Iron Cross

More than two hours after Rank's convoy passed, the gradually setting sun began to cover the earth. Captain Clark found that there was another convoy in front of the position, and there was even more noise and dust than before.

"What's going on? Does the headquarters distrust us so much that they sent reinforcements again?" He muttered, somewhat unbelievable.

Corporal Adams said enviously: "I wonder how many will come this time. Tsk tsk, the lieutenant colonel just now was really arrogant, but the cigarettes he distributed were really good. This is the first time an officer has asked me to smoke high-end cigarettes."

After raising the telescope and looking for a while, Clark's face suddenly froze, because he found that the tanks coming were not his own - the convoy just now was all the Union Jack of the Empire, and now it was the Iron Cross of the Germans. Damn it, how did the Germans come so quickly?

"No, Germans!" He screamed, "... Everyone, enter the trench immediately and prepare for the battle..." Before he finished giving the order, the T-34 tank leading the way had raised its artillery high, and as soon as he finished speaking, the shells had already fallen.

The African Army spent a lot of money this time. There was no exploratory attack. They immediately set up their positions and attacked on all fronts. Not only did they charge more than 200 tanks of the armored forces directly, but they were followed by a large number of armored grenadiers. Behind them, trucks were used to pull large-caliber howitzers to the second line. They launched an attack without even building a defensive position. They almost provided supporting firepower with the bayonet on the cannon, and they didn't seem to care about the British artillery counterattack at all.

Clark made his fastest choice and response, but it was a pity that he was still a step late. The soldiers who were caught off guard were knocked down by the constantly exploding shells, and the soldiers who had finally rolled and crawled into the trenches had no time to catch their breath before the German tanks rumbled up again. Clark had no choice but to rush to the phone to report, but he believed that such fierce artillery fire must have alarmed the troops behind. As long as they hold on, there is still a glimmer of hope.

Sure enough, the battalion commander's tone in the receiver was even more anxious than his: "I know the Germans have launched an all-out attack. You must hold on. The artillery will fight back soon..."

"Yes, hold on firmly."

However, all the British officers and soldiers on the front line were soon disappointed. They were looking forward to the artillery positions opening fire to cover them, but it did not happen. Instead, there was a very fierce explosion behind them. It sounded from the direction that it came from the artillery positions. Just when the artillery group of the division received the order and was ready to go, the tank squadron commanded by Heinz arrived. In the past two hours, Captain Rank made full use of the fake title of Lieutenant Colonel Robin to find out the deployment of various positions and the strength of the troops. The other troops did not doubt the intention of this unit at all, and their vigilance was much lower than Clark's. In response, the unceremonious commandos immediately aimed their guns at the positions of the 2nd, 4th, 11th Royal Artillery Regiments and the 146th Field Artillery Regiment (the regiment level in the British organization is relatively small, only slightly larger than the battalion level in other countries). They had already appeared to be relatively complete after urgently building fortifications on the same day. If it was ordinary fire suppression, it would never be so easy, but they encountered the Ranke commandos who came close to them.

"Five rapid bursts, all high-explosive shells, armored vehicles are responsible for dealing with artillery." Almost at the same time as the African Army launched the attack, Heinz issued the order to open fire. The British artillerymen who had just marked the firing parameters of the infantry positions and raised their gun muzzles to support the front-line infantry had not yet reacted when dozens of flames suddenly burst out from the flanks, and more than 20 shells fell on their own positions as if they had eyes, not only causing explosions throughout the day, but also causing other shells that had just been opened to explode. The entire position was suddenly shrouded in flames and screams, shrapnel flew across, and broken limbs were thrown into the air from time to time and fell heavily. Many artillerymen were killed directly on the gun positions. The German armored vehicles accelerated their advance, using their machine guns to sprinkle dense rain of bullets on the surviving British artillerymen who were dodging in panic, turning this artillery position into a horrible hell in one breath.

Without the support of artillery, the infantry alone was obviously unable to withstand the attack of Guderian's armored forces. Moreover, the British army did not even have an air force to provide cover at this time - because all the planes were sent by Montgomery to support the armored forces in front. The front-line positions were broken through by German tanks within ten minutes.

Before receiving the emergency telegram from the rear, Horrocks and others were quite proud, because the Italians fleeing along the coastal road were basically beaten by the 1st and 7th Armored Divisions. After executing the order for a rapid assault, the British tank group marched in and beat the Italians upside down. There were black smoke and flaming wreckage of Italian tanks, armored vehicles and vehicles everywhere, as well as piles of Italian tanks, armored vehicles and vehicles begging for surrender. of Italians. At the beginning of the attack, these groups of Italians ran around like frightened rabbits. Later, after seeing that the British tanks and armored vehicles had surrounded the entire area, they "wisely" chose not to fight. They were taken as prisoners obediently, and the few thin-skinned Italian tanks that tried to resist or escape became appetizers for the British tanks, which could be destroyed with a little attack. Only a few unlucky armored vehicles and trucks used their speed to slip out, but their lives were not easy either. They were soon chased and intercepted by air power. It seems that today the German Air Force also realized that the Italians were gone and provided cover in the air. The planes were not working as hard as they had arrived two days ago. They dealt with them in a hurry and then retreated. The pilots of the Desert Air Force, who had been entangled for several days, suddenly started to have fun and tried different ways to torment the Italians below. Little did they know that these German planes that had fired false shots were already following Guderian's orders to cooperate with the African Army in a lightning attack on the infantry and artillery positions of the two armored divisions.

Looking at the scene of victory, Horrocks was very satisfied. He smiled and said to Major General Langton: "The headquarters' estimate is good. These are all Italians. It seems that all the tanks and weapons in Italy are here. Although the results of the inventory have not been released yet, , but I believe we killed at least more than 250 Italian tanks or armored vehicles."

Langton was also complacent about this: "Fortunately, we made a decisive and light assault. If we dragged the infantry and artillery slowly, we don't know when we would be able to deal with the Italians - I say, we should have done this long ago, maybe now. The whole army went back to deal with the Germans."

Major General Briggs said with high spirits: "It's not too late to return to the division. Maybe we can see Guderian crash into our carefully prepared position."

"Sir, there is an emergency message from the rear."

"Commander Montgomery has any new instructions?" Horrocks asked while taking the telegram from the adjutant's hand.

"No, the Germans are attacking." The adjutant looked nervous. "About half an hour ago, Guderian started a full-scale attack."

The three major generals suddenly became nervous for no reason. After reading the telegram, Horrocks even screamed: "Attack the infantry and artillery behind us? Doesn't it mean that they have at least one day to catch up with us?"

"What?" The other two people also looked at each other.

"How many troops are there? How many tanks did the enemy dispatch? What is the approximate width of the attack?" Major General Briggs asked a series of questions, and the adjutant could only explain awkwardly: "Sorry, it was not stated clearly in the telegram."

"No matter what happens now, the enemy has attacked, and we must go back." Facing the small group of defeated Italian soldiers who were still escaping further away, Major General Langton could only express his heartfelt stance, "The situation does not allow us to continue to pursue the Italians. ”

Horrocks thought for a while and made a final decision: "Retract the troops and return to the division! We originally expected to deal with the Italians around three o'clock in the afternoon, but now the time has arrived. Although the enemy still has some defeated troops, it is obvious that they cannot cause much trouble. Come on, not to mention we can count on the air force to pursue us.”

The two division commanders immediately ordered each tank squadron to carry out emergency battlefield supplies and turn around. Just halfway through the operation, a new telegram came: saying that the enemy's artillery fire was very fierce, the 7th Motorized Brigade did not receive strong support, and all positions in front of it were occupied. collapse.

"What?" Everyone was shocked. Although it was expected that a motorized brigade could not stop the opponent's armored cluster, such a rapid collapse still greatly exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Where's our artillery? Why don't we fight back? Why don't we provide support?" This question was on everyone's mind, and a big question mark seemed to hang around the heads of the three major generals.

Before they could figure out the reason, a new telegram came. After reading this telegram, the lungs of the three of them almost exploded. It actually read: The armored formation reinforced by the Army Headquarters mutinied and attacked with artillery fire. Our artillery position, our artillery has been completely lost, and the rebels are currently attacking the anti-tank position...

"What?" Everyone's eyes widened, could such a thing happen?

"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!" Major General Briggs shook his head like a rattle, "How is this possible? This must be a mistake."

Major General Langton said coldly: "I don't believe it either. Chief Montgomery is so far away from us. How could there be an armored formation sent by him?"

While Horrocks ordered a telegram to be sent to General Montgomery for verification, he also ordered the remaining troops to hold their positions and prevent enemy penetration. The two division commanders, Langton and Briggs, were urging the tanks like crazy to speed up supplies.

The response of the Army Group Headquarters was faster than they imagined. Montgomery responded clearly: "Except for the Air Force, the Headquarters has not sent any support forces. The remaining leading troops are at least one day and one night away from your headquarters' location. Check immediately whether Is the telegram wrong?”

"No need to check, it must be a spy convoy infiltrated by the Germans..."

Briggs, the division commander, collapsed and stood there blankly, muttering to himself: "My artillery and my motorized brigade are all gone!"