Chapter 184 Salute

The Germans had two options. One was to go around the Alamein Line and cooperate with other troops to encircle the British.

For example, the 21st Armored Division could go around the Rowaisat Ridge and attack the Indian troops stationed there with the 15th Armored Division. It can be imagined that the Germans would not spend much time to win a war and break into the British line with the 15th Armored Division.

Another option was to go straight to Alexandria, which was the main supply port of the British Army. The supplies and ammunition needed by the British Army were continuously sent to the front line from Alexandria by rail.

Both of these are good options.

But General Auchinleck judged that the Germans would choose the latter because the Germans did not have much time... It was five hours before dawn, which was about the time it took for the Germans to reach Alexandria and launch an attack.

If the Germans captured Alexandria, the entire Alamein Line would undoubtedly collapse.

On the contrary, if the Germans chose the former, they would not be able to reach Alexandria in time and capture Alexandria before dawn.

As we all know, the daytime belongs to the British. The British Air Force has an absolute advantage and is close to the water and has the advantage of being close to the water and getting the moon first... The British army has airports in Alexandria and Cairo, while the German army's airport is 200 kilometers away.

Therefore, as soon as the sky gets light, the German tanks will inevitably be ruthlessly attacked by the British Air Force.

In other words, the former can only cause the northern section of the Alamein Line to collapse. Although the British army suffered heavy losses, they can still retreat from Alamein and build a new line of defense in Alexandria.

The Germans will obviously not be satisfied with such a small victory.

So, General Auchinleck knew how to fight this battle.

Without saying a word, he picked up a pen and a ruler, connected the two points of Dilcyne and Alexandria on the map, and then said: "This is probably the German marching route. Send scouts to follow and scout immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" Major General Ritchie responded and went to make arrangements.

Then General Auchinleck issued a series of orders. His combat plan can be summarized in two points.

One: Send troops to attack and harass the German army along the way.

Originally, it was supposed to be a pursuit and interception, but General Auchinleck did not dare to set the goal too high, because he knew that the British army was not as strong as the German army. No British army, including the 7th Armored Division, could stop the German 21st Armored Division, which had been verified before.

On the other hand, desert warfare is very special, and its transportation can be said to be accessible everywhere, so unless there are several times more troops and equipment with an absolute advantage, it is unrealistic to pursue and intercept.

Therefore, General Auchinleck only planned to delay the German army's marching speed. If the German army could not launch an attack on Alexandria before dawn, then the plan would be half successful.

This task was given to the newly formed 5th Armored Brigade equipped with 200 "Stuart" tanks and the remnants of the British 15th Armored Division.

Second: Strengthen defense in the direction of Alexandria.

Because General Auchinleck piled almost all his troops and equipment on the Alamein Line, Alexandria's troops were very empty.

Fortunately, Alexandria was connected to the front line by rail, so General Auchinleck ordered the remnants of the 2nd New Zealand Division...more than 2,000 troops to be transferred back to Alexandria for garrison, and the 3rd African Division in Egypt was also used for defense.

Alexandria was also helpless about this, as the shortage of British troops had reached an outrageous level.

In fact, even though the British army suffered heavy losses in previous battles, its total strength was still several times that of the German army.

The reason for the shortage of troops was that the strategic thinking of the British army was defense... The defending side would inevitably need more troops, and most of these troops could not be concentrated or even difficult to support each other.

For example, now the British army is deployed on a 55-kilometer-long Alamein Line. Even if the British army has more than 100,000 people, there are only more than 2,000 people per kilometer on average. If they support other areas, there will be a situation of "taking money from one place to fill another".

The strategic thinking of the German army is mainly offensive.

The offensive can concentrate troops and equipment to break through from one point, so it has a military advantage over the British army in local areas.

It is not possible to say which tactic is better. The British army, which has a complex composition, low quality, and overly traditional command tactics, is indeed more suitable for defense. Historically, they used defense and strong supplies and equipment to drag down the German army, which had a quality advantage.

General Auchinleck's plan was quickly implemented.

British scouts were deployed on the enemy's possible marching routes like scattering beans. These scouts were difficult to be discovered because it was very easy to hide in the desert. The scouts only needed to bury themselves in the sand and only expose a little head to observe or breathe. In this way, they could not be discovered unless they walked in front or were directly run over by the wheels.

Then these scouts reported their positions to the headquarters, and the headquarters sent the coordinates to the artillery... So the shells exploded in pieces near the 21st Armored Division.

However, the hit rate of this kind of artillery coverage was very low.

The process of artillery bombardment should be to use several cannons for test firing after the coordinates are given, and then the observers will make adjustments based on the deviation between the explosion point of the artillery shells and the target, such as whether it is too far or too close, or too far to the east or west. These are communicated and corrected with the artillery positions through radio, and large-scale coverage bombing is carried out after the hit is accurate.

The problem is that it is a dark night with low visibility, and it is difficult for artillery observers hiding in the dark to determine the location of the target, especially since the German 21st Armored Division is still advancing at full speed, and often escapes the observer's sight in a few minutes.

So Qin Chuan and others always hear the whistling and explosion of artillery shells, but rarely see a few shells hit the target.

"Are the British firing salutes?" Werner laughed, "They are so nice, I have never enjoyed such a welcome ceremony!"

The soldiers couldn't help laughing when they heard it.

"We will also give them a salute!" The baker said with a smile.

The baker was right, and soon the German artillery fire sounded... The German scouts also spread out, and after discovering the British artillery fire, they reported the coordinates to their artillery.

And the German artillery would expose themselves while firing.

So this back and forth soon turned into an artillery battle between the enemy and us, and the main force of the 21st Armored Division was quiet.

"Oh!" Werner said with a regretful expression: "The salute is over!"

"Don't let your guard down!" Kuhn said: "The British won't let go like this!"