether it was the Hitler's Guardsmen Division, the Reich Division or the Grossdeutschland Division, they were all elite troops, and the Hermann-Göring Brigade was also well-known. trump card.

De Lagan did not notice Montgomery's increasingly ugly face and continued: "Guderian still has at least one Italian paratrooper brigade available, not to mention he also has a powerful super tank."

Montgomery was silent when it came to the super tank. So far, he knew nothing about the name, performance, and weaknesses of the Tiger tank. He only knew that none of the tanks and anti-tank guns in his hands could effectively deal with this new tank. The troops were filled with fear, and it was even so exaggerated that the Germans reported that there were super tanks as soon as they dispatched their tanks. Even the T-34 and the new No. 4 tank, which they had dealt with many times, were mistaken for super tanks. The battle was still over. Before the T-34 crisis was completely resolved, another Tiger crisis came.

In order to destroy this new tank that the British army hated to the core, the Desert Air Force tried its best to destroy the German tanks at the cost of attaching bombs to their fighter jets and sacrificing some maneuverability. Unfortunately, the cost was high and the benefits were small. On the southern battlefield, More than 400 bombers, attack aircraft, and fighter jets of all types have been shot down, but they have completely destroyed less than 10 Tigers. The Desert Air Force has clearly told the Eighth Army that if they continue like this, they will destroy all the Air Force's ability to carry out low-altitude bombing and ground attack. All the attacking aircraft will be scrapped here - this is a price that no one can bear.

De Lagan continued: "The next danger is that Guderian can also strengthen the unused Italian paratrooper brigade to the west to block our advance, and then his troops in the east and south directions will be combined into one and deployed. Attack, the current situation is that it is difficult for us to resist if he divides his troops to attack, let alone attack together - everyone thinks that before we can capture Tobruk, the African Army will break through our defense line first. "

"What's your suggestion?"

"The offensive in the west can be slowed down, but it is urgent to strengthen the forces in the east and south. Reinforcements should be dispatched to them." De Lagan suggested, "Should we consider strengthening the 50th Infantry Division from the west to the south - Anyway, the deployment of troops in the west is enough, and the South African division can serve as the backup for the New Zealand and Australian divisions; the 1st Tank Brigade and 1st Armored Brigade directly under the group army will be strengthened in the east - after the tank strength of the 1st Armored Division was weakened, they Tank support is urgently needed; in addition, I also suggest pulling the Greek Brigade and the South African 2nd Division back from the supply line to strengthen our reserves - if the 1st Tank Brigade and 1st Armored Brigade, which are directly controlled by the group army, are released, we will There is basically no reserve team.”

Montgomery nodded noncommittally, but his brows furrowed even more: "That way there will only be one Indian 4th Division left on the supply line?"

De Lagan understood his worries and explained: "Less is a little less, but the danger of the supply line is actually not great. We rarely receive reports of German commandos sneak attacks on supply points, and the fighting around Tobruk is so intense now." The main force of the German air force is also contained here. They cannot bomb our supply convoys on a large scale. The transfer of some troops will not have much impact. In addition, we can also ask General Alexander for help from the remaining troops in Egypt. Deploy another brigade to support our defense supply line, which will be enough to support the arrival of new reinforcements. "

After hearing this, Montgomery's expression improved a little: General Alexander still had 30,000 people under his command. Deploying a brigade to strengthen the supply line would not bring danger to Egypt's defense. On the contrary, if he failed in Tobruk, Egypt would There was danger—and he had no doubt General Alexander was aware of it.

After thinking seriously for a few more minutes, he made up his mind: "You can do whatever you want to reinforce the troops, but the offensive in the west cannot be stopped for a minute. We strictly order the New Zealand 2nd Division and the Australian 9th Division to speed up their breakthrough and impose more pressure on the Germans." Big pressure, I need them to contain Guderian's troops for me."