Chapter 50: Armored Confrontation

  Romel had indeed become disheartened before the supplies arrived. He arranged the Italian army and German infantry into two lines of defense, and also deployed his limited tank troops 30 kilometers behind the front line. This formation relied on a large number of landmines, and if the British were to launch a head-on attack, it would indeed be very difficult for them to advance without suffering heavy casualties.

  To be honest, Rommel was ready to live or die with the defense line. Everything changed because of the large amount of supplies that Rommel received. 6 combat divisions, 540 killer tanks, and coordination with 1000 aircraft made Rommel's courage bigger.

  Among many German generals, Rommel was not actually a man of great eloquence. He just tightly grasped Hitler's thigh and in just 2 short years rose from an armored army colonel to Field Marshal.

  To be honest, Hitler was not impeccable with his confidants.

  Just as Rommel always won by a hair's breadth, Hitler was also taking risks. Rommel's adventurous spirit was actually a bit like Hitler's. Hitler also regarded the troops commanded by Rommel as if he were commanding them himself, and Rommel's victories as if they were his own victories on the front line.

  Even promoting Rommel was tantamount to promoting Hitler himself. In Hitler's mind, Rommel was his surrogate on the front line. And Hitler could indulge in the fantasy that every man has when no one is around. Commanding troops on the front line, listening to the sound of shells exploding not far away, feeling the danger of bullets whizzing past, and experiencing the camaraderie among subordinates.

  Rommel was a master tactician, and every plan he devised carried great risks. High risk brings high returns, and Rommel always bet right.

  But Rommel did not want to be like that, he also wanted to have countless soldiers under his command, waving a large flag and looking down on everything. Only he didn't.

  Starting from the invasion of Poland, Rommel was only relying on his keen judgment to command the 7th Panzer Division to charge forward and achieved astonishing results.

  When attacking France, no one was sure in their heart, and Germany did not have an advantage in terms of the number of troops or equipment. The German army generals led by Brauchitsch strongly opposed it, arguing that the German army did not have enough strength to defeat the Western European forces, and once the war started, Germany would be doomed. Hitler severely rebuked Brauchitsch and others for being timid and fearful, and ordered them to unconditionally follow his plan.

  At that time, only Rommel and Guderian were recklessly commanding their troops to resolutely execute the order.

  As expected, the defenses of Britain and France in the Ardennes forest were easily breached. Rommel's armored division and Guderian's armored army were like two sharp swords that directly pierced the rear of the Anglo-French army. At that time, Rommel was only 49 years old, still a child for the German high command.

  In the short month after breaking through the British and French armies, Rommel truly achieved a situation where he was attacked from both front and back. At that time, there was no rear or cover. If the British and French armies had fought to the death, Rommel would have estimated that not even ashes would be left. What Rommel did was to charge forward regardless of everything, fighting all the way to Dunkirk in distant France before stopping the wheels of his chariots.

  Heaven always leaves opportunities for the brave, and the failure of the Anglo-French coalition created Rommel's reputation. Among all division commanders, Rommel shone like a dazzling light bulb.

  Then, after arriving in North Africa, Rommel's two brilliant tactical attacks directly made the British cry out for their fathers and mothers. Until they took down Tobruk, this important supply base, and drove all the British to Egypt. Until at El Alamein, Rommel was exhausted and could no longer fight.

  To be honest, Rommel was very annoyed by such adventurous behavior. As a senior commander, he deeply understood the words of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War": "Those who excel in war first cultivate their own strength and then await the enemy's weakness. Those who are skilled at warfare do not become attached to particular strategies or tactics."

  The old fox can now openly and fairly engage with the British. This time, even if there were 200,000 more British troops, or another 200,000 old foxes, he would not be afraid. As the saying goes, "with food in one's belly, one is not anxious." If it were some other German commander in charge, they might have sent these troops to the front line and had them directly attack the British.

  But the old fox Rommel did not do so, on the one hand, the troops that had just been replenished with sly orders arrived from Tobruk to a place 120 kilometers north of the northern defense line and secretly hid. On the other hand, he secretly ordered the infantry stationed on the front line to quietly withdraw to the rear, leaving only artillery and observation posts. The more British troops that can be wiped out, the better.

  The most despicable thing is that Rommel transported the wreckage of the previously bombed tanks to the front, poured gasoline on them and burned them again. In the end, some old, broken and worn-out tanks were also thrown onto the battlefield by Rommel to await the baptism of British artillery.

  The British main force finally took Rommel's position at a heavy cost, capturing many tank wrecks. Even Montgomery did not expect that Rommel would be so cunning and use previously damaged tanks to pretend to have good ones.

  The British troops on the front line, seeing so many tank wrecks, would not say that they were destroyed by artillery. They directly attributed it to themselves, and no one would refuse credit for their achievements. The British troops on the front line launched a third attack on the wrecks, thoroughly solidifying their own merits.

  So Montgomery calculated the number of German tanks given by the intelligence department, and then calculated the number of tanks destroyed, only to find that Rommel had few tanks left. Only then did Montgomery think that Rommel was truly defeated and would order a pursuit.

  Because Montgomery was not afraid, even if Rommel received supplies, according to previous intelligence analysis, at most it would be around 100-110 No. 4 tanks. If Montgomery knew that 540 tanks had been directly supplied to Rommel's command, he wouldn't dare to make a move even if he had the courage.

  Romell is too familiar with the practices of lower-level officers and soldiers. No matter what army, there will be a phenomenon of grabbing credit. The superior commander generally will turn a blind eye to it, and no one will investigate thoroughly.

  In this way, the British army stepped into Rommel's trap step by step.

  However, facing the powerful British armored forces, Rommel was still very cautious. His intention was to let the British line stretch, making supplies difficult. Then suddenly launch an attack, directly bypassing the British rear and cutting off the British supply line. Then slowly turn back and devour these English feasts. By then, the British would not have any army that could resist Rommel in Egypt for a while.

  But a sudden message interrupted Rommel's plan, which was a message brought by an Arab at the risk of his life. This Arab was a local informant planted in 'Alam el Halfa' by Rommel's intelligence department.

  According to the intelligence officer, on November 1st, there was a sudden sound of artillery explosions coming from the direction of Alam Halfa, where the British Eighth Army headquarters was located. The gunfire was also intense, and it is likely that the British command center had been attacked. This information left Rommel puzzled, "I didn't send anyone to attack the British command center, ah? In the past when I launched a large-scale attack, I attacked Alam Halfa twice but couldn't take it down, who would be so bold as to dare attack the British command center?"

  Suddenly, Rommel thought of Andrieu. Rommel thought to himself, "I hope it's not this young master who did it. This kid was unscrupulous when he was in Berlin. He would do anything. I don't know what he's thinking this time, wanting to go against the British. Judging from the time Andrieu disappeared and the distance from 'Ah Leiman' on the map, it's probably him.

  "This is terrible, 'Alem Hamza' is everywhere with forts and fortifications, my 1.5 divisions have fought several times but couldn't take it down. Is this kid going to get himself killed?" Rommel thought to himself that he didn't dare wait for the British to attack again, now all the British were not as important as Andri. It was okay if he himself got defeated or died in battle, but if something happened to this kid, his old man would definitely go mad, and might even implicate his own family.

  Thinking that his beloved wife might be in danger, Rommel felt a chill run down his spine. Rommel secretly decided to defeat Ahreman and rescue Andrei, then he would definitely take this kid with him and personally take care of him.

  Romel hastily gave orders, "Each armored division opens up the direction of the British attack, attacking the rear of the British army, and if encountered by the British blocking troops, do not stay, try not to entangle with the British, one purpose is to attack Ahreman."

  Three newly arrived Panzer divisions, plus the original 1.5 Panzer divisions each chose their own route to attack towards Alam Halfa. The tanks of the British attacking forces were left for the infantry in the rear to deal with using 88mm anti-aircraft guns and the 40 heavy Tiger I tanks of the newly formed 501st Heavy Tank Battalion.

  At this time, the German army was a full 280 kilometers away from Alamán.

  Thus a large-scale encounter battle appeared on the border of Egypt, with more than 900 German tanks rushing towards the British army. The sand and dust raised by these tanks in the desert obscured the sky, while those newly produced No. 5 tanks that had not been painted with desert camouflage colors yet looked even more menacing, directly charging to the front of the troops.

  There were too many German tanks, and there was no way to get through the gaps in the British army's formation, so some German tanks had to take action against the oncoming British tanks.

  The first to open fire was Lieutenant Michel Wittmann of the German 101st Panzer Regiment. This 28-year-old young tank commander was a seasoned combat veteran. He had previously trained as a driver of four-wheeled light armored reconnaissance vehicles and later drove six-wheeled heavy armored reconnaissance vehicles, showing excellent driving skills throughout his training. Later he also received assault gun driving training.

  After Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Weidmann served in a tank unit of the Red Army, driving a captured German Panzer IV. He was awarded the Tank Assault Badge after destroying six Soviet tanks in one battle, but was also wounded and sent to Germany for recovery. After his recovery, he was retained as an instructor at a tank training camp.

  However, Michiru Weitman was determined to return to the troops and did not want to be an instructor in the rear. So, taking advantage of Germany's replenishment plan, Michiru Weitman was sent by the Armored Academy to join the 101st Armored Division as a tank commander. Michiru Weitman was sent for two purposes: first, to represent the military academy to test the actual combat capability of Tank No. 5, and second, to guide some newcomers in actual combat techniques.

  However, Michelle and Weitman are not actually true academicians. Compared to those veteran instructors, Michelle and Weitman are just small fish who have just entered the profession.

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  Two more updates are coming up. Over 7,000 words, didn't notice the length of each chapter, hope you all enjoy reading it.