Iron Cross

During the Siege and Annihilation of Tell Akakir, because the command vehicle Brown was riding in was hit by a German tank, he was knocked unconscious and had no chance to send a telegram to tell Major General Gatehouse that he was about to surrender. , and although the infantry and artillery forces commanded by the chief of staff on the other side controlled the brigade headquarters radio station, he, who had been busy directing operations, mistakenly believed that Brown would report the latest situation of the troops and the news of surrender to the division headquarters. In addition, he was unwilling to represent The brigade headquarters sent a telegram to superiors reporting the news of the surrender, so there was no movement at all. As soon as the surrender result was announced and the troops surrendered under the white flag, the brigade headquarters was immediately controlled by the Germans, and all arms and equipment were taken away by the Germans.

The British officers were screened one by one and held in solitary confinement. Brown finally met with his chief of staff. After the two communicated, they realized that they had forgotten to send back this most important news. The two couldn't help crying. Not only did they become prisoners of the Germans, they also failed to fulfill their obligation to deliver the message. They may be cursed forever in the future.

After crying, Brown's eyes were red, and he suddenly thought: Could the division commander, who had not received the exact information and thought he was still resisting, run in with his troops? The more he thought about this line of thought, the more terrifying he became. In addition, he was vague about the new German tanks in the telegram. He felt that not only had he ruined the 24th Armored Brigade, but the entire division might even be implicated. He was stunned by this terrible prospect - it was a life-and-death experience.

He rushed to the guarding military police, hoping to have a chance to find the communication tool again, but the other party refused and told him coldly: No!

Gatehouse thought his attack was fierce enough. In fact, Walster and Bismarck did not put much effort on him. Only part of the troops of the 10th Armored Division were faced with it, and most of the main force was left to deal with the encirclement. Those infantry and artillery in there-at least they can't cause trouble to Collingwood's tank annihilation battle. But when Brigadier General Brown surrendered and they began to clear the encirclement and deal with the aftermath, the British attack on the blocking position continued, even harder than before, and the two suddenly figured out that something was wrong.

"Could it be that the 10th Armored Division doesn't know that the 24th Armored Brigade is finished?" Major General Bismarck said excitedly, "If so, we can lure the 10th Armored Division in to fight."

"Not necessarily. If the enemy is smart enough, they should keep calling the 24th Armored Brigade. The delay in getting a response will definitely arouse their suspicion." Walster put forward his own suggestion, "We should let the commander know He may have a better solution for this matter.”

Bismarck's personality was even bolder, and he wanted to directly bring in the 10th Armored Division and eat it like the 24th Armored Brigade, but Walster felt uneasy, not to mention whether the British would be fooled again. There are unfavorable factors such as cleaning up and the prisoners not yet being transported away. If the 10th Armored Division cannot be eaten in one bite, big trouble will occur. Since this decision was related to subsequent operations, they did not dare to make the decision without authorization, and told Guderian about the situation on the front line and their different suggestions.

Guderian was not sure whether the British had confirmed the news of the destruction of the 24th Armored Brigade. It was useless to ask Brigadier General Brown. In his eagerness, he could not find anyone to play the role of the 24th Armored Brigade, so he gave the order: "Abandon it appropriately." some positions, and at the same time continued to make gunfire at Tele Akakir, and continued to eat it if it could lure the British to the bait. "Then urgent orders were given to Collingwood, who was eager to lead the tank. The reason why the troops went to reinforce.

"Sir, the Indian 4th Division behind is also coming up, and they will cooperate with our attack." The chief of staff in another command vehicle told Major General Gatehouse through the radio, "The circuitous troops on the north and south wings have basically arrived at the designated position. , but the minefield is very dense and they are still demining, so the progress is not fast. "

"Okay, very good!" Gatehouse thought for a moment, "report the relevant situation to General Ramsden, and at the same time urge the detour divisions to speed up."

"Major General Gatehouse reported that he could not contact the 24th Armored Brigade..." The adjutant handed the message to Ramsden.

"What's going on?" Ramsden frowned. Now General Montgomery has given himself the task of commanding the troops to surround Guderian, and said that once the initial success is achieved, he will personally lead other troops to come for reinforcements.

"It's not clear. The 10th Armored Division has advanced about 2 kilometers. The enemy's resistance is very tight and the blocking firepower is not weak. The Indian 4th Division has also moved up, but the 24th Armored Brigade has been unable to contact them."

"When was the last contact?"

"About an hour ago, they said they were in a fierce battle with the Germans. The numbers of two German armored divisions appeared in it. It also seemed that the Germans had dispatched a new type of tank - which was said to be very difficult to deal with."

"New tanks that are difficult to deal with?" Ramsden was surprised and asked hurriedly, "How many are there? What is the specific combat effectiveness of German tanks?"

"About 100 vehicles. They didn't say the specific situation. I guess they couldn't tell clearly in the telegram."

Upon hearing this number, Ramsden was visibly relieved. This number was still within his psychological tolerance. This new tank is probably the Germans' newly improved No. 4G type. It is said that it uses a long-barreled gun and adds an armor patch. It is indeed an improvement, but it will not have an overwhelming advantage - he guessed that this batch of tanks The tanks were the last reinforcements the Germans received by sea.

He thought for a while and then explained: "Telegram to the Army Headquarters that the enemy has received tank reinforcements, probably about 100 New No. 4 vehicles. Sir, please send us additional troops."

"Which troop do you want?"

"What other troops can be used to deal with tanks? But don't write it in the telegram. Let the commander figure it out." Ramsden really wanted to bring over the tank brigade that Montgomery had in hand, but that was the Army Headquarters. He was inconvenient to speak directly to the troops directly under him. Instead, he adopted a roundabout approach. Even if Montgomery pretended not to know, he believed that Chief of Staff De Lagan could understand the meaning inside - the German tanks were not the 200 as estimated in advance, but It received 100 new reinforcements. In this way, the originally estimated 2:1 advantage of the armored forces became 4:3. Our side did not have a clear advantage, so it was inevitable to increase reinforcements.

Just as the adjutant was about to leave, Lumsden stopped him again: "Also tell Gatehouse to fight slowly and not to rush in like the 24th Armored Brigade."

"Then... Brown's 24th Armored Brigade?"

"Don't worry about this idiot for now, let him reflect on it while he is surrounded by the Germans - he also has more than 80 tanks on hand, so he will not fail so easily."

When Ramsden received the call back, Gatehouse was furious and had nowhere to vent: "I really want to rush in, but the German anti-tank firepower is so strong, and those damn 88 guns are everywhere. Can't get in."

The 15th and 21st Armored Divisions reorganized their defense lines after giving up some positions according to Guderian's request. Gatehouse originally thought that pulling in the Indian 4th Division and his 8th Armored Brigade tank unit would make the attack easier. It was easier. Unexpectedly, the German's hidden 88 gun showed its power, and it charged twice in succession, with no results except the loss of more than 10 tanks. Speaking of which, both Walster and Bismarck have to thank Collingwood. The extra 100 88-guns he brought from Italy solved a big problem - the Afrika Korps headquarters has a direct air defense force, and the 88-gun battalions of two armored divisions With a new addition, the anti-tank firepower is stronger than before.

Gatehouse sat in the swaying armored command vehicle, racking his brains to think about how to tear apart the German defensive positions in front of him. In order to prevent the noise from disturbing his thinking, he took off his headphones and only told the adjutant sitting in front to pay attention to the battlefield. dynamic. Unexpectedly, less than 15 minutes had passed and before he could come up with a safe and reliable way, the adjutant suddenly said in a panic: "Sir, it's bad, the frontline troops reported that the Germans sent out tanks to counterattack us."

"Oh, they finally moved, good time!" Gatehouse thought something was going on, and smiled, "The tanks of the 8th Armored Brigade can finally have a good fight with them, and no longer have to worry about those sneaky and hidden ones. The threat of 88 guns.”

"But...but..." the adjutant's face looked ugly, "The Germans have many more tanks than we do, and they are very powerful."

"A lot? How powerful?" Gatehouse's expression changed drastically, "How many are there? How powerful are they?"

"Listen to yourself."

Gatehouse put on the headphones again, and the noisy interference was mixed with the hoarse cry for help from the commander of the 8th Armored Brigade: "The Germans dispatched tanks and divided them into three groups to surround us. The number was close to 200. And they There is a batch of new tanks that are very powerful. I have never seen this type of tank. Our tank guns cannot hit them at all, and the shells will be bounced away... The troops have suffered heavy losses. I ask for artillery to cover us! !”

Before he could react, the other party suddenly screamed: "No, the positions of the Indian divisions on both wings collapsed first..."

"It's over!" Deep despair surged in Gatehouse's heart. The only reason the Germans dared to do this was that the 24th Armored Brigade was finished, so they could send out a large number of tanks to attack without any scruples, but Brown Why didn't the bastard send a telegram if he was finished? The 10th Armored Division was really killed by him.

He gritted his teeth and issued the order: "The entire army takes turns to cover and retreat towards Alamein."