Iron Cross

Under a cloudless sky, long columns of Italian armored troops advanced along the coastal road along with trucks transporting infantry, setting off patches of yellow sand flying all over the sky. This is the only lifeline in North Africa. Whether the German, Italian Afrika Korps and the British Eighth Army are attacking or retreating, the main forces advance along this road. It's just that the direction of the Italians is not to attack, but to turn into Tobruk.

A large column retreat under such weather conditions can easily become a target for the air force, but the Italians who are eager to escape obviously don't care about this. They place their hopes on the small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns accompanying the troops and the air cover promised by the Germans. ——The Germans did not break their promise on this point. From time to time, the Italians could see the Bf-109 passing by at low altitude. Although the British reconnaissance planes or bomber groups had arrived several times, they were dispersed by the well-prepared cover aircraft group. Even the infantrymen saw several British "Handsome Warrior" fighter-bombers that were escaping slowly being shot down by Bf-109s, which caused bursts of cheers from the Italians, but this did not delay their retreat.

Montgomery, who was commanding the gradual advance of the Eighth Army, also received intelligence from the Desert Air Force commanded by Major General Ted. After reading it with a frown, he asked the liaison officer: "You mean the Afrika Korps is escaping quickly?"

"This morning the reconnaissance plane discovered three different troops. After a rough inventory, it was found that there were no less than 150 tanks inside, as well as a large number of trucks, infantry and other accompanying operations. We don't know whether they are the main force of the African Army, but Judging from the current situation, they are heading all the way to Tobruk." The air force liaison officer took out another telegram, "There is also news from Malta that an Italian transport fleet broke through the base air force a few days ago. The interception arrived in North Africa, with a total of 14 ships inside. According to their analysis, the destination should also be Tobruk. "

Montgomery's face turned very bad when he heard this. The previous interception of the oil tanker has not been resolved yet. This time the Italians successfully dispatched a supply fleet and there was a large number of them. This brought a lot of trouble to the Eighth Army's follow-up operations. The pressure, and then thinking of Churchill's cold telegram request, he was a little anxious, but his face could not show it, and explained in as calm a tone as possible: "Please pay close attention to their situation, or can you ask bombers to dispatch the enemy?" action?"

"I will report your request to my superiors. However, you cannot have particularly big expectations: the consequences of the last German raid were very serious. The troops at the frontline airport were insufficient and needed to be transferred from the following airports, and Germany People have obviously strengthened the air cover and alert of the ground forces. At the same time, they have a large number of fighter jets and are equipped with new models. However, the latest Spitfire fighter jets we need have not yet arrived, and it is difficult for the bomber formation to break through the blockade. This morning we Trials conducted by small formations have had little effect, and fighter jets are of little use against ground targets - have you considered using night bombing to provide support?"

Montgomery shook his head: Although the night bombing avoided the interception of German fighter jets, it also lost its accuracy. What's more, there are still more than 7 hours before dark. If the German and Italian troops are given enough time, who knows what this group of people will do. Wherever the guy goes.

"I understand what you mean. I will ask my superiors to coordinate it as soon as possible."

Looking at the retreating figure of the Air Force Liaison Officer, Montgomery couldn't help but complain to De Lagan: "Can't we decipher the enemy's code now? Why is every interception operation or espionage operation so laborious? The fuel last time It is estimated that Guderian has already obtained the supplies. There are so many transport ships supplying this time. The enemy's strength is growing every moment, but the Prime Minister insists that we win before giving reinforcements. What can I do without reliable reinforcements? Defeat the Germans?"

De Lagan also expressed surprise: "The codes are still being deciphered, and relevant information and intelligence are being transmitted. Yesterday, I also saw several telegrams sent by Guderian to Marshal Kesselring, cleverly justifying why he wanted to The problem with abandoning the three Italian infantry divisions lies in the specific time and distance. Now the Germans have become cunning. The words they say in the messages are unclear or change frequently, and there is no pattern at all, causing our interceptions to often lose their accuracy. , this retreat was not reported to Rome in advance.”

The two discussed it for a while and were puzzled, and decided to summon other generals to come together for discussion. However, since most of the division-level generals were commanding operations in their respective units, only Horrocks, commander of the Tenth Army and commander of the First Army, Ramsden and Ramsden were both at headquarters.

"According to the original deployment, we were supposed to launch a two-pronged pincer offensive towards Tell Akakir to press Guderian, but his sense of smell was very sensitive and he ran away..." Montgomery handed the photos returned from the Air Force reconnaissance to his men. , "Our vanguard is now at least 40-60 kilometers away from the enemy. If we don't speed up, we are likely to watch them slip away. Even if we rush to Tell Akakir, it will be of no avail."

"The enemy is very cunning and has very keen senses. This is really a cunning old fox." Horrocks looked at the photo carefully and couldn't help but muttered in a low voice, "If we chase and add to the delayed interception in the air, maybe Eating Guderian's rearguard wouldn't be a problem - it would just be some Italians."

What Horrocks was talking about was Montgomery's original wishful thinking, but because Whitehall forwarded Prime Minister Churchill's telegram and at the same time only captured Italians who surrendered wholeheartedly in the battle in the previous few days, his wishful thinking went bankrupt.

The decision before Montgomery was difficult to make: if the original plan continued, it was likely that all 50,000 people would be returned to Tobruk. It was one thing to give a proper explanation to London, but then we would face these in Tobruk. The troops are another matter. Considering that the Germans are still transporting supplies and reinforcements to Tobruk, if there is no way to weaken Guderian's troops now, the Eighth Army will face an even harder nut to crack - the ease now will be built on the pain later superior. If you change the plan to pursue, you will have to change the original combat deployment and marching sequence. After the battle line is opened, I am afraid that most of the troops, especially the infantry, will not be able to enter the battle - this means that you cannot easily win with superior strength. Montgomery's expression couldn't help but show distress. He was neither willing to risk his life and fight Guderian to the death, nor was he willing to let the other party leave in a big way. After thinking for a long time, he couldn't find a way to get the best of both worlds.

"If this continues, the Germans will become stronger and stronger, and Tobruk will become a hard nut." Ramsden originally had high hopes for the Desert Air Force, but when he heard that the latter was powerless, he suddenly Become disappointed.

"It's not impossible to speed up, but it requires our armored forces to accelerate forward." De Lagan was also troubled by this situation. He looked at Montgomery with an inquiring look, and after getting the latter's permission, he told He expressed his own idea, "We can transfer the detour troops originally planned to be on the North Road to undertake the pursuit mission, and at the same time, the troops originally breaking through from the front will take over the North Route troops to conduct normal detours, so that both troops can effectively use the coastal road—— This helps speed things up so they don't get lost in the desert."

"Then temporarily change the steps and push the 7th Armored Division, which is currently the most forward?" Horrocks looked at the map carefully and made a suggestion.

"No! The troops originally scheduled to outflank from the north road switched to pursuit along the coastal road, while the troops originally planned to break through from the front still maintained their marching route." After looking at the map for a while, Montgomery made up his mind and decisively issued the order, "The 7th , the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions quickly advanced in armored groups to pursue the enemy, and tried to delay the enemy while waiting for the rest of the troops to follow. "

"Why?" Everyone was confused by Montgomery's strange deployment. According to their understanding, executing this plan will make the forward troops move forward further, and the distance between them and the main force on the front will be accelerated, which is likely to cause a command disconnect. ——This is behavior that Montgomery himself has repeatedly emphasized to avoid.

"Do you think there are Afrika Korps troops in Teleakakir?" Perhaps seeing the doubts of his men, Montgomery's eyes were bright, "I don't believe that the troops detected by the Air Force are all the Afrika Korps, not only in terms of quantity It doesn't sound right, but judging from Guderian's usual approach, he must have separated his troops. Only part of his troops retreated along the coastal road, and the other troops either continued to hide in Tell Akaki. Either you have moved to another place - you should find a way to find this fox who is good at escaping. "

The doubts on other people's faces became even more serious. If they were sure that there were enemy troops in Tele Akakir, they should not deploy in this way. Wasn't this a clear gap for Guderian to jump out?