The Rise of the Third Reich

"Tanks! The German tanks are coming! In groups, they are detouring south of Bir Hakim!"

Someone suddenly shouted in the operations room of the British 8th Army Headquarters in the Tubluk Port Fortress bunker. Then the noisy war room suddenly became quiet. Even the staff officers who were passing orders and messages in and out stopped and turned their attention to their commander, Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham.

The terrible German armored forces began to move, and they came very quickly, blowing from Benghazi to Tobruk like a gust of wind. And they launched the action faster. When everyone thought that these Germans were going to rest for a while, they actually started to attack. After getting used to fighting with the slow Italians, everyone was a little uncomfortable with it. The Krauts are fighting at a fast pace.

"How many are here?" Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham, who was studying the map, straightened up and asked the staff officer who rushed in in a panic.

"There are 200-300 tanks, or more," the staff officer said. "One of our patrols retreated after touching them. We didn't encounter much."

"What's the situation with Bill Hakim?" Alan Cunningham asked again.

"We are under heavy shelling!" a staff officer quickly answered.

"Where are the defenses of the South African 1st Division and the Indian 5th Division?"

"There was no attack."

After asking two questions, Alan Cunningham had concluded that the German armored group was preparing to detour south of Bir Hakim.

"Tell Major General Craig to dispatch his armored group immediately!" Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham did not hesitate and immediately gave the order to the commander of the armored group, Major General Michael Moore Craig.

It's not that Alan Cunningham was rash, but that he had no choice. Nowadays, sea and air control are basically on the side of Germany and Italy. Although he is backed by the supply port of Tobruk, he cannot get much supplies from the sea. If the land supply line is cut off by the German armored group, then the 150,000 troops here in Tobruk can be wiped out by starvation. Lose.

Moreover, the terrain around Tobruk is relatively flat. Although there are valleys and hills, it is quite convenient to take a detour. If Alan Cunningham stood still, the 150,000-strong army would be surrounded by the Germans by the afternoon.

Second Lieutenant Rudolf von Ribbentrop was sitting in the back seat of a brand-new SD.KFZ.251 armored reconnaissance vehicle at this time. While feeling the bumps of the half-track armored vehicle, he held up his telescope to search. Looking at the desolate sandy land ahead.

On both sides of the half-track armored vehicle that Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop was riding, there were two half-track armored vehicles of similar models - each armored platoon of a mechanized reconnaissance company owned five sd.kfz.251 series. Armored vehicles and three-wheeled motorcycles. These five sd.kfz.251 half-track armored vehicles can also be equipped with optional weapons and equipment as needed.

Because the British equipment forces here in North Africa are relatively strong, and the German armored forces do not have many tanks, one of the five half-track armored vehicles under Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop is equipped with a French SA37 47mm anti-aircraft vehicle. Tank gun. Among the other four sd.kfz.251 half-track armored vehicles, two are equipped with 20mm machine guns and two are equipped with 14.5mm machine guns.

In addition, the nine BMW three-wheeled motorcycles were equipped with an MG34 machine gun.

Although they are only one platoon, their firepower is probably equivalent to a battalion of the Italian army in North Africa.

So just now they easily defeated a British armored patrol, and also easily destroyed several British armored vehicles with the 47mm cannon installed on the half-track vehicle.

"Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop, huge smoke was found ahead!" The voice of Sergeant Schumacher, commander of the No. 5 car, came from Lieutenant Ribbentrop's earphones.

Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop quickly raised the telescope, and as expected, the blue sky was filled with yellow smoke. This should be the dust stirred up by the tracks and wheels of a large number of armored vehicles rolling over the sand.

"Lieutenant Schwarzenegger, this is 1st Platoon Commander Ribbentrop." Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop picked up the intercom and called his platoon leader, Lieutenant Schwarzenegger. "Situation detected at the front. It seems that the British armored group is in front. Please give instructions."

"Come closer and take a closer look!" Lieutenant Schwarzenegger's order came over.

"As ordered." Ribbentrop adjusted the frequency and then began to pass orders to his subordinates. "Everyone, we are going to the front for fire reconnaissance! Sergeant Schumacher, check your 47mm cannon. We will encounter the British cruise tank later, and we are all counting on you."

"Second Lieutenant, don't worry, I will blow up all those cruise tanks!"

The French SA37 47mm anti-tank gun is a treasure. It can penetrate 72mm of uniform vertical armor at a distance of 1,000 meters. It may not be able to defeat the British Matilda 2 tank, but it can only deal with the thin-skinned and big Crusader cruise tank.

After hearing Sergeant Schumacher's words, Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop laughed: "Okay, then we will kill a few British Crusader tanks."

This is easy to say, but not easy to do. Because the sd.kfz.251 armored reconnaissance vehicle is an armored vehicle after all, the British Crusader tanks can easily kill it!

Lieutenant Ribbentrop's 5 armored vehicles and 9 motorcycles continued to move forward. After about 10 minutes, the smoke and dust in front became heavier, and the hum of the motor became louder and louder.

"Now, stop moving forward!" Lieutenant Ribbentrop knew that the enemy's tanks would soon appear, so he ordered his 5 armored vehicles to stop moving forward. "Sergeant Schumacher, prepare to fire!"

"Ready!" Sergeant Schumacher replied.

"Okay, I want to see who you are?" Lieutenant Ribbentrop raised his telescope and stared at the front. After about 5 minutes, a group of slowly moving steel monsters appeared in the dust in front. By analyzing their huge outlines, Lieutenant Rudolf von Ribbentrop knew that they were most likely Crusader cruise tanks.

"Fire!" Lieutenant Ribbentrop picked up the intercom and shouted.

"Boom!"

Before he finished speaking, the 47mm anti-tank gun had already fired, and a flash of fire broke through the air at a very fast speed. Before people could react, the shell had already hit a British tank 1,000 meters away, and then a ball of fire rose into the air.

"Hit it!"

Ribbentrop's headset came with a cheer.

At this time, he had already seen the shape of the tank under the smoke and dust, which was the British Crusader cruise tank. The number seemed to exceed 100, but the Matilda 2 was not seen - this type of tank has poor mobility and is usually pulled to the vicinity of the battlefield by heavy trucks. It is estimated that they are still on the trucks now.

"Sergeant Schumacher, keep firing, and leave after firing 5 rounds." Lieutenant Ribbentrop picked up the intercom and shouted, "Other vehicles, throw smoke cans and retreat now!"

The firepower reconnaissance mission has been completed so far. Fighting the British Crusader tank is not what the armored reconnaissance platoon should do. So the role of Sergeant Schumacher's 47mm gun is actually to cover the retreat of the big guys.

…

“General, the enemy’s main force has taken the bait, with at least 100 cruiser tanks.” Lieutenant General Alfred Goltz, Chief of Staff of the African Army, took a report from a signalman on a motorcycle, looked at it, and then laughed.

“It hasn’t taken the bait yet,” Rommel shook his head and said to Lieutenant General Goltz, who was sitting in the same armored command vehicle with him, “It will be considered as taking the bait only when the British tanks stupidly crash into our 50mm anti-tank guns.”

The underpowered 37mm anti-tank guns are now disappearing from the German Army, but the speed of elimination is not too fast. After all, the urgency of upgrading the army’s equipment after the Western Front campaign is not too great. Moreover, the huge shipbuilding plan occupies a lot of resources, so now only a few troops have completed the comprehensive upgrade of anti-tank guns. However, the several divisions owned by the African Army are the few troops that have completed the upgrade, and all of them have been replaced with Pak38 50mm anti-tank guns.

Although this anti-tank gun is not as powerful as the French SA37 47mm anti-tank gun, it is enough to deal with the British Crusader cruiser tank and Matilda II tank.

"Now it depends on Lieutenant General Thomas's ability!" Rommel folded his arms, muttered and looked around. At least 100 Type 4 tanks and more trucks and armored vehicles lined up in a long line in the sand. If von Thomas couldn't win, then it would be their turn to go up and support.

A little further away, hundreds of 105mm caliber Wasp self-propelled artillery had already formed a formation, with the muzzles raised high, waiting to fire.

"It's just a few half-tracks, no need to chase them." Major General Craig, commander of the British Armored Group, was giving orders at this time, "Let all the Matilda tanks get off the vehicles and form an attack formation with the Crusader cruiser tanks.

In addition, let the 3rd Indian Motorized Infantry Brigade cover the left Yi; the Polish Brigade and the 1st Free French Brigade are responsible for covering the tank attack!"

Then he looked at the sky worriedly. It seemed that it would not rain in the sky of North Africa, and it was always blue sky and white clouds. Although there was no trace of German bombers (Major General Craig guessed that they might be entangled by British fighters), they would definitely arrive soon.

"Hurry up!" Major General Craig took a breath and said, "Strive for a quick victory and decide the outcome before the German planes fly over in groups!"