The decisive battle against the Third Reich

That night the British army launched an attack on the German defense lines.

But the direction of attack was not Aguila but the northernmost coastal boulevard.

There is a reason for the British army to attack the Corniche. As mentioned before, the Corniche is suitable for mechanized troops to attack and maneuver, and it is also easier to obtain fuel and supplies... The artillery shells unloaded by the British army from Port Said did not take much effort. The transportation can immediately be smashed into piles and piles towards the German positions.

Another advantage is that the British army can go straight to the point...Alexander.

The British army's attack was very fierce. Hundreds of artillery fire bombarded the German positions in turn, almost plowing the land in front of the German positions.

Then the British army sent infantry up... The difference from the past was that this time the British army sent infantry to clear obstacles in front, and then the British armored forces.

Leading the way was the 1st South African Division... This kind of work was of course done by colonial troops.

Following the attack was the 7th Armored Division. This unit has always been the main force of the British army and is also the most experienced unit among the armored divisions.

Therefore, many people doubted whether the British army discovered the German trap and turned the breakthrough to the coastal road.

"They invested two hundred tanks in the first batch!" Colonel Olbridge said: "This is almost half of the total number of tanks in the British army, not to mention the 7th Armored Division is the main force... So, they were really fooled. ?"

"Perhaps this proves that they were fooled!" Rommel replied: "Otherwise, the British should not launch an attack at night... They have the air superiority, so obviously it is more beneficial to them to attack during the day!"

"But, General!" Colonel Slain said: "Even if they are feigning an attack in the direction of Alexandria, with this strength they are enough to break through our defense lines and attack Alexandria!"

"Then let's see who can persist to the end!" Rommel said.

Rommel was very confident at this point, not only because the quality of the German army was higher than that of the British army, but also because if the British army launched a feint attack in the direction of Alexander, it would not be resolute enough to fight.

What's more... even if the British army reaches Alexandria, there will still be a quagmire of street fighting waiting for them.

Rommel didn't care about the gain or loss of a city. He believed that if the main force of the British army could be defeated, even if Alexander was lost, the British army would eventually have to spit it out. Otherwise, the British armored division would be trapped in Alexandria, unable to advance or retreat.

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Aguila is a small town in Egypt. It is about 36 kilometers away from the northernmost point of the defense line. There is a rugged road connected with the coastal road. If the German mechanized troops advance along this road, they can reach Aguila in more than an hour. Gila.

Therefore, the fake map Qinchuan gave to the British army was reasonable... The Italian armored divisions with weaker combat effectiveness were assigned to garrison in Aguila. Although they were not strong in combat effectiveness, they could hold off for a while, and then the German armored divisions Reinforcements will arrive.

But once the battle begins, it's different.

First of all, the road will definitely be blocked by artillery fire and cannot be used... The Aguila Highway is very close to the German defense line, about three kilometers behind. This is also the basis for the German defense line. German supplies, materials and reinforcements can pass through the road conveniently and quickly. Delivery to every point of the defense.

But this also means that it will be the focus of the British blockade. British artillery can bomb this road and paralyze it as long as it moves a few kilometers forward.

Secondly, the British army can use air superiority to pursue and intercept German reinforcements... Air power is always the natural enemy of armored forces, especially in the open desert.

Thirdly, Montgomery estimated that the Italian armored divisions simply could not withstand the overwhelming British attack, or it could be said that they could not withstand the reinforcements of the German armored divisions.

Therefore, Aguila will obviously be a good breakthrough for the British army.

At this time, Qinchuan was lurking in the desert five kilometers away from Aguila... The 21st Armored Division secretly marched here under the cover of darkness two days ago and lurked here.

Of course, the original position of the 21st Armored Division is still handled as if there is another armored division stationed there. It's easy to do this. You just need to keep wearing camouflage and setting up tents at the original station, and then leave a team of infantry to practice shooting at the shooting range.

Aguila's side has to cover up as if no troops have been here.

This is a bit difficult, because a division has tens of thousands of people, and it contains cars, tanks, and artillery. It takes some effort to hide it.

But fortunately, we are within our own defense line, and there is the Aguila Highway nearby. Most of the vehicles use the road and will not interfere with the German army's hiding.

So I used the old method of digging a hidden trench... I dug a trench that was about the same depth as a car or a tank. After the tank drove in, it covered it with canvas, and sometimes a layer of fine sand was added to the canvas, so that it would not be far away. Even if we look at it or do aerial reconnaissance, we can't find anything up close.

However, it is easier said than done, but many unexpected difficulties will arise:

The soldiers were hidden inside and in principle could not move around, even at night... for fear of being discovered by British spies.

So eating, drinking, defecating, peeing, sleeping, etc. all had to be done in the narrow and crowded trench. After a while, the trench became stinky.

Someone thought of a way to dig a hole in the trench and bury the excrement later, but this method soon ran into problems...

Although the Aguila area is a "hard ground" suitable for tanks to march on, this "hard ground" is still relatively soft and semi-sand soil when excavated. Digging "convenient pits" one by one in the trench can easily cause collapse... ... Qin Chuan experienced such a thing once. He was suddenly "buried alive" while sleeping. Although he would be dug out by his comrades soon, the feeling of suddenly being unable to move or breathe was scary to think about.

Then someone came up with the idea of ​​collecting the excrement in corned beef cans and throwing it out when it was almost done.

But this soon led to a ban... The reason was that the German soldiers' hiding spots were not far from each other. This throw could easily hit the adjacent trench, and the jar of filth suddenly fell from the sky and spread everywhere. The splash immediately attracted complaints from his comrades. If it weren't for the military orders that prevented him from walking out of the trench, he would have just come out for a fight.

In the end, this problem was solved after a unified order from above: "Contain all excrement in your own helmet and sprinkle it near the hiding spot. Be careful not to make too big movements!"

This is indeed a good method, because everyone has a helmet, and they will not easily throw away the helmet as a useless thing...doing this means that he is likely to be killed by a small piece of equipment in the upcoming battle. The shrapnel was easily carried away.

The only problem is that once the helmet has been filled with excrement and then put on the head, the smell is definitely unpleasant and it feels weird.