The goal of the Germans, of course, was not Cairo, but the destruction of the living forces of the British army...... As long as the British army can be wiped out, then what strategic points, what Suez Canal, are not all Germans?!

But Ochinleck woke up too late, the 7th Armored Division had lost its combat effectiveness, and the Australian Infantry Division had also suffered heavy losses, and they were even in danger of being surrounded and annihilated after paying more than 2,000 casualties......

The 6th Australian Infantry Division, the predecessor of which was the 3rd Division of the Australian Imperial Corps, was a Щщщш that had participated in the First World War. lā

Of course, most of these WW1 soldiers have been discharged from the army and replaced with fresh blood, but most of the officers are veterans with extensive combat experience who know how to train their soldiers or how to effectively command their troops in battle.

In addition, the special thing about the Australian colonial army is ......

Other colonial armies, such as the South African Colonial Army and the Indian Colonial Army, were not only mid- and high-ranking officers who were British, but also low-ranking officers...... The British army was to better control the colonial army, and on the other hand, the quality of soldiers in South Africa and India was too poor, and they didn't know what to do without British grassroots officers to direct them.

The Australian army is different, it is basically Australian from top to bottom, only the supreme commander or staff officer is British...... This was not because of distrust of the Australian army, but because it was to better coordinate with the rest of the British army.

There are many reasons why this can happen, on the one hand, Australians have a common ancestor with the British...... Britain has exiled criminals to Australia since the 17th century, so many Australians are the descendants of these criminals, they are linguistic, culturally and culturally common, Australia also recognizes Britain as its home country, so there is a strong willingness and consciousness to fight for the British army.

The other point is that Australian soldiers have more combat experience and better quality than the colonial armies of South Africa and India, so they are in a position to fight independently.

All this makes the combat effectiveness of the Australian infantry division second to none in North Africa.

For example, in this battle, although they fell into the ambush of the German Panzer Division and suffered heavy losses, they actively organized a defense in the face of danger.

In the end, they retreated to a hill and formed a ring of positions...... This was obviously the right thing to do, because as an infantry division, they could not outrun tanks and armor-piercing vehicles.

Stopping and holding on, for example, by planting mines in front of the position and then placing anti-tank guns in a condescending position, you can use the terrain to weaken the combat effectiveness of enemy tanks as much as possible...... The tank gun has a limited elevation angle, and it is difficult to hit the Australian troops on the hills, and the tank will be difficult to aim on the uneven hills because the body is not level.

These are all manifestations of the experience of the Australian infantry divisions.

Then, the Australian army summoned British fighters to coordinate with it several times to repel the German attack...... This came as a surprise to the Germans and even General Stryker, who had thought that the 21st Panzer Division would be able to easily defeat the Australian Infantry Division.

Another surprise was Major General Burton...... was also attacked by the Germans, and the Australian Infantry Division fought well, while the 7th Armored Division was completely retreated and did not even have time to summon fighters to fight together, which made Major General Bolton feel embarrassed.

General Stryk didn't waste much time on the Australian Infantry Division...... If the Germans attacked with all their might, they would have been able to break through the Australian infantry division's line and crush it completely, but it was not necessary. British fighters have already discovered the location of the German Panzer Division, and the 21st Panzer Division will suffer heavy casualties if it continues to fight like this, exchanging valuable tanks for enemy infantry...... General Stryk would not do such a stupid thing.

The German gain in this battle was that there were more than a thousand more Australian prisoners in the back of the convoy...... The British and Australian armies successfully met here as prisoners.

On the other side, General Auchinleck was almost hysterical and constantly sending telegrams asking: "Where are the Germans going?" Where are they? ”

"General!" Major General Achill, commander of the 6th Australian Infantry Division, replied after reconnaissance: "They may be returning to Sidioma!" ”

"Sidioma?" General Ochinleke asked, "What are they going to do there?" ”

"I don't know!" Achill replied: "They may be trying to bring Tobruk back!" ”

General Ochinlek took the telegram and muttered to himself: "Back to Tobruk? That's impossible! They were running back and forth in the desert, and there were no more supplies left to get back to Tobruk, unless ......"

Then General Auchinleck opened his mouth wide and couldn't close it for a long time.

"What happened? Checkmate? Major General Richie asked when he saw that General Auchinleck's face was not right.

"Have they confirmed that Sidioma's supplies have been bombed?" General Auchinlake asked.

"Of course, General!" Major General Ritchie replied: "How could the Germans possibly leave supplies to us......"

Before he could finish speaking, Major General Richie realized what the problem was.

"Oh my God!" Rear Admiral Rich said, "They weren't just trying to fool us, they didn't blow up the supplies!" ”

Without saying a word, General Auchinlake immediately contacted the 7th Panzer Division and the 6th Infantry Division, and the results were exactly as they expected, and they did not dig up and verify whether the supplies were really blown up......

But then again, who's going to verify that in that case?

"We've been tricked by them again!" General Auchinlake said, "Are we too stupid? ”

"No, General!" Major General Richie replied: "It's they who are too cunning!" ”

"Do we have troops that can reach Sidioma?" General Auchinlake asked.

Major General Ritchie looked at the map, then shook his head: "All the nearby troops are involved in the pursuit, they can't get to Sidioma ahead of the Germans!" ”

After a long silence, General Ochinleck said weakly: "Retreat!" ”

"Which force is it to retreat, General?" Major General Richie asked.

"All!" General Auchinleck replied: "We lost!" ”

General Auchinleck was right, because the German 21st Panzer Division had already received enough cars, and if they were to go back to Sidioma and fill them all with supplies, then the rest of the situation would be known without thinking:

The British 7th Panzer Division, the main force of the British army, had been routed, and the 13th Army's armoured units were all slow infantry tanks such as Matilda and Valentine, and the Germans could make full use of the mobility of their tanks to break the British army, just as it defeated the various parts of the 30th Army separately, and the British parts would not even be able to reinforce each other because of the speed of the tanks...... This made the British army like a plate of sand.

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