Chapter 29: Landmine Warfare

  Rommel's military strength was not advantageous in battle, the defensive line was too wide and there was no coordination with the navy and air force, so he could only watch as the British army dispatched troops to North Africa one division at a time. Rommel was anxious, but being anxious didn't help at all. He himself was like an unwanted child who couldn't get Hitler's attention.

  Rommel was really anxious, facing the increasingly powerful British army in front of him, without any means of attack. This made Rommel, who advocated for offense as a military tactic, very headache. The few tanks and troops in his hands could not withstand the British large-scale offensive at all. So Rommel had to hastily lay mines on all the weak defensive areas.

  Rommel's buried mines were far more than those in the movie "Mine Warfare". The most ironic thing is that most of Rommel's mines were British-made, and he captured nearly 250,000 mines in Tobruk alone. In addition, some were Italian and German-made mines.

  The Germans' mine-laying technology is truly world-class. The entire minefield design diagram was designed by several mathematicians and psychologists. Anti-infantry mines, anti-tank mines are distributed in a very strange way, there is no rule at all, but they can most effectively prevent damage to the mine from shell explosions.

  The most hateful thing is that there are also a small number of German anti-personnel jumping mines mixed in with these landmines. This type of mine, after exploding once, blasts the main warhead into the air and then forms a secondary explosion. The power of this can be compared to being many times stronger than an explosion on the ground or underground. You think that for this kind of mine any infantryman or engineer is completely helpless, even if you lie down you will still be affected by the blast. As soon as it explodes, it's definitely either death or injury.

  The Germans also invented a ceramic landmine, which was used to counter mine detectors. Since the mine detector could only detect metal, when the sappers encountered this type of landmine, they were also powerless and could only use purely manual methods to detect it. But the Germans also buried many stones underground, making the British sappers feel like they were in a state of extreme caution. The work efficiency was very low. In addition, the British mine detector also had many problems, and once it entered the hot desert climate, it would malfunction. Not only during World War II, but also in the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the British mine detector has been notorious for being a "sapper killer".

  In the weak sectors of the German defenses, Rommel laid out 500,000 mines. A series of mine belts were formed, especially in the northern and central sectors where Montgomery tried to break through, two roughly parallel mine belts were set up, and a "separation wall" was connected by defensive strongpoints between the main minefields on both sides, with an interval of 4-5 kilometers, forming a series of blank areas. The purpose of setting up blank areas is to lay traps for breakthrough troops, because after the attacking troops break through the first mine belt, they will be forced to move left or right along the "separation wall".

  When this intelligence was known to Meng Guo, Meng Guo also got a headache. If he didn't prepare and went on the offensive, it's estimated that after passing through the minefield, the troops would be blown up by the mines. Not to mention fighting Rommel, even if they wanted to retreat, they would have to see if Rommel was happy or not.

  But it can't be dragged on indefinitely, and his own 200,000 troops couldn't even beat the 800,000-strong German-Italian army. The face of the British Empire would likely be lost. So Monty also made a ruthless decision, on the one hand, he modified dozens of tanks, installing mine sweepers in front of them. This mine sweeper can use its rotating chain to whip the ground in front when moving forward, playing the role of clearing landmines. On the other hand, 500 metal mine sweepers were urgently assembled from London and distributed to each unit. This mine sweeper is much faster than manual probes, as for whether they would encounter ceramic mines, Monty couldn't care less, he could only let God bless those engineers.

  Furthermore, Churchill urgently summoned the 4th Division from India. Indians are not good at fighting, but they are all very brave cannon fodder. Using these people to sweep mines is the most appropriate. The death of a few Indians doesn't matter, as long as Rommel can be defeated, the British Empire's people will forgive Montgomery for this behavior.

  A massive assault began at 9:40 pm on October 23, 1943. Under the bombardment of British artillery, the German-Italian artillery was quickly suppressed, and a mine-clearing team consisting entirely of Indian soldiers along with mine-clearing tanks started work.

  Behind the mine-clearing party followed the British armored troops, who had been ready for some time. The advance went quite smoothly at first, and the first minefield was cleared by Indian soldiers by noon on the second day. Of course, the casualties of the Indian soldiers were also very heavy, with nearly a quarter of the entire division being lost. When news of the Indian casualties reached London, it turned out to be just as Montgomery had predicted: apart from praising the bravery and fearlessness of the Indian soldiers, not one person raised any objections, and they all praised Montgomery's careful handling of white troops' lives.

  But just then the problem arose, when Indian soldiers started having lunch and found that there was no 'curry', they collectively went on strike at that time. The normally gentle Indians would not work anymore, no matter what other food the British took out, it didn't work, and finally had to temporarily use some local spices from Egypt as a substitute. However, the Indian soldiers just smelled it with their noses and said something that made the British very collapse: "This curry is not authentic, we refuse to eat." This caused chaos, and the attack suddenly stopped in the middle of the minefield.

  The surrounding area was full of landmines, and the German long-range artillery fire was constantly adjusting its aim at the British attacking troops. The shells were getting closer and closer. At that time, no tank could withstand the shells from the sky. Basically, every shell either made a tank smoke or caused infantry casualties. If the armored forces stayed in place for a while longer, they would likely become the first force in history to be completely annihilated by artillery fire.

  The British were also anxious, and the machine guns of the law enforcement team directly fired at these Indians. Dozens of Indian soldiers died instantly, but other Indians didn't care at all. Either give me "curry" or kill me, completely ignoring the muzzle. In the end, they even threw away their equipment and collectively walked towards the rear. The British were left stunned and helpless.

  The news reached the rear and Monger's face fell. He mentally cursed Major General Matthew, the commander of the 4th Division. Monger had also served in India and naturally understood Indian soldiers well. He thought to himself, "You old thing, you don't even bring enough of this essential stuff. You know Indians are fearless, but can't they do without 'curry'?" Monger's hatred for Major General Matthew was extremely deep-seated.

  But resentment is resentment, now the arrow is on the string and must be shot. So he ordered 'Each infantry unit of the vanguard to take over the mine clearance task of the 4th Indian Division and continue to advance'.

  The commanders of the troops on the front line received this order, and they were all shocked. Before that, they had been watching the Indians clear mines with rapt attention, and when they encountered a ceramic landmine explosion, their emotions were stimulated, but suddenly they disappeared without a trace. However, military orders are like mountains, and there is no way to disobey them, so they can only be executed.

  This is going to be lively, British soldiers are also mixed with rice to eat, and they will not go to collide with ceramic landmines with their own lives. So the most primitive manual mine detector reappeared in their hands, each mine detector soldier was careful, afraid of making mistakes. This time, not only were the mines marked out, dug out, but also many stones underground were dug out, of course, some of which were intentionally buried by Rommel's men. In one day and night, the troops advanced less than 300 meters. And the German artillery was happy to be crooked, with more than 300 tanks being hit by long-range artillery fire. Of course, some tanks could still be used after emergency repairs in the rear.

  Upon hearing the number of casualties, Meng Ke almost fainted. If this continues after crossing the minefield, the armored troops will have to change professions and become professional infantrymen. With no other choice, Meng Ke gritted his teeth and gave the order: 'All mine-clearing units must clear a path for the armored units within 24 hours; anyone who delays the battle will be subject to military law.'

  The order to die was passed on to the front-line troops, and the front-line commanders were also anxious. These young commanders immediately took the lead in clearing mines with tanks. The men under them saw that they had worked hard, of course, and did not dare to slack off, and they all came forward bravely. Soon the effect came out, all the mine-clearing tanks were destroyed, two colonels died in battle, and the mine-clearing troops suffered heavy casualties. And the minefield was still endless. The infantry's casualties exceeded 6,000 people. Although it is said that war cannot be fought without death, but this time they didn't even see the enemy's face, and were sent to heaven by landmines, all the soldiers were shocked.

  The heavy casualties of the troops were quickly reported back to Cairo and London by the eyes and ears planted in the army by the Ministry of War. It immediately caused a great panic, and all the people who had relatives fighting in North Africa did not dare to do anything. You can use Indians to sweep mines, but you can't use my son to sweep mines, that's not right for you, Monty and Churchill. Being shot dead still leaves a corpse, but being blown up by a landmine is just powdering the bones. For a time, Britain was in chaos, with demonstrations, riots, and marches. The whole of London was thrown into turmoil, and even the King of England called Churchill to ask about this matter.

  The War Office also took the opportunity to put pressure on Churchill, clamoring for Montgomery's dismissal. Churchill saw that things were not going well and had no choice but to issue a direct order to Montgomery in the name of the Supreme War Cabinet, withdrawing British troops from the front line who were clearing mines. The other Australian, New Zealand, South African, Greek and French divisions and brigades also refused to fight. Oh, you British people's lives are lives, we are also born of our mothers and fathers. We have no obligation to send you to death. Sorry, we're withdrawing too.

  An offensive was interrupted in such a mess, but Churchill couldn't sit still. Yes, the press conference was also held, and the face was leaked, and the big talk was blown. If it ends like this, the face of the British Empire will be lost. What is most important to the British Empire? Of course, it's the face. The face is our basic principle problem, and we can't tolerate others' ridicule. If the Allies see this as a joke, the War Cabinet will inevitably collapse.

  Churchill wired Monty, urging him to continue the offensive by all means. Monty's reply was brief: 'Send curry'. A squadron of RAF planes flew in a year's supply of curry for 20,000 men from India. However, North Africa was hit by several decades of rare rainy weather, and planes could not approach the front line. They had no choice but to transport the curry to Cairo, and then ship it directly to the Fourth Division's base.

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  The third update is sent, and work starts tomorrow. It can only be restored to two updates per day, hoping for everyone's forgiveness. However, as long as the pipe has time, it will definitely work hard, and also thank you for everyone's recommendations and collections. I believe the pipe will not disappoint everyone's expectations.