Chapter 174 Failure
The British-Indian army's garrison at Ruwaisat Ridge had only one infantry battalion.
The reason there is only one infantry battalion is because the Alamein defense line is 55 kilometers long. At this time, the British army was slightly insufficient in strength. Especially the defense line deployed by General Auchinleck was sunken into the mountain... This made the actual defense line need to be If it exceeds 55 kilometers, the strength of the troops will be even more dwarfed.
It is precisely because of this that some unimportant areas on the defense line were even replaced by the African Army formed in Egypt.
On the other hand, the Ruwaisate Ridge is a mountain. The mountain has the advantage of being at a commanding height, but it also has the disadvantage that the mountaintop formation is not large enough to garrison too many troops... garrisoning too many troops will lead to too dense a population, which will lead to enemy attacks. It is easy to cause a large number of casualties when covered by artillery fire.
Major John, who was in charge of the defense of Ruoisate Ridge, was a veteran of World War I.
All veterans who participated in World War I have one characteristic. They have considerable experience in building fortifications... World War I fought trench warfare, so officers and soldiers who experienced World War I may not necessarily be good soldiers, but they will definitely be good soldiers. He is a good hand in civil engineering.
Major John was no exception. He divided the defense of Rooisat Ridge into three lines.
These three lines of defense are at the foot of the mountain, the mountainside and the top of the mountain respectively. The strength of the troops is two platoons, one company and two companies.
This is a very reasonable arrangement. It not only provides defense depth to the British and Indian troops, but also enhances the firepower of the British and Indian troops... The three lines of defense in echelons form a natural superposition of firepower due to the height difference of the mountains. An attack on the first line of defense will be hit by fire from the three lines of British defense at the same time.
Just like now, although the German army has tank support and fire cover, the British machine gun bullets are pouring down from overhead. In addition, there are mortar shells, which makes several attacks by the German army difficult. They failed to break through the defenses and even lost three tanks.
Objectively speaking, the combat effectiveness of the Indian 4th Infantry Division is quite good.
This does not mean that Indian soldiers obey orders or are not afraid of life and death... although it seems that is the case, the nature is different.
It's not wrong to say that you obey orders. The Indian soldiers did whatever the British officers told them.
But this is not really obeying orders.
On the surface it seems true, but on a deeper analysis it is a kind of "slavishness"... Indians believe in Hinduism, and the essence of Hinduism is a religion created by the Aryans to better enslave the Indian people after they invaded India. Religion divides people into high castes and low castes. The upper castes can treat the lower castes at will... Until modern times, there is still a practice in India where low-caste untouchables have their hands cut off as punishment for picking up a few vegetable leaves in the vegetable field. What's even more frightening is that Indians think this is normal.
On the other hand, high-caste people are often white, and the British are white. At the same time, the British colonized India with strong force. This makes Indians naturally treat the British as high-caste and obey the enslavement of the colonists. There is no violation of control and they are even proud of their "loyalty".
It is true that they are not afraid of life and death. The resistance of the Indian soldiers is much stronger than that of the British army. There are even many Indian soldiers holding cluster grenades and approaching the German tanks in the dark to blast at close range... This method of combat is very difficult for the British army. It's unimaginable.
But was this an act of heroism?
Hinduism promotes a spirit of afterlife...that is, suffering in this life and enjoying happiness in the next.
So many Indian soldiers, under the influence of this spirit, rushed towards the German tanks with grenades in hand, hoping to enjoy happiness in the next life.
So this is not heroic, but foolish.
From this we can see how cunning the Aryans were back then. They established a whole set of religious systems on Indians. Not only did they successfully enslave Indians in the present day, but they also allowed this system to continue from generation to generation until modern times, and it is visible The future will continue...
There is a saying that is very suitable for Indians: It is easy to break the physical shackles, but it is difficult to break the mental shackles.
Finally, when eight tanks rushed up at the same time, Qinchuan and the German soldiers used mortars, grenades and bayonets to capture the first line of defense.
When the German soldiers saw only fifty corpses of Indian soldiers in the trenches, they felt a little frustrated, because the result was disproportionate to the cost and time they paid.
"Keep moving forward!" Bazel, whose eyes were red, ordered loudly. As soon as the tank stopped for a moment, it "rumbled" and led the soldiers towards the British army's second line of defense.
The sky was filled with dazzling illumination bombs and artillery shells coming and going from both sides. The sparks of the bullets kept flashing in the dark night, just like the light emitted by fireflies, but with the sparks What comes are rounds of bullets that whistle and emit hot steam, and these bullets can kill you at any time.
"Captain!" At this time, a signal soldier shouted to Bazel: "Colonel orders us to retreat!"
"What? What did you say?" Bazel couldn't believe his ears. This was the time to break through the enemy's defense line with all his strength. How could he retreat?
"The colonel ordered us to retreat!" the signal soldier repeated the order.
The German soldiers, including Qin Chuan, secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this order... They had almost reached the limit of their physical fitness. Although they knew that retreating now would be a waste of all their previous efforts, who could care so much!
"Retreat!" Bazel ordered angrily.
The soldiers stumbled back, and Qin Chuan felt like a piece of wood. Even though there were constant gunshots and cannon fire behind him, he had no idea how to dodge... He no longer had the energy to dodge.
Fortunately, the British army could not see the target in the night, and there were tanks behind to block the bullets, so Qin Chuan finally returned to the hiding place of the car safely.
When he was about to get on the car, he felt his legs soften and collapsed to the ground. Several soldiers hurriedly pushed and shoved him into the car, and then the car started with a "boom".
At that moment, Qin Chuan suddenly found that the car compartment he had always hated was so lovely, like a warm and safe home.
"Why retreat?" Kuhn asked the driver.
"I'm not sure!" The driver replied: "I heard that an enemy armored unit appeared on our flank!"
The shadow of the "Strait" tank flashed through Qin Chuan's mind.
Auchinleck became smarter and knew that he could not stick to the defense line at this time but should attack instead of defend. Or it can be said that Auchinleck is better at this kind of defensive battle where logistical supply is not threatened, so his performance is completely different from before.
Now...what should the German army do?
Qin Chuan looked at the Alamein defense line in the distance, where artillery fire was still ringing and a few flares were rising from time to time, and then looked at the sky that was already getting light...
This is almost telling everyone that it is impossible to break through this defense line at least tonight, and Rommel's plan has failed.