Iron Cross

On the Tobruk front, taking advantage of the cover of night, Montgomery had withdrawn the remaining troops of the New Zealand 2nd Division and the Australian 9th Division, and secretly assembled in the southern position. The western theater was only supported by a South African division, but because of The German army was not strong in strength, and the Italian paratrooper brigade, which was responsible for the defense, did not realize that the enemy in front of it had changed.

Montgomery originally wanted to withdraw the 201st Guards Brigade, 21st Indian Infantry Brigade, 1st Tank Brigade or 1st Armored Brigade, but the German offensive was too fierce and the entire defense line would be difficult to deal with after these troops were removed. He only We can continue to grit our teeth and ask these troops to fight hard.

The fighting on several fronts has reached a fever pitch. The two Free French brigades, the Polish brigade, the Greek brigade, and the 8th Armored Division were almost all wiped out. The 151st Brigade, the 50th and 44th Infantry Divisions and other units were also close to paralysis. The only remaining Those with some combat effectiveness are the 1st and 10th Armored Divisions, the 51st and 56th Infantry Divisions, the 201st Guards Brigade and 2 South African Divisions. As for the 2 tank brigades and the 21st Indian Infantry Brigade that were originally directly under the group army, Montgomery The fire-fighting force is used on various fronts to deal with gaps that arise at any time.

The 7th Armored Division, which was initially beaten to collapse by the African Army's surprise attack, was dismantled into supplementary divisions and filled with people into various units. The artillerymen who had lost all their artillery, the armored troops who had lost their tanks, and the heavy equipment troops who had no supplies to transport. They also joined the front line to serve as ordinary infantry to deal with the German attack. Even so, the divisions of the Eighth Army were still fighting hard. Some units were less than 70% full after two or three reinforcements. Before the Battle of Tobruk, the Eighth Army once had 300,000 troops. So far, although not a single division or brigade-level unit has been completely annihilated, the Group Army headquarters, the 4th Indian Division and some supplies that were blocked in the rear have been eliminated. Apart from the troops and the two Xin'ao divisions that were secretly mobilized and concentrated, the remaining forces available for actual combat were less than 120,000.

The field hospital affiliated to the Eighth Army was filled with wounded soldiers rescued from the front line. Hundreds of people died groaning in pain every day. After supplies were cut off and large logistics bases were taken away by the Germans, there was a shortage of medical care and medicine. The logistics department couldn't come up with a solution at all. They also tried to call the Air Force to use transport planes and even bombers to evacuate the wounded, but it was a drop in the bucket. The Air Force now has difficulty even guaranteeing the fuel needed for combat aircraft, let alone organizing an evacuation. The extremely ferocious German fighter jets chased and attacked the British bombers every day, and they had no choice but to give up. Every day, seriously injured people commit suicide out of despair, and doctors and nurses now look more like corpse collection teams than medical practitioners - a living hell.

The African Army, which was in a good situation, fought very hard, but all the soldiers in the army knew that the El Alamein landing was going smoothly, and they all gritted their teeth and fought hard. They knew that as long as they clung to Montgomery and withstood the enemy's final counterattack, the British As long as people have nothing to do with themselves, they are not far away from a truly comprehensive and complete victory. Under such circumstances, even the extremely valuable Tiger tanks were directly pulled out and fought forward, hoping to use their unparalleled solid defense and powerful firepower to open a gap for the troops, without caring about the British air threat. Fortunately, two days before Kesselring left for Crete, he ordered a transport plane to send the last batch of 5,400 additional troops and tanks to Guderian, and also asked the Italians to dispatch a group of aircraft to support, which greatly relieved the situation. The difficulty of the Afrika Korps - otherwise Guderian would have been forced to stop the attack. The armored soldiers who lost their tanks no longer cared about whether they would be accidentally injured, and they hastily brushed the captured Churchill, Valentine, and Sherman tanks after the Iron Cross. Then he took it out to attack and used various means to maintain the fierce attack of the troops.

However, the situation of the British has reached the end of its tether. Due to the cutoff of supply lines, there is a shortage of ammunition and fuel. Even the dispatch of aircraft from the air force base west of Matruh Port has been increasingly restricted. They can no longer be as unscrupulous as before. The ground provided air cover for the Eighth Army. The pain that Rommel had suffered from being unable to fight for a long time due to logistics and supply constraints was finally the British's turn to enjoy.

"General Ramsden, according to the reconnaissance of the Egyptian air force, the enemy has deployed and established defense lines on the Matruh and El Alamein lines, and is currently confronting the remainder of our Indian 4th Division and 72nd Brigade. General Alexander is mobilizing all Egyptian troops. The troops are preparing to go to the front, and the second batch of German landing troops will arrive soon - due to the successive failures of naval and air force attacks, we can no longer prevent the German follow-up troops from landing. Can we withstand the German attack and surround Egypt? The heavy responsibility can only fall on the army." Montgomery was exhausted from days of fighting. The lieutenant general commander who always paid attention to military appearance now had disheveled hair, unshaven beard, dusty face, and deep sunken eye sockets.

Everyone looked serious. Everyone knew that the war situation in North Africa had reached a precarious stage. It was impossible for the Eighth Army, which had been hit hard, to escape unscathed. The main force of the air force was forced to move eastward, and the Tobruk front line currently lost even air control. .

"Now, I am going to let you lead the New Zealand 2nd Division and the Australian 9th Division, two units that are relatively complete in structure, strength and tenacious fighting style in the entire group army, to break out, plus some personnel from the group army headquarters, to temporarily organize Build an Egyptian army and retreat towards Cairo. I will give you the last remaining vehicles, ammunition, supplies and fuel of the entire army group as a priority..."

Major General Ramsden and the commanders of the remaining two divisions were shocked: fighting in the desert, supply is everything, and the group army does not have much remaining material capital. If two more divisions are given priority to supply, the other units will definitely be destroyed in the end.

"Sir," he shouted anxiously, "You have to think carefully. The support force from South Africa is already halfway there. As long as we grit our teeth and persevere, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome - I thought you were just letting us serve as The final reserve team.”

Montgomery smiled sadly: "We can't hold on anymore. Egypt may still be saved, but the Eighth Army can't - did you know? The entire army still has 7 days of rations and less than 2 bases of ammunition and fuel left. "

"We are willing to open a bloody road for the group army. The Australian and New Zealand divisions will act as vanguards along the coastal road to attack the German landing force and open up the connection with Egypt. The group army can follow us - the German landing force currently only has one division. , a division!" Ramsden shouted, "You must not give up!"

"This is a dead end, a dead end that buries the entire army!" Montgomery's mood did not fluctuate at all. Instead, he said calmly, "How can more than 100,000 troops retreat in a swarm along the coastal road? There are enemy planes in the sky and African troops on the ground. The pursuit of armored forces was blocked by the German landing force in front. How could the frustrated retreating troops defeat the new and highly motivated troops? Did you forget that at the end of the Battle of El Alamein, the Italians fled along the road and were defeated by us? "?"

Everyone was silent.

"Moreover, the enemy only has one division now. Will there still be only one division after today?" Montgomery smiled miserably. "The Mediterranean Fleet has completely failed. The Germans can now send as many as they want."

Everyone looked at each other: Is the Mediterranean Fleet also finished?

"Your missions and marching routes must be adjusted. You can no longer retreat quickly along the coastal road and fight the German landing forces - that is a dead end if we do not have air superiority. Your goal is to do as much as possible By detouring back behind the enemy's defense lines and back to Egypt, I designed such a road. "Looking at Montgomery's finger on the map, he drew a road more than 300 kilometers south of the coastal kilometers, basically winding in the desert. The path of advancement.

"You just go along this road, bring as much supplies as possible, conceal your whereabouts, and travel light. As for me, I will cover you here. I will hold on as long as you want me to." Montgomery patted Ramsay. Den's shoulder, "Your job is not easy. In addition, please keep all the wounded soldiers in your unit, and hope that the commanders at all levels will do a good job in explaining - we are here to achieve a narrow escape mission, not to abandon them, but to actually There is no way to take them on the road again, because no one will organize another Dunkirk evacuation this time. As the commander of the Eighth Army, I promised them that I will not leave here until they are properly settled."

"Sir..." Ramsden said excitedly, "How about you take this army away and I will stay to cover it."

Montgomery shook his head and said firmly: "This is the responsibility of the lieutenant general commander, and you cannot replace it..."

There were tears in everyone's eyes, and Chief of Staff De Lagan could not help sobbing - he was placed on the evacuation list by Montgomery.

Everyone knows what Montgomery means: The commander left all the tanks, gasoline, armored vehicles, and trucks that he could find for the retreating troops. By then, the rest of the troops would not be able to escape. Montgomery's final outcome was to die in battle or surrender with his men. This is not a fear of death, this is a lieutenant general who decided to sacrifice all his glory, reputation and qualifications to protect his subordinates. This is far more difficult than dying in battle.

"You must act quickly. As supplies are cut off, the troops have panicked and their morale has been shaken. There are sporadic deserters and surrenders... I hope you can successfully retreat before the army group finally collapses, and then save Egypt for the British Empire. This is our last hope!"

"Yes! Sir!" Everyone saluted him in unison.

Montgomery finally returned the salute solemnly to Lumsden and others, and then disappeared into the night without looking back. Only the bright moonlight stretched his figure very, very long...