Chapter 68: The Seventh Armored Division's Offensive

  The British encountered another problem when making payments, and the pound, which was always strong, was unexpectedly rejected by the Americans. The Americans said with a flourish that Britain was in a state of war, so its currency could not be well preserved, and the Americans asked the British to settle those tanks that had already been shipped with gold.

  This time, the British felt the truth of "one cannot straighten up under a low eave". The British had to transport large quantities of gold from their home soil by air, but when it came time for delivery, the gold that was originally highly valued in wartime suddenly plummeted in value at the New York Gold Exchange.

  Those smiling American businessmen insisted on settling the price of gold against the dollar that day. As a result, the British ended up paying the 2% tax that the Americans had undercharged, just to get these tanks shipped out. But it didn't end there - next came an export duty of 150% on spare parts for the tanks. What good were the tanks without their daily spare parts? The British were again fleeced by those greedy Americans.

  Faced with American blackmail, Churchill's heart is bleeding, the whole House of Commons' heart is bleeding, every Briton's heart is bleeding, and the entire Britain and its colonies are bleeding. Britain is using the wealth accumulated over several centuries to exchange for tanks that can withstand the German army's aggressive attack.

  But this is secondary compared to the Suez Canal, which flows with gold. This also led to a large and rapid loss of gold in the UK. Later, the UK was unable to use its own gold reserves again, and if it wanted to exchange gold for weapons, the UK's gold reserves would be depleted. Under duress, they had no choice but to borrow from the United States to purchase arms, and the major financial giants in the US easily passed a congressional bill to lend money to the UK, so more and more military supplies were poured into the UK mainland and battlefields. In return, the credit of the British pound plummeted until the currency that was originally equivalent to one pound of silver was no longer wanted by anyone internationally.

  The purpose of the United States doing so is to use the US dollar to replace the pound sterling settlement pattern commonly used internationally, thereby establishing a credit system with the US dollar as an international currency. Why the United States did this will be discussed later.

  The British tank corps, piled up with heavy gold, was basically dispatched to Egypt to confront the German army. And the best 340 tanks bought with gold were reorganized by Monty into the Seventh Armoured Division of the British Army with his old Third Division as its backbone.

  The organization of an armored division in the British Army was complex, with one armored division divided into 2 brigades, namely an armored brigade and a mechanized infantry brigade, as well as a divisional anti-tank regiment with 48 6-pounder anti-tank guns. An armored car regiment. A high artillery regiment and two heavy artillery regiments, as well as engineer troops, medical troops and other miscellaneous units. The armored brigade had 3 tank regiments, 1 mechanized battalion, the tank regiment had 3 companies, the motorized infantry brigade had 3 motorized battalions, and the battalion had 4 companies. The entire division had less than 200 tanks.

  Monger was unwilling to use an armored division composed in this way to fight against the German army's armored forces. The armored divisions of the Ministry of War contained almost all types of land troops, making logistical supplies extremely difficult, with too many varieties. Monger waved his hand and dismissed those high artillery regiments, heavy artillery regiments. You are a fast-moving force, what do you bring so many big guns for? Big guns are not tanks, wanting to go, wanting to fight, that requires the artillery to choose a good position, set up the big gun, calculate the coordinates before firing. Compared with the armored division's assault, encirclement, pursuit mission, these things simply don't fit in. So all these troops were abolished and replaced by an armored brigade.

  This is how the British First, Seventh and Tenth Armoured Divisions emerged with tank numbers far exceeding their authorized strength. However, the combat effectiveness of these over-equipped armoured divisions not only did not decrease but instead increased significantly. Mobility was nearly doubled compared to before.

  Sir Brian Horrocks, the commander of the Seventh Armoured Division, was now in the North African desert implementing his massive plan.

  The 7th Armoured Division of the British Army soon drove up to a place not far from the German defense line. They all stopped their vehicles, and just ahead was the German position. Clearly visible in the binoculars were the sand dunes in the desert where the Germans had built one by one machine gun, anti-tank gun emplacements with sandbags.

  The two German infantry regiments defending the position here had already seen from their artillery spotters that a large number of British tanks were gathering to attack their positions, and they hastily sent reports to headquarters while ordering their artillery to prepare for battle.

  The tanks of the Seventh Division stopped because they were waiting for the infantry to emerge from their armored vehicles and follow in platoons behind the tanks. Without the cover of infantry, it was impossible for the tanks to completely occupy the German defensive line. Soon the infantry had made combat preparations behind the tanks.

  "At Brian's command, nearly 300 'Sherman M4' tanks of the entire army started up, and the dust raised by the tanks obscured the sky. Compared to the tenth division's feint, this was real strength."

  The heavy artillery units deployed behind the German army opened fire, using the FH 18 type 105mm howitzer. This gun was designed in 1918 and was one of the best at that time, with an excellent trajectory designed for long distances, typical of German weapons, lightweight and capable of firing various types of shells. After repeated improvements, new varieties can be said to be the best among howitzers, one of which increased the extension of the wheel with a certain angle, which can offset part of the recoil force. Although the FH 18 type was difficult to produce and the power of the shell used was not as good as that of other countries, it was still an all-rounder on the battlefield, used in various battlefields during the war.

  Especially the German infantry divisions fighting in North Africa, almost every division was equipped with 24 such heavy artillery pieces, which were important weapons for infantry assault and defense. Especially the 105mm shells had a much larger number than other guns' shells under the same weight condition. This also made the killing area of the 105mm howitzer much larger than that of other heavy artillery pieces.

  Originally each infantry division was also equipped with 150mm heavy howitzers, but due to the short time for this troop transfer, those big guys simply couldn't be transported in time.

  However, this large-caliber gun is not an ideal weapon for dealing with tanks. Except for being able to directly hit the top of the tank, the shells of this gun pose no threat to the safety of the tank. The infantry behind the tank became the target for the large-caliber gun to show off its power.

  The 24-door 105mm traction-type fluid cannon emitted a thunderous roar. The firing speed of 6-8 rounds per minute also enveloped the entire British army's tank team in smoke for a while. As the saying goes, even a blind cat can catch a dead mouse sometimes, and indeed several 'Sherman M4' were hit by 105mm shells. When the top of the tank was hit, it was naturally destroyed, and the shells that exploded on the roof directly radiated to the infantry following behind the tank. Of course, the infantry were all hit one by one by these flying shrapnel and fell into a pool of blood, dying instantly.

  All this was seen by the commander of the British Seventh Armored Division, who was directing from the rear. However, he did not find it strange that there were no casualties in the battle with the German army. He had already mentally prepared for the loss of 20 tanks and the death or injury of 1,000 British infantrymen. For him, losing this many people would be worth it if they could break through the German defenses.

  The British tanks covered the infantry as they slowly advanced towards the German defensive fortifications. As they advanced, these tanks did not idle, and the 75mm cannons of the Sherman M4 fired shells at the German positions. The German positions were also shrouded in flames from the explosions of tank shells. In comparison, the British still had a numerical advantage.

  The British tanks were a belief, that is, to charge forward even if they die. As long as they charged to the German defense line, the German artillery would lose its effect. The German artillery would not fire at their own people who were resisting on the position.

  These 'Sherman M4' with recoil mechanisms were indeed extremely fierce, the recoil of the shells had no effect on the tank's engine. This also brought the efficiency of these tanks to the extreme, although the power of the 75mm tank gun could not be compared with the 105mm howitzer. However, the British army's sea-like numbers made up for this point. Nearly 300 tanks fired an average of 5 to 10 high-explosive shells each in a distance of nearly 1,000 meters before advancing.

  These shells exploded continuously on the German army's position. Although the accuracy was not very high, the scene was magnificent. The German army was also suppressed by these constantly exploding shells in the trenches. Soon, the British tank vanguard drove to within 500 meters of the German defense line. The German anti-tank soldiers hastily set up their anti-tank weapons amidst the continuously exploding shells and aimed at the British Sherman M4 tanks.

  The main anti-tank weapon of the German infantry was the 37mm anti-tank gun. However, the effectiveness of this anti-tank gun lay mainly in its mobility. It was a light artillery piece with a combat weight of less than half a ton, and the gun was mounted on two large wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres that allowed it to be easily manhandled by the gun crew. It could be towed by an automobile or some similar lightweight vehicle, and it was also easy to place it in the bed of a truck or on a railway flatcar.

  For the newly formed German airborne and mountain warfare troops, it also had a certain appeal. It could fire armor-piercing rounds as well as super-caliber hollow charges, which were capable of penetrating 100mm thick armor plates when firing super-caliber hollow charges. This super-caliber hollow charge used a blank cartridge for launching, beyond two hundred meters distance, its accuracy would not be too high, because the short barrel did not actually give it the correct flight direction.

  Another major drawback of this gun when firing canister shot was that the crew had to go around to the muzzle end to reload, which not only required the crew to have extraordinary courage but also made it almost impossible to get off a second shot under intense enemy fire.

  Of course, each infantry company was also equipped with 3 anti-tank guns. The caliber of this gun is extremely large, and the barrel has reached an astonishing two meters. However, the recoil force of this gun is also astonishing, and there is no way to install a recoil device to offset the power that humans cannot bear. Installing a recoil device affects the firepower of this anti-tank gun, so this anti-tank gun can generally only penetrate steel plates below 40 mm.

  The anti-tank guns and anti-tank rifles of the two groups almost all opened fire. First, a burst of smoke rose from the German position, then the British tank vanguard exploded with sparks, and the sound of explosions was endless. However, what made the Germans feel disappointed was that except for being charred by the explosion of shells, the British tanks were not damaged at all. The hit tanks continued to move forward, occasionally still able to see shells shooting out from these tanks.

  The British tanks did not let go of the German anti-tank troops who fired at them, and directly aimed their guns at these German anti-tank troops before opening fire. The British shells directly blew a large number of German anti-tank troops into pieces.

  The entire German position on the battlefield was filled with a bloody and terrifying atmosphere.