Iron Cross

"Under such a comparison of forces, we can only retreat. Of course, retreating is not the purpose. Retreating is to advance better. Please believe me." Guderian blinked, "I have already imagined the next move, and I will not let it go. You are disappointed. In addition, new troops and supplies will arrive soon. They will land in Benghazi and Tobruk in batches. These are elites who have participated in the Eastern Front and will be transferred directly from the empire. "

"How many?" Colonel Westphal asked quickly.

"The head of state was very cheerful this time. He first gave a reinforced 4th Armored Division, which is said to have 200 new tanks. Taking into account the special circumstances of the North African battlefield, the high command also gave an additional 500 military trucks." Speaking of this ancient Derian's interest was much higher, because these were his old subordinates who had led on the Eastern Front. He was familiar with everyone above the major, and not only understood their personalities but also their combat styles. He had always believed that a commander Only by mastering the basic troops can the overall strategic command be comfortable. His familiarity and tacit understanding with the existing African Army are still a little bit behind. "Marshal Kesselring told me that the 'Flying Fortress' paratrooper armored brigade will also be in the process soon." Transfer it to us. They will come by transport plane. These guys don’t get airsick. Their equipment doesn’t take the Italian route, but comes directly from Crete..."

"Flying Fortress?" Lieutenant General Walster frowned, "I've never heard of this name. A newly formed unit?"

"No, Hermann Goering changed the name of the Parachute Armored Brigade. After the Fat Man's fall, the head of state who was also the commander-in-chief of the Air Force changed the name to this new and exciting name." Guderian thought for a while and decided not to use "Rolling Stone" first. "If the other troops involved in the plan speak out, that will be the top secret among top secrets.

When they heard that there were reinforcements and supplies, especially tanks, trucks and gasoline that were urgently needed for the desert war, everyone immediately looked better and the atmosphere of the meeting became much more lively. Major General Bismarck, who had been silent, thought of something and said worriedly: "If we leave, what will happen to the Italian infantry who go north to undertake the feint attack mission? They have no armor, and they do not carry enough fuel and supplies. There is no way to resist them." The British can't retreat with us. But we can't notify them in advance, otherwise these guys will sneak away quickly and directly destroy the overall plan. "

"Let them hold on until the end," someone suggested.

"That's not good. This almost means asking them to die." Someone muttered.

"To hell with them." Guderian now had a headache when he heard the word "Italy" and couldn't help but curse.

Someone immediately said: "The Italians will not fight to the end. Maybe the British will surrender as soon as they arrive. Not having enough fuel and supplies is a good excuse for surrender - even their leader can't find fault."

"That's fine." Guderian smiled sinisterly, "They can consume the British's logistical supplies. At least after surrendering, the British can ask for water to cook macaroni, and they can also contain some of the guard troops - I I always feel that the Italians’ contribution after surrender was even greater than during the battle.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the command headquarters burst into laughter. Everyone now feels that the new commander is not bad. At least he is a very interesting person and will not suffer under his command. As a soldier, there are only two requirements. The first is to win. It is best to be like Marshal Rommel who can repeatedly perform miracles of defeating more with less; if you really can't win, you can reduce the losses and bring your brothers back safe and sound, which is also a hero—— Now Guderian has not elaborated on the big plan, and this is basically the image in their minds.

Colonel Bayerlein could understand the reason why Guderian asked the Italian infantry to launch a feint attack: it is not easy for the main force to retreat and break away from the British. A slight mistake will lead to a retreat, especially when the terrain in the North African desert is too flat. , most of the time there is no danger to defend. If they retreat directly without hesitation, the British will definitely drive the African army back to Libya like a duck. That would be too embarrassing.

At this time, he began to admire Guderian's command: while he arranged for the Italians to go north to resist the British, he arranged for the large forces to retreat. In addition, he also mobilized two armored battalions to prepare to touch the British on the southern front. Army deployment, disrupting Montgomery's view. In order to prevent the Eighth Army's telecommunications detective department from seeing through the truth, Guderian also insisted on keeping the Afrika Korps headquarters. Except for a few necessary telecommunications officers, all others followed the large army to withdraw. He himself would stick to the armored battalion. Retreat after retreating. During the three days when the large forces retreated first, apart from the two armored battalions at the front of the defense line and a not too dense minefield, Guderian only had a communications company and an armored reconnaissance company left - There were only a few Sd.kfz.250 half-track armored vehicles inside, not even a tank. If a bold British infantry battalion dares to bypass the minefields and armored battalions at this time, there is a high chance that Guderian can be captured directly - that will be the first captured soldier of the Third Reich. Will.

Everyone was worried about his safety, but he didn't care and told them: "Montgomery is a very cautious person and will never alert someone before we launch an attack. Besides, the headquarters is now located at the airport. If something happens, I will get on the plane and run away. I cannot be treated as a prisoner..."

This was said so frankly that everyone laughed. Lieutenant General Walster, Major General Bismarck and others saluted respectfully, and each left one armored battalion in the best condition for Guderian to use.

Then he arranged for the other troops of the division to retreat. The chief of staff and the chief of operations also received orders to assist the other two light divisions in retreating. Only Lieutenant Colonel Merinzin felt bad about the fake map and insisted on staying with Guderian, who readily agreed.

While Guderian quickly adjusted his deployment, the British also responded quickly. After intercepting the relevant "intelligence", Montgomery breathed a sigh of relief and said to the chief of staff, Colonel de Lagan: "Although I don't know how Guderian saw our troop deployment, I think this telegram reflects the real situation, and the reconnaissance results from the front line also support this. This is a more cautious opponent than Rommel."

After learning that Rommel returned to his country to recuperate and Guderian replaced the relevant positions of the African Army, the Eighth Army was relieved. After all, Rommel's reputation was too big, and they were almost suffocated in the past two years. Although Guderian was equally famous and had fought against the expeditionary force during the Battle of France, they were defeated at the time and Guderian's skills were not evident. Instead, Rommel's fierce battle in Arras impressed the British. After the implementation of the Barbarossa Plan, Guderian and Rommel were in two different battlefields. The British did not fight against him and did not know the truth. When they heard from the Soviets that Guderian was angrily dismissed by Hitler because of his poor performance in the Battle of Moscow, they could not help but lower their evaluation of him. Moreover, Rommel was a marshal and Guderian was only a general. In terms of qualifications, Guderian was older than Rommel. In the eyes of the rigorous and rigid British, this fully demonstrated that Guderian was not as good as Rommel in terms of ability or merit. After learning about the change of German commanders, General Alexander in Cairo (he replaced Auchinleck as the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Theater, and Montgomery replaced Auchinleck as the commander of the Eighth Army) also felt relieved and joked to his adjutant: "That's good. At least the soldiers on the Alamein front don't have to suffer from the Desert Fox anymore."

Colonel de Lagan nodded, agreeing with Montgomery's judgment, and asked tentatively: "Should we take the initiative to attack?"

"No, we still follow the established policy discussed with General Alexander." Montgomery said, "On the one hand, we will hold on to the northern line between the beach and the Ruwaisat Ridge as much as possible, and on the other hand, the strong established positions of the Alam Halfa Ridge will weaken the enemy attacking from the southern line that threatens the Ruwaisat Ridge from the flank. The Führer in Berlin and the not-so-clear leader in Italy will not allow the African Army to abandon the occupied land. If we take advantage of Guderian's just received If we don't have a chance to attack the Afrika Korps, he might just slip away - it would be more troublesome to eliminate him in that case. "

"How do you plan to deal with the feint attack on the northern front?"

"The northern front is full of Italians, so they can't make any waves. Let the boys save some strength and don't hit too hard, otherwise if the Italians are driven away, Guderian will follow them." Montgomery was in a good mood and smiled, "Since he wants to take action on September 7, let's wait for him and let him hit us head-on. Let's see if Guderian can perform better than Rommel in a week."

Churchill, who also learned about the change of the Afrika Korps commander, was very dissatisfied with Alexander and Montgomery's conservative arrangements. He sent several telegrams asking Montgomery to take the initiative to attack, but was pushed back by the other side without hesitation. He sent a telegram to General Alexander to urge him, but was also evaded by the other side with the Tai Chi saying "Once the battle deployment has been completed, it should not be easily changed to avoid being taken advantage of by the German army. The judgment of the commander on the front line should be trusted." The poor Prime Minister had just replaced Auchinleck more than half a month ago and didn't want to go through it again, so now he seemed to have no better way than to be angry and wait.