German paratroopers routed the 4th Panzer Brigade and also the last hope of the commander of the 8th Army, Lieutenant General O'Connor.

The commander of the 4th Armored Brigade, Colonel Abbott, was extremely dedicated, and when he fled, he did not forget to send a battle report to Lieutenant General O'Connor, informing Lieutenant General O'Connor that the attack of the 4th Armored Brigade had failed, and asking Lieutenant General O'Connor to find a way out on his own.

It is conceivable that Colonel Abbott's battle report was tantamount to a brick smashed on the head, and Lieutenant General O'Connor was so dizzy that he almost vomited blood.

O'Connor angrily crumpled the battle report in his hand and threw it on the table, shouting at all the staff officers in the command, "What do you want to see me do? Immediately go and put in order all the troops in the city, whether it is the field troops, the garrison troops, the logistics troops, in short, all the men must take up arms and fight, defend the city of Mesha Matru, and not allow a single German to enter the city. ”

Hearing O'Connor's shout, the staff officers woke up like a dream, and hurriedly picked up the phones on the table and dialed them one by one to the front-line departments, and the headquarters was suddenly noisy.

"The Seventh Panzer Division? The commander ordered all troops to immediately withdraw to the city of Mesha Matru for defense, what are you, you have withdrawn to the city. Great, you organize your defenses southwest of the city at once, and wait for the next order. ”

"The 6th Separate Brigade, here is the headquarters of the army group, the commander ordered all troops to retreat to the city of Mesha Matrou for defense, what are you? You are surrounded, asking for reinforcements? I will convey your request to the Commander, and I wish you good luck. ”

"Fourth Indian Division? Here is the headquarters of the army group, what did the commander order you to say? Let me speak German? What are you kidding? Oh my God, you are Germans. ”

Bang. The staff officer who called the 4th Indian Division threw away the phone like an electric shock. Shouting to Lieutenant General O'Connor, "General." The Germans have already occupied the headquarters of the 4th Indian Division"

The staff officer's words came to an abrupt halt as he saw a sweaty major general standing next to Lieutenant General O'Connor, who was none other than Major General O'Gereau, commander of the 4th Indian Division, who had just escaped from the front.

"We were attacked by at least 500 tanks by the Germans, the position was pierced like a piece of paper, our eyes were full of tanks and armored vehicles, and we couldn't see a single infantry at all, it was terrible."

Lieutenant General O'Connor comforted Major General O'Gereau, and then left him and the remnants of about a battalion of the 4th Indian Division in reserve in the city.

The British forces in the city of Mesha Matrum were busy using the city for their last standing. Outside the city, the Axis ** team was busy sweeping up the remnants of the British army.

At the Afrika Army Command, Rommel gave a simple and clear account of the progress of the war to Field Marshal Graziani, who had just arrived from the rear.

"After the collapse of the 4th Indian Division in the middle of the front, in the south of the front, the 6th and 7th Separate Infantry Brigades of the British Army were attacked by the combined attack of the German 7th Panzer Division and the 2nd Division of the Blackshirts, and are now in a semi-encircled state, with our troops in the east, west, and north directions, and there are two outcomes waiting for them, either surrender or retreat south into the endless desert to be swallowed up by endless yellow sand.

In the northern section of the front, the British 7th Panzer Division immediately retreated to the city of Mesha Matru after discovering that the left flank was exposed. The 1st Division of the Blackshirts and the Großdeutsche Motorized Rifle Regiment that had just been put into battle. And Herman. A section of Goering's division has followed up outside the city and is currently perfecting the siege of the city. ”

Marshal Graziani stared approvingly at Rommel. He said happily: "In just seven hours, the defense line carefully constructed by the British has been destroyed, and you have worked hard.

After a hard day's fighting, I think your troops need to rest too, and the British will certainly use the city of Mesha Matroux for their last stubborn resistance, and besides, the armored forces are not suitable for street fighting.

The Sixty-second Infantry Division has followed me from Sidi Barani, so let them take on the difficult task of besieging the city. ”

A trace of disdain flashed in Rommel's eyes, snatching credit cannot be shameless to such a point, a person with military common sense knows that the British in the city of Mesha Matru are hopeless, and the Axis ** team only needs to send a few officers to shout outside the city to make the British troops in the city surrender, what is the last stubborn resistance? What other daunting tasks? Even if it's nonsense, you can't be so serious, right?

Rommel was about to open his mouth to refuse, when he suddenly remembered Chen Dao's explanation before leaving.

Unity, must be united! Let the Italians be our helpers and not stumbling blocks.

Heinz's words make sense, he should give the Italians some face. However, there was the headquarters of the British Eighth Army in the city of Mesha Matru, and if he could capture them, he might be able to add a shining oak leaf to his knight's iron cross.

After a fierce tug-of-war between personal glory and the big picture, Rommel finally chose to take care of the big picture.

"You are so understanding, Mr. Marshal, my men are tired and in need of rest in such hot weather. I propose to let the sixty-second infantry division take over Herman. What do you think of the position of the Goering division outside the city of Mesha Matru, let them withdraw and rest? ”

Graziani originally saw Rommel's face change, and thought that it would take a war of words to convince him, but he didn't expect happiness to come so easily.

The tall General Rommel in front of him really has a sense of the big picture and can be a man, no wonder the German High Command sent him to Africa.

Overjoyed, Marshal Graziani was full of praise for Rommel, and after a warm exchange of kind words, the two began to move their troops.

In the evening of the same day, the Italian 62nd Infantry Division successfully took over Hermann. The position of the Mandolfer battle group of the Goering division in the east of the city of Mesha Matru was then sent by emissaries on the orders of Marshal Graziani to surrender the British troops in the city.

Marshal Graziani's ideals are plump, but the reality is skinny.

Hearing that an Italian officer from outside the city had come to see him with a message from Marshal Graziani, O'Connor was furious.

He shamelessly launched an attack ahead of schedule on October 5, and what about October 10, which he promised?

This old fox Marshal Graziani dared to send someone to ask to see him, it was really unbearable, he really thought that the British Army was easy to bully? Did he really think that the British Army was temperless?

Two minutes later, east of the city of Mesa Matru, Captain Pierce, who was in charge of receiving the Italian envoys, received an order from O'Connor.

After a surprise check, Captain Pierce pulled out his revolver with a strange look on his face and walked towards the Italian envoy, Major Anthony, who was standing outside the position and waiting.

"What are you going to do?" Major Anthony instinctively felt bad when he saw Captain Pierce walking towards him with his gun.

Captain Pierce did not speak, but raised his hand and shot Major Anthony at the feet, and Major Anthony jumped aside in panic.

"What are you going to do? You are crazy? Major Anthony shouted in panic.

Captain Pierce still did not speak, but pulled the trigger and fired one after another, hitting all the bullets in the pistol at Major Anthony's feet in one go.

Major Anthony jumped from side to side and tried desperately to dodge, his stout body twisting around like a bear in a circus, causing a burst of laughter from the British infantry in the surrounding positions.

"You're going to pay the price, you're going to pay for what you just did." Major Anthony ran to the car behind him after his flamboyant dance, and shouted angrily at Captain Pearce.

Captain Pierce still didn't answer him, just reloaded the pistol in his hand.

Seeing this, Major Anthony hurriedly jumped into the car, and with the driver's foot on the accelerator, the car stumbled towards the road it came.

Back at headquarters, Major Anthony reported his fate to his superiors, who then conveyed it to Marshal Graziani, who was waiting for his surrender.

Hearing that the attitude of the British was so arrogant, Graziani put the shining wine glass in his hand on the table with a clatter, and said with a cold snort: "Since the British want to shed blood, let them shed the blood, and attack the city as soon as it is dawn tomorrow." ”

Receiving Graziani's order, the 62nd Infantry Division in the east of the city and the 1st Division of the Black Shirts in the west of the city were ready to pick the greatest fruits of the battle of Mesha Matru after dawn.

In the regimental headquarters of the Greater German Motorized Rifle Regiment in the south of the city, it was a different picture.

After driving out the Italian envoys in a fit of rage, Lieutenant General O'Connor calmed down under the persuasion of his staff and other generals, and finally decided to give up resistance and sent Major General Clay, commander of the 7th Panzer Division, as an emissary to the German positions south of the city.

Colonel Starkhausen, the commander of the Greater German Regiment, said to Major General Clay, who was sitting opposite him: "General Clay, your army wants to surrender so that our soldiers will shed a lot less blood, and I personally fully agree with General O'Connor's choice." It's just that I need to report to my superior, General Rommel, and he also needs to report to Marshal Graziani, and I'm afraid this process will take some time, so I beg you to wait a while. ”

"Mr. Colonel, I think you misunderstood me. General O'Connor's order to me was to surrender unilaterally to the Germans, to put it bluntly, we would rather surrender to a German lieutenant general than to a man as shameless as the Italian marshal, especially Marshal Graziani, and I hope you will convey my request to General Rommel. ”

What really happened between the British and the Italians? Why do the British have such extreme ideas? Colonel Starkhausen was puzzled.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he simply didn't think about it, and Colonel Starkhausen quickly conveyed the request of the British army to Rommel.

On the morning of the next day, the site of the surrender ceremony outside the city of Mesha Matru.

Seeing General O'Connor walking towards him, Rommel quietly glanced at Marshal Graziani beside him, thinking that whoever the honor should belong to, and he couldn't push it off if he wanted to, the world was really fair.

Marshal Graziani glanced at the crowd around Rommel with a grim face, and asked curiously: "Where has General Rosen gone?" ”

"He's gone to El Alamein, and we're going to catch up with him as soon as we're done here." Rommel replied. (To be continued......)