"In such a comparison of forces, we can only retreat, of course, retreat is not the goal, retreat is to better advance, please believe me." Guderian blinked, "I've already envisioned my next move, and I won't let you down." In addition, new troops and supplies were about to arrive, and they would land in batches at Benghazi and Tobruk, the elite of the Eastern Front who had fought directly from the empire mainland. ”

"How many?" Colonel Westphal hurriedly asked.

"The Führer was very happy this time, first gave a reinforced 4th Armored Division, which is said to have 200 new tanks, and the High Command gave an additional 500 military trucks taking into account the special situation in the North African theater." Speaking of this, Guderian's interest was much higher, because he came to the old subordinates he had led on the Eastern Front, he was familiar with everyone above the major, not only their personalities but also their combat style, he always believed that a commander would only be able to command the overall strategy if he mastered the backbone troops, and his familiarity and tacit understanding with the existing African Army were still a little worse," Marshal Kesselring told me, shortly later. The Flying Fortress 'Paratrooper Armored Brigade will also be transferred to us, they come by transport plane, these guys don't get airsick, their equipment doesn't go the Italian line, they come directly from Crete......"

"Flying Fortress?" Lieutenant General Walst frowned, "I haven't heard of this name, the newly formed troops?" ”

"No, the Hermann Goering Paratrooper Armored Brigade was renamed, and after the fall of the fat man, the Führer, who was also the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, changed this new name." Guderian thought about it and decided not to tell the other troops involved in the "Rolling Stone" plan, which was the top secret of the top secret.

When we heard that there were reinforcements and supplies, especially tanks, trucks, and gasoline that were urgently needed for desert warfare, everyone's faces immediately looked good, and the atmosphere of the meeting became much more lively. Major General Bismarck, who had not spoken all this time, thought of one thing and said worriedly: "If we go, what will happen to the Italian infantry who go north to take on the task of feints?" They had no armoured troops, and they were poorly equipped with fuel and supplies, so they could not resist the British and could not retreat with us. But you can't notify them in advance, otherwise these guys will slip away and directly destroy the overall plan when the time comes. ”

"Let them stay the course." It was proposed.

"Not well, that's pretty much what it means to send them to their deaths." Someone muttered.

"Leave them to death." Guderian now has a headache when he hears the Italian word, and he can't help but burst into foul language.

Immediately someone said: "The Italians will not fight to the death, maybe the British will surrender as soon as they arrive, and the lack of sufficient fuel and supplies is a good excuse to surrender - even their leaders cannot find fault with it." ”

"That's fine." Guderian smiled gloomily, "They can consume the logistics of the British, at least after the surrender, they will be able to boil the macaroni in the water of the British, and they can also contain some of the guards - I always feel that the Italians have contributed more after surrender than during the war." ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the command department laughed, and everyone now thinks that the new commander is not bad, at least he is a very interesting person, and he will not suffer under him. As for the soldiers, there are two requirements, the first is to win, and it is best to be like Marshal Rommel who can repeatedly stage the miracle of winning more with less; If they can't win the war, it is also a hero to be able to reduce the losses and bring the brothers home safe and sound—and now Guderian has not yet articulated the grand plan, which is basically the image in their minds.

Guderian's reason for asking the Italian infantry to launch a feint was that Colonel Baierlein could understand that it was not easy for the main force to retreat and disengage with the British, and the slightest carelessness would become a rout, especially in the North African desert, the terrain was too flat and most of the time there was no danger to defend.

At this time, he began to admire Guderian's command: he arranged for the Italians to move north to resist the British, and at the same time arranged for the retreat of a large army, and also called two armored battalions to prepare to touch the British deployment on the southern front and disturb Montgomery's sight. In order to prevent the telecommunications detective department of the Eighth Army from seeing through the truth, Guderian also insisted that the command of the Afrika Army be left behind, and all but a few necessary telecommunications officers would withdraw with the main force, and he himself would hold out until the armored battalion had retreated. During the three days when the large army retreated first, apart from the two armored battalions at the front of the line and a minefield that was not too dense, Guderian was left with only a communications company and an armored reconnaissance company - only a few Sd.kfz.250 half-track armored vehicles in them, not even a single tank. If a brave battalion of British infantry dared to bypass the minefields and the panzer battalion at this time, there was a good chance that Guderian would be taken prisoner directly - it would be the first general of the Third Reich to be captured.

Everyone was sweating for his safety, but he didn't care, telling them, "Montgomery is a very cautious man, and he will not take it lightly before we attack." Besides, the headquarters is now located at the airport, and if something happens, I will get on the plane and run, and I will not be a prisoner......"

It was said so frankly that everyone laughed. Lieutenant General Walster, Major General Bismarck and others respectfully saluted, and each left one of the best armored battalions for Guderian's use,

Then he went to arrange for the retreat of the other units of the division, and the chief of staff and the chief of operations also received orders to assist the other two lightly armed divisions in retreating, only Lieutenant Colonel Merlinjin had always felt unhappy because of the fake map, and insisted on staying to accompany Guderian, who also readily agreed.

While Guderian quickly adjusted his deployment, the British were not slow to respond. Montgomery let out a sigh of relief after intercepting the "intelligence" and said to the Chief of Staff, Colonel de Lagan, "Although I do not know how Guderian saw the disposition of our forces, I think this telegram reflects the real situation, and the results of reconnaissance from the front support this, which is a more cautious adversary than Rommel." ”

After learning that Rommel had returned to China to recuperate and Guderian had replaced the relevant posts of the African Army, the Eighth Army was relieved, after all, Rommel's name was too big, and they were almost out of breath in the past two years. Although Guderian's name was equally loud and he fought against the expeditionary force during the French campaign, he was defeated at the beginning, and Guderian's skill could not be seen, but it was Rommel's fierce battle in Arras that impressed the British. After the implementation of the Barbarossa plan, Guderian and Rommel belonged to two battlefields, and the British did not fight him, and then learned from the Soviets that Guderian was angrily dismissed by Hitler because of the terrible fighting of the Battle of Moscow, and his evaluation of him involuntarily fell a little lower. Moreover, Rommel is a marshal, Guderian is only a general, and Guderian is older than Rommel in terms of qualifications, which fully shows that Guderian is inferior to Rommel in terms of ability and merit in the eyes of the strict and rigid British. After learning the news of the change of commander of the German army, Admiral Alexander in Cairo (he succeeded Auchinleck as commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Theater, and Montgomery took over the post of commander of the Eighth Army concurrently held by Auchinleck) was also a lot relieved, and joked to the adjutant next to him: "Now it's good, at least the soldiers on the El Alamein front can no longer be tortured by the desert fox." ”

Colonel de Lagan nodded, agreeing with Montgomery's judgment, and asked tentatively, "Are we going to take the initiative?" ”

"No, we will follow the course agreed with General Alexander." Montgomery said, "On the one hand, the northern line between the beach and the Rowai Isat ridge should be held as far as possible, and on the other hand, the fortified positions of the Alam Halfa ridge should be used to weaken the attacking enemy on the southern front that threatens the Rowai Isat ridge from the flank." Neither the Führer in Berlin nor the insane Italian leader would allow the Afrika to give up the territory they had occupied, and if we had taken advantage of Guderian's recent takeover of the Afrika Army, he would have slipped away - and it would have been more troublesome to destroy him. ”

"How are you going to deal with the feint attack on the northern front?"

"The northern front is full of Italians, and they can't make waves, so let the lads stay a little hard, don't fight too hard, otherwise the Italians will run away, and Guderian will follow." Montgomery was in a good mood and said with a smile, "Since he wants to do it again on September 7, then we will wait for him and let him run headlong to see if Guderian can behave better than Rommel in a week." ”

Churchill, who also learned the news of the change of commander of the African Army, was very dissatisfied with the conservative arrangement of Alexander and Montgomery, and sent several telegrams asking Montgomery to take the initiative to attack, but the other side did not hesitate to push back, and sent a telegram to General Alexander urging, and was also prevaricated by the other side with the Taiji that "once the campaign deployment has been completed, it should not be changed lightly so as not to be taken advantage of by the German army, and the judgment of the front commander should be trusted". The poor Prime Minister just replaced Auchinleck more than half a month ago, and he doesn't want to toss it again, so now he doesn't seem to have much better to do than get angry and wait.