The decisive battle against the Third Reich

There are not many British fighter planes in the sky of the First Infantry Regiment. This should be due to two reasons:

One is that Rommel sent almost all fighters, bombers and even transport planes to serve the First Infantry Regiment, so any British fighter planes that might threaten the First Infantry Regiment were driven away as soon as possible.

Another reason is that the First Infantry Regiment is too inconspicuous.

British fighter planes and even reconnaissance planes were looking for German and Italian tanks, artillery, and large-scale troops. For an infantry regiment blocking the path of the 7th Armored Division... they almost ignored it. .

Several British pilots laughed after seeing the defense line built by the 1st Infantry Regiment: "What are these Germans doing? Are they planning to use trenches and barbed wire to block our tanks?"

The pilot on the other reconnaissance plane replied: "I guess this is a force covering the retreat of other troops. You know... they must slow down our pursuit, otherwise no one of them can escape!"

"You're right! Do we need to report to our superiors?"

"What are you reporting? Tell them that there is an infantry defense line two kilometers away? Forget it... By the time they receive the news, I'm afraid they will have already crushed these guys who are overestimating their capabilities!"

The British pilots burst into laughter as they spoke.

What they said was right. At this time, the British 7th Armored Division moved faster because the German troops had fled across the board. The two-kilometer journey was only a matter of minutes for them.

So Qin Chuan and others heard the "rumbling" sound of the motor on the other side of the hill.

This gives people a strange sense of fear... When facing danger, everyone always wants to see and try to understand what the danger is. If they can't see it, like now, the sound of tracks and motors will be heard. There was a roar on the other side of the hill, but the soldiers could only wait quietly on this side of the hill, waiting...

Soon, a huge darkness appeared on the top of the hill... It was a tank, with a long barrel and heavy tracks. The sun just rose to the height of the hill, and the golden sunlight shone on the back of the tank, creating streaks of golden light around it, just like the great Zeus, whom everyone admired, appearing in front of mortals with a halo.

Then there were more and more tanks, one after another. The first batch, at least fifty, drove down the hill in a mighty manner, followed by cars and armored vehicles full of soldiers.

"Fire!" Following Colonel Sline's order, gunfire rang out.

Bullets and artillery shells were aimed at the cars and armored vehicles following the tank... At this time, the enemy was still more than 300 meters away from the defense line, and the rocket launcher could not threaten the "Sherman" tank at all.

The British army seemed to be startled by the sound of gunfire. They were chasing the German army vigorously, but they did not expect that any German army would dare to stand in front of them, so the tank's forward speed could not help but slow down.

Then, after they saw clearly that what was standing in front of them was just an infantry regiment, they organized an attack without caring.

The tank acted as a shield in front, and the infantry jumped off the cars and armor to follow behind the tank to provide cover. The mortar fired a round in front of them without any explanation, and then launched an attack under the cover of the machine gun.

The British army that rushed up was part of the 7th Armored Brigade of the 7th Armored Division, and its brigade commander was Colonel Colin, who had repeatedly fought against the Germans and suffered repeated defeats.

Although Colonel Colin had achieved an early victory this time, and he also believed that the enemy could not withstand the attack of the British "Sherman" tanks, he still did not dare to be careless.

Therefore, after receiving the enemy's information, he immediately asked the frontline troops to slow down.

"Pay attention to the enemy's anti-tank mines!" Colonel Colin ordered: "In addition, pay attention to the first principle, only distant combat is allowed and no close combat is allowed!"

"Colonel!" the staff officer reminded: "They are infantry!"

"I know they are infantry!" Colonel Colin replied: "But have you forgotten? The Germans have new weapons. They easily destroyed the Matilda tank on Crete!"

"But the information we got is that their new weapon can only hit thirty meters!" the staff officer said.

"No matter what, let's figure out the situation!" Colonel Colin ordered: "We have the firepower advantage, and we are not in a hurry to win, why not?"

This is one of the reasons why Montgomery continued to appoint Colonel Colin as the commander of the 7th Armored Brigade despite repeated defeats. His cautious style suited Montgomery's taste.

But the news from the front soon put Colonel Colin in a dilemma.

"Colonel!" the correspondent reported: "If we don't get close to the enemy's defense line, our tank will be on the slope of the hill, in a dangerous state of reverse slope!"

The so-called "reverse slope dangerous state" is a term used by armored forces.

To put it simply, when the tank is on a positive slope, the gun barrel will be raised high due to the climbing slope. If the slope exceeds a certain angle, the tank will be unable to hit the enemy on the top of the mountain due to the depression angle. This is a "dangerous state on a positive slope" ".

On the other hand, if the tank is on a reverse slope, that is, downhill, because the gun barrel extends low along the slope, if the slope exceeds a certain angle, the tank will be unable to hit the enemy due to the elevation problem. This is also called a "reverse slope." Dangerous state".

Theoretically speaking, the "reverse bevel dangerous state" will be more dangerous than the "front bevel dangerous state" because the "reverse bevel dangerous state" may also expose the weak top armor to the enemy... If there is an anti-tank gun at If you shoot this from a higher position on the opposite side, the tank will be finished.

"How far is the enemy's defense line from the slope?" Colonel Colin asked.

"One hundred meters!" the correspondent replied.

Colonel Colin nodded. At least this was still outside the range of the Germans' new anti-tank equipment.

So Colonel Colin immediately ordered: "Order the tank to continue moving forward, stop and shoot after reaching the foot of the mountain!"

"Yes, Colonel!" The correspondent immediately conveyed Colonel Colin's order.

The staff officer was a little surprised by Colonel Colin's order. He felt that Colonel Colin was being too cautious. Last night's battle had proved that the German army did not have the equipment to stop the "Sherman", not even the armored regiment. , let alone an infantry regiment!

Colonel Colin's idea was completely opposite to that of the staff, because he believed... The reason why the German army uncharacteristically built a position behind the high ground and dared to block an armored brigade with an infantry regiment was probably because the infantry regiment had What they rely on, and what they rely on, may be the legendary "new anti-tank equipment."