On the east bank of the ditch, Charles de Gaulle, commander of the French 4th Panzer Division, nimbly climbed onto a D2 medium tank.

Standing on the tank, de Gaulle's 1.95-meter-tall body looked more and more tall, and he looked at the west bank of the ditch with a telescope.

Between the ditch and the cornfield at the top of the high ground lay more than 200 corpses, the wreckage of about 50 tanks, large and small, scattered among the corpses.

De Gaulle saw more wreckage of the French R35 tank, more than thirty of them. He sighed and shook his head, saying that it was a crime to let these tanks squeeze into such a small area and attack a slope, and the commander of the R35 tank unit must have regarded tanks as a universal weapon.

Thinking of the news brought by the French infantry who had escaped, de Gaulle knew that there were a large number of German troops hidden behind the slope, including tanks and armored vehicles, and his own 46 Fighting Tank Battalion also confirmed the news.

Although the corn-covered dirt slope was only about a kilometer away from the Du River, which was only a few minutes away for the tank, it was just the ditch more than 200 meters in front of the dirt slope that made this distance a short distance that could be seen but not touched.

The ditch extended more than 1,000 meters to the south and then turned to the southwest before joining the Doo River, providing a barrier for the German right flank, so it seemed impossible to attack the Germans from the south, and the only option was to attack from the north.

Fortunately, the number of German troops on the west bank of the Du River was limited, and the size of the bridgehead was also limited. A large area north of the bridgehead was still under the control of the 2nd North African Division, which could provide a safe place for the B1 tanks of the 46th Tank Battalion to cross the river, and the only concern was when the sappers would be able to reinforce the bridge north of the ditch enough for the B1 tanks to pass.

De Gaulle looked up at the gloomy sky. The heart said that it was getting late today. The only way to destroy the Germans in the bridgehead is to wait for tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a good day for the Luftwaffe to be unable to sort.

De Gaulle jumped out of his tank and drove back to the town of Parse, a kilometer to the east, where he found Brigadier General Andrei, the commander of the 2nd North African Division, who had just arrived there.

De Gaulle looked at the infantry marching west from the town of Parse, and thought to himself that in this way the irrigation canal would become the greatest support for his own defense, and the greatest obstacle for the German army to advance east from the bridgehead

On the west bank of the Du River, the town of Zhevri is west of the town. Chen Dao and Rommel welcomed the commander of the 15th Panzer Corps, General Hoth, in the temporary headquarters they had just set up.

Admiral Hoth, with a lanky face and blue eyes with green eyes, warmly welcomed Chen Dao's arrival, and then spoke of the progress of the battle during the day on 21 May.

When the 37th Reconnaissance Battalion on the east bank of the town of Zhevri was fighting the French with the support of friendly forces, the 6th Panzer Division and the 5th Panzer Division on the left and right flanks of the 7th Panzer Division broke through the French defenses at Rochefort and Champduville respectively, and successively established a bridgehead on the east bank of the Du River.

"General Hult, look here." Rommel's right index finger drew a curve on the map.

"There's an irrigation canal dug by the locals. The reconnaissance battalion on the east bank used this irrigation canal as an anti-tank trench to block the French counterattack today. The reconnaissance battalion had just sent a report that they had seen the French building fortifications on the east and south banks of the irrigation canal. It seems to have the posture to trap us in a bridgehead. If we want to expand the landing field, there is only one way to go at the moment, and that is north. Rommel said.

"If they really want to trap us here, do you think they'll ignore the north side of the bridgehead?" Hult asked.

"Their B1 tanks moved north, and I think they were trying to cross that irrigation canal from the bridge to the north and attack our bridgehead." Chen Dao said.

Rommel nodded, agreeing with Chen Dao.

Holt asked Rommel: "You said that the B1 tanks are the most powerful tanks that the French have, and all our tanks are no match for him, if they do attack from the north, what are you going to do with them?" With eighty-eight-mm anti-aircraft guns? But even if you can repel them, you can only expand the landing ground to the north, but what we really want to go to is the east, the Franco-Swiss border. ”

Rommel smiled and said: "My plan is to carry out a defensive counterattack, first use 88 mm anti-aircraft guns and Colonel Rosen's No. 4G tank to thwart the French attack, and then launch a counterattack to seize the bridges used by the B1 tanks to cross the irrigation canal, and then attack the French right flank deployed on the east bank of the irrigation canal." ”

"What kind of tank is the Type 4G tank? Why haven't I heard of it? Hult asked, confused.

"The No. 4 G tank is an improved model of the Air Force on the basis of the No. 4 D tank, and the firepower is very strong, and it can fight the B1 tank head-on." Rommel explained.

Hott looked at Chen Dao with a curious look on his face, but saw Chen Dao frowning and staring at the map, as if he was thinking about something.

Chen Dao's gaze swept across the map, and finally stopped at the irrigation canal that he had drawn in pencil on the map. Major Schumacher had already sent a telegram saying that he had reconnoitred the irrigation canal, which was only about fifteen meters wide, but the depth and slope of the embankments on both sides were sufficient to block the passage of tanks.

Although Rommel proposed a plan to seize the French bridge, it seemed a bit risky to let so many tanks squeeze on one or two bridges to line up to cross the bridge, and he didn't know anything about the French defense situation in the north, what if they set up ** on the bridge to the north to blow up the bridge, or lay heavy troops on the east bank of the bridge to defend themselves? I had to find a safer way to get around the irrigation canal.

"Colonel Rosen, what do you think of tomorrow's operation?" Hult asked.

"I think we should look for a place where we can best play to the strengths of the No. 4G tank, rather than being stuck here." Chen Dao said.

"Do you have any specific solutions?" Hult asked, staring at Chen Dao.

Chen Dao saw the green light in Hult's eyes, and felt as if he was being targeted by a wolf, and he felt very uncomfortable. He took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one to Holt and Rommel, relieving the discomfort in their hearts by the act of making a cigarette.

That's right, I almost forgot a big thing, Chen Dao suddenly blamed himself.

The main purpose of coming to the 15th Armored Corps was to use luxurious equipment to stimulate people and arouse the dissatisfaction of the generals of the army's armored forces with the Army's Ordnance Bureau. Now that Rommel has been stimulated, he can't hang himself on the tree of the Seventh Armored Division, it's time to stimulate other armored divisions, thinking of this, Chen Dao's eyes suddenly brightened.

"My approach is also to defend and counter-attack, but the point of counter-attack is not here." Chen Dao said to Hult. (To be continued......)