At 8:30 a.m. on May 17, the battle hall in the cliff castle in Münster Ivel, western Germany.

Hitler stared at the map of France on the square table with bloodshot eyes, and asked in a deep voice: "Has the Ninth Panzer Division set off?" ”

Seeing that Halder was holding glasses in his left hand and rubbing his eyes with his right hand, Brauchitsch didn't have time to answer, so he preemptively said, "It's been two hours since we left." ”

"What about the Waffen-SS Special Mobile Units?"

"They also set off an hour ago." Halder unhurriedly, put on his glasses and said to Hitler.

"When will they be able to get to the battlefield?" Hitler asked.

"It will take them a maximum of four days to get to Artini."

"No, four days is too long." Hitler looked up at Halder, his eyes full of dissatisfaction and anxiety, "Inform them that from now on they will arrive within forty-eight hours, and inform all the troops along the way to give way to them." ”

"Okay, I'll give the order right away." Halder saw the agitation on Hitler's face and knew that now was not the time to bargain with him, so he agreed.

Goering also didn't sleep all night, he sat on Hitler's right hand, saw Hitler turn his head to look at him, and before Hitler could speak, he took the initiative to say: "The first batch of bombers of the Third Air Force has departed, and at this time it should be bombing those counteroffensive coalition forces, you can rest assured that our bombing will continue regardless of casualties until reinforcements arrive." ”

Hitler nodded silently, then lowered his head and closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve the eye fatigue caused by a night of sleep.

"How did Heinz's troops end up in the city of Sypp?" Hitler asked without raising his head.

"Because the battle was launched ahead of schedule, he came back late from Norway, and now he was chasing the troops of the 19th Panzer Corps, and he happened to pass near the city of Xupp, so he took the initiative to participate in the battle." Goering said.

"The battle report of the Skeleton Division said that Heinz's appearance contained a large number of British troops, otherwise the city of Sypp might also be lost, and he was really late this time, and when the war against France is over, I will award him a medal." Hitler said.

Goering wanted to laugh, but for some reason he didn't laugh, thinking that yesterday when he learned the news that the Anglo-French army was counterattacking and the skeleton division was retreating, he said that he regretted that he should not have adopted Heinz's plan, and today he said that he would award Heinz a medal, and this change in attitude towards people was too emotional.

But if he wasn't emotional, he wouldn't be the Führer he knew!

Seeing that Göring did not speak, Hitler opened one eye in confusion and looked at Goering, and found that Goering's eyes were glazed over, his eyes were half-open and half-closed, and he did not know what he was thinking.

"Hermann," Hitler asked, looking up at Goering, "has the paratroopers that Heinz wants set off?" ”

Only then did Goering come back to his senses, "They should have landed at this time." ”

"It's still faster in your air force." Hitler nodded with satisfaction, "The battle report of the Skeleton Division says that the British and French tanks are very powerful, and they need more and more powerful anti-tank weapons, what can you do?" ”

"I can only use transport planes to give them more anti-tank mines and anti-tank grenades, as well as cluster grenades."

"General Halder, when the French campaign is over, remember to bring back to Berlin a few of the British and French heavy tanks mentioned in the Skeleton Division's battle report, and I will see for myself how powerful they are." Hitler said.

"As you wish, my Führer." Halder said.

Keitel, Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command, who was standing on Hitler's left, moved his gaze from the map to Hitler's face, and suddenly said: "Should we let the Kleist Panzer Group stop advancing, their situation is very dangerous now, in case the Fourth Army is unable to stop the advance of the Allied forces, the Kleist Panzer Group may be cut off from the supply line at any time・・・・・・"

Before Keitel could finish speaking, Goering, Halder, and Brauchitsch said in unison, "You can't stop." ”

The three of them, who had always looked at each other at odds with each other, were in unison, and their voices startled Hitler and Keitel.

Keitel looked up and saw that the three of Goering were glaring at him in unison, and hurriedly closed his mouth and said no more.

"The Third Air Force will definitely be able to stop the advance of the coalition forces, and the Kleist armored group does not need to stop its advance." Goering confidently said to Hitler, and did not forget to glare at Keitel after speaking, and the hostility in his eyes was obvious.

Goering said that he had staked his reputation and the reputation of the Luftwaffe, and Heinz couldn't help but bet on his own future, betting that Germany could beat France in eight weeks, and Keitel knew all this. The Kleist Armored Cluster had already been stopped once after crossing the Maas River, and Keitel, the echo worm, was trying to stop a second time, what was he trying to do? Look at the jokes of our Air Force? Or do you want to ruin Heinz's future?

Halder was also annoyed by Keitel's suggestion, and anyone with a little discerning could see that yesterday's coalition victory was based on a surprise attack and the poor combat effectiveness of the skeleton division, and the battle has been going on to this day, the factor of a surprise attack no longer exists, and the shortcomings of the skeleton division's weak combat effectiveness have also been made up for by the air force and reinforcements from all walks of life, and it is completely impossible for the coalition to achieve a victory on the scale of yesterday, and it is absolutely impossible to stop the Kleist armored cluster at this time, once it is stopped, It will only give the French defenders on the Franco-Swiss border more time to build fortifications, making it more difficult to fight in the future.

Keitel didn't have a reliable idea, and Halder also glanced at Keitel angrily, and then said: "I think that with the cooperation of the Third Air Force, the Fourth Army will definitely be able to withstand the counterattack of the coalition forces, and I think that the unit attacking us is one of the few reserves of the coalition forces, we can't just think about how to resist their attack, we should also find a way to annihilate them, and eliminate hidden dangers for our follow-up operations." ”

"Huh? Destroy them? What do you suggest? "Hitler was in good spirits.

"We may be able to lure the enemy deeper." Halder pointed to the map and slowly talked about the plan he had just come up with.

・・・・・・

In the church north of the city of Sypp, Chen Dao, Rommel and others were surrounded by a red-faced, short, stout Air Force colonel.

This Air Force Colonel, Colonel Brohl, commander of the 1st Regiment of the 7th Parachute Division, and his men had just parachuted into the city of Syria fifteen minutes before landing in a safe area controlled by the Germans east of the city, and then were taken to the city by Colonel Simon.

After Chen Dao, Rommel, and Colonel Simon welcomed the arrival of Colonel Broll and the 1st Airborne Regiment in turn, the four of them gathered around the map to discuss the next battle plan.

Rommel pointed to the map and said to Colonel Brohl: "Now the battle situation is very clear, yesterday morning, the British and French forces mobilized the troops of the British 3rd Infantry Division, the French 4th Armored Division, and the 3rd Light Mechanized Division, and launched an attack on the right flank of Army Group A on a 25-kilometer-wide front from the city of Supp in the south to the town of Atini in the north. The losses were very heavy. Our current task is to assist the Skeleton Division in holding its positions near the city of Sypp and halting the further advance of the British army. ”

"What are the specific tasks of our regiment?" Colonel Brower asked.

"Attack is the best defense, and at an opportune time we will launch a counter-offensive against the British positions, spearheaded by the 7th Panzer Division and the tanks of the Ghost Battle Group, with your regiment following behind the tanks and responsible for consolidating the positions we have recaptured." Chen Dao said.

"When will the counteroffensive begin? Where is the location? Broll asked.

"The time is up to the British." Rommel smiled his trademark sly smile again, "The location will be an unexpected place for the British, but it will be up to the British." ”

・・・・・・

On a high ground four kilometers northwest of the city of Syria, five hundred meters north of the village of Jongeri, Montgomery hid in a semi-underground bunker and watched the nearly 200 German bombers and fighters in the sky, as well as the British and French fighters who were only about one-tenth of the enemy planes, but were still fighting bravely, and a thought silently appeared in his mind that shocked him.

In modern warfare, the Air Force will play an increasingly important role, while the Army, especially the infantry, seems to be playing an increasingly marginal role in warfare.

Take the current scenario as an example, the Germans only dispatched more than 200 planes to let their troops cower in their positions and could only resist with a few insignificant anti-aircraft guns and a few fighters, fortunately their troops now have trenches and foxholes to hide from air raids, but what if their troops were attacked by German air raids on the way to the field, and there were no trenches and foxholes to hide? What if we didn't have the support of the Air Force? It is estimated that there is only one end, that is, corpses are everywhere and rivers of blood are flowing.

In the future, if there is a chance to fight the Germans again, he must gather as much air support as possible, no, there is no at most, only more air support, and use overwhelming bomber groups and rain-dense aerial bombs to kill all the Germans, at least to achieve heavy losses, and then send infantry to clean up the mess and completely solve the Germans.

Thinking of this, Montgomery felt that his war wisdom had been improved again.

Turning his head to look at the city of Sup, which stood to the southeast, Montgomery remembered yesterday's battle, and all kinds of assumptions began to rise in his mind.

If the Germans attacked themselves with tanks similar to the Matilda 1 and Matilda 2, what would they use to resist? The two-pounder guns of the anti-tank artillery regiment could not penetrate the armor of the Matilda, and should he watch his men be crushed to pieces with their guns like those Germans yesterday?

And then there was the street fighting that took place yesterday in the city of Syria, where the infantrymen withdrew from the city one after another, and both officers and soldiers made the same request - we need submachine guns.

It seems that it is necessary to write a report to the veterans of the War Department, so that they can put on the agenda the plan to popularize submachine guns in the army, develop more powerful tank guns, and by the way, equip infantry divisions with more anti-aircraft guns.

The German bombardment lasted for a day, and Montgomery thought about it for a whole day, thoroughly digesting the insights brought about by yesterday's battle.

At six o'clock in the afternoon of 17 May, Montgomery received an order from the headquarters of the French Sixth Army to continue the offensive tomorrow.

After receiving this order, Montgomery couldn't help but feel a toothache, under the bombing of the Luftwaffe, he couldn't even assemble troops, how could he launch an attack?

Montgomery immediately telegraphed back to the Sixth Army headquarters, saying that his unit could not continue to fight under pressure from the Luftwaffe unless the Allied air force was able to suppress the German bombers.

In less than half an hour, the headquarters of the Sixth Army replied to Montgomery that the German bombers would be expelled tomorrow, and that he should be allowed to attack.

Although he was skeptical about the assurances of the Sixth Army, Montgomery had no choice but to give orders overnight for the Third Infantry Division to prepare for tomorrow's offensive.

Thinking of the city of Sypp, which hung like a sword of Damocles on the right flank of the 3rd Infantry Division, Montgomery couldn't help but hesitate. The farther the 3rd Infantry Division advanced eastward, the longer the right flank was exposed to the Germans in the city of Supp. If the Germans in the city of Syria, especially the two armored units, attacked their own right flank while they were attacking eastward, and then outflanked their own troops attacking eastward, the trouble would be great, and the whole division could collapse as a result.

Although the 21st Infantry Division of the French Sixth Army had advanced to the west of the city of Syria last night to contain the defenders in the city, the French had never been reliable in combat, and Montgomery did not think that the 21st Infantry Division could play any role.

After thinking about it, Montgomery decided to strengthen three of the four companies of the anti-tank artillery regiment to the Ninth Brigade on the right flank in order to strengthen their anti-tank capabilities.

To be on the safe side, Montgomery also reinforced the Ninth Brigade with six of the only eighteen Matilda II tanks. With thirty-six two-pounder guns reinforced to them and six Matilda II tanks, the position on the right flank should be foolproof, Montgomery thought confidently.

At 7 o'clock in the morning of 18 May, the 1st Tank Brigade and the 8th Infantry Brigade, which were the main attackers, began to assemble one after another.

Montgomery's worst fears did not happen, and the Luftwaffe, which had raged for a day yesterday, seemed to be missing en masse, at least above the heads of the 3rd Infantry Division.

After assembling his troops without any danger, Montgomery launched an attack at the time set by the headquarters of the Sixth Army.

At nine o'clock in the morning, twelve Matilda 2 tanks and forty-four Matilda 1 tanks marched out of the assembly area, leading two battalions of infantry to rush towards the positions of the Skeleton Division to the east.

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