The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Opportunity is very important to a person.

Anyone who truly understands this war knows that General Auchinleck made the greatest contribution in North Africa, because it was under his leadership that the British Eighth Army fought against the Germans and experienced a strategic turn. Montgomery only continued General Auchinleck's strategic thinking. Then continue the war step by step.

This is one of the reasons why Rommel praised General Auchinleck but did not mention Montgomery in his memoirs... Rommel actually looked down on Montgomery a little, because Montgomery's command was too traditional, and almost every step was calculated by Rommel. , even though Montgomery had an absolute advantage in troops and equipment, he was still beaten by Rommel several times and was very embarrassed.

But it was Montgomery who became famous in the end. He was even called a "military genius" by the British.

The reason is that General Auchinleck lost some territory in the battle in North Africa. Originally, victory or defeat was a matter of military strategists, and there was nothing to blame. The important thing was that in the end General Auchinleck had a strategic advantage.

The problem is that many members of Parliament in the UK are using these lost territories to attack Churchill...

So Churchill needed someone to take the blame, and General Auchinleck unfortunately became the one to take the blame.

Montgomery then took command of the Eighth Army.

Montgomery actually didn't need to do anything. He only needed to hold the line according to General Auchinleck's strategy, receive equipment, train troops...and then wait for victory.

But Churchill needed a role model to show off his achievements, so that he could break away from the troubles in parliament and slap those Conservative MPs who proposed motions against him. At the same time, Britain also needed a hero to inspire the people to continue fighting with Germany. To resist, Churchill shaped the subsequent victory into a myth, and Montgomery became a "military genius."

As Churchill said: “Before the War of El Alamein we were defeated repeatedly, but after the War of El Alamein we are invincible!”

But this is actually not true. The fact is that the subsequent "invincible" is because the previous "repeated defeats" laid the foundation.

In the final analysis, these are the ugly and dark side of politics, or one of the flaws of parliamentary system.

Of course, Qin Chuan would not care about these things anymore. The first thing he did after returning to Alexandria was to take a dark sleep.

The 21st Armored Division fought bravely, and Rommel gave them three days' leave.

The Italian army was not so lucky. They were pulled into the desert to build a long defense line...from Alexandria to the Katara Basin, the length would be longer than the Alamein Line of Defense, sixty-five kilometers.

This line of defense was defended by three Italian infantry divisions, while the Italian 132nd Armored Division and the German 15th Armored Division served as mobile defense behind the line.

The British stopped ten kilometers away, and they built another line of defense opposite the German army... The reason why it was ten kilometers away was because the artillery could hit the opponent's position, and the British artillery had an advantage in quantity. The supply of artillery shells is also much greater than that of the German army, which will overwhelm the German and Italian armies over time.

This was in the interests of the British, who wanted to fight trench warfare like World War I.

"Sergeant, Sergeant..." Qin Chuan was shaken awake in a blur. Qin Chuan jumped up, grabbed his rifle and asked, "The enemy is coming?"

The German soldiers sleeping next to them also jumped up like springs.

"No, no...relax!" Kuhn said to everyone: "It's safe now!"

Then Kuhn said to Qin Chuan: "I didn't want to wake up the others, but look..."

As he spoke, he spread his hands helplessly.

"Sorry, sir!" Qin Chuan said.

"That's right!" Kuhn said: "They have opened a military school, and the general specially recommends you to participate. What do you think?"

As soon as Kuhn finished speaking, the surrounding German soldiers cast envious glances.

Of course Qin Chuan knew what this meant, which meant that he had a chance to become an officer.

"Sergeant!" Kuhn then said to Werner: "You were recommended by our company!"

"Awesome!" Werner jumped up excitedly and stood next to Qin Chuan.

"Pack your things!" Kuhn said: "The captain sent his jeep to take you to school. The driver and car are waiting outside!"

"Yes, sir!" Qin Chuan and Werner responded.

As a soldier, there is actually nothing to prepare. The only thing the two of them have to do is to hang their own equipment such as water bottles, engineering shovels, etc. Although they are in tatters, these things are necessary for desert operations. thing.

Later, Qin Chuan and Werner realized that it was completely necessary for them to do this, because the military school did not provide the students with extra supplies... The reason was that the supply line was blocked by the British army. It was expected that supply would be difficult in the future. So the entire army began to plan material rations.

The military school is located in Alexandria. It was originally a military school run by the British and was mainly used to train officers of the Egyptian African Army.

When the jeep that Qinchuan and Werner were riding entered the gate of the military academy, several German soldiers used hammers to knock out the inscriptions on the stone tablet next to them. It was probably the words "British Imperial Army Alexander Military Academy" or something like that.

Qinchuan and Werner were arranged in a remote barracks. They shared a room with four other soldiers who were also in ragged clothes. Judging from their military ranks, they were all sergeants and sergeants.

"Are you all from the 21st Armored Division?" Werner asked.

"No!" one of the bearded men replied: "I am the only one, they are from the 15th Armored Division!"

"Hello, my name is Werner!" Werner has a lively personality and is always familiar with him wherever he goes.

"My name is David!" replied the Beard.

"Okay, now it's three versus three!" said a staff sergeant who was lying on the bed leisurely playing with the spurs: "Three 15th Armored Division, three 21st Armored Division... I'm wondering why they want to Leave us here!"

"The answer is obvious!" A sergeant wearing glasses and writing something with a pen in a notebook replied: "Our casualties are too great, including officers. On the other hand, Germany is at war with the Soviet Union, so they cannot give We sent enough reinforcements, so we have to be self-sufficient..."

Then he glanced at everyone and said, "We are the officers!"

What the spectacled sergeant said was right, but one should be added: the supply lines of the German and Italian troops were cut off.

Rommel has not announced the incident to the entire army because he is worried about the impact on soldiers.