Montgomery first asked, "We need to judge the accuracy of this information, do you think the captive's portrayal of the number of troops participating in the battle is reliable?" ”

Everyone nodded, basically acknowledging that this was a fact - the combat contact, the traces of the scene, and the final result all pointed to this, and there was no way to fake it.

"So, is today's battle the perfect test to kick off a larger-scale offensive tomorrow and the day after tomorrow? Or was it a clever feint that only bought time for the retreat of the Afrika Army? Montgomery threw out the questions he cared about the most and wanted to ask.

This question was difficult to answer, and everyone involuntarily fell into contemplation, and then a fierce quarrel ensued: some people said that it was a temptation, because the main Italian forces in the north were still in "close contact" with the South African and Australian divisions, so Guderian's attack today was simply to find an ideal breakthrough, at least for the time being, he had found the weakness of the Eighth Army, and tomorrow morning it would inevitably be a flood of troops; Some people say that this is a feint, but if this is the prelude to a formal offensive, the African Army will never choose such a time, use such a small number of troops, and will not easily give up the results after achieving its goal, but should be the infantry to quickly follow and expand the breakthrough. To sum up, in order to cover the actions of the main forces and hold back the pace of the Eighth Army, Guderian had to personally lead his troops to take risks.

But the "blitzkrieg hero", the commander of the African Army Group, a General of the Third Reich, led only 70 tanks to attack an entire army group? Everyone expressed disbelief, it was not heroic, it was utter stupidity - and there was no stupidity on the part of Guderian in today's results.

The views discussed in the meeting room were deadlocked, and each faction had its own reasonable arguments and there was no shortage of supporters, and everyone doubted and argued with each other. Montgomery was sometimes leaning toward one school of thought and at other times believing that the analysis of the other school was legitimate, and his already less firm position was even more struggling.

The captured German pilot had made a meritorious service, and the information he had inadvertently confessed had caused the British to fall into deep hesitation, and de Lagan was distressed to find that while the commander had relieved everyone of their frustration, the situation facing the Eighth Army was even more chaotic.

"Regardless of whether or not Guderian personally commanded the battle today, I think his greatest weakness is the lack of troops and logistics...... "Major General Langton's eyes were bright, and he said in a confident and powerful tone, "If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have sent only two armored battalions to attack - whether it was a feint or a tentative, this number of troops was too small." ”

"What do you mean?" Montgomery finally heard the remarks that were not simply arguing about the offensive nature, and he was immediately interested.

"I think we should take a more proactive approach." The 8th Panzer Brigade, to which the 7th Panzer Division belonged, collided with Heinz's Panzer Corps once, and although the losses were not large, and it could even be said that it was one of the best units in the surprise attack, Langton was still ashamed, "Tomorrow we should be prepared on two fronts: on the southern front, continue to be vigilant and strengthen the defense, whether the Germans will attack on a large scale or not, it is our duty to consolidate the defense; On the northern front, I propose to attack the Italians, to encircle and destroy them resolutely and forcefully. ”

Everyone could hear his resentment: "There are two advantages to this. Assuming that Guderian has retreated, we can leave the main Italian infantry force by firing on the northern front, and at least give an account of the past to London or Cairo; If tomorrow is the beginning of a large-scale offensive by the Afrika Army, our elimination of the Italians will be tantamount to cutting off Guderian's arm first, which will help to improve our campaign situation and concentrate our forces against the Germans. ”

The topic shifted again to the position of settling the Italians first, and this time de Lagan did not raise the question of whether to scare the Germans away, because the reality was clear: if they were going to go, they should have left by now, and if they refused to go, even if the Italians were caught, they would not have been scared away. The most important point of Langton's point was keenly grasped by him: the capture of the Italians could be explained to London and Cairo, the Prime Minister had expressed his dissatisfaction with the delay in the active action of the Eighth Army, and this dissatisfaction had accumulated to the point where it had to be taken seriously, otherwise the commander would not have sent a reply telegram for the attack in a week, and if London had been informed of the tragic situation of today's losses without an ideal explanation, he could not imagine what kind of irrational response the furious Prime Minister would make.

This opinion has been resonated by many people, especially the commanders of the troops who have suffered losses in the battle today, and they also hope to save some face as soon as possible, the Italians are the best stepping stone and placebo, and the troops can easily find confidence and restore morale from them. Seeing that everyone was close to agreeing on their ideas, Montgomery was also persuaded, and he also knew that he had to give Churchill and General Alexander a decent explanation. He nodded, and motioned to de Lagan to first issue an operational request according to this objective: the offensive on the northern front was scheduled to be launched at about 8 o'clock tomorrow, and there were less than nine hours left before that time.

Lieutenant Colonel Merlinzin guessed correctly, and Guderian, who was on the way to retreat, did not honestly tell the three Italian divisions in the north about the unfavorable situation they were facing, but took the opportunity of the break to send a telegram to tell them that the troops on the southern front were adjusting and redeploying, and considering that the Italian divisions were short of supplies, he asked the northern divisions to hold their positions for three days and retreat, and he would arrange for troops to respond.

"Sir, it's not good for you to lie to the Italians like this, right?"

"So, what do you think I should do?" Guderian smiled slightly, "If I tell the Italians the truth, can you do it without them breaking down instantly?" ”

"Uh......" Mei Linjin was stuck, and said helplessly after a while, "This task is a bit difficult, can you change it?" ”

"Hahaha!" There was a circle of officers laughing, and even the telegraph operator couldn't help laughing.

Guderian continued: "Besides, I didn't lie to them! The southern front is being adjusted, and our main armored forces are to be concentrated in Telle Akhaquil, which is located behind the side of the northern front, and if the Italians can hold out for three days and then calmly retreat, I can use the armored forces to meet them......"

Merlinzin really didn't have anything to say, he actually wanted to say: if the Italians are really so capable of fighting, what do you want the Germans to do in North Africa? He couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "You are ruthless enough, but I always feel that the Italian leader will not let you go." ”

"Him?" Guderian raised his eyebrows and smiled contemptuously, "No! He would have thanked me, at least I had kept the Italian armoured units, and you see, even I had gone later than them - the Germans were covering the retreat of the Italian armoured units with telegraph and armoured reconnaissance companies. ”

Everyone laughed again, and after learning of the success of the Heinz armoured assault, everyone was in high spirits during the retreat, and everyone liked the new commander a little bit - he didn't look as arrogant and sharp as Rommel, but his ability to win battles and tease the British was also first-class.

With the help of the wind, many people involuntarily hummed the "Military Song of the African Army Group":

We are the German Afrika Korps,

Fight for the leader.

Like a terrible lightning bolt in a rainstorm,

Turn the British into a meal on our plate,

We are not afraid of the heat and the desert,

We despise thirst and sunburn,

To the rhythm of the military song, we marched,

Forward, forward,

and our ......

At this point, the voice suddenly became quieter, and the rhythm began to be chaotic, and finally it simply stopped.

"What's going on?" Guderian, who was listening with relish, was puzzled, "Why don't you sing it?" It's the first time I've heard this song, and it's really good! ”

"Sir, it turns out that the next sentence should be 'and ours...... Rommel, onward! 'But now......" someone whispered.

"What's this!" Guderian laughed, "I have only been here for half a month, and Rommel has been with you for a whole year and a half!" ”

Mei Linjin and the commander of the armored reconnaissance company who commanded the singing looked at each other for a moment, nodded to each other, and several other officers also understood, and the song sounded again, very loud in the night:

……

The British see us as a disaster,

He sat down and shivered.

Though your territory spans east and west,

But you're just a bunch of cowardly thieves.

Churchill and Roosevelt roared in vain,

We're going to kick you out of here,

Behold, our generals are standing proudly in Africa,

Onward, onward, and our Guderian, onward!

When the words "Guderian" were sung, the key and lyrics were still a little out of tune, but under the leadership of Merinzin and a few officers, all the soldiers consciously or unconsciously replaced Rommel with Guderian.

"Fight and victory are united on our side!"

The song was sung over and over again, and in the end all the officers and soldiers skillfully replaced Rommel in the lyrics with Guderian.

Guderian did not ask them why they had changed the word, and a subtle smile appeared on his face: who said that the Germans were rigid and inflexible? He's going to change them gradually, and it starts with a battle, a song......

End of the first volume.