Although these routines and maneuvers had been practiced countless times on the island of Crete, it was the first time that the tank had actually moved in front of the enemy, and even though the aerial reconnaissance found that the beaches and coastal areas near the port of Matru were relatively flat and conducive to landing, and the coastal wind and waves were not too large -- these were the keys to the success or failure of the landing, and all those who observed this scene were sweating.

Now, there are at least 4,000 meters to the beachhead, and the tanks have to climb through these 4,000 meters with all their might.

Although Balk was confident, his slightly pale face still revealed his extremely nervous heart at the moment. The landing operation was a completely new subject for the German army, and no one was very experienced, and the troops and equipment prepared for the Sea Lion Project were basically scattered, so any step was a new start. The plan that Balk has now chosen is already the plan of Plan D6, which can be regarded as the most convenient and superior landing environment -- the weather is good, the wind and waves are not strong, the enemy is not strong, and according to the worst plan at the beginning, he is prepared to make a forced landing in the presence of artillery fire in the harbor, enemy planes in the air, and harassment by small enemy ships on the sea - this must be God bless Germany's success!

In addition to the No. 4 landing tank, there are several Tiger types, the huge physique, the mighty appearance in the tank group is very eye-catching, at the beginning Rommel considered the need to attack the needs of the Tiger is to hope to use all the Tiger type, but Gauss after analysis believes that it is inappropriate: first of all, the reliability of the Tiger type is very poor, in case of paralysis in the water, it will be caught blind; The second is that the weight of the Tiger is too heavy, and one barge can only carry 1 Tiger. 2 cars overloaded and capsized, which is a great waste of tonnage; The third is that the tiger's fuel consumption is too fierce, and if you are not careful, you will run out of oil. Don't have that much effort to resupply at the critical moment of landing? Taking into account Rommel's personal feelings and strong wishes, he felt that it was possible to put a few Tigers in the landing force to deter the enemy, and to adopt a mixed mode of transport with No. 4, with one barge carrying one Tiger and one No. 4, and the overall number should not be too much, five or six were sufficient, and Rommel finally accepted this suggestion with pleasure.

One after another, No. 4 slowly submerged in the water. The staggering of the tiger descending the slope made people feel so worried that they almost thought they would fall headlong into the sea, but in the end they still stepped on the seabed steadily. Since the height of the Tiger is higher than that of the No. 4, the latter is almost completely submerged, and the former still has its turret largely exposed. They travel slowly underwater because of the resistance of the seawater. The roar and roar of the engine can be heard from more than 2 meters deep in the water. But I'm still trying to move forward.

There were a total of 84 tanks in the first armored wave of the armored regiment of the entire Greater German Division when they landed, of which 6 were Tigers, not that the Germans did not want to take out more tanks to land, there were really no more barges available, but Rommel was very confident, he had dealt with the British, knew each other well, and he thought that once this group of armored troops successfully landed. The armored brigade against the British is completely useless, even if the main armored division of the British army comes, it will have the strength to fight.

The front is in full swing to carry out the landing. Rommel was anxiously waiting for the battle report, and when he received a detailed message from Major General Balk, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, he couldn't help but let out a cry: "Good! He was ready for sacrifice and hard fighting, but he almost wanted to laugh three times when he met such a boy of the 4th Indian Division at the airport of El Alamein, and at the port of Matrouh with such a godsend.

After reading the telegram, Keitel, Zeitzler, and Jodl also complimented Hoffmann one by one, praising the Führer for his ideal grasp of the timing and place, and that he was "destined to succeed!" Hoffmann was also very happy, and said for the first time: "I asked someone to bring a bottle of Bordeaux red wine, and if it succeeds, we will have a good drink in the evening." ”

Everyone giggled and said yes, completely forgetting that a few months ago the Führer had been almost drunk, and that Major General Gauss was still dutifully analysing the telegrams from all sides and summarizing the situation, and everyone was in awe of his work.

Behind the makeshift fortifications on the docks, Corporal Smith was fiddling with a 6-pounder gun with the gunner, and their 72nd Infantry Brigade was transferred from Egypt by General Alexander at the request of Lieutenant General Montgomery a few days ago to reinforce the Eighth Army, but everyone thought that he was just responsible for guarding the logistics supply line, and no one expected to fight with such a large fleet and landing force, his heart was pounding hard, and he lowered his voice and asked, "When did the commander say that he could withdraw?" I don't think we can stop the Germans alone, we have to have reinforcements. ”

The artillery commander sighed and said to the artillery crew: "There is no order yet, the higher authorities require us to hold on here for at least 8 hours, and they will send reinforcements." ”

"8 hours!? Oh, my God...... Did I hear me right, but we still have 8 hours of firepower? It's good to be able to top it for 8 minutes. ”

"But you can't run away without firing a shot, isn't that giving up to the Germans? The commanders are still directing the troops to destroy supplies and equipment......" The gun commander pointed to the black flames rising in the distance, "These Germans are also evil, why don't they open fire?" ”

Everyone said they couldn't figure it out.

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it, follow me when you are smart, and we will almost retreat."

"Look! Tanks of the Germans! They sent tanks into the sea. ”

"To fight or not to fight? Sir? ”

"You're stupid, you can't hit it so far."

"Listen to orders and prepare for battle." The artillery commander frowned, "When we see the enemy, we will fight, this is our tradition!" ”

The artillerymen of the 72nd Infantry Brigade did not choose to surrender directly, nor did they choose to waste firepower by firing from a distance, but chose to endure and wait - they wanted to stall for time, they gambled that the Germans did not want to destroy the port and facilities. The German fleet also received a telegram to them demanding surrender, and the commander of the infantry brigade did not directly choose to refuse, but sent a telegram back in plain code, using all kinds of means to try to delay time, but Balk saw through their trick and used a more oppressive method - not firing but directly landing the tanks. This hand forced the 72nd Brigade into a corner, and if it did not open fire again, it would soon have no chance to open fire, and once it fired, it would be tantamount to a clear rejection of the German army's telegram of persuasion to surrender - the purpose of delaying time would not be achieved.

At the last moment, after witnessing the German tanks begin to land one after another, the 72nd Infantry Brigade did not choose to retreat without a fight, but still bravely met it, and immediately began to greet it with artillery, but their anti-tank guns could not kill the new No. 4 at a long distance, let alone the Tiger type, and a few large-caliber howitzers were not accurate, except for splashing sand bunkers and waves in the sea, they did not play a role at all. In the final analysis, this is just an ordinary infantry brigade, and it is the limit of not breaking up in the face of the pressure of the army, and you can't expect too many of them at all.

"Let the naval guns suppress them, don't fight too hard......" Balk saw the weakness of the enemy on the opposite side, and gave a second directive, believing that the troops would not have to pay too much to successfully control the situation and take the port.

Just as the landing was in full swing, planes were landing at El Alamein airport.

The paratroopers took great pains to coordinate the landing, especially the giant Me-323, which carried the hopes of all, because its typical transport configuration was to transport two 4-wheeled trucks, or 8,700 pieces of bread, or an 88-gun crew (equipment, shells, and personnel), or 52 barrels of fuel, or 130 heavily armed paratroopers. The latest Me-323 is equipped with Jumo 222 liquid-cooled engines, and the flight power has been increased, and the maximum load capacity has not changed significantly, but the maximum speed, cruising speed and sustained range have been accelerated, and the difficulty of landing has been reduced compared to before. For this operation, the Air Force mobilized a total of 10 aircraft, of which 5 were carrying 88 artillery crews, and they would be the first to land, on the one hand, to support the air defense umbrella, on the other hand, to provide the troops with urgently needed supplies, and of the other 5 aircraft, 3 were carrying all Opel trucks, and the other 2 were to provide the troops with fuel urgently needed to continue the operation.

The Me-323 as a whole required to land first, not only because of their large size and the need for a larger field and runway, but also because they were loaded with the most needed fuel and 88 guns, which were the lifeblood of the entire airport. Circling in the air were a large number of Fw-190s and Bf-109s, who were on escort duty, and their last priority was to cover and hover until they ran out of fuel.

When landing, the first few planes were smooth, but when the 7th Me-323 landed, because of the pilot's careless operation, the plane fell to the ground with its tail raised high, and because it was loaded with fuel, all rolled down in the cabin, fortunately it did not cause a bigger accident, otherwise the 52 barrels of oil exploded, which was enough to tear a radius of several hundred meters into pieces. Loew saw very clearly, the paratroopers all rushed to help, and in the end only about 3 or 4 paratroopers were left to watch over the prisoners, and even if the paratroopers who were guarding the prisoners were more focused on the airport, his heart was in his throat, if the prisoners were in trouble in an instant, it would be a big accident to keep it.

But strangely, the captives were also wide-eyed and curious, and did not talk nonsense or attempt to resist, Loew saw with his own eyes that a paratrooper was still half-baked and asked a group of captives to come up and help, and these Indian prisoners actually passed by happily, skillfully driving a forklift to load fuel on the truck, and then showing the truck driver the direction of the oil depot. It didn't look like a soldier from a hostile camp at all.

It's incredible! (To be continued.) )