Iron Cross

Being disturbed by the German planes just now, Montgomery lost interest in going to the airport to check, and returned to the headquarters unhappy. De Lagan rushed in in a hurry, his tone was very anxious, and the news he sent was not very good: "There was an emergency call from the airport. They were caught off guard by a sudden attack by a German plane. The runway and hangar were completely destroyed. , the remaining aircraft could not get into the air, and the pilots also sacrificed a lot, so they had to mobilize forces from other airports, so air firepower could not cover and cover them in a short period of time. "

"I understand." Montgomery looked at his watch with a gloomy face. The hour hand was very close to 6 o'clock. It was too late to wait for troops from other airports to be mobilized. Obviously, the troops had to fight temporarily without air superiority. "I need to know. Where are the German armored forces now? The sooner the better!”

De Lagan shook his head: "There is no very definite news yet. All frontline positions are in chaos. The enemy's strength has been stated from 100 tanks to 500 tanks. I cannot direct the battle based on such vague enemy information reports. We All troops should be ordered to resist on the spot and hold their positions.”

The chief of staff's order may give the Germans the convenience of defeating them one by one, but after some thought, Montgomery decided to adopt it: "Send it down: Each unit will shrink the defense with the brigade and regiment as the core, and consolidate the core positions, especially Delmha. The several north-south passages and corridors on Feide Ridge must be defended and the enemy cannot advance further north, otherwise the northern line will also become chaotic. "

"Sir, is it necessary to release the formations directly under the headquarters for reinforcements?"

"You don't even know the exact location of the enemy, so you can't reinforce it." Montgomery was angry and annoyed. "How could Guderian choose this kind of time to attack? He is really a shameless person who is extremely bad and has no chivalry at all. , no worse than Rommel, no, more cunning and rogue than him..."

De Lagan listened silently, feeling that what the commander said was so right. When he thought about it, he had an indescribable feeling: How could the British Empire pin its hopes on the enemy to fight you in an orderly manner? Isn’t this self-deception?

After suppressing the force at the nearest airport, the Ju-87s flew towards Derm Hafed Ridge under the cover of the Bf-109. The remaining Fw-190 fleet was not suitable to serve as escort aircraft. They continued to fight high and high in the air. Circle around to perform free hunting missions and eliminate all fish that slip through the net to prevent them from attacking the bombers. According to the prior agreement, after the mission of raiding the airport was completed, the air force should fight and retreat to the Derm Hafed Ridge area to cover the ground armored forces and open a path for them to advance.

All the pilots were very excited. The battle to raid the airport just now went smoothly. Although there are no exact statistics, they felt that at least they destroyed more than 150 enemy aircraft in the air and on the ground, and also killed the number one ace of the British Army in North Africa. And they only paid a relatively small price of 7 fighter jets and 4 dive bombers. Everyone felt that the anger they had been holding back for the past few days had been vented. What is even more amazing is Marcelo. He killed 16 more enemy planes today. Although he failed to refresh his own record of 17, he was still very good, because all of these results were fighters, not even a bomber. No, it even included tough opponents like the British ace. The total number of kills suddenly exceeded the 150 mark, and his wingman almost became his special statistics machine. To express his apology, Marceliu, after damaging several bombers, signaled his wingmen to carry out follow-up attacks in order to increase his record. This is also the reason why there is a lack of bomber results in the African Star record - it was not his attack. It's not that he doesn't like it.

After receiving the exclusive enhanced version of the Fw-190 presented by Hoffman, Marceiu fell deeply in love with this new vehicle with fierce firepower and agility, as if it was born and tailor-made for his unique tactics. When his combat record exceeded 100, his comrades and superiors had a bet on when his combat record would exceed 200. Some said it would take another year and a half, some said it would take another year. He himself said it would be before the end of 1942. That was less than 6 months, and a full bet of 100 marks and half a dozen Italian red wines was made. Many people laughed at his arrogance behind his back. Unexpectedly, the results were so hot now. If the current situation continues, no one doubts that he can even complete the task before the end of September.

"Air Force! Our Air Force is coming!" When Heinz made contact with the fleet, the entire armored formation burst into cheers. Some excited commanders even opened the hatch cover and waved enthusiastically to the fleet painted with iron crosses. Dessau, who was in the command position at the rear, was also overjoyed: "Now, with the Stuka opening the way and guaranteeing air superiority, our task of sweeping up the Derm Hafed Ridge will be much easier."

Now the Afrika Korps' attack has finally entered a typical blitzkrieg mode. There are Stukas in the sky to sweep away, and armored forces on the ground to attack. What is missing is the infantry to accompany the attack and occupy the position. But for Heinz's tank formation, this level is now The cover was completely luxurious to the extreme - although there were only about twenty Stukas participating in the attack in the air, they were all under ground command, and there were nearly 200 fighter jets deployed to escort them. This number was enough for a group army. . Following the direct call from the ground tank formation, all the anti-tank and artillery positions deployed in hidden corners were knocked out by the Stuka, while the anti-aircraft gun positions that posed a greater threat to the Stuka were knocked out by the tanks, and the armor The rhythm of the column marching straight in was as smooth as a red-roasted knife cutting through solidified butter. Only the British infantry scattered everywhere, screaming and running away, or shivering and hiding in the trenches, were ignored, except for a few German fighter planes unwilling to be left alone. Apart from shooting at the ground, they were basically left to fend for themselves.

While commanding the tank assault, Heinz felt the rigidity of the British: Their anti-aircraft guns were anti-aircraft guns, and their anti-tank guns were anti-tank guns. The former was not used to fight tanks, and the latter was not used to fight aircraft. If the 88 guns equipped by the Germans were replaced, they would be able to hit tanks from above and below, which would be enough to make the enemy drink. The attack on the southern flank of Dermhafed Ridge was not greatly hindered. Stukas or fighter jets were able to deal with all the difficult problems. Although the British army had received news of the enemy's surprise attack, they were still shocked by the German armored power. After fighting out from behind, he almost suffered a mental breakdown. By the time he reached the last dozen positions, the defensive troops had already fled before the Germans came. Only a few unlucky German tanks hit mines and had their tracks blown off, so they had to abandon the vehicles. However, they were also not bad luck. They actually grabbed the truck of the Eighth Army Logistics Department transporting water supplies to the front line. With the help of comrades disguised as British armored vehicles, they immediately completed the task of seizing the vehicle. This slightly comical special formation marched westward in a mighty way.

At 6:32, two minutes later than the time agreed by Guderian, the two armored battalions fought and charged, completing the sweep of the enemy forces on the southern flank of Derm Hafed Ridge, destroying a large number of British positions and tactical weapons. Yu successfully chose another road to retreat to Tel Akakir, and the cover aircraft group separated from them earlier - they still had to seize the last light before the sun set to fly to other base airports.

A batch of gasoline and supplies were originally buried near Guderian's pre-arranged connection point so that the armored forces could quickly replenish and rest. However, because the British oil depot was robbed on the way and the formation suffered very little losses, Hein Ci decided not to dig out these buried "treasures". After a hurried dinner, he led the formation to continue on the road. The overall transfer time was a full hour earlier than planned, which meant their retreat. It will be smoother and calmer.

After Lieutenant Colonel Merinjin, who retreated with the telegraph company and the armored reconnaissance company, received the telegram from Heinz, his hanging heart was finally relieved. He excitedly handed the telegram to Guderian: "Sir, The battle plan directed by you went well. The two armored battalions and the air force turned the British position upside down and gave Montgomery a hard lesson. However, our losses were almost negligible. Heinz still had 49 tanks left, the most precious ones. The long-barreled No. 4 G type only lost 3 vehicles, and the Air Force's battle losses were also not large, maybe a dozen aircraft - they destroyed at least 10 times more of the enemy. "

Guderian took a rough look at the telegram and laughed: "Very good! Montgomery will probably be paranoid and unable to sleep tonight. Let's retreat quickly and let the armored troops use the night to quickly rush to Tell Akakir." Convergence.”