Chapter 86 Halfa Teeth

Both Wavell and Rommel made careful arrangements for this battle.

Wavell deployed two armored divisions, one British-Indian division and the 22nd Guards Brigade in this battle, with a total force of 80,000 and 250 tanks.

The British army was divided into three parts.

The first part consisted of the 5th British-Indian Division and the 15th Armored Brigade under the 15th Armored Division, with 50 "Matilda" tanks, which were responsible for attacking the Halfaya Valley.

The second part consisted of the 22nd Guards Brigade and the 13th Armored Brigade under the 15th Armored Division, with 100 "Matilda" tanks, which were responsible for attacking the village of Capuzzo.

The Halfaya Valley and the village of Capuzzo were actually not suitable for tank combat, especially the Halfaya Valley... It is the junction of the Egyptian coastal plain and the Libyan Desert. The terrain is high in the west and low in the east. Although the straight length is only 150 meters long, the passage in it is like a long snake, winding and extending to the Libyan Desert, which is very unfavorable to the attacker.

Therefore, Wavell's attack in these two directions was actually a feint, and the real main force was the third part... the 7th Armored Division.

The 7th Armored Division had 100 tanks, including 50 fast "Crusader" cruise tanks. Wavell wanted to rely on these 50 tanks to penetrate the German side and rear from the left wing, that is, the right wing in the direction of the German army, and then go around to the position of the second unit and then go around to the position of the first part to defeat the German troops there.

Objectively speaking, Wavell's plan was still feasible. His main idea was to defeat the German army on the defense line instead of letting them escape back to Tobruk, which would cause great trouble to the British army. It just so happened that Rommel also wanted to penetrate from the right wing... This was something Wavell didn't expect, because he thought that with Rommel's few troops and tanks, it was already difficult to hold the defense line, so how could there be tanks to penetrate? !

But Rommel really did.

The German army obviously had much fewer troops than the British army. Rommel actually had only two undermanned armored divisions with a total of more than 30,000 people, and the 16th Italian Division with more than 10,000 people... This division had 60 M13 tanks, but Rommel never intended to send them to the battlefield.

On the one hand, Tobruk needed troops to defend it, and on the other hand, Rommel knew that if he sent these Italians to guard the front-line strongholds, it would almost be handing the strongholds to the British.

So Rommel put all the Italians and their tanks in Tobruk without thinking.

Rommel adopted a bold new tactic in this battle, which was to use infantry to fight against enemy tanks.

You should know that tanks are indispensable equipment in desert warfare, because there is almost no place to defend and hide in the desert. Even if fortifications are built, these sand trenches can easily be destroyed by artillery fire... This is why Tobruk is called a fortress. In the desert, it is rare for the British army to build a group of bunkers in three months and with a large amount of reinforced concrete.

Therefore, infantry can only bring their own bunkers or bunkers... This bunker and bunker are tanks.

It can almost be said that whoever has an advantage in tanks in the desert war has more chances of winning.

And Rommel dared to use infantry to fight against British tanks...

On the one hand, there are terrain factors. As mentioned before, the terrain of Halfa Pass is very dangerous.

On the other hand, Rommel has an anti-tank artifact... 88MM anti-aircraft gun, which can destroy targets outside the range of enemy tanks.

Therefore, in the direction of Halfa Pass, Rommel only arranged an infantry regiment, and this infantry regiment had only ten 88 anti-aircraft guns to defend against the enemy.

In the direction of Capuzzo Village, Rommel asked the newly reinforced 15th Armored Division to take charge with 40 "Type III" tanks.

The main force, the 5th Light Division, with 50 tanks, waited on the right wing for the opportunity to penetrate into the rear of the British Army.

Bad news came shortly after the battle began:

"General!" The staff officer who received the telegram hurried to Rommel and reported: "Major General Prittwitz was killed!"

"What?" Hearing this, Rommel was stunned. It was only an hour away from the start of the war, and this was also Major General Prittwitz's first battle, and he was killed? !

It turned out that Major General Prittwitz was eager to join the battle, and he rushed to the front of the troops to command at the first time... There was nothing wrong with doing this, and many German officers did this.

But he made a fatal mistake. He stood next to a car, and cars on the battlefield were something that could be easily discovered by the enemy and become targets of attack.

So, without any warning and without any time to react, a row of shells suddenly whizzed in, destroying the car and blasting Major General Prittwitz into pieces.

Rommel immediately ordered his adjutant, Major General Gro, to take over the command of Major General Prittwitz... The duties of an adjutant in the German army are different from those of a secretary or a staff officer. Although an adjutant means a deputy, he is also a quasi-successor to the main position. As a deputy, he learns the command and work habits of the main position and is ready to take over.

But the situation of the German 15th Armored Division was still not optimistic. They only had 40 tanks, while the enemy had 100 "Matildas" with surprisingly thick armor.

So soon after, Major General Gro asked Rommel for help on the walkie-talkie: "General, we can't hold on any longer. The enemy's attack is very fierce. I believe this is their main force... The 'Matilda' tanks are rushing towards us like a tide, at least one hundred!"

Rommel nodded. This was exactly what he wanted. He used the 15th Armored Division to contain the main force of the British Army, and then sent out the 5th Light Division, which had rich combat experience and more tanks.

But Rommel didn't expect that the British Army with more than one hundred tanks was not the main force of the British Army at all.

"Order to Major General Strike!" Rommel said to the staff: "It's time for him to show his ability!"

"Yes!" The staff responded and passed on the order.

Qin Chuan and the soldiers were waiting anxiously behind the hills, and then the orders were passed down:

"Everyone get on the car!"

"Everyone get on the car!"

...

The troops moved, the tank crew quickly ran to the tank, the driver rushed into the cab, and then almost at the same time, the tanks, cars, armored vehicles, and motorcycles started up, hundreds of engines "rumbled" and emitted exhaust gas, the scene was shocking.

Qin Chuan followed the soldiers and climbed onto the car one by one with the help of Kuhn and the messenger... This was the emergency procedure for the German army to get on the car. The platoon leader and another assistant were responsible for pulling other soldiers on the car. This could speed up the speed of getting on the car, and the platoon leader could also count the number of people.