Just as Rommel smiled bitterly, an American with a helmet on his head opposite his position was watching his tank rumble in front of him, with a cigar in his face and a proud look.
The soldiers behind the tanks wore American helmets with flat eaves instead of British ones. This unit was Montgomery who took over the command of the American Volunteers, and the commander of this unit just spit out a white smoke and smiled and said, "Let me Barton command the American tanks to meet you, a world-famous tank expert."
Chapter 492 492 Retreat
"chug! Chug! " German machine guns roared at the position, and the sudden attack made American soldiers who had just arrived in North Africa a little confused. They were not battle-hardened German soldiers, and these recruits from various States in the United States didn’t know which direction the attack came from at the moment.
"We were attacked! The Germans are firing from all sides! God! Now that we are suppressed behind a sand dune, the opponent’s firepower is very fierce, and we can’t cross the scheduled area at all! " An American officer shouted to his company with a thread. On his side, an American heavy machine gun team that had just set up equipment was pouring its ammunition violently, but it seemed that some of them were scrambling to play, and God knows where they hit them.
An American tank platoon tried hard to aim at the German armored reconnaissance vehicle, but found that the main gun had no way to hit the fast-moving four-wheeled reconnaissance vehicle. It was difficult for the shells to hit a moving target, which was some American recruits who had never experienced real combat.
It’s even more tragic to be in charge of storming the American armored force field. They were stunned by their German counterparts-more than a dozen German tanks attacked at a distance of about 15 meters, and two rounds of extreme shooting cost Americans nearly 20 tanks heavy losses.
Soon after the first attack, the American team was pushed back by the Germans, but the Americans also found that the Germans on the other side were not as strong as they looked. After a limited counterattack, these German opponents retreated and retreated in an organized way
"They must have found the flank English team. It seems that this is called Irwin? Rommel guy is still a little level, "Barton said to his staff while smoking his cigar and looking at the war map." We have lost a lot. Even if the Germans are weakened, they are still very effective. The frontal German armored forces are even more difficult than I thought. I can’t think of an effective way to deal with these German tanks. "
"It may be a good idea to arrange plane bombing, but it is not easy to compete with fw19d fighters. It is said by British pilots that German fighter pilots are very good and can skillfully control their planes." The staff officer said to Barton with a pie mouth.
"I know that German tanks and planes have good performance, but they are not so easy on us this time," Barton said with a sneer. "Try to collect German information. This is also the purpose of our coming here. Today we won Rommel and deserve champagne celebration!"
The German army opposite the American team was also stunned by the American attack. There were breakthroughs in defense lines everywhere, and the ammunition was exhausted. Rommel reported that he commanded various orders in the car, which stabilized the German army.
He made his right-wing troops make a desperate posture to the flank to guard against Britain’s detour to the south of his first regiment, and then let his left wing defend its position at the expense of running out of ammunition and not taking a step back
Then Rommel personally led the three most powerful Leopard tanks in his hand to conduct an anti-assault on the frontal American team. It was this time that the anti-assault repelled the aggressive American troops and covered the German troops to withdraw from the battle.
Then Rommel’s posture was not so elegant. He ordered the armored troops to retreat 11 kilometers and meet General Frederick behind them, so a retreat faster than his advancing speed was exhibited.
While retreating Rommel, he rearranged a battle report. He found that his opponent had changed from the British to the Fuehrer, and he had always been afraid of the Americans. These American troops were more difficult than the British opponents, which also proved that Fuehrer arcado was far-sighted from another aspect.
"Americans’ individual firepower is stronger than that of the British. That’s what their guns are …" The staff handed Rommel a captured American 1 Garland rifle. "I heard that this rifle has just been equipped in the United States to counter our g43 automatic rifle, which is heavier but has very good performance."
In order to strengthen Barton’s fighting capacity of American soldiers, American high-level officials also made great efforts. They studied German weapons and equipment from British materials and urgently purchased a batch of individual weapons of 1 Garland rifle against German automatic weapons p44 and g43.
Of course, they also strengthened the front armor of the 3 rd tank and learned German means. The steel plate was temporarily welded in front of the tank, and the backup track was even sandbags. However, from the results of this battle, the front armor of the 3 rd tank still resisted the Leopard tank and extended the barrel of the 75 mm caliber cannon.
More importantly, Rommel knows that this is the most troublesome news. The Fuehrer has been trying to avoid the Americans’ confrontation. Now it seems that these efforts are still in vain. The Americans have appeared in the battlefield to protect their interests in the Middle East and North Africa. The Germans fought against these Americans. Although their combat effectiveness is similar to that of the British, their appearance still puts a lot of pressure on Rommel.
Because other methods correctly estimate the strength of the British opposite, all the information from Italy has become outdated because of the participation of the US military. The combat effectiveness of the British regiment must be reassessed and the size and nature of the US team must be investigated as soon as possible
"Just now, our fighter planes patrolled nearby and drove away to harass the British bombers, but good luck can’t always accompany us. We must speed up our March and get rid of the British and Americans!" Rommel looked at the war map for a long time before he stopped his thoughts and said
"It’s not that there is no good news. Just now, the line reported that a reconnaissance company joined our team." The staff map pointed to Rommel’s position. "They brought two armored reconnaissance vehicles with high elevation angle to shoot 4 mm caliber guns. It seems that General Frederick also made some arrangements before he sensed that we were in a bad situation."
Rommel was even more depressed. He took off his military cap and scratched his hair with a sigh before saying, "That proves that the high command already knows that we lost. I failed to work miracles and take Tobruk."
This time, the Germans suffered a crushing defeat. About three trucks were blown up by themselves, and 14 tanks were destroyed or blown up by themselves. About seven soldiers were killed or captured, and five seriously injured people were left to the British. The other two lightly injured people retreated with the army-almost one-third of the three German soldiers who marched with Rommel lost in this battle.
Now he can lead his troops to retreat all the way to the vicinity of General Frederick’s relay to stabilize his position. The advantages of desert war are that if you win, you can advance hundreds of miles instantly. The record sounds amazing; Of course, the first disadvantage is that if you fail, you may retreat hundreds of miles overnight. It sounds miserable to lose, but the fact that Rommel defeated the British or the British defeated Rommel is not too great, and the actual results are much smaller than many people think.
The long retreat road in Huangsha is not much better than when attacking. Rommel took these soldiers to pursue the British 9 th regiment with perseverance the day before yesterday. Now they have run out of breath and their way home is even more dangerous and terrible.
A day later, Rommel gathered his troops and counted the number. It was found that there were 2 troops left, 11 people, and 19 people were covered up by yellow sand or killed by British and American troops. One night, when Rommel led the troops again in the morning, he could take 177 people with him.
At this moment, Rommel finally realized that the pain of the ninth British regiment was killed by himself, and finally the blood bought the lesson, which once again proved the correctness of China’s old saying.
Sadly, Rommel found that he couldn’t even organize a local counterattack. His army was running out of oil and ammunition. Even if he could beat back the Anglo-American Coalition forces, he would be trapped by oil problems and escape halfway. He could retreat westward in a straight line and didn’t even have the courage to look back.
On the afternoon of the second day of retreat, Rommel finally waited for his first light. Three Crusader helicopters delivered the oil he needed urgently and a small amount of ammunition. Although these things were not enough for Rommel to turn back and fight back, it was suspected that these supplies found hope for the fleeing German soldiers.
People fleeing in the marginal desert will despair because of lack of water and food. This despair is sometimes the most deadly. Many times, the dead are already on the edge of the desert, but they have fallen down the last few kilometers of the road because of their own despair.
Rommel’s troops were close to collapse before the arrival of helicopters, and the 36-hour flight reduced these elite German troops to 15, but these helicopters saved Rommel and gave his troops courage and hope again.
After the German "desert fox" sent off three helicopters, he licked his dry lips and sat in his open car with a map spread out, thinking about how to meet General Friedrich as soon as possible so as to show his revenge.
Chapter 493 493 Four countries
In the yellow sand, a German officer saw the first soldier of the 7th Armored Division who entered the German sight. The soldier was depressed, carrying his rifle, his face was covered with dust and a tattered scarf.
The soldier was wearing a pair of Italian army shorts, leggings and a pair of desert yellow army shoes. He staggered and trudged like an Egyptian mummy, which made people look terrible.
A German soldier quickly climbed out of the trench and ran to his companion. As he ran, he took out his kettle, screwed the lid on it and sent it to the German soldier who returned to the camp.
The soldier took the kettle, pulled the scarf, exposed his dry lips, and poured water into his mouth as if it were the best champagne in the world, which could cure all his sorrows. With a gurgling sound, the soldier drank all the water in the kettle. He thanked the left-behind relay comrade-in-arms with a hoarse nod. "I am grateful."
Soon, more and more soldiers appeared in the desert, and on the other side, German tanks and armored vehicles also entered the German-occupied area. They got supplies and oil, and the scene seemed a little chaotic.
An open-top car drove into the camp, was intercepted by the guards and was quickly released. The car stopped all the way to a well-disguised frontier fortification in a deeper German camp.
Rommel dragged himself out of the car, then lost his gloves and strode into this wartime temporary command post. In this command post, General Frederick of the German Seventh Infantry and Italian army commander garibaldi will be waiting for Rommel who has just arrived here.
"Head of state arcado? Long live Rudolf! " Frederick saw Rommel come in and saluted. "The general has worked hard all the way."
"Long live the Fuehrer!" Rommel replied, then took off his windbreaker full of yellow sand and threw it aside. He glanced at the chair and sat there. Italian garibaldi nodded and asked, "Why don’t you support my oil and ammunition so that I can make a partial counterattack in the evening?"
"General Rommel’s Fuehrer’s newspaper arrived at the High Command yesterday afternoon and ordered us to rest on the spot and stabilize the situation first." Friedrich Nai smiled and handed it to Rommel. "So we were ordered not to supply logistics to support your counterattack plan."
"What a great opportunity to be missed," Rommel complained angrily. "If you give me two divisions, I can push one kilometer eastward and return to my retreat position. At least I can annihilate two more British divisions and maybe catch thousands of Americans!"
"Your troops need to rest. What they need most now is hot food and water, and then lie in the tent and have a good sleep," said Italian general garibaldi, spreading his hand, "not a battle."
Rommel took the hot coffee from General Friedrich and looked at the steaming black coffee reflecting his own face. "You really need a rest for me. When you are on guard, the British and Americans will rely on General Friedrich to invite you and I will go to sleep."
"Have a good sleep, General Ge," General Friedrich said to Rommel with a smile. "The Fuehrer’s order has not relieved you of the command post of the commander-in-chief of the African Corps, and it depends on you to make decisions."
"Didn’t you relieve me of my command?" Rommel was stupefied and then silent. He didn’t expect that after the fiasco, arcado, as always, didn’t blame him or even deprive him of his frontline command.
"Of course I didn’t relieve you of your command," Friedrich said with a smile. "But the Fuehrer told me to wake you up for three days and not to try to counter the British provocation. After all, our troops need to rest."
Rommel nodded his head and then relaxed. He directly leaned against the chair and fell asleep with his dusty trench coat on his head.
Listening to Rommel’s slight sound sleep, Friedrich got up and walked out of the hidden front with garibaldi, and the temporary command post came to the door. Friedrich just pointed to the door of the house. "This Irwin took our headquarters and drove us all out."
"General Rommel is also very tired. I heard that he hasn’t had a serious sleep for several days." garibaldi walked out with his hand behind his back and looked at General Friedrich. "I know you are ready to fight back, but you have been holding back. Can you tell me anything?"
"The other day, General Rommel launched the Battle of Tuscany, and the whole battle plan violated the order of the Army General Staff." Friedrich smiled and said to General garibaldi, "And General Rommel’s fierce pursuit caused this tragic failure, so I can be more stable."
Garibaldi didn’t speak is ourtenant looked at Frederick as if waiting for the text.
"all right! I admit that I have other thoughts, "Friedrich Nye said with a sigh." Rommel disobeyed orders, but I can’t continue to disobey orders. After all, I have to prove to the Fuehrer that there is an unstable Rommel in North Africa and another Friedrich is a stable one … so that we can make up for each other and reassure the high command. "
Garibaldi nodded. "This is what I am afraid of. I advise you not to make a move. If you fight back at this exhibition, even if you win, you or General Rommel will be transferred from North Africa."
This time, it was Frederick who looked at garibaldi cheerfully, waiting for garibaldi to explain his words.
"all right! I surrender! " Garibaldi jokingly explained, "My command ability is average. How can I sit in this position without some political vision?"
"You! If only the Italians would spare some other thoughts to fight, "Friedrich shook his head and walked away." I’ll go to inspect the officers and men and come with me if you are interested. "
"Interested! Of course I’m interested! It’s rare for Germans to flee in panic! " Garibaldi smiled and followed. Just now, Frederick satirized Italian, and he immediately fought back.
……
"General Patton! We didn’t even hit a test attack and ran away so despondently? " Montgomery asked Barton, looking around by car and looking into the distance.
Barton spat out a mouthful of smoke with a cigar in his hand and said with a smile, "I advocate attack but I’m not stupid!" If it was cheaper, Montgomery would have been waiting for me by himself. At noon, you stopped attacking south for Rommel to fight back, right? Don’t you know that at that time, I also made arrangements for defense? "
"Harmony with Congren is Shu" Montgomery laughed and pointed to the car. The British and American Coalition forces were retreating. "I always don’t want to spend the night in front of the German position. It’s too dangerous. Rommel’s troops have no counterattack ability, but he can’t say when the Germans will call."
"This time it’s a red door, and my eyes have reached the retreat and I will retreat!" Barton was very proud and said, "I have seen several new German weapons. We were defeated by the main German forces, and most of them have been transported to Romania and sent back to the United States for research."
"You Americans have to make a profit when you make a move," Montgomery joked.
"p44 assault rifle g43 rifle g42 machine gun and leopard tank wreck wheeled armored vehicle wreck" Barton hey hey smiled like a few treasures "These are all good things that the United States wants to study well. It’s a pity that it didn’t shoot down a fw19d fighter."
"Will your US military’s daring to participate in the war cause German hostility and lead to the declaration of war between the two countries?" Montgomery asked that he really hoped that the American attack would provoke the Germans and cause the two countries to declare war, so that the world situation would be different and Britain would no longer be isolated.
"I don’t care about this. I’m in charge of fighting and winning the war." Barton closed his eyes and enjoyed his cigar. He didn’t say much to Montgomery. Politics was obviously not his strong point. Before he came, our company warned him to mind his big mouth.
Instead, he sat in the front row of the staff and turned around and smiled and explained, "In fact, the United States and Germany have not been very good since 37 years ago. The German navy submarine forces have been constantly provoking and sinking our American merchant ships, and the German officials have turned a blind eye to our protests-so this time we volunteered to send troops to North Africa, and they couldn’t say anything."
Montgomery nodded his head and stopped asking any more questions. Instead, he looked at the map intently. He wanted to analyze a German’s one-step action goal and take precautions before the battle.
Chapter 494 494 smiling photos
A handsome young man sat on a boulder in a forest in Poland. He wore an old Polish military uniform with a camera box slung over his neck. It seems that it has been years since he rubbed a yellow photo in his hand. His eyes were so soft that he seemed to touch his lover.
It is true that a girl smiles sweetly in the photo, but this photo is obviously not taken because the girl knows the situation, and the girl doesn’t pay attention to the camera, but naturally talks to an old woman.
"Cook is leaving!" Not far away a man carrying a rifle shouted