"Move the capital...... Is it? ”

In North Africa, Admiral Wavell, who had just received the news of Gort's announcement of the relocation of the capital, chewed on the telegram repeatedly with some incredulity.

In the telegram, Gott had made the situation very clear. London's situation couldn't have been worse, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill was even more mad and roared and cursed.

In London, there is no one who can preside over the big picture and turn the tide. Lord Gott admits that what he can do now is to withdraw as many troops as possible to the island of Ireland and lay a good foundation for future landing defenses.

In addition, Gort also informed Wavell in a telegram that the mainland side no longer had any chance to turn around, and all the local army could do was to delay as much as possible and do its best to keep the island of Ireland.

The largest of the British Isles, Great Britain, is already doomed to total loss. Although the Germans had captured only a small part of the island of Great Britain, the last of the British forces were concentrated around London, and London was not protected, and there were no troops to defend it behind.

Even if England has not yet fallen completely, and Scotland is still unscathed, the tragic thing is that the British army no longer has the strength to defend the land that has not yet been lost.

This is a typical loss of people for the sake of land, and as a result, people and land are lost.

"Commander, it seems that Lord Goth can't hold it on the home side." Wavell's lieutenant, who had read the telegram, whispered: "The future of the British Empire depends on us." ”

"Count on us ......," Wavell repeated softly.

After a while, Wavell smiled helplessly and wryly: "The local people are counting on us, who can we count on?" Our army was already inferior in strength, and now it is no longer possible for the mainland to provide any assistance to North Africa. It's better if the war goes well, but now ....."

"When the armored forces on the right flank attacked the outer positions of the Alphaya Pass, they were blocked by a powerful German anti-tank gun and suffered heavy losses. Of the 39 tanks in the first attack, 35 were destroyed by the damn anti-tank guns of the Germans. ”

"A Matilda tank regiment in the middle. For the spearhead, it was planned to quickly take the fort of Kapcuo. Wavell gritted his teeth and said to the adjutant with difficulty: "In the middle of the road, we did not encounter the powerful anti-tank guns of the German army, and the most common 37-mm anti-tank guns of the German army were basically encountered. ”

"But our armored troops in the middle can't beat the armored forces deployed by the Germans in the middle!" Wavell clutched his head as he almost collapsed.

"On the left, our 7th Tank Brigade, equipped with cruiser tanks, was supposed to outflank the German flank, but was ambushed by the German flank at Hafid Ridge and retreated to its original position."

Wavell said that his adjutant was also clear.

Originally, Wavell's plan was that in the three-way attack, even if one of them succeeded, he could achieve a breakthrough and achieve strategic goals.

As a result, it now seems that the three-way offensive did not succeed all the way. On the contrary, several attacks were met with pre-set ambushes and counterattacks by the Germans.

In particular, the new anti-tank guns that appeared inexplicably in the German army are even more powerful and incredible. Wavell was surprised to find that none of the tanks in his hands could withstand even one shot of the powerful anti-tank guns of the German army!

In fact, the British army concentrated the 4th Indian Division and the 22nd Guards Brigade in the Alfaya Valley, and the divisions launched attacks on the pass from both sides. As a result, the German artillery of unknown origin happened to be fired violently at the pass, and they suffered heavy losses.

In the first large-scale tank duel between Britain and Germany in the true sense of Kapcuo, the British army tried their best, but only slightly suppressed the German tanks that were inferior to their own.

In the debriefing, the front-line troops have already reported that the number of German tanks is significantly less than their own. This also means that a large part of the German tanks, which were originally armored and had the same number of tanks as the British army, must have not appeared.

The enemy who did not appear was the most terrifying enemy, which made Wavell feel weak and timid.

"Commander, should we withdraw our troops now?" The adjutant suggested with some confusion.

At this time, the adjutant thought of the general Montgomery who had stayed in Egypt. Before the start of the war, Montgomery said that this time the offensive forces were too scattered and the offensive would inevitably be weak.

As a result, now, as Montgomery predicted, the three offensives were fought very hard, and the German army of Rommel's African Army alone was so difficult to fight.

Coupled with the Italian troops under Rommel, plus the French and Italian troops in the hands of Beranger and Garibaldi, Wavell's British army in North Africa suddenly appeared "under pressure".

"Order the center to intensify the offensive, concentrate the armored forces to take Fort Kaptso, and then occupy Musse near there, and detour to the rear of the German defenders in Halfaya!"

In the end, Wavell had no choice but to order his strongest troops in the first lane, the most armored army in the center, to intensify the attack.

"After the capture of Halfaya, be sure to ask the German prisoners what kind of anti-tank guns they are using to hit our tanks." Wavell added with trepidation as he remembered his huge tank losses.

......

"The British are going to attack Fort Kapcuo, so we'll give them Kapcuo."

At the same moment, in the headquarters of the German-Italian African Army, Rommel confidently joked to his subordinates.

His last attack, which failed due to a serious lack of troops, threw him into disgrace.

And this time, Rommel, who commanded the entire German-Italian African Army, found that before he could exert his strength, the British Wavell side was almost unable to support it.

In Rommel's hands, there was also a German panzer regiment, an Italian light armored division, 2 Italian infantry divisions that did not go into battle. Only the 30th Infantry Division deployed by General Hans on both flanks and the two armored regiments sent by Rommel to the center did not attack the British at all.

Since the British army has fought so softly, it will be much easier to deal with the next.

Rommel smiled slyly, and then ordered: "Leave Hans in the German defensive positions around Fort Kaptso and Musse, and transfer them to the two divisions of the Italians, deliberately lose to Wavell, and put his troops into the Halfaya Valley." In addition, let the German 2nd Panzer Regiment and the Italian 15th Light Panzer Division pass through Sidioma and attack the flank of the British army in the center. ”

After giving the order to fight back, Rommel easily picked up a kettle on the table and drank the water relaxedly.

Water is also a scarce resource in Africa. As the strength of the Triple Alliance continues to grow, so does the pressure on the supply of drinking water.

Now, even Rommel, commander-in-chief of the German-Italian African Army, has a limited amount of water to drink every day. Each time, Rommel ended a meeting with a kettle open to drink water and relax.

Rommel drank water immediately after giving the order to counterattack, which actually meant that he thought that the combat meeting could be over, and there was nothing to continue.

He was confident enough in his counterattack plan!