Chapter Seventy-Three: Burning

  The British 7th Armoured Division was about to run out of the 'Fukai' valley and enter the sea, but was blocked by the world's first 'Tiger' tank unit, the German 501st Heavy Tank Battalion.

  The British 7th Armoured Division, which had mistaken the 'Tigers' for 'IVs', was now tasting its own bitter medicine. First, dozens of tanks from the vanguard brigade were set ablaze in a matter of seconds. Then, as the Germans' view was obscured by smoke and fire, they chose targets to their rear, among the British troops.

  The tanks in the rear of the 7th Armored Division's column were not particularly numerous. The Tigers, without their wheels, fired at some armored cars, trucks and fuel supply vehicles. The hit armored car exploded immediately. Unlike the Sherman M4 explosions, the steel plates of these hit armored cars were powerless against the shells exploding inside them, all parts of the armored cars were stripped from the vehicle in an instant.

  Those steel plates welded to the armored vehicle turned into a bunch of scimitars flying everywhere, quickly stabbing everything around them. The tank was lucky, its thick armor directly deflected these "scimitars" to one side. But those trucks didn't have such good defensive capabilities, and at that time, they were pierced by the scimitars through the glass, entering the driver's cab, and then flying deep into the truck's rear compartment from the soldiers' bodies.

  Those British soldiers who were beheaded by the flying sickles were considered relatively lucky. Some British soldiers were nailed alive to the carriage seats by the corners of those 'sickles'. Fresh blood kept gushing out from the wounds that had been pierced. Due to the short duration, the nerve endings in the wound hadn't had time to transmit pain signals to the brain, so these British soldiers hadn't felt any pain yet. They just stared blankly at the fragments stuck in their bodies, unable to believe that all this was happening to themselves.

  It has to be said, these British soldiers are done for. On this battlefield where the fighting is still going on, there's no way they can be rushed to the operating table by doctors. Moreover, the bleeding from their wounds is like a fountain, and before they even make it to the operating table, they've bled out completely.

  These are relatively good, the British army is more tragic than those fuel trucks around the vehicles of soldiers. Several large tankers with more than half of their fuel were blown up in an instant and flew tens of meters into the air. In mid-air, the oil tanks disintegrated due to the ignition of the fuel and the external explosion force, creating a massive fireball that instantly formed when combined with air and ignited by flames. The burning of the fireball sucked out all the oxygen from the surrounding air within thousands of square meters, causing British soldiers who were not killed by the explosion to suffocate in this death space.

  These British troops were clearly no match for the oxygen quota competing with explosive fuel.

  Of course, not all the fuel was used by that huge fireball. A part of the fuel was thrown out by the force of the explosion and fell on the surrounding tanks, armored vehicles, and cars. This caused these vehicles to also catch on fire. Regardless of the material, steel, canvas, wood board, etc., the fuel burned everything indiscriminately.

  Some British soldiers on the truck were also ignited by flames, and they jumped off one by one, rolling on the ground to try to extinguish the flames. However, the adhesion of the fuel was something they could not get rid of, and one by one, they gradually exhausted their strength, being burned alive into charcoal.

  Some British troops tried to rescue these burning soldiers, but it was of no use. The climate in the North African desert is extremely dry, and the British soldiers were only wearing a single layer of military uniform on the outside, with nothing underneath. This caused the flames to burn directly onto their skin, and before long, their skin would start to burn.

  Others who tried to rescue the burning soldiers suffered from smoke inhalation while trying to beat out the flames with whatever they had in their hands. The ignited fuel oil was not so easily extinguished, and British soldiers attempting to rescue their comrades watched helplessly as they were burned alive by the flames.

  Military vehicles are equipped with fire extinguishers, or dry powder fire extinguishers. However, compared to the entire explosion range and the soldiers on fire, this dry powder fire extinguisher is not enough to use. In the end, some British soldiers used local materials, using iron nails to lift up the sand on the ground and apply it to the place where the fire was burning.

  It turned out that this trick really worked, and the sand directly cut off the connection between the flames and oxygen. The fire slowly went out. However, those British soldiers buried under the sand had basically stopped breathing by then.

  The fate of the British soldiers on the truck was miserable, and those in the tanks and armored vehicles were not much better. The fuel, with flames attached to it, ignited fiercely on the surface of the tanks and armored vehicles. Originally, the temperature inside the tanks and armored vehicles had already reached an unbearable 45 degrees, and these flames directly raised the internal temperature of the tanks to over 80 degrees.

  The interior of the entire tank or armored vehicle is several dozen degrees hotter than a sauna. The extremely dry air evaporates all objects containing moisture inside the tank and armored vehicles, including the bodily fluids of British officers and soldiers.

  Soldiers in tanks or armored vehicles engulfed in flames frantically tried to open the hatches, escaping from this hellish place. However, when their hands touched the hatch, they were immediately scalded by the already smoldering hot handle. They had no choice but to use everything they could find to pad the handle and open the door, but the flames had already severely deformed the door, making it impossible to open. In the end, these British soldiers exhausted their last bit of strength and were killed by the high temperatures inside those tanks and armored vehicles.

  Some tanks had their hatches open, but before anyone could climb out, flames poured in through the open hatch and quickly burned up the little oxygen inside. This left the soldiers who tried to escape from inside the tank forever trapped inside. Before long, the fire ignited the engine and fuel tank, followed by a violent explosion that blew the bodies of the British soldiers, whose bodily fluids had already been evaporated, into smithereens.

  Germany's 40 'Tigers' all stopped firing after three salvoes and, without exception, started their engines and moved forward in a coordinated pace towards the British Seventh Armoured Division.

  At this time, the British Seventh Armoured Division was in a pitiful state. First, nearly 50 tanks of its leading troops were knocked out. Then, the German army's long-range shooting destroyed the last logistics supply convoy and an armored squadron protecting these convoys. The fuel supply of the Seventh Armoured Division exploded. The Seventh Armoured Division suffered heavy losses, but it still had almost 200 Sherman M4 tanks, with most of its strength remaining intact.

  The commander of the British 7th Armoured Division, Brian, faced with this chaotic situation, calmed down instead. He took a deep breath of the air filled with the smell of roasted meat. Brian knew it was the smell of human flesh being roasted, but he couldn't afford to feel nauseous now. What he needed most was a clear head and not to panic.

  "Bloody hell," he muttered to himself, surveying the situation. The logistics of fuel had been destroyed by those blasted Germans. There was no way in hell they could complete the raid on Tobruk now. Without fuel, the 7th Armoured Division would be reduced to the 7th Infantry Division before they even got close to Tobruk.

  If we retreat, Brian will not be able to carry out the plan he has been working so hard on, and all his efforts will be in vain. Now we can only follow the original plan with the 10th Armored Division and attack the German defense line from the south. As long as I can work with Alexander of the 10th Division to eliminate the German army there, everything will be fine, and I won't miss out on any credit or Alexander's gratitude. Although this approach may not make me famous like the surprise attack on Tobruk, at least I won't be criticized by my superiors for being a fool who was defeated by 40 German "Four" tanks.

  Things have developed to this point, and 'Bryan' still firmly believes that the 40 German tanks in front of him are all 'No. 4' tanks. 'Bryan' thinks it's just a No. 4 tank with a changed gun barrel. It's just more fierce firepower. Just now, the shells fired by the tanks under his command while moving were completely inaccurate. If they really stopped and engaged in one-on-one shooting with German tanks, these 40 German tanks would not be a problem at all.

  "Blair" gave orders on the radio: "Each tank unit, dispersed in battalions, attacks German tanks, ensuring accurate shooting and striving for a fatal blow. Each tank battalion must implement covered fire, never act alone."

  It must be said that 'Bryan' is a very talented armored commander, deeply understanding the truth of "good winners do not array, good arrays do not fight, good fighters do not lose, and good losers are not chaotic". The truth of this sentence is that those who are good at winning battles will not deploy troops against the enemy, those who are good at deploying troops will not face the enemy head-on, those who are good at facing the enemy head-on will not be defeated, and those who are good at being defeated will never be chaotic in defeat, but instead will fight repeatedly and ultimately win the war.

  'Brian' is like this, seeing that he can't match the German army's long-range firepower, immediately changes strategy. Execute tactics of depleting and outnumbering the German army.

  Is a 'tiger' so easily defeated? Heaven knows.

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  Two more servings coming up.