The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Under the personal command of Major General Evans, a special commando team was quickly formed.

The assault consisted of 20 tanks, 20 armored vehicles, 10 vehicles and 500 commandos.

The tanks are all "Valentin" infantry tanks.

This is because the "Valentin" tank has two big advantages over the "Matilda" tank...low failure rate and low body.

(Note: The height of the "Matilda" tank is 2.51M, and the height of the "Valentin" tank is 2.27M)

The low failure rate can ensure that the commando team will not block the passage due to failure and affect the progress of subsequent vehicles when performing tasks.

The low body allows the tank to move forward in low-lying areas without exposing the turret and being discovered by the enemy.

Because of these advantages, although the "Valentine" is inferior to the "Matilda" in terms of firepower, defense, etc., it was still selected without any surprise... In fact, in the next few years, the British army gradually The "Valentin" tank was replaced with a larger caliber gun to completely replace the "Three High" tank "Matilda" with a high failure rate, tall body and high fuel consumption.

The armored vehicle is the Beaverette light armored reconnaissance vehicle... This armored vehicle has an observation hole on the right side for the driver to observe driving, and a "U"-shaped shooting slot on the left side, where soldiers can mount a Tobren machine gun while traveling. It is capable of shooting, and because it is open, the commandos riding in it can jump out of the vehicle at the first opportunity to start a battle formation, which is very suitable for assault operations.

The 10 vehicles contained the ammunition needed by the commandos.

Five hundred commandos... These are elites carefully selected by Major General Evans from the 15th Armored Division. Some of them are experienced veterans who have participated in World War I, and some have outstanding performance on the battlefield. A rising star with many meritorious deeds.

Major General Evans's assumption is that the German army has only an under-equipped infantry company of more than 100 people in the port of Tobruk, and basically no heavy weapons... The reason why "basic" is used here is because Major General Evans is not sure whether the German army Heavy weapons such as anti-tank guns will be taken out from the warehouse and used.

But even so, Major General Evans believes that under the firepower of 20 tanks, 20 armored vehicles and the attack of 500 elite commandos... this German infantry company will soon be defeated, and the warehouse will undoubtedly return to the British. In the hands of the army.

The next thing is the most important: these five hundred commandos will rely on tanks and armored vehicles to build a line of defense around the warehouse and defeat any German troops who attempt to retake the warehouse or blow up the warehouse.

Major General Evans believed that they could do this, because the total strength of the German army was only more than a thousand people, and most of them had been dragged down on the defense line by the frontal attack of the 15th Armored Division and could not move. They could be transferred to the top of the warehouse for reinforcements. At most, there were two or three hundred people.

Two or three hundred German troops attacked the 500 elite troops who were defended by tanks and armored vehicles... Major General Evans believed that this was a sure thing.

Major General Evans even organized this group of commandos to conduct a simulation exercise... The British army had once occupied Tobruk, so they knew the terrain of Tobruk Port and the location of the warehouses very well. They organized based on these and spent two hours. A drill.

From this point of view, Major General Evans is also a careful commander.

The problem is... The main content of Major General Evans' exercise was to deal with the problem of quickly deploying defenses and garrisoning after occupying the port. He did not expect that the commando attack would not reach that point at all, so his exercise not only failed to play its due role On the contrary, it formed a psychological misleading to the commandos.

The commandos set off promptly at three o'clock in the morning.

This time is also calculated accurately. The time for the commando team to sneak through the passage, the time for the commando team to arrive at Tobruk Port, and then to occupy and deploy defenses... all of this takes more than two hours. (This is partly because the "Valentin" infantry tank has a top speed of only 24 kilometers per hour)

Then it was almost getting dark, which was good for the defending commandos. At the same time, the commandos only needed to hold on for about half an hour to get air support, so they were even more certain of victory.

In order to cooperate with the commando's sneak attack, the 15th Armored Division also launched a fierce attack on the front of the defense line, with artillery fire and tanks, which only made the entire defense line rumble with artillery fire.

Qin Chuan and others at Tobruk Port knew nothing about this. Some of them even started to yawn because they were in the relatively relaxed second line. To be precise, they did it because guarding the warehouse was not a challenge. If they were on a battlefield where they could die at every turn, no soldier would dare to relax even a little bit.

Therefore, although Qin Chuan knew that something was wrong, he still couldn't help hiding in the corner with a few subordinates and smoking... This was not a problem of smoking addiction. Qin Chuan had no craving for smoking at all, but because the pressure on the battlefield was too great. Soldiers needed some outside help to relieve this stress, and cigarettes were one of the easiest and most convenient ways.

After carefully lighting the cigarette, everyone consciously used their helmets to block the fire. They didn't want to become the target of a sniper hiding in the dark because of smoking, although it was unlikely that there was a sniper here.

"You know?" Werner said to Qin Chuan: "I think they should give you an Iron Cross!"

"Forget it!" Machine Gunner Bowen said with a smile: "They will only treat these achievements as sacrifices..."

"Shh!" Werner gestured to Bowen to stop talking, and Bowen nodded knowingly.

At first, Qin Chuan thought that Bowen was joking, but later he realized that what Bowen said was indeed true... This was what Himmler, the national leader of the SS, did. He borrowed flowers to offer Buddha statues and turned the confirmed sniper results of frontline snipers into "Sacrifice to the head of state", all sniper results will be cleared on the specified date.

You must know that it is very difficult for German snipers to confirm the results of the battle.

First of all, targets shot by snipers during a general attack or defense are not included in the official results, because this is what a soldier should do and not the sniper's credit.

Secondly, the results must be witnessed by two or more bystanders.

Finally, the chief needs to confirm and stamp.

Qin Chuan thought about it and realized that almost all the enemies he had killed before were targets he shot while attacking or defending... which meant that his results were still zero.

But even if it is so difficult to obtain the result, it is "cleared"... It is no wonder that the soldiers have complaints. You must know that this is an achievement they have achieved at the risk of their lives, but they have been beaten by those in positions of power. People in high positions can easily make gifts to the head of state... What right do they have to do this? !

Qin Chuan didn't take it seriously after knowing this, because he knew very well that the reason why he fought here was not for any results.

At this time, Qin Chuan faintly heard the almost imperceptible sound of tank tracks in the sea breeze, which made Qin Chuan jump up as if being pricked by needles.