The 21st Panzer Division arrived 20 kilometers west of the El Alamein Line in the evening of the next day, and then stopped.

Anything further into the range of the enemy's artillery meant the beginning of the battle, and the German soldiers needed to rest...... They had not rested for two days and two nights, and the soldiers had been fighting almost all before that, and they needed time to regain a little combat effectiveness and not just crash into the muzzles and muzzles of the enemy's guns.

General Stryk took advantage of this time to call Qin Chuan to the command car.

"Look at this!" General Stryk spread out the map in front of Qin Chuan and Colonel Strein and other officers, and said: "Although we have arrived at El Alamein, the situation is not optimistic, according to the intelligence we have detected...... The British 13th Army was stationed in the northern sector of the El Alamein Line, and its main force was the Indian 4th Division. The 30th Army was stationed in the southern section of the defensive line, and the main force was the Australian 6th Infantry Division. ”

"At least their forces are scattered!" Colonel Slain said: "They have a 55-kilometer defensive line, and they don't dare to reinforce easily!" ”

"Yes!" General Stryk said, "But there is no good news beyond that! ”

"We should attack right away!" Colonel Albridge said: "The enemy's line of defense is not strong enough, as long as the air force is able to suppress the enemy's artillery and protect the air, our tanks can break through the enemy's line!" ”

"That's the problem, Colonel!" General Stryk pointed to the map and said, "We can't get enough air cover!" ”

"Isn't the 27th Fighter Wing fully stationed in Africa?" Colonel Slane asked.

"Yes!" General Stryk replied: "The problem is that our offensive is so fast that the air force is far behind us!" ”

Colonel Albridge and the others couldn't help but laugh proudly, though they didn't quite understand what General Stryk meant.

General Stryk then explained: "The 27th Fighter Wing is located in Tobruk, and they have about 70 fighters and 50 bombers. It is not impossible to break through the enemy's lines if you can get full cover from these fighters and bombers......"

Speaking of this, Stryk pointed to the map and continued: "But the problem is that Tobruk is about six hundred kilometers away from us, and our fighters have a range of only seven hundred kilometers!" ”

The officers couldn't help but let out an "oh".

Although the BF109 has various advantages, its range has always been its shortcoming, which directly affects the effectiveness of German bombing on the British mainland...... Because of the lack of range, the BF109 escorting the bombers could only turn back halfway, and the British fighters took advantage of this time to massacre the German bombers without fighter escort.

As it is now, Tobruk has 600 kilometers to the El Alamein Line, while the BF109 has a range of 700 kilometers, which means that the fighter can fly to the battle of El Alamein and cannot fly back.

"So!" Stryk continued: "General Rommel needed to build a makeshift airfield in Matrouh, which was only 200 kilometers away from us, which would have met our needs...... Fighters and bombers can land in Matrouh to refuel and then fly over El Alamein to cover us, the problem is that the temporary airfield in Matrouh can only accommodate a maximum of thirty planes, and we don't have enough fuel either! ”

This should be said to be the fault of the Italians...... The logistics were taken care of by the Italians.

If the Italians did their best, there would be nothing wrong with that.

But Italians are more concerned about the pain of the skin...... To put it simply, they will get nervous when the enemy hits their doorstep, and if they know that the enemy is far away in the El Alamein Line, then they will be hanging.

It is important to know that Tobruk is only 400 kilometers from Matru, and there are roads in between...... When the British occupied Tobruk, they built a road between the two places.

In addition, the Luftwaffe stationed in Tobruk can protect the safety of the transportation line, and it is not a big problem for the car to drive 200 kilometers a day and night, and a large amount of fuel supplies can be transported to Tobruk in two days.

But even with Rommel's personal organization of constant urging, the Italian convoy continued to move forward while resting on the road, covering only a hundred kilometers in a day and night.

Rommel once took his plane to check on the situation, only to find that the Italian soldiers below had parked their cars on the seashore and lit a bonfire while barbecuing food while singing and dancing, which only made Rommel half angry.

Later, Rommel learned that there was a reason why the Italian army behaved like this......

The British are conservative in some respects and shrewd in others.

The British used a discord at this critical time: they spread the word through the underground that Cairo had a great deal of wealth, and if the Germans were allowed to break through the El Alamein line and occupy Cairo, then the wealth would belong to the Germans, and the Italians would have nothing to gain.

This is mostly true, for example, Cairo as the capital of Egypt did have a lot of wealth, and it was even known as the City of Gold because of its well-developed jewellery trade.

In addition, the Germans did get ahead of the Italian army, and they were running all the way non-stop...... It's a bit like rushing to grab gold.

So the Italian soldiers believed, and even Admiral Garibal, who hoped that the Germans would be able to keep the Italian army in the attack...... In this way, Italy could share the glory of marching into Cairo.

Then came this ridiculous scene, no matter what Rommel urged, the Italians were behind the scenes. Even the tanker that could have sailed to Matru to unload its cargo had to go to Tobruk.

"Well, how many fighters can we get cover!" Colonel Albridge asked, frowning.

"Up to sixty at a time!" General Stryk replied: "And for the time being, there is only enough fuel for them to make three sorties!" ”

Albridge shook his head helplessly, you must know that the British have more than 500 fighters and bombers, while the Germans only have 60 fighters...... Only one in nine, and only three sorties.

On the contrary, the British airfield was located in Alexandria, which was only 75 kilometers from the El Alamein Line, and its fighters could easily and quickly travel between Alexander and El Alamein to replenish fuel and ammunition...... Under the trade-off of one another, its combat effectiveness is not just a matter of nine times.

"So!" Colonel Slein said, "We can only attack at night!" ”

"Yes!" General Stryk nodded: "Actually...... General Rommel has already made a battle plan! ”