Wavell has always felt like his offense has been a little too hasty lately, even though his home country is keen on him to produce a decisive victory. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Behind him, the naval commander Cannin, who had been cautious, pulled out the Mediterranean Fleet for the first time and advanced to Matroux to give him a strong momentum.

And also in distant Matru, the 6th Infantry Division from Australia was landing, acting as reinforcements for the entire British side.

Admiral Wavell now has more cards than he did when he first started his counter-attack, and he really has no excuse to refuse to continue attacking.

Theoretically, he had already routed the Italian 10th Army, and with a little more effort, he could annihilate this old adversary.

As soon as the Italian 10th Army was eliminated, the oil fields of Libya would be brought under British control - an immeasurable blow to the Axis powers.

After this battle, he Wavell became famous, and it is not an exaggeration to call him the army's own Nelson.

The premise is that as long as he takes Tobruk and occupies Benghazi. This is the great goal he has set for himself.

It is worth mentioning that in real history, Admiral Wavell really achieved this great feat, completely annihilating the Italian 10th Army and occupying most of Libya.

Until Rommel arrived in North Africa after Operation Sunflower and launched a counterattack, the British army led by Wavell was alone in North Africa.

But now, Wavell squinted at Lieutenant General O'Connor beside him, and the uneasiness in his heart became even more irrepressible.

He opened his mouth and asked in a low voice, "Are we advancing too fast to chase our own team apart in order to chase the Italians?" ”

"I have to say that there are too many Italian troops, and we really should gather our forces." Lieutenant General O'Connor replied.

The main forces of the attack now are the British 7th Armored Division under the command of Lieutenant General O'Connor and the Indian 4th Infantry Division.

"My original plan was to stop when we got to Tobruk, but Mr. Prime Minister wanted our victory to be more brilliant." Admiral Wavell said helplessly to his men.

The main reason why he went to the front line in person and attacked so desperately was because of the pressure from the country, so he had to make such a choice.

Sometimes, it is not only the decisions made by the front-line commanders that determine how a war is fought, but also other constraints.

This is an all-out contest, a battle of national fortunes between two countries, so it is natural that it is also integrated into a contest at the top of the country.

Unfortunately, at least for now, Germany is a plus point for the time being and a minus point for the British side in this high-level contest.

"But if we stop now, we will be sparing the Italian 10th Army and giving them a respite...... "Lieutenant General O'Connor began, expressing his concerns.

The main reason why Admiral Wavell has not been able to make up his mind to give up the pursuit until now is precisely because of this.

To give up the fight to hunt down the Italian 10th Army is to let an opponent who has already been defeated get back on his feet.

This was not a consequence that Admiral Wavell could bear, for his forces were too limited to guarantee another victory against a regrouped enemy.

"Report! A reconnaissance team loses contact. An officer walked up to Admiral Wavell and reported.

Lieutenant General O'Connor waved his hand, and there were not a few reconnaissance teams that could not be found every day, some of them simply got lost in the desert, and some were eaten by the Italian rebels.

After all, this is war, so there is no guarantee that your own soldiers will be in absolute safety. Counting the soldiers who disappeared before, it is definitely not surprising.

"Keep the troops moving!" After weighing the pros and cons, Admiral Wavell decided to continue the adventure.

He couldn't sit idly by and watch Italy's 10th Army escape, and even if it was a decoy, it was definitely the most delicious bait in the world.

Even knowing the danger of forcibly attacking the Italian 10th Army, Wavell had to do his best to achieve this set goal.

So Wavell dropped the British intelligence officers from inside Italy and sent information that the Germans were heading south.

According to the information, dozens of German tanks had been sent to North Africa and their whereabouts were unknown.

Intelligence officers deduced that the German tanks were either supported by Italy or became Germany's special forces to protect Libya's oil fields.

Finally, the intelligence from afar also reminded Admiral Wavell not to go too deep into Libya so as not to encounter the more advanced tanks in the hands of the Germans.

"To hell with these German tanks!" He told himself in his heart: "If I preemptively destroy the Italian 10th Army, the Germans will be alone in Libya!" ”

……

In the middle of the desert, on the turret of a British A9 tank, the commander held the telescope and saw the smoke and dust billowing in the distance, and put down the telescope in his hand with a frown.

"That's supposed to be an Italian tank...... From Tobruk? "By this time they had advanced far enough.

So they suspected that they had encountered the rearguard of the Italians stationed in Tobruk, and these tanks might be the last home of the Italians.

In the middle of the desert, tanks are the support and cornerstone of both sides' attacks. In the vast barren terrain, tanks can be easily deployed and form an attack formation.

"Get ready for battle! The garbage of the Italians simply can't beat us! Rest assured, everyone! He leaned out of the turret of his tank, looked at the enemy troops in the distance, and commanded confidently.

The distance between the two sides was quickly reduced to a distance of 800 meters, and at this time, it was finally possible to distinguish from the telescopes that the distorted tanks seemed to be different from those of the Italians.

"Hell! That's not the Italian M11! That's not! Putting down the binoculars in his hand again, the commander of the British tank shouted.

Before his words could land, the enemy tank on the opposite side opened fire, and the shells flew by whizzing in an instant, startling the British tank commander.

But what alarmed him even more soon happened, and at a distance of less than 600 meters, a German No. 3 tank opened fire and hit a British A9 tank that was reversing.

The sheer force pierced through the frontal armor of the slim A9 tank, easily turning the tank into a pile of scrap metal.

Because the shells inside were not detonated, the commander and driver of the British tank jumped out of the tank and dodged the enemy attack in the rain of bullets.

"Quick! Report to Command! We were met with the tanks of the Germans! We are being attacked by German tanks! A captain shouted a reminder to his allies, but the situation was now chaotic.

The German tanks, which already had an absolute superiority in numbers, were once deployed to a huge scale of 50 tanks, and there were more than two tanks in depth formation.

The total number of British tanks that advanced here was only 40, and the A9 tank was no match for Tank 3.

What Rommel has in his hand, but the new No. 3 tank that has been replaced with a 50 mm caliber cannon, where can a tank of this level of A9 compete?

In the advancing tank, a German tank gun commander was probably aiming at a poor target that was constantly reversing.

"Parking! I'm aiming for him! "With a throat intercom, the experienced gun commander stopped his tank.

So the fast-moving No. 3 tank stopped in the smoke and dust it had kicked up, and then the turret on the hull slightly adjusted its direction.

"Boom!" Soon, a puff of flame erupted from the slender barrel, and then white smoke began to spread in front of the tank.

The powerful cannon directly pierced the British tank that was reversing in the distance, and then the British tank was paralyzed on an uphill road, and the tracks were broken due to the vibration.

Unlike their lucky comrades, the British crew members of this British tank were not able to escape, and the wreckage of the tank quickly burst into flames, and the temperature inside the car rose to unbearable levels in an instant.

By the time they were halfway up, the poor crew members were already roasted, revealing half of their charred corpses, hanging from the hot body of the oven, which was already about the size of an oven.

"Destroy the target! Keep moving! Seeing that the opposing tank was on fire, the No. 3 tank that launched the attack slowly rolled its tracks again, moving its sturdy body.

A British shell from afar flew past the No. 3 tank and hit the mound in the distance, splashing a cloud of sand.

The soldiers of the British 7th Panzer Division, who were in a panic, did not have the calmness they had when facing the Italian M11 tanks.

The A9 tanks in their hands and a small number of A10 tanks were almost no different from targets in front of the trained German tank crew.

Even these tanks did not have the deterrent power of the French B1 tank, and at that time, the B1 was not destroyed by the Germans because of the thickness of the armor.

But now, the British were very easy to penetrate these thin-skinned cruiser tanks, and they were not equipped with any decent artillery, so they could not pose a threat to the German tanks......

"Boom!" In the blink of an eye, another British A10 tank was beaten to scrap metal.

The huge explosion turned all the parts on the British tank into "shrapnel", and then these parts flew to other British tanks, making the British soldiers inside the tank feel what is called "bullet rain".

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