Chapter 89 "Sunshade"

"Sir!" Colonel Slaine reminded: "This doesn't take much time, we just need to make a feint..."

"Colonel Slaine!" Colonel Olbrich interrupted Colonel Slaine: "I've said that we can't waste any time! If we want to make a feint, we should first put the enemy under the range of our artillery fire!"

Objectively speaking, Colonel Olbrich's statement also makes sense, because the speed of trucks is generally higher than that of tanks, especially here is still an open and flat desert... Trucks can be driven almost everywhere, and tanks are not only difficult to chase and intercept, but also have to be careful whether the road can bear the weight of the tank.

"But sir!" But Colonel Slaine still didn't give up: "This is the suggestion of one of my subordinates, and his suggestion has been proven to be correct time and time again. I hope you can consider it carefully..."

"Your subordinates?" Colonel Olbrich sneered: "Colonel Slaine, when did you need your subordinates to tell you what to do? And I'm not discussing with you, it's an order, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Colonel Slaine replied helplessly.

The news was quickly transmitted to Kuhn via radio. After Kuhn put down the microphone, he said to Qin Chuan helplessly: "Colonel Olbrich rejected this suggestion because he thought it was more important to seize the opportunity now!"

"Oh, fuck it!" Werner cursed: "This idiot may take all of us to hell..."

"Soldier!" Kuhn interrupted Werner with a sullen face: "Watch your words!"

"Yes, sir!" Werner responded and shut up.

This is the habit of the German army. Once the superiors make a decision, soldiers are not allowed to question it, because questioning will not have any effect and will also make the troops lose their morale.

But despite this, Qin Chuan still saw their concerns in the eyes of his comrades. The baker even whispered to Qin Chuan: "I hope you are wrong!"

Qin Chuan also hopes that he is wrong, otherwise a loss will be unavoidable.

But the facts have increasingly proved that Qin Chuan is right, because the enemy convoy has been approaching the German convoy.

Colonel Olbrich stood on a speeding half-track armored vehicle with a telescope looking forward.

Although the 5th Infantry Regiment also captured the British armored command vehicle, Colonel Olbridge believed that it was only suitable for sleeping at night. If it was driven to the battlefield... it would be targeted by its own people if it was not careful, and even worse, it might cause confusion and make it impossible to identify the enemy.

For the same reason, Colonel Olbridge did not even want the infantry behind him using the British "Matador" car to catch up.

"We can solve this battle by ourselves!" Colonel Olbridge said to his adjutant.

"But we can't leave them behind!" The adjutant said: "Our mission is to bring them through!"

"Yes!" Colonel Olbridge replied, showing a disgusted and helpless expression.

Colonel Olbridge had a reason to dislike the 1st Infantry Regiment... His troops were the main force of the 5th Light Division, the absolute main force.

However, the 1st Infantry Regiment took all the glory in the last battle. They captured many more cities and won more victories than the 5th Armored Regiment.

This was a shame for Colonel Olbrich. Although the 5th Armored Regiment had also achieved some victories, it was insignificant compared to the 1st Infantry Regiment.

Colonel Olbrich felt unfair for his men because they had sacrificed but did not receive the honor they deserved, and even became a laughing stock because they had the best equipment in the division but did not achieve results that corresponded to the equipment, while the 1st Infantry Regiment was just the opposite.

So, Olbrich was determined to defeat the 1st Infantry Regiment in this battle, which was one of the reasons why he did not accept Colonel Slaine's advice, because in his opinion... Colonel Slaine probably said this to prevent the 5th Armored Regiment from winning this victory.

"Target found! Target found!" At this time, the report from the tank in front came from the walkie-talkie: "Directly ahead, two miles away!"

Colonel Olbrich raised his telescope and looked, and sure enough, he saw a cloud of dust in front.

"Full speed!" Colonel Olbrich ordered loudly: "Don't let them run away!"

"Yes, full speed!"

"Full speed!"

...

The tank immediately stepped on the accelerator and drove forward. The "creaking" sound of the tracks sounded like a triumphant song played in advance in Colonel Olbrich's ears. He didn't even order a battle formation... Tanks only need to rush up and shoot, fire, or even ram and crush enemy cars. There is no need for a battle formation.

But Olbrich soon found that something was wrong:

At this distance, he could see the other party, which meant that the other party could also see him, but they did not run away as he imagined. Not only did they not run away, but they also formed a battle formation and drove towards him at full speed... Would the car form a battle formation to charge at the enemy tank?

Colonel Olbrich quickly raised his telescope and looked carefully at the opposite side, getting closer and closer... Colonel Olbrich clearly saw a gun barrel exposed in the smoke.

"Tanks, they are tanks!" Colonel Olbrich hurriedly ordered: "Everyone listen up, form a line formation!"

The line formation is used when the terrain is open and it is convenient for armored units to charge at high speed. Among all formations, the line formation can best exert the firepower of tanks.

But it was too late to form a formation at this time. With a whistling sound of "Woo", the enemy's artillery fire took the lead in attacking.

Colonel Olbrich was not mistaken. It was indeed a British tank, and it was a "Crusader" tank.

The reason why the German reconnaissance plane identified it as a "car" was not because the German pilots had poor eyesight, but because Wavell made a small move. He equipped the "Crusader" tank with an additional equipment called "Sunshade", which was actually a metal frame covered with canvas. It disguised the tank as a car very well.

Especially in the impression of the Germans, the British tanks were slow tanks like "Matilda", so they were completely deceived by the "Crusader" tank disguised as a car running at a speed of more than 40 kilometers per hour in the desert.

Colonel Olbrich realized at this time that he had fallen into the trap set by the British, and he also regretted not following Colonel Slaine's advice.

But now it was too late to regret. He could only grit his teeth and order: "Everyone move forward!"