Under the cloudless sky, the Italian armored units marched along the coastal road in long columns accompanied by trucks carrying infantry, kicking up patches of yellow sand flying in the sky. This was the only lifeline in North Africa, and the main forces of the German-Italian Afrika Korps and the British Eighth Army were advancing along this path, whether they were attacking or retreating. It's just that the direction of the Italians is not to attack, but to turn into Tobruk.

The retreat of a large column under such weather conditions could easily become a target for the air force, but the Italians, who were anxious to flee for their lives, obviously did not care about this, and they pinned their hopes on the small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns that accompanied the advance of the troops and the air cover promised by the Germans -- the Germans did not break their promise, and the Italians could see the Bf-109s passing by at low altitude from time to time, while the British reconnaissance planes or bomber groups were dispersed by the prepared cover planes, although they had come in several waves. Even the infantry saw several slow-fleeing British "Handsome Warrior" fighter-bombers shot down by the Bf-109, causing cheers from the Italians, but this did not slow them back.

Montgomery, who was commanding the gradual advance of the Eighth Army, also received information from the desert air force under the command of Major General Ted, and after reading it with a frown, he asked the liaison officer: "You mean the Afrika Korps is running away quickly?" ”

"This morning, the reconnaissance plane found three different troops, and after a rough count, it was found that there were no less than 150 tanks inside, as well as a large number of trucks, infantry, etc. The Air Force Liaison Officer took out another telegram, "In addition, there is news from the Maltese side that a few days ago, an Italian transport fleet broke through the interception of the base air force and arrived in North Africa, with a total of 14 ships in it, and the destination should also be Tobruk according to their analysis." ”

As soon as he heard this, Montgomery's face became very bad, the matter of intercepting the oil tanker in the previous time has not been followed, and this time the Italians have successfully sent a supply fleet and there are still a lot of them, which has brought a lot of pressure to the follow-up operations of the Eighth Army, and then thinking of Churchill's cold telegram request, he was a little anxious, but his face could not be revealed, and he explained in as calm a tone as possible: "Please pay close attention to their situation, or can you ask the bombers to send out to delay the enemy's action?" ”

"I will report your request to my superiors. But you can't expect anything too great: the consequences of the last German raid were serious, the front-line airfields were understaffed and needed to be transferred from the back airfields, and the Germans had obviously strengthened the air cover and alert of the ground forces, and at the same time they had a large number of fighters and were equipped with new models, and the latest Spitfires that we needed were delayed, and it was difficult for the bomber formations to break through the blockade. Are you thinking about support in the form of night bombing? ”

Montgomery shook his head: the night bombing was certainly to avoid the interception of the German fighters, but at the same time it lost its accuracy, not to mention that there were still more than 7 hours before dark, and if the German and Italian troops were given enough time, the devil knows where these guys would run.

"I understand what you mean, I will ask my superiors to coordinate as soon as possible."

Looking at the back of the Air Force liaison officer, Montgomery couldn't help but complain to de Lagan: "Can't we decipher the enemy code now?" Why is every interception or espionage operation so laborious? It is estimated that Guderian has already obtained the fuel supply last time, and this time there are so many transport ships to replenish it, and the enemy's strength is growing every moment, but the prime minister has to give reinforcements if we win! Without reliable reinforcements, what can I do to beat the Germans? ”

De Lagan also expressed his curiosity: "The codes are still being deciphered, information and intelligence are being transmitted, and yesterday I have seen several telegrams from Guderian to Marshal Kesselring, cleverly justifying why he should abandon the three infantry divisions of the Italians. The problem was the exact time and distance, and now the Germans had become cunning, and the words they spoke in the telegrams were vague or often varied, and could not find the slightest pattern, with the result that our interceptions were often inaccurate, and this retreat was not reported to the Romans in advance. ”

After some discussion, the two decided to gather other generals to come and discuss together, but since most of the divisional generals were in command of the battle in their respective units, only the commander of the 10th Army, Horrock, and the commander of the 1st Army, Ramsden, were at the same headquarters.

"According to the original deployment, we should have pounced on Treacakil in a two-way pincer offensive to oppress Guderian, but his sense of smell was very sharp, and he ran ......away," Montgomery handed his men the photos that the air force had scouted back, "Now our vanguard is still at least 40-60 kilometers away from the enemy, and if we don't speed up, it is very likely that we will see them slip away, even if we pounce on Terreakir, it will not help." ”

"The enemy is cunning and sensitive, this is really a cunning old fox." Horlocks looked at the picture carefully, and couldn't help but muttered again, "If we chase and run, and the delayed interception in the air, maybe it won't be a problem to eat Guderian's rearguard - but it's probably Italians again." ”

Horlocks was talking about Montgomery's original wishful thinking, but because Whitehall had relayed Prime Minister Churchill's telegram and had only captured the Italians who had surrendered wholeheartedly in the previous few days, his wishful thinking had failed.

Montgomery had a difficult decision: if the original plan had been carried out, it would have been possible to return all 50,000 men to Tobruk, and it would be one thing to give a proper explanation to London, but it was another to face the troops in Tobruk when the time came. Considering that the Germans continued to transport supplies and reinforcements to Tobruk, if Guderian's forces were not weakened now, the Eighth Army would face an even more difficult bone to gnaw - the ease of the present would be built on the pain of the future. If we change our plan to pursue them, we will have to change the original operational deployment and marching sequence, and after the battle line is opened, I am afraid that it will be difficult for most of the troops, especially the infantry troops, to enter the battle -- and this will not be an easy victory by virtue of the superiority of troops. Montgomery's expression couldn't help but show a look of distress, he was neither willing to fight to the death with Guderian in a desperate gamble, nor willing to let the other party swagger away, and after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find the best of both worlds.

"If this continues, the Germans will become stronger and stronger, and then Tobruk will become a hard bone." Ramsden had high expectations for the desert air force, and when he heard that the latter could not do anything, he was immediately disappointed.

"It's not impossible to speed up, but it requires our armored forces to speed up the advance." De Lacan, who was also troubled by the situation, looked at Montgomery with an inquiring gaze, and with the latter's permission, recounted his thoughts, "We can redirect the detour troops that had been scheduled for the northern route to pursue them, while the troops that had broken through from the front took over the normal detour of the northern army, so that both forces could make effective use of the coastal road—which would help to speed up the whole and prevent them from getting dazed in the desert." ”

"Then temporarily change the steps and push the 7th Armored Division, which is currently the most advanced at the moment?" Horrocks looked at the map carefully and made a suggestion.

"Nope! The troops that were supposed to outflank them from the northern route were diverted to pursue along the coastal road, while the troops that had broken through head-on remained on the same route of march. After looking at the map for a long time, Montgomery made up his mind and gave the order decisively, "The 7th and 1st Panzer Divisions quickly pursued the enemy with armored clusters, biting and trying to delay the enemy and wait for the rest of the troops to follow. ”

"Why?" Everyone was confused by Montgomery's strange disposition, and it was their understanding that the execution of this plan would cause the advance forces to move forward, and the distance between them and the main force in front would be accelerated, and it was likely to create a command disconnect, which Montgomery himself had repeatedly stressed to avoid.

"Do you think there's still Afrika Korps troops in Terreakkill?" Perhaps seeing the doubts of his subordinates, Montgomery's eyes were blazing, "I don't believe that the number of troops detected by the Air Force is the entire strength of the Afrika Korps, not only in terms of numbers, but also in terms of Guderian's usual practice." He must have divided his forces, and only part of his forces had retreated along the coastal road, while others had either continued to hide in Terreakir or had moved elsewhere - and a way should be found to find the run-away fox. ”

The doubts on the faces of the others were even heavier, and if they were convinced that there were still enemy forces in Tel Akakil, they should not have been deployed like this, and this was not a clear opening for Guderian to jump out?