The decisive battle against the Third Reich

There was no change on the first day, and there was no movement on the second day either.

On the third day, Major General Gro, commander of the German 15th Armored Division, ordered to slow down the march and contact aerial reconnaissance aircraft to allow them to conduct intensive reconnaissance.

The reason is simple. The calmness on the first and second days was too abnormal. Not only did the British army not send out "Stuarts" to harass, they didn't even encounter a single reconnaissance unit.

What's more, the 15th Armored Division has advanced more than 200 kilometers for two consecutive days, while the Italian 132nd Armored Division fell far behind by 50 kilometers because it was not fast enough... This was the result of Rommel's repeated urging.

Major General Gro thought that they should be more careful now, because the British would not allow them to drive straight to Port Said, which was the last remaining port for the British.

But soon, Major General Groe received a telegram from the communications soldier.

The telegram was from Rommel and it read: "I'm right above you, why slow down?"

"General!" Major General Gero called back: "This is abnormal. The British have air superiority. They could have used fighter planes to bomb us while we were marching, or they could have used Stuarts to harass us, but they did nothing. . It's like they want us to approach Port Said..."

"We have already discussed it!" Rommel said: "The British are seizing the time to rest and recuperate. Their troops just escaped back to Port Said two days ago!"

What Rommel said makes sense. All units of the British Eighth Army were severely beaten by the Germans: the 7th Armored Division, the 15th Armored Division, the Australian 6th Infantry Division, the New Zealand 2nd Infantry Division, and the Indian 4th Infantry Division. Infantry divisions, etc., not to mention the 1st South African Division and the African Army...the Germans are too lazy to discuss these units.

Therefore, the British army needed to reintegrate these almost scattered troops to form a force strong enough to withstand the German attack.

But Major General Groh still thinks something is wrong, because it has nothing to do with the British Air Force. Although the German army has strengthened its air power and achieved some victories in the air, it has never been able to seize air supremacy.

"Speed ​​up the march!" Rommel ordered: "This way we can arrive at Port Said in the evening and launch an attack!"

"Yes, General!" Major General Gro said helplessly and then ordered the troops to speed up.

Rommel is like this. He will never consider how tired the soldiers are, nor how many uncertain factors there are. He only considers one thing...disrupting all the enemy's arrangements as quickly as possible.

At this time, there was a burst of machine gunfire in the sky. Major General Gro looked up and saw that there were several Hurricane fighter jets in the sky at some point. They were driving away German reconnaissance planes.

This may be a normal phenomenon, because at this time the German army has pushed within a hundred kilometers of Port Said, and the British army will certainly not allow German reconnaissance planes to conduct unscrupulous reconnaissance.

But Major General Gro thought this was unusual... This was an indescribable feeling. If there was any explanation, it would be the sixth sense.

Because Rommel was not on the front line, he could actually be said to be on the front line, but he was observing from the air, and looking down from the air at the empty space ahead, he took it for granted that there was no danger.

But this time the British army successfully deceived Rommel.

The British army used the same method as the German army...covered with khaki canvas, it was difficult to detect anything wrong from the air.

Then, there was a sudden rumble of artillery on the ground, and a group of scouts was bombarded while crossing a hill.

Rommel looked down with his telescope from the air, and then said to the driver: "Notify the ground troops that there is a group of enemy anti-tank guns hidden in front, annihilate them!"

"Yes, General!"

Rommel took it for granted that those were anti-tank guns, and that there was only a small group... Facts have proved that his judgment was wrong.

Major General Groh spent a few minutes unfolding the front team into a battle formation. The infantry jumped from the car and followed the tank, and then slowly advanced toward the hills ahead.

But when the "No. 3" tank appeared, they suddenly discovered that what stood in front of them was not an anti-tank gun, let alone a few tanks, but a long row of tanks with almost no head, tanks they had never seen before.

"Damn it!" the commander shouted into the walkie-talkie: "They are tanks, new tanks! Back away..."

But it was too late to retreat at this time. Just a few "boom" blasts were heard, and the "No. 3" cars at the front were blown into a ball of flames.

"What's going on?" Rommel looked down in surprise, and then he realized the seriousness of the problem... The British tank had taken off its camouflage and started its engine. In an instant, the entire desert was boiling, with exhaust fumes and tanks running everywhere. The dust raised.

"God!" Rommel looked at the monster-like tanks below and said in surprise: "The staff sergeant is right, the British got a new type of tank and put it into actual combat!"

These tanks are indeed new tanks.

The Americans called it the M3 medium tank. The British thought it was easy to confuse the numbered name, so they gave it the name "General Grant" tank.

The British approach is in line with the needs of the battlefield, while the Americans have not yet participated in the war and have no experience, so most of the tank names are very similar and difficult to distinguish, such as M2 light, M2 medium, M3 light, M3 medium, etc.

This kind of terminology is undoubtedly asking for trouble when used on the battlefield. If the communications soldier only calls out "M2" or "M3", or the sound of artillery fire covers up "light" or "medium", the receiving party will not know the instructions. What kind of tank is that?

If it were someone else, they would most likely order a retreat when encountering this situation.

But Rommel was none other than Rommel. He only hesitated for a few seconds and then said to the driver: "Tell them that there are about 80 new enemy tanks ahead. Destroy them!"

The driver couldn't help but opened his mouth in surprise, but he still passed on the order.

Rommel was right. In a tank-to-tank duel, unless it was a "Stuart" that was much faster than the "No. 3", there would be no point in escaping, because that would expose its weak rear armor to Under the enemy's guns.

Rather than doing this, it is better to confront the enemy head-on.

Even if you know nothing about the performance of the enemy's new tanks, even if their numbers are far inferior to the enemy's, even if you still have fear of the enemy's new equipment... you can at least destroy a few tanks and die a worthy death.

Major General Gro also knew this, so he shouted into the walkie-talkie: "The enemy armored forces ahead, prepare to fight!"

"Ready to fight!"

…

The order was passed on loudly.

The time has come to verify the quality of the German army.