Chapter 365 Tunnel Defense (V)

However, it is not easy to block multiple high grounds at the same time. It can even be said to be impossible, because there will always be several mortars set up in a hidden position that cannot be discovered for a while, and what the German mortar gunners need to do is to fire the shells as quickly as possible under the guidance of the artillery observer and then hide back in the tunnel.

In other words, this road is the British supply line and retreat route, and it has been in a semi-blocked state since then... The British troops passing through here will at least be skinned.

This is not the worst. Colonel Bader and Montgomery did not realize the danger of the tunnel fortifications to them at night...

There was a saying on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which is "The day belongs to the enemy, and the night belongs to the volunteers!"

This means not only that the enemy's equipment such as aircraft and tanks cannot play a role at night, but also when the volunteers come out of the tunnels to move.

Qin Chuan certainly will not miss this opportunity.

At one o'clock in the morning, when the British officers and soldiers were sleeping soundly, the German soldiers came out of the tunnel one by one... The first to come out were the scouts. They observed the situation outside and sent signals to other troops when they were sure it was safe.

Soon, under the moonlight, there were figures everywhere, crouching and holding rifles to hide on the top of the mountain.

At the same time, a few dark figures appeared on the top of the mountain, and then more and more...

Several British sentinels were shivering in the cold wind. The temperature in the desert area was originally low at night, and the wind was strong on the high ground, which made the British soldiers on guard somewhat unable to adapt.

"Damn the weather!" a soldier complained, "I wish I could make a fire and brew a cup of coffee!"

"Forget it, Tom!" another soldier responded, "The German shells will blow us all up!"

"Compared to the shells, I'm more worried about the ground under my feet!" Tom replied, "These damn Germans... We can't do anything to them, right?"

"At least we don't have to worry about that now, most of their tunnel entrances have been blown down by us!"

"I don't think so!" Tom said, "Last time, the people in the 3rd Infantry Battalion thought so too, and only more than a hundred of them survived!"

"This is not the same thing, we built a line of defense..."

Before he finished speaking, his voice stopped abruptly. Tom turned around and was shocked to find that a dark shadow was covering his comrade's mouth, and a sharp bayonet was inserted into his neck and a fountain of blood spurted out.

Tom was about to shout, and suddenly a big hand covered his mouth from behind, and then his back hurt... and then he struggled a few times and never moved again.

The two British sentinels were killed by German scouts. They were professionally trained and knew how to find the enemy sentinels, then approach them silently and kill them.

The scout waved in the darkness, and many shadows crawled out of the darkness, crawling like ants towards the enemy's mountaintop position and reverse slope. The rifles were already equipped with bayonets, emitting a fascinating flash of cold light under the faint moonlight.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and it was obvious that a scout had missed and gave the British sentry a chance to fire a warning shot.

Colonel Slaine immediately took the gunshot as a signal, stood up and shouted: "Soldiers, attack!"

"Attack!"

...

The German soldiers shouted and got up from the ground and rushed towards the mountaintop position.

The British soldiers hurriedly climbed up from the trenches and prepared to fight, but it was too late to react at this time. Rows of smoking grenades were thrown up from the darkness. With a loud "boom", the British soldiers in the trenches were blown to the ground.

The surviving British soldiers struggled to get up and tried to resist, but before they could raise their guns, several bayonets mercilessly nailed them to the ground.

In just a few minutes, the German soldiers captured the top of the mountain. Most of the British infantry battalion stationed there fell in a pool of blood before they could react. Only more than 300 British soldiers who reacted quickly or whose positions were relatively far back had time to escape temporarily.

But it was only "temporarily in time".

The Germans did not stop after capturing the top of the mountain, and continued to rush towards another slope with their rifles.

Colonel Boyce, the commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment of the 6th Australian Infantry Division, hurried out of the tent and shouted when he saw the guards: "Flare!"

As soon as the flare was launched, the aggressive and murderous German soldiers appeared in front of him, covering the entire hilltop in black.

"God!" Boyce shouted, and then ordered: "Get ready for battle!"

"Colonel!" Soon a soldier answered: "The British are in the front!"

To be precise, they are British deserters, who blocked the vision of the Australian army... It should be said that the German army had mixed with the British deserters in the dark, which made the Australian army afraid to act rashly.

Boyce's correct choice was to order the shooting, otherwise the enemy would soon use the cover of the British deserters to disperse the Australian positions.

But the problem is that these deserters are British, they are superior people, and the Australian army can be said to be their servant army. This psychological inferiority made Boyce issue an order that made the soldiers feel incredible.

"Fix the bayonets!" Boyce ordered.

He obviously wanted to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Germans.

"Colonel!" A staff officer called out to express his doubts about Boyce's order.

But the officer did not change Colonel Boyce's mind. He gave a loud and heroic order, as if he was worried that the British officers and soldiers could not hear his shouts: "Cover the retreat of friendly forces and do not let the enemy cross the line of defense!"

"Yes, sir!" The Australian soldiers could only install bayonets on their rifles.

But war is war, and it will not change because of the hypocrisy of a certain officer. With a "rumble" sound, a row of dense shells hit the Australian defense line fiercely... That was the German close combat weapon 50MM mortar.

As soon as this round of shells landed, the Australian army wailed. Before they could react, the German grenade passed over the British deserters and threw into their positions.

Sadly, these Australian soldiers who were blown to pieces by the Germans at the beginning of the battle still did not dare to shoot easily until this time, because the British deserters were still in front of them...

It is conceivable that when the Germans attacked from behind, these Australian soldiers who were originally strong in combat had no power to fight back.

Qin Chuan did not take action in this battle.

He followed the Germans far behind with the soldiers of the French battalion... Although the French battalion had received training and even won a battle, they were new soldiers after all.

They needed to rest and learn, and this was their best opportunity to learn.