my head

Chapter 302

I saw these tanks roaring, spraying flames and rumbling through the trenches and bushes, while the infantry braved the scorching air waves and flying sand and dust, rushing forward quickly.

Rommel, who had always calculated correctly, was wrong this time. He thought that the British army's minefields and defenses were weak, but in fact they were very dense.All kinds of landmines were densely planted in front of the positions on both sides of Alamein. The SS planted about 50 landmines in front of their positions. How many were the British and American coalition forces?Rommel doesn't know the exact number, but it is conservatively estimated that it will not be less than 100 million. Basically, every inch of land in front of the British and American coalition forces has landmines, and they are buried together with various mines. What anti-tank mines, anti-infantry There are too many types of landmines, jumping mines, etc., which makes it more difficult to clear mines, and there is no way to clear so many landmines.

Rommel's tank assault group quickly made the British and American coalition forces aware, and the British and American coalition forces began large-scale bombardment. Under the fierce fire of various firepower from the British army, the German armored vanguard was tightly squeezed into the small area of ​​​​the minefield.At this time, Rommel quickly dropped his rocket launcher behind his armored assault group. Three hundred rockets covered a large area with a burst of firepower, and no matter what mines were, they would disappear in smoke.

But the fire of the rocket launcher was very bright, which easily exposed the target. Of course, it was impossible to hide the assault of several armored divisions. The artillery of the British and American coalition forces was still very powerful, and they quickly launched a fierce shelling attack on Rommel's armored assault group.

Of course, Rommel's armored forces also suffered a little loss under the shelling of the British and American Allied Forces, but when the artillery groups of the British and American Allied Forces fired, their targets were also exposed.The FA223 helicopter group that had been waiting in the air for a long time swooped towards the artillery group of the British and American coalition forces. The rockets on the fa223 are a deadly threat to all artillery.The cannons of the British and American Allied Forces were all misfired under the attack of the German helicopters, and violent explosions came and went one after another on the artillery positions of the British and American Allied Forces.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, the planes of both sides flew over the Alamein front and started bombing blindly. The planes of both sides flew from other places, so they could only bomb randomly, and the effect was poor.

The heavy bombers of both sides launched a large-scale air strike against each other at night for the first time, and Rommel's German armored forces had rushed out of the dense minefield.The bombers of the British and American allied forces had to face the attack of German planes in the air, and they had to guard against the anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground. What's more, it was still at night, and the heavy bombers of the British and American allied forces returned home after dropping bombs indiscriminately. After seeing the positions of the British and American coalition forces bombarded for a while, they also hurried back to the flight. The SS planes were all on the island of Malta, and they would not stay in Alamein for long.

Under the blind and random bombing of the British planes, the German engineers desperately used rockets to open a not too narrow passage in the minefield.As soon as the SS tanks broke through the minefield, they swooped on the British and American positions.For a while, in the position of the British army.Flames and flares illuminated the battlefield like daylight; explosions, shouts, and the rattle of heavy machine guns rang out.

After consideration, Rommel decided to change the original combat plan.Order the troops not to advance 20 miles eastward to the Alam Halfa Ridge as originally planned, and then turn back to the back of the ridge to attack the main force of the British army from the rear. Instead, let all the troops turn across the ridge as soon as possible.He aimed at Montgomery's weakness - Alam Halfa.This modification by Rommel overwhelmed Montgomery.

The Alam Halfa Ridge has now become a dangerous and lucky zone for the German Panzer Corps.At 3 o'clock in the evening, Rommel's tanks began to attack according to the new plan, but unfortunately they fell on the African Army one after another.

At this time, a dark storm blew up on the desert, and the moonlit sky was completely gone, and the entire sky was completely invisible.Although they took pains to avoid the storm and the threat of the British Air Force, when they began to attack the north, they walked into a soft desert and had to slow down. Although the SS armored units attacked The speed slowed down, but this allowed the infantry who followed the armored assault to follow up, and it was a blessing in disguise.

At this time, they were facing the commanding height of the ridge—Hill 131.They stepped into the "death zone" of both sides.The British army holding on to Height 131 took advantage of the terrain and used all kinds of firepower to block the SS assault.The ground wave of the SS did not work. Mainly at night, soldiers of the British and American coalition forces used "Super Bazooka" in large quantities. The tanks could not find the British and American soldiers hiding in the dark. After seeing this situation, Rommel, who was commanding behind, decisively ordered his armored assault group to retreat temporarily, and then sent a small group of counterfeit Type 99 tanks to charge along with the infantry. Rommel even Order the infantry to rush in front of the tank, and the copycat Type 99 tanks that follow these infantry are only used as mobile turrets.

The effect soon became apparent. The SS used rockets with a range of rpg, which was slightly more advanced than the American "Super Bazooka". For mountain battles, infantry had an advantage. Definitely not the best weapon.The British and American coalition forces began to retreat to the Alam Halfa ridge, which is the commanding height.This ridge is about three square kilometers. The British and American coalition forces have a division here, but the fortifications are simple trenches dug just now, and there are no permanent concrete fortifications.

Soon, as the sky slowly dawned and the sky began to clear up, greater bad luck befell the Anglo-American coalition forces.The roar of the SS tanks and artillery under the ridge was earth-shattering.In an instant, the positions of the British and American coalition forces were completely covered by artillery fire, and SS bombers also flew over.The two sides launched a large-scale fight of unprecedented scale. In order to compete for the highest point of Alamein, the fight in the air and on the ground has never stopped.

At dawn on January 1, Rommel drove to the front-line battlefield. The first thing he saw was that this narrow area was covered with wreckage; many tanks were still burning, and some SS soldiers The tanks of the Anglo-American Allied Forces also belonged to the British and American Allied Forces. Of course, the tanks of the British and American Allied Forces were destroyed. After all, the RPG range of the SS Army is 12 meters away. The tanks No. 300 and Tiger of the SS are also very dangerous under the "Super Bazooka" of the British and American allied forces.

This morning, Rommel and his troops were bombed by the British army six times.The SS air force also attacked desperately. The planes of the British and American allied forces suffered great losses.The Alam Halfa Ridge was finally occupied by the SS. Rommel immediately drove to the Alam Halfa Ridge and ordered the two division artillery groups to immediately move to the Alam Halfa Ridge to launch a comprehensive attack on the British and American defense lines. Shelling, now the British and American coalition forces can only watch countless shells fall on their heads, but there is nothing they can do. The British and American coalition forces who are 6 kilometers away from Alam Halfa hurriedly fled. The deployed Alamein defense line was torn open with a gap of almost [-] kilometers. Even if Montgomery wanted to block this huge gap, it would be impossible.

Montgomery's Anglo-American forces were severely damaged by Rommel's Afrika Korps. On January 1, Montgomery felt that he could no longer support himself and began to retreat. On the 12th, the British and American allied forces accelerated their retreat.Only at this time did Rommel allow his armored forces to carry out a limited pursuit, but he absolutely forbade the capture of the Hemimat Heights held by the British and American allied forces.

Rommel said he wanted Montgomery to keep the observation post there so that the Anglo-American forces could see all the deceptions the SS was going to do in preparation for the next big battle.The Battle of Alam Halfa lasted for just three days. It was not until January 1 that Rommel's Afrika Korps completely defeated the British and American coalition forces and approached Egypt.Rommel's current forces are still unable to encircle the tightly gathered British and American allied forces at one time. The retreating British and American allied forces must be scattered to defend their strategic locations, such as Cairo, the Suez Canal and their ports.

So Rommel ordered the campaign to be stopped.Because he knew that it was impossible to wipe out Montgomery's troops based on the current situation.And he is not willing to let his precious armored forces lose too much in pursuit as in the past.After the British and American allied forces lost the Alamein line of defense, Cairo's door was completely opened. If Cairo could not hold it, the Middle East of the British and American allied forces would be in danger, directly facing Rommel's front.Once Britain and the United States lose the oil in the Middle East, they will not be much better than Germany.If the port city of Tobruk cannot be defended, then the British and American coalition forces will close even the last place of escape. They will either surrender directly or cross the Suez Canal directly and run to Iraq.

As for the counterattack of the British and American allied forces, after all, the British and American allied forces still have lingering fears about Rommel, the cunning "desert fox".Montgomery still proposed a counter-offensive plan, but Eisenhower also opposed Montgomery's plan, and the American prince opposed it. Montgomery, who stole the commander-in-chief, had no choice but to deploy his troops to Tobruk and Cairo. Wait for the strategic points.

Rommel achieved a major victory, which greatly encouraged the confidence of the SS soldiers and restored their trust in their commanders. After all, these SS troops used to have brilliant achievements under the command of Zhang Jun. Now the vice president The commander can also lead them to victory and glory. The soldier's trust in his commander is the most important morale.

At a dinner party in Berlin that day, Hitler said firmly:

"Egypt is no longer in danger. I will finally eliminate the British and American forces. This is certain."

... (To be continued..)

ps: I went back to my hometown today and did not update in time, please bear with me brothers, thank you.

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