The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The transport fleet landed at Jehasso, which is about 200 kilometers away from Alexandria. The German army built an airport here to cope with emergencies and quickly transport troops and supplies to the southern section of the defense line.

This surprised Qin Chuan, because this is the defensive section of the 15th Armored Division, and the 1st Infantry Regiment should be with the 21st Armored Division.

As soon as Qin Chuan got off the plane, he was called to the command vehicle by General Slaine.

"Maybe you have discovered the problem!" Colonel Slain said: "We are with the 15th Armored Division in the southern section!"

"Yes!" Qin Chuan said, "Has this become the enemy's main attack direction?"

"You can say that!" Colonel Slain said as he spread out the map and said: "The situation is like this. We just learned last night that the British have been staring at the Alexander Line of Defense... They are on Crete. The situation created is obviously false. On the other hand, they must be transporting and unloading secretly at night, so we know nothing about their new tanks!”

"New tank?"

Colonel Slain handed Qin Chuan a sketch and said, "This was drawn from memory by a soldier who had seen it!"

After taking the sketch, Qin Chuan couldn't help but be so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth for a long time...it turned out to be a "Sherman" tank.

"Do you recognize this tank, Lieutenant?" Colonel Sline asked.

"No, Colonel!" Qin Chuan replied, "I've never seen him before!"

Of course Qin Chuan could not have seen it before, but as far as Qin Chuan knew, the British army did not equip the "Sherman" tank until the Second Battle of El Alamein, which was at least a few months away...

But thinking about it, this seems normal.

In history, the British army was never beaten all the way to Alexandria by the Germans like it is now, and it was not like now that the entire Eighth Army could only rely on Port Said for transportation... At this time, the British Eighth Army was truly unable to retreat. Retreat, because once Port Said is captured, it means that the Suez Canal will be completely cut off.

Therefore, the British army will of course deploy "Sherman" tanks in advance to try to reverse the situation of the war.

"Our tanks can't stop the attack of this kind of tank at all!" Colonel Slain said: "The news we got is... they can destroy the 'Pop 3' tank at a distance of 800 meters, but the 'Page 3' can attack There is nothing they can do!"

Of course, when the "Sherman" tank first entered the battlefield, the German army only had the "Planzer IV" tank to rival it, but the entire Afrika Korps only had a dozen or so "Planzer IV" tanks.

"So!" Colonel Slain pointed to a section of the defense line in front of Jehasso and said: "The 15th Armored Division suffered a disastrous defeat here last night. They lost almost all their tanks. What's even worse is that they almost lost their remaining tanks. Fighting confidence!”

Qinchuan knew how serious this was... The 15th Armored Division was not a ragtag group. It had been fighting the British in the desert from the beginning. It was an elite force that had always been experienced and was even on par with the 21st Armored Division.

If the 15th Armored Division is about to collapse, is there any hope of victory in this battle?

Later, Qin Chuan learned that Rommel had been strictly ordering the 15th Armored Division to hold the defense line, but Major Groh replied in frustration: "General, our tanks are vulnerable, and half of the newly added fifty tanks were blown up in an instant. , even if the remaining half is sent up, they will die... This is meaningless!"

"No matter what method we use, we must keep them out of the defense line!" Rommel ordered.

Rommel had to do this, because if the Alexander Line could not be defended, it would mean that the German army would retreat to the Alamein Line or even the Gazala Line further back.

In this way, Matruh will fall into the hands of the British. Once Matruh is lost, Crete will be in danger... In other words, the supply lines and industries established by the German army after painstaking efforts will be reduced to nothing in an instant. Nothing.

"Yes, General!" Major General Gero replied numbly, but in his heart he had no hope of holding the line of defense.

"So!" said Colonel Slain, "you know why we are here, right?"

"Because we have rocket launchers!" Qin Chuan replied.

"Yes!" Colonel Slain said: "We are the only troops equipped and trained with rocket launchers so far. This may be the only thing we can stop this new type of tank!"

As a result, the 1st Infantry Regiment began to build a defense line east of Jehasso Village, five kilometers away from the airport.

Transport planes flew in batches from Crete, bringing boxes of ammunition to the 1st Infantry Regiment, most of which were anti-tank equipment.

"Why don't we occupy the hill ahead?" the baker asked as he dug a trench.

The baker is right. Under normal circumstances, infantry defense should occupy high ground, especially against enemy armored forces... The tank's elevation angle is limited, and it will slow down when climbing. In addition, it is not easy to aim on the slope. It is no secret that the 1st Infantry Regiment has an armored background.

"Because we are using a rocket launcher!" Qin Chuan explained: "The range of the rocket launcher is only one hundred and sixty meters... Although this range is quite good, it is still within the range of the enemy's mortars!"

Hearing this, the baker couldn't help but say "oh".

If the trenches were built on a hill, they would undoubtedly be suppressed by enemy artillery fire.

Of course, trenches built behind hills also have this problem, but at least the artillery cannot be seen and needs artillery observers or reconnaissance aircraft to guide it. This will also cause the enemy to have coordination problems and give itself more chances of survival.

But in fact, the benefits are not just that.

About half an hour later, the German soldiers ushered in the first batch of defeated troops.

This is a group of German troops, obviously soldiers of the 15th Armored Division... The Italian troops had withdrawn as soon as possible after suffering the first round of attacks last night.

Qin Chuan had never seen German soldiers like this before. Their faces were stained with blood and blackened by gunpowder smoke, and their eyes were full of terror.

When they saw the crude fortifications built by Qin Chuan and others, they shouted to Qin Chuan and others: "You'd better run away, it's useless!"

"You can't stop them, no one can! We lose!"

…

"Army!" Werner shouted at one of them.

The German soldier stopped, and then Qin Chuan recognized that it was Dürer who was studying with them in the military academy and was nicknamed the Military Assassin. Qin Chuan clearly remembered that he was an excellent scout and was not afraid of anything. .

But at this time, Dürer seemed to have changed. He glanced at Qin Chuan and others, and then shook his head: "Second Lieutenant, even if you come, you can't stop them!"

"We can!" Werner said: "Stay and fight with us!"

"No!" Dürer shook his head: "You don't know what happened, you don't know anything!"