The Allied airborne were the 2nd Airborne Regiment of the British 1st Airborne Division and the 503rd Airborne Regiment of the United States...... These units were originally intended for the capture of Algeria and the airborne landing of Algiers, but the Germans preemptively occupied Algeria.

The 503rd Airborne Regiment was responsible for the capture of the Gafsa airfield.

The reason is that the Allies will use a large number of American transport planes in this battle, which means that many American ground crews will be deployed at the airport, so the airport will be mainly in charge of the US military.

On the other hand, it is also because the US military has little combat experience when it first enters the battlefield, so it is responsible for an area that is relatively easy to occupy and has a single and clear goal.

The 1st Airborne Division of the British Army, because of its rich combat experience, was responsible for more difficult tasks...... On the one hand, they had to fight with the Germans in street battles to completely control Gafsa and reconnoiter and attack along the highway to prepare for the entry and breakthrough of the follow-up armored forces, and on the other hand, they had to occupy the German-controlled 312 Heights (that is, the Zero Heights where Qinchuan was located), because the 312 Heights were only 6 kilometers away from the Gafsa Airport in a straight line, and the artillery fire there could control the take-off and landing of the blockade of the Gafsa Airport.

As Montgomery had predicted, the German defenses at Gafsa were weak...... This is actually very easy to explain, the German army, especially Rommel, advocated mobile defense, that is, the main defensive force was two armored divisions located in the second line, and these two armored divisions were transferred to both ends of the defense line by the British army.

Moreover, even if the German army had troops, it was deployed on the Gabes line, who would have thought that the British army would suddenly attack Gafsa with airborne troops.

As a result, the Germans were stationed at the airfield with only two companies, one of which was still an Italian army, and the garrison of Gafsa was actually quite numerous, with a regiment, but all of them were Italian troops...... The performance of this Italian regiment on the battlefield, in the words of the British, was that while we were still hanging from our parachutes, we saw the Italian troops below greet us with their hands raised (surrender).

If there was any difficulty, it was when attacking Heights Zero...... The elite units of the German army were stationed here, and there was some resistance anyway.

However, because Heights Zero was attacked by the British on both sides, the Germans had no choice but to hide in the tunnel fortifications after a period of resistance, and it took only more than half an hour for the British and American troops to fully occupy the ground fortifications of Gafsa and Heights Zero.

After receiving this information, there was a cheer from Montgomery's headquarters, and controlling Gafsa not only meant that the Gabez defense line was divided into two sections from the middle, but also meant that the British army could use Gafsa as a starting point to drive straight into the whole of Tunisia in two, which meant that victory was in sight.

"Order the 1st Airborne Division, proceed as originally planned!" Montgomery ordered: "The 7th Panzer Division will attack along the Gafsa road, and the 15th Panzer Division will be stationed in Gafsa!" ”

"Yes, General!"

It should be said that Montgomery's offensive tactics were inherited from Germany...... One day, when he felt a little at a loss for what to do with the Gabès Line, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind: why can't the British learn the German offensive tactics when the Germans have attacked cities and conquered cities in Europe and have repeatedly succeeded?

Then, Montgomery was pleasantly surprised to find that the British army had all the conditions needed for a German "blitzkrieg", such as air superiority, such as armored divisions, and then airborne troops.

Therefore, Montgomery turned over the previous battle examples of the German army and carefully analyzed them, and then formulated a plan for this attack.

In contrast to the German "blitzkrieg", Montgomery used the capture of Gafsa as a supply base and a starting point, and then carried out a "blitzkrieg" on the interior of Tunisia.

That is, the air force cooperates with the infantry and airborne troops to occupy important places along the way, such as bridges on both sides of the road, high ground and other important places, and then the armored forces quickly advance along the road opened up by the infantry.

Even Montgomery used one of the characteristics of the German "blitzkrieg", that is, the absence of a certain offensive line...... This is completely different from Montgomery's style of warfare, which was always used to arranging and planning everything before the war.

However, one of the characteristics of the German "blitzkrieg" was flexibility, that is, the pre-war plan generally did not stipulate which armored division must take which route to capture which city, because no one would know before the war what the enemy would react to the German army or where to focus on the defense.

The Germans reacted according to the enemy's defense and troop movements, and then reacted after they had intelligence, that is, they constantly looked for the enemy's weak points, and used the high mobility of the armored forces to launch a rapid attack on it.

That's what Montgomery intends to do.

It's just that what Montgomery didn't expect was that all of this was actually in the plans of the German army, and even the occupation of Heights Zero was no exception...... As mentioned before, the tunnel fortifications could cover each other, and if it weren't for the Germans' deliberate actions, the British would have to pay heavy casualties even if they were flanked from both sides to occupy the ground fortifications on Heights Zero.

There was also a small episode in this.

Just as Qin Chuan and the others were retreating into the tunnel fortifications, several guards with submachine guns around their necks covered a female officer who was running away with bare feet screaming and running away from the high ground.

"Colonel!" After dodging the explosion of a shell, the guard said to the female officer: "Let's take shelter in the tunnel!" ”

"What?" The female officer couldn't help but exclaim: "You mean let me hide in this hole?" No, never! Even if I die under the enemy's gun, I won't step into this disgusting rat hole for half a step! ”

"Major!" The guard looked at the foot of the mountain and said in a panic: "If we don't go in, I'm afraid we will really die under the enemy's gun!" ”

Another guard responded: "The enemy has surrounded us, and we have no way out!" ”

"Do you want to come in or not?" Qin Chuan impatiently raised the mine in his hand and said, "We're going to block the passage!" ”

"Wait, Lieutenant!" The guard begged, then looked at the female officer.

"Fuck it!" The female officer grumbled as she walked to the pit: "You said I wouldn't be in danger, you liars! You should take me to Berlin now, I'm crazy to believe you......"

When she bent down and burrowed into the tunnel, she couldn't help but let out a painful voice: "I was wrong, this is not a rat hole, this is a hundred times worse than a rat hole, I'm going to die!" ”

"If you don't like it!" Qin Chuan turned around while burying the mines: "Then please go out!" ”

The female officer's roar came from the tunnel: "Watch your words, lieutenant, you are talking to your superior!" ”

These words made Qin Chuan and the German soldiers all laugh.