The decisive battle against the Third Reich

As three red signal flares rose into the air, the first batch of hundreds of tanks from the British 1st Armored Division rumbled towards the Italian defense line.

The one at the forefront was actually the "minesweeper tank". Its structure was similar to the minesweeper tank invented by Qinchuan, except that the British army used special rollers and chains with spherical counterweights because of their strong industrial capabilities and transportation capabilities. In addition, a small compartment was added to the right side of the tank... This small compartment can only be squeezed into by one person, and it accommodates the operator of the mine clearing drum.

This kind of improvement is obviously much more advanced than the crude "minesweeper tank" of the German army, and because it is modified from the "Valentin" tank, which has a smaller failure rate, it runs very smoothly, and it "squeaks" all the way towards the goal. The front whip detonated landmines one after another.

At the same time, the British attack was timed just right... The British tanks were located in the east, and the sun had just risen. The sun cast shadows on the British tanks, but they hit the eyes of the Italian gunners directly. Tank gunners had difficulty aiming while British tanks were able to hide in the shadows.

In fact, even without these factors, it is difficult for Italian gunners to aim at the target. As mentioned before, Italian tanks do not even have gunners, and machine gunners are used temporarily when they need to fire.

Therefore, artillery shells fired from the direction of Italy always hit the sand near the British tanks.

In fact, even if it hits, it will not help. The Italian M13 tank is equipped with a 47MM gun. It has to be at least within a range of 300 meters to be able to penetrate the British "General Grant" tank. At this time, the British Army's first armored tank The division had strictly abided by Montgomery's order to "only fight at a distance and not at close range". The two armies were at least more than 700 meters apart.

On the other hand, the British "General Grant" type, its 75MM tank gun can easily penetrate the armor of the Italian M13 tank at this distance, so the Italian tanks turned into balls of flame amidst the roar of the shells. , some were even beaten into parts scattered on the floor.

A few minutes later, the Italian army began to retreat completely as the British fighter planes swarmed up to join the battle group.

Rommel's order to the Italian 132nd Division was: "Resist for a while and then pretend to retreat!"

This task is actually very easy to complete, so Major General Greco, commander of the 132nd Division, agreed immediately.

But what Rommel didn't expect was...the Italian army didn't have to pretend at all, but actually retreated.

The difference is that if they pretend to retreat, they should have planted anti-tank mines behind them to slow down the British tanks, but the Italian army did not do this. This made the Italian army in the next battle because the tanks were far slower than The British tanks ended up losing almost half of their tanks.

(Note: The maximum speed of the M13 is 33 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed of the "General Grant" tank is 42 kilometers per hour.)

Seeing the retreat of the Italian Armored Division, Major General Eberle was extremely excited... The most proud thing for the Armored Division was the destruction of enemy tanks. Although the opponent was a vulnerable Italian tank, every time he saw the enemy's The tank was blown into a ball of flames and scrap metal in an instant... The feeling of comfort and pride as a commander is something that outsiders cannot understand.

"Attack, boys!" Eberle's face flushed with excitement. He waved his hands and shouted into the walkie-talkie: "Use your artillery shells and tracks to teach these Italians who overestimate their capabilities. Victory belongs to us. !”

The embarrassment Major General Eberle received in France and the doubts and blank stares he received in his own country finally found an outlet at this moment.

This behavior of Major General Eberle is actually normal. The failure of the First Armored Division in France made Major General Eberle feel fearful and inferior on the battlefield. This is one of the reasons why he has never dared to accept this mission.

When the situation is reversed, the inferiority complex often turns into another extreme... pride.

Major General Eberle's performance at this time was a proud one.

From this aspect, Major General Eberle is not a qualified general, because he does not have the determination to "win without being arrogant or lose".

So this also destined the failure of the First Armored Division...

"Fire!" Following the order, the German troops who had been ambushing and preparing on both sides fired shells one after another.

The German army did not have many tanks, so most of the guns that fired at this time were anti-tank guns. Most of their guns were hidden in bunkers, with only one barrel exposed. In addition, the sky was just getting bright and there was not enough light, so The British troops chasing all the way didn't even notice the black gun barrels pointing at them one by one.

"What's going on!" Major General Eberle looked at his tanks being destroyed one by one and couldn't help but asked in shock: "What destroyed our tanks?"

"General!" The staff officer seemed to see the problem: "We were ambushed by the enemy, and the shells were fired from both wings!"

Major General Eberle turned the telescope to the flank, and sure enough, he saw that the area that looked like a piece of yellow sand was intensively firing artillery shells at the British tank group. However, the British "General Grant" tank had problems with its vision and shooting range. , and didn't even discover where the shells that destroyed them came from.

"Retreat!" Major General Eberle quickly ordered: "Let them withdraw immediately!"

But now it is obviously too late to withdraw.

Dozens of German tanks suddenly emerged from the sand, covering groups of German troops as they penetrated the flanks and rear of the British tank group.

At the same time, the German fighter planes also joined the battle group in time to fight with the British fighter planes...

Major General Eberle's face suddenly turned pale. At this moment, he realized that the 1st Armored Division would suffer another defeat, and it would probably be the most disastrous defeat.

In fact, this cannot be blamed on Major General Eberle, nor can it be said that the First Armored Division is not strong in combat effectiveness... Although this is a fact, because of this, the First Armored Division was quickly converted into a "non-combat force" after the war. was disbanded.

But... the moment Montgomery got that map and believed that the information on the map was true, this failure was doomed, no matter which British army came in.

Because the British army faced not one armored division, but three armored divisions: two German armored divisions on the left and right plus an Italian armored division.

Although the Italian armored division did not have much combat effectiveness, and the two German armored divisions did not have many tanks, they were ambushed by a large number of anti-tank guns... and also exposed the weak parts of the sides to the anti-tank gun groups. You can imagine what the result will be.

There are even a few 88 anti-aircraft guns among them... This thing will have the problem of being too big and easy to be bombed by fighter planes when used for offense. However, if it is hidden in a bunker and has air cover, it can still be used in defensive battles. Functional.