Chapter 224 Iron Fist

This was not the first defense of the German army. In fact, in most of the previous battles, the German army defended first and then counterattacked to gain the advantage.

From this we can also see that Rommel was not a person who only knew how to attack but did not know how to defend. In fact, he was also very good at defense. For example, he used two armored divisions to maneuver for defense... and used the high-speed mobility of tanks to defend behind the defense line. Be prepared for the attack, so that you can turn a defensive battle into an offensive battle that is beneficial to you. The British Armored Division was defeated time and time again under such a strategy.

But this trick cannot be used now, because the German army has too few tanks, and most of them are "Matilda" and "Valentine" with extremely poor mobility captured from the British army. .

In addition, there are 26 "Crusader" tanks. Its speed may be able to meet the requirements of the German mobile defense. However, these tanks also have frequent failures. Three of them broke down before the battle even started. Of course, the Germans cannot Put your hope in them.

"We need an individual anti-tank weapon!" Qin Chuan said.

Qin Chuan remembered his previous thoughts about "Iron Fist".

"What do you mean, Lieutenant?" Rommel asked.

"Just like the 'English Crossbow' we saw in Alexandria!" Qin Chuan replied: "It caused us considerable losses in Alexandria!"

"Yes!" Colonel Olbridge said: "If it weren't for the second lieutenant's propaganda offensive, we might not be able to capture Alexandria... Our tanks are powerless against it in street fighting!"

"But we are not fighting the British in street battles!" Rommel said: "We all know that the performance of the 'English Crossbow' in the trenches will not be much better than anti-tank grenades, and we do not have that many 'English Crossbows'!"

Rommel was right. The "English Crossbow" has a range of only one hundred meters and is very large. If it is used in trenches, it will be easily discovered and suppressed by rifles, machine guns, and mortars. This is also The reason why the Germans ignored it.

"No, general!" Qin Chuan said, "I'm not talking about using the captured 'English crossbows'!"

"Uh-huh!" Rommel motioned for Qin Chuan to continue.

"What I mean is... we should start producing a new piece of equipment!" Qin Chuan said: "This piece of equipment is similar to the 'English Crossbow', but we can learn from each other's strengths to offset its weaknesses. For example, its warhead is excellent!"

"Is it too late to consider producing a piece of equipment now, Second Lieutenant?" Colonel Olbridge said: "The British are very likely to attack within ten days or even less, and we will not be able to attack them within this time." It’s produced!”

"Yes!" This is where Qin Chuan feels annoyed. He should have proposed this idea long ago: "But we should have prepared early, right? Otherwise we will regret it forever!"

"This equipment you are talking about..." Rommel asked: "What will it look like?"

The reason why Rommel was interested in Qinchuan's idea was because he considered one thing: when supplies are difficult to transport from Italy, this small equipment may be the only way out for the German army, because it is difficult to transport a tank. With the weight and space, dozens or even hundreds of such individual anti-tank equipment can be transported.

This is what Qin Chuan is considering... In the near future, as long as a ship of "Iron Fist" can be transported, it will be enough for the German army to block the offensive of British tanks.

"General!" Qin Chuan asked Rommel, "Can I borrow your pen?"

"Of course!" Rommel handed the pen on the table to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan raised the pen case and body towards the officers and said: "This is the warhead of the 'England Crossbow', and this is its barrel. We know that the barrel of the 'England Crossbow' is very thick and the launch It’s difficult to get up, so…”

As he spoke, Qin Chuan put the pen body aside: "Why don't we give up this pen body with many shortcomings?"

"Then how are we going to launch this warhead?" Colonel Slaine asked curiously.

"It's very simple!" Qin Chuan replied: "We only need to install a pipe at the back of the warhead, fill it with gunpowder, and then 'blow'... the warhead will be ejected!"

Hearing this, the officers couldn't help but look at each other. They didn't expect that the new equipment Qin Chuan mentioned would be so simple.

But the simpler something is, the more likely it is to become a reality, and the production cycle will not be too long... Historically, it only took four short months from the design of the "Iron Fist" to the military to obtain a large number of samples.

And Qin Chuan has almost done the design part now.

Then, Qin Chuan simply took the pen and drew a sketch of "Iron Fist" on the paper.

"That's about it!" After finishing the painting, Qin Chuan handed the sketch to Rommel: "Its advantages are obvious. It is easy to launch, simple to operate, small in size and difficult to be discovered, and light in weight and easy to carry. Of course, it may It has the disadvantage of low accuracy and short range, but the point is... it can easily penetrate 75mm or even thicker armor!"

"This is exactly what we need!" Colonel Slain said with widened eyes: "Infantry is often powerless against enemy tanks, because they have to throw anti-tank grenades at close range or even rush to the tank with explosive packets. Its blowup... If we had this equipment, we wouldn't need to do this, which would give us more opportunities to blow up the tank and more chances of survival!"

Rommel nodded, handed the sketch to the adjutant, and ordered: "Send the sketch back to the German R&D department immediately. I want to know the feasibility and production cycle of this equipment. Immediately!"

"Yes, General!" the adjutant responded, taking the sketch and heading straight to the communications room without stopping for a moment.

It would take some time to use the radio to sketch out the sketch and its functions and requirements. At the same time, the German R&D Department also had to demonstrate its feasibility, so it was not until half an hour later that the adjutant came back in a hurry.

"General!" The adjutant said with surprise on his face: "They said this idea is very feasible, but because they have no experience in this area, they cannot guarantee whether it can be produced or how long it will take!"

"Tell them!" Rommel said: "Produce as much of it as possible as quickly as possible!"

"Yes, General!"

After a pause, Rommel said to Qin Chuan: "It's really impressive, Sergeant, I found that your fantastic ideas are not limited to command, but also equipment research and development... Just like the minesweeper you thought of before Like a tank!"

"This may have something to do with my timidity!" Qin Chuan replied half-truthfully: "Because I am always facing the threat of death, I urgently need a piece of equipment to save my life!"

With a "coax" sound, the officers in the headquarters were all amused by Qin Chuan's words.