Viewed from above, Libya's desert Gobi seems to be flat, except for sand and sand. But if you go down to the ground www.biquge.info you will find that there are still a lot of low vegetation and huge white rocks in the desert near Tubruk.

The vegetation and rocks could not shelter a No. 4 tank or No. 3 assault gun, but the PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun was only 1.05 meters high. But it can hide behind these rocks and low-rise vegetation that cannot be named, and with a little camouflage, it can blend in with the surrounding desert Gobi.

The commander of the 14th Tank Destroyer Company of the Großdeutsche Brigade, Lieutenant Borauqustel, was running around in the sand at this time, checking the position of his 12 artillery squads. Unlike on the Western Front, this time the tank destroyer company was used in assault operations, towed by half-track armored vehicles, and advanced with the armored group. After the exchange of fire between the mechanized scouts and the British tanks in front, the tank destroyer companies immediately stopped advancing and began to deploy anti-tank gun positions on the spot.

"Stand still, the British are going to attack." Seeing the completion of an anti-tank gun position, Lieutenant Borautsel shouted an order. "Wait for our tanks to retreat before firing, and hit the British Crusader cruisers first."

The 14th Tank Destroyer Company of the Greater German Brigade is a veteran unit, which participated in the Polish Campaign and the Western Front Campaign, and has many battles with French and British tank units, and has very rich battlefield experience. Now there is a penetrating PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun (500 meters at a right angle through 78mm vertical homogeneous steel plates), and the fighters, of course, are gearing up and responding loudly with high morale.

"Got it, Lieutenant!"

"We will teach the British a good lesson!"

At this moment, the rumbling roar of motors from the east grew louder and louder, the sound of the decored German armored clusters and the baited British tanks as they moved.

Feng. The "decoy operation" organized by Lieutenant General Toma was actually a very easy trap to see, that is, an armored group was formed by a battalion of the 5th Tank Regiment, the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion (belonging to the 21st Panzer Division) and the Greater German Infantry Brigade.

Such a trap could not theoretically deceive the experienced commander of the British armored group, Major General Craig. But the question is whether Major General Craig reacted faster or the German anti-tank guns opened fire faster!

Occupying the top of a wheeled armored command vehicle, Major General Craig held a telescope and looked at it for a long time, only to see a vast expanse of dust. The tank fight he had been expecting didn't happen, and the attack formation, consisting of nearly 400 Matilda 2 tanks and Crusader cruisers, kept moving further and further.

Major General Craig put down his binoculars and said to his chief of staff: "It seems that there is no exchange of fire." ”

"Our tanks are advancing all the time," replied the chief of staff, Colonel Phillips, "while the Germans' armored clusters are retreating." Both sides were moving, so there was no large-scale exchange of fire. ”

The turret of the tank of this era did not have a laser rangefinder and a two-way balancing system, and firing the gun on the move did not hit the target at all, so the tank in action did not fire.

"Why didn't the Germans open fire? Is it because we have too many tanks? Major General Craig frowned, he already smelled the snare!

"They may have to lead our tanks to the preset anti-tank gun positions!" Colonel Phillips had even guessed Rommel's plan.

"Order the tank cluster to stop advancing!" Major General Craig also gave the order to stop the advance at the first time, but it was too late.

Because the 48 PAK38 50mm anti-tank guns of the four German anti-tank destroyer companies (belonging to the 21st Panzer Division, the 15th Panzer Division, the 90th Light Division, and the Greater German Brigade) were driven along with the Panzer Group, it took less than 20 minutes to deploy on the battlefield. At the same time as Major General Craig gave the order, these anti-tank guns and 58 No. 4 tanks and 4 47mm guns mounted on half-tracks (one belonging to the 17th Company of the Greater German Brigade and the other three to the 21st Reconnaissance Battalion of the 3rd Panzer Division) were fired.

"12 o'clock! British tanks! Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop, who had already boarded car No. 5 with a 47mm gun, shouted with a telescope, "It's a Crusader type, aim and fire!" ”

"Armor-piercing bullets!" Sergeant Schumacher personally maneuvered the artillery, aimed at a moving British tank, and shouted loudly.

"Armor-piercing shells! Reloaded! "A private with muscles in his arms pushed a cannonball into the bomb bay.

"Fire!" Sergeant Schumacher shouted.

"Boom!" An armor-piercing bullet flew towards its target with a loud bang, and the Crusader tank shook violently with the force of the impact, and then barely rushed forward a few steps, and a puff of black smoke came out and paralyzed on the sand.

Up to 110 anti-tank guns and tank guns fired at the same time! Therefore, as many as forty or fifty British tanks were shot at the same time, and the huge tank attack formation seemed to rush into a death trap, and the dozens of tanks that rushed to the front were either beaten into a fire or paralyzed on the sand with black smoke and did not move. But the British tanks behind were still charging with their heads covered, and they didn't know whether they were reckless or fearless of death, anyway, these British people didn't react at the first time.

"British tanks! Aim for the target! Lieutenant Borautstel of the 14th Tank Destroyer Company of the Greater German Brigade was half-kneeling beside a 50mm anti-tank gun and shouted at the same top of his voice. His 12 anti-tank guns are at the forefront, and now they are less than 500 meters away from the British tank cluster, and the opponent's 40mm tank guns can easily kill all 12 anti-tank guns that have opened fire to expose the target! Therefore, the soldiers of the 14th Company had to destroy as many tanks as possible before the enemy could react.

"Fire!" Lieutenant Borauküstel saw a 50mm armor-piercing shell being pushed into the chamber and immediately gave the order to open fire.

"Boom!"

Almost at the same time as the cannon fired, a Crusader tank from more than 400 meters away burst into flames, and then more British tanks were hit.

In less than 2 minutes, all German tank guns and anti-tank guns fired at least 2 armor-piercing shells, and more than 80 British tanks were hit on the battlefield. But the rest of the tanks had already reacted, stopped their advance, and began to turn the turret to find a target for a counterattack.

However, the gunners of these British tanks ignored the low-profile PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun in the chaos of the battlefield, and instead targeted the taller and farther Tank Four. The 40mm frontal armor of tank No. 4 could not be beaten at a distance of 600-700 meters with their inpowerful 50mm tank guns. At the same time, the 75mm gun of Tank 4 can easily blow up Matilda 2!

The exchange of fire on the battlefield quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter, and the British tanks, despite their absolute superiority in numbers, were fatally hit in a short period of time. In less than 15 minutes, the battlefield was littered with the wreckage of British tanks.

Major General Craig, who commanded in the rear, was stunned by the sight, 15 minutes before he was commanding the most powerful armored unit in North Africa, and now his armored unit had been dealt a devastating blow against only a few dozen German No. 4 tanks (he was too far from the battlefield to find a low-profile 50mm anti-tank gun).

"This, how is this possible?" Major General Craig opened his mouth wide and it took a long time for him to spit out such a sentence. "We have more than 400 tanks, and they only have a few dozen!"

"General, we have been defeated...... his chief of staff, Colonel Phillips, who also gasped, "the armored forces are finished!" ”

Rear Admiral Craig no longer had the vigor he had when he had beaten the Italian armored forces a few months ago, and instead asked his chief of staff, "So what are we going to do?" ”

"Only retreat, General."

"Retreat? Evacuate to Tubruk? ”

Colonel Phillips shook his head: "I think Tubruk can't hold it, we must retreat to Egypt!" ”

The easy defeat of the armoured forces by the Germans had already sealed the fate of Tubruk, although the British were able to hold out for a while thanks to the strong fortifications left behind by the Italians. But sea and air supremacy were in the hands of the Germans, and there was no hope for the ground forces to be trapped in an isolated city. Therefore, before the start of the Battle of Tubruk, the British Middle East Command formulated a strategy of "shrinking to Egypt in an unfavorable situation".

"That's right! We've got to go to Egypt! Major General Craig nodded, "Tell Lieutenant General Cunningham the outcome of the engagement...... We can't beat the Germans, we have to retreat! ”

"Can't let the British here in Tubruk escape!" Rommel also received news of the crushing defeat of the British armored forces at this time, "If they are allowed to flee to Egypt, it will be difficult to destroy them again." ”

Even if the British troops here in Tubruk fled back to Egypt, they would almost be empty-handed, and it was a dream to defend Egypt. But these men would be transported to India by British ships to be replenished, and in a few months they would be an elite army that could fight. In this way, the war in the Middle East and East Africa will be more troublesome and not conducive to the further liberation of India.

"They can't run, Admiral." Lieutenant General Goltz replied with a smile, "Now we can get the 7th Airborne Division out, and they will block the way of the British, so that we can wipe them all out in the desert of North Africa." (To be continued.) )