Brigadier General Brown, commander of the 24th Armored Brigade, was also taken aback when he received the news that the vanguard had occupied Terreakir and had seized a large amount of arms and supplies. His first reaction after receiving the telegram was to think that it was a fake telegram, but then a more detailed telegram came, not only reporting the general situation, but also listing the main trophies, and he could not wait to send the logistics department or staff officer to receive it as soon as possible, and the poor strength of the reconnaissance company could not control so many things.

After repeated checks, the adjutant finally confirmed that the telegram was completely true - it had been conveyed directly by the reconnaissance company and not through the regimental headquarters. Although it was a little out of line with the command system, Brigadier General Brown's concerns about who would care about it during the war were finally dispelled, and he quickly reported the situation to the division headquarters on the one hand, and on the other hand, he immediately gave the order for the whole brigade to advance, and he himself rode in an armored command vehicle to lead the tank troops in a step ahead. Under the infection of this optimism, the tank soldiers who thought that there was a hard battle waiting for them broke out into enthusiastic cheers, and then this mood was immediately transmitted to the infantry and artillery.

I don't know who took the lead, the troops sang the national anthem of "God Bless My King", the loud singing can be heard clearly in the moving armored vehicles, Major General Brown lifted the lookout cover and waved warmly to his subordinates, winning a wave of response, as if the 24th Armored Brigade was going to accept the surrender of the Germans. He had reason to be proud: it was a pity that Guderian and his main forces could not be found, but it was a real credit to take Terreakir quickly and capture a large number of booty, and he did not believe that General Montgomery could not see this. As for the main forces of the Germans, hum! It's better to leave it to the staff officers of the army group command to worry about it.

The observations made during the march confirmed the truth of the reconnaissance company's report, and it was even more convincing than the cold report, and Brigadier General Brown told the infantry and artillery to follow him to receive the spoils of war left by the Germans, while they sent some forces to occupy these fortifications, while he himself did not hesitate to lead the tank unit and the main force into depth and to the place where it was said to be the enemy's headquarters.

Captain Richardson and a few of his men respectfully waited at the door for the brigade commander to arrive, and after saluting and greeting, he even took out Italian cigarettes and presented them to the middle and senior officers. Brigadier General Brown's eyes lit up after tasting it, and while motioning to the orderly to put the remaining half of the cigarette into his briefcase, he asked with great interest, "From the warehouse?" ”

"Yes, sir, I suspect that it is a German or Italian officer's cigarette, for the goods are good and not too many."

"Excellent! You've done a great job! Brigadier General Brown's attitude was much gentler than that of the regimental commander who wore a poker face all day, and he smiled and patted Richardson on the shoulder, "Young man, I am very optimistic about you......" This move flattered the latter, completely leaving behind his initial feeling of walking on thin ice, and boasting in front of the brigade commander that he led the reconnaissance company with all kinds of bravery, rapid advance, and decisive disposition, as if the Germans who had been entrenched here were forced to retreat because of their arrival.

Several officers of the brigade staff seized the time to get over their cigarettes while listening to Richardson's report on the investigation, and all of them smiled. When they were about to take a group photo in front of Guderian's headquarters, Brigadier General Brown first glanced around, and instead of ignoring the "waste paper" on the ground like Richardson, he told the orderlies to collect as much as possible, maybe the information would be useful. Then he sat down on the chair where he was obviously the person presiding over the meeting, and began to draft the telegram with great ambition, he pondered the words carefully, and did not know how to write in order to report this result to His Excellency the Commander, and the telegram must highlight his quick and resolute, appropriate measures, and wise and powerful, and must impress Lieutenant General Montgomery and the command, and he pondered for a long time only one sentence: "Report to the commander, the 24th Armored Brigade of our 10th Panzer Division has occupied Terreakir." ”

The adjutant waited for the next sentence, he thought for a while and then held back another sentence: "I am currently sitting in the seat where Guderian is suspected to have been in the enemy command, the enemy has all fled, and our army is counting and receiving the spoils, including ......"

As the 24th Armored Brigade gradually advanced and armed, a gun scope peeked out of its head in the hills and sheltered areas farther away, and then began to greedily observe the whole world.

"Sir, are those things really going to make the British lose their vigilance?"

"Of course, this is just a bait for the British, can you not take the bait?"

Several people hesitated for a moment, thought about it for a while, and finally had to nod helplessly-—— to tell the truth, this method is usually not thought of by the Germans, and their straightforward brains do not seem to be so cunning, and they are reluctant to abandon what they consider to be extremely precious supplies and equipment, let alone so many of them. However, Guderian, the commander, was obviously an outlier, and the bad tricks were one after another, and several officers couldn't help but think of his intention to let them keep as much supplies and baggage as possible when they drove away the Italians, and it was really incredible that the commander had thought of the latter method at that time.

"There is no real material, and the British will be willing to take the bait? You see, isn't the great force of the British coming now? Guderian smiled calmly, "Almost, signal to the troops!" ”

Brigadier General Brown, who was enjoying afternoon tea in the headquarters and waiting for instructions for the next battle, suddenly heard a roar in the distance, which sounded like the sound of a tank marching, and he asked his adjutant in confusion: "Didn't they just rest?" I didn't get them to take the next step. ”

The adjutant pricked up his ears and listened, then went out to look again, and came back to report: "This is not the sound of our tanks, they are still resting, and this sound seems to come from a distance to the west, and they also find it strange." ”

Brown turned his inquiring gaze to Richardson, who was swallowing pastries in the corner, "Captain, is that your man?" ”

Richardson pricked up his ears and listened, the roar had become more obvious, obviously there were quite a few of them, and he also shook his head suspiciously: "I have gathered the reconnaissance company and put it on standby, most of them are near the headquarters and warehouse, and they should not move." ”

"And where is this tank?" Brigadier General Brown stood up irritably, frowned and said to himself, "Could it be that the 1st Free French Brigade has arrived from the south?" But they should have run into a minefield of the Germans, why did they move so quickly? I've just received the news that I've arrived! Or the division commander led the rest of the division's troops to come, but the voice was obviously coming from the west...... Go and ask for it. ”

"Sir, sir, no, enemy, enemy...... I called from the west. Just then, a tank commander stumbled into the command headquarters and spread the bad news everywhere.

This sentence was like a thunderbolt from the sky, shocking everyone present, and Brown was even more surprised to sit down and ask, "What, where did the enemy come from?" Didn't the Germans retreat? Make no mistake about you. At this moment, he still had a fluke mentality, thinking that the reconnaissance company had just searched the surrounding area and found nothing, so how could it be that the enemy would be discovered after this moment. If it is said that the small troops may still be some of the fish that have slipped through the net, such a loud voice must be not small, it can't be a misunderstanding between the troops of this side, right?

He glared at Richardson, who looked completely confused and seemed clueless. As he spoke, a "boom" began to sound, followed by a loud explosion, followed by an even louder roar, and the brigade's tanks were in action.

"It's really an enemy!" At this time, Brigadier General Brown was also in a hurry, buckled the steel helmet on his head, and rushed out of the door without hesitation, issuing an order to his subordinates as he ran, "Hurry, hurry, use the German fortifications for defense." ”

"Yes!" The chief of staff was about to issue an order, when he suddenly reacted, "Sir, no! The German fortifications were all facing east, and the enemy was now coming from the west, and these fortifications could not be counted on. In addition, our weapons have not yet had time to be deployed in the fortifications, and the soldiers are not familiar with the original German weapons! ”

"What? Then retreat quickly. ”

"Where?"

To the north and south are minefields, and to the west are crashing into the enemy's guns, so they can only go east - the road to the beginning is retreating, although the situation is urgent, but Brigadier General Brown's reaction is not slow, "Quick, quick, exit the center of Terreakir, first retreat to the open land of the two mountains, tell the division commander that there is an ambush here, and let him come up as soon as possible to reinforce us......"