The Germans had two options, one was to go around to the El Alamein Line and join the rest of the forces to encircle the British.

For example, the 21st Panzer Division could go around to the Ruwai Isat Ridge and flank the Indian troops stationed there with the 15th Panzer Division. It is conceivable that it would not take much time for the Germans to win a war and break through the British lines with the 15th Panzer Division.

Another option was to go straight to Alexandria, the main supply port for the British army, from which supplies and ammunition were sent to the front by rail.

Both of these are good options.

However, General Auchinleck judged that the Germans would choose the latter, because the Germans did not have much time...... It was now five hours before dawn, and that was about the time when the Germans arrived in Alexandria and attacked.

If the Germans had captured Alexandria, the entire El Alamein line would undoubtedly have collapsed.

Conversely, if the Germans had chosen the former, they would not have been able to reach Alexander in time and capture it before dawn.

As we all know, the daylight belongs to the British, and the British Air Force has an absolute superiority and is close to the water...... The British had airfields in Alexandria and Cairo, and the Germans had airfields two hundred kilometers away.

Therefore, as soon as the sky was dark, the German tanks could not avoid being ruthlessly attacked by the British Air Force.

In other words, the former would at best collapse the northern section of the El Alamein Line, and the British would be able to retreat from El Alamein and build a new line of defense in Alexandria despite heavy losses.

The Germans were clearly not going to be satisfied with such a small victory.

Thus, General Auchinleck knew how to fight this battle.

Without saying a word, he took up a pen and a ruler, connected the two points of Dilsiin and Alexander on the map, and said: "This is probably the route of the Germans, and send scouts to follow and reconnoiter at once!" ”

"Yes, sir!" Major General Richie answered the call and went to make arrangements.

Then General Auchinlake issued a series of orders, and his battle plan can be boiled down to two points.

One: Send troops along the way to fight and harass the German army.

Originally, it was supposed to be surrounded and intercepted, but General Auchinleck did not dare to set the goal too high, because he knew that the British army's combat effectiveness was inferior to the German army, and no British army, including the 7th Panzer Division, could stop the German 21st Panzer Division, which had been verified before.

On the other hand, it is also because desert operations are very special, and its transportation can be said to be accessible everywhere, so unless it is several times the number of troops and the equipment has an absolute advantage, it is unrealistic to encircle, pursue, and intercept.

Therefore, General Auchinleck only intended to slow down the German march, and if the Germans could not attack Alexander before dawn, then the plan would be half the battle.

This task was entrusted to the remnants of the 5th Armored Brigade and the British 15th Panzer Division, which had just been formed and equipped with 200 "Stuart" tanks.

Two: to strengthen the defense in the Alexandria direction.

Because General Auchinleck had piled almost all of his troops and equipment on the El Alamein Line, Alexander's forces were empty.

However, Alexander was connected by rail to the front line, so General Ochinleck ordered the remnants of the 2nd New Zealand Division to ...... More than 2,000 men were transferred back to Alexandria, supplemented by Egypt's 3rd African Division.

Alexander was also helpless about this, and the British army was so short of troops that it was outrageous.

In fact, even if the British army suffered heavy losses in the previous battles, its total strength was still several times that of the German army.

The reason for the extreme shortage of troops is that the strategic thinking of the British army is defensive ...... The defending side will inevitably need more troops, and most of these forces will not be able to concentrate or even support each other.

For example, now, the British army is deployed on a 55-kilometer-long El Alamein defensive line, and even if the British army has more than 100,000 people, the average is more than 2,000 people per kilometer. If you support other areas, you will have to "tear down the east wall and make up the west wall".

And the strategic thinking of the German army was mainly offensive.

The offensive could concentrate forces and equipment to break through from one point, so it constituted a force advantage for the British army in a local area.

It is not possible to say which tactic is better between the two, and a unit with a complex composition and low quality like the British army, especially a unit with too traditional command tactics, is indeed more suitable for defense...... Historically, they used defense and powerful supplies and equipment to drag down the German army, which had a quality advantage.

General Auchinlake's plan was quickly implemented.

The British scouts were scattered like beans on the enemy's possible march routes, and these scouts were very difficult to spot, because it was very easy to hide in the desert, and the scouts only had to bury themselves in the sand and only show a little head to observe or breathe, so that they could not be detected at all except when they walked in front of them or rolled directly on the wheels.

Then these scouts reported the position to the command, which in turn sent the coordinates to the artillerymen...... So the shells exploded in pieces near the 21st Panzer Division.

However, this artillery fire coverage hit rate is very low.

In the process of artillery bombing, the coordinates should be given and several guns should be used for test firing, and then the observer will adjust according to the deviation of the shell's explosion point from the target, such as whether it hits far or closer, and whether it is east or west.

The problem was that it was a dark night with very low visibility, and it was difficult for artillery observers hiding in the shadows to determine the location of the target, especially since the German 21st Panzer Division was still moving at full speed, often escaping from the observer's line of sight in a few minutes.

So Qin Chuan and the others always heard the whistling and explosion of shells, but it was rare to see a few shells hit the target.

"Are the British firing a salute?" Werner scoffed: "They are so nice, I have never enjoyed such a welcome ceremony!" ”

The warriors couldn't help but laugh when they heard this.

"We'll give them a gift in return!" The baker said with a smile.

The baker was right, and soon the German artillery fire soon rang out...... German scouts were also scattered, and when they spotted the fire fired by the British, they reported the coordinates to their own artillerymen.

And the German artillery opened fire at the same time as revealing themselves.

So the back and forth of you and me soon turned into an artillery battle between the enemy and us, and the main force of the 21st Panzer Division calmed down.

"Oh!" Werner put on a regretful expression: "The salute is over!" ”

"Don't take it lightly!" Kuhn said: "The British are not going to let it go like this!" ”