The cannon rang out the moment the flare came on.

German tank guns, anti-tank guns, howitzers, mortars, etc., smashed a swath of shells towards the British self-propelled howitzer positions.

AS A HOWITZER, THE PROTECTION OF THE M7 SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZER IS QUITE EXCELLENT, AND ITS FRONTAL ARMOR IS UP TO 51MM THICK, WHICH IS EVEN MORE THAN THE FRONTAL ARMOR OF THE GERMAN "NO. 3" TANK.

This is one of the reasons why General Stryker wanted to encircle and annihilate the 5th Artillery Regiment......

The M7 self-propelled howitzer has the advantages of long range, thick armor and quite good maneuverability, which determines that it will pose a considerable threat to tank battle groups.

If a tank battle group collides head-on with the M7 howitzer group, the tank group must be close to about a kilometer to pose a threat to the M7 howitzer group, and the M7 can in principle hit the enemy tank group with artillery fire from 11 kilometers away.

Coupled with its top speed of 42 kilometers per hour, as long as the M7 is willing, it can always keep a distance from the German "No. 3" tank, forming a kind of "I can hit you and you can't hit me" advantage.

In the end, even if they came into range of each other face to face, the M7 relied on the thickness of the frontal armor and was not without a fight.

Of course, no gear can be perfect.

The disadvantage of the M7 is that the armor is open, that is, there is no armor on the top, and its side armor is not only thin but also full of shells...... In fact, this is a last resort, one of the most important standards of artillery is the shell, and the self-propelled gun must be loaded in the barrel in order to achieve the purpose of fighting and leaving.

This problem existed during the trial production of the M7...... Originally, it could only hold 24 shells, and it had to be reloaded after a single round, which made it less advantageous than trailer guns.

As a result, the Yankees forcibly transformed the M7 into a shell that could carry 69 shells......

69 ROUNDS, AND IT IS ALSO A 105MM CALIBER SHELL, SO THAT THE SIDES OF THE GUN BODY AND EVEN THE GUNNER'S FEET ARE COVERED WITH SHELLS, AND THE CREW CAN BE SAID TO BE SITTING ON A STOCK OF AMMUNITION.

This is undoubtedly very dangerous in actual combat, just like now, when a German high-explosive armor-piercing shell pierced a self-propelled howitzer, it immediately caused the shell to detonate. With just a "boom", a majestic steel monster disappeared from everyone's sight in an instant and turned into a ball of flames.

And because the self-propelled howitzers were open, the exploding shrapnel flew indiscriminately on the battlefield, killing and wounding the gunners of several nearby self-propelled howitzers.

The German mortars and howitzers were not weak, and they rained down shells on the British as fast as they could, and in an instant the howitzer position was blown into a pot of porridge.

The British were powerless...... Large-caliber guns are always suitable for long-range fire, and the M7 is no exception, with its gun firing angle of 35 degrees, which gives it a near-range of 800 meters, and the Germans at this time are on the verge of this closest range. This left the British with only self-defence weapons in the upper right corner...... 12.7MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT MACHINE GUN.

But even this did not help, because the huge body of the vehicles made them a good target for the Germans, and they sitting on shells would disappear from this world in an instant if they were hit.

But it also seems to be a blessing, because they can at least die without pain...... A violent explosion would tear their bodies and consciousness to shreds before they realized the pain.

This battle had nothing to do with Qin Chuan's infantry, because for those violent explosions and skyrocketing flames, the rifles in their hands and the bullets fired were really insignificant.

The bombardment lasted for fifteen minutes, and the British finally had a chance to raise the white flag and let the Germans see it, so the shelling slowly stopped.

In fact, the Germans were ready to capture this American equipment from the beginning...... They have always been interested in equipment that can be maneuverable. It's just that they have to destroy the enemy's will to resist in the first place, otherwise things are likely to get out of control.

In the end, the Germans captured 52 self-propelled howitzers and 20 cars loaded with shells.

General Stryk was a treasure trove of captured equipment.

The reason for this is that the self-propelled howitzer is simple to operate, although it uses the chassis of a medium tank, it still operates as a gun rather than a tank.

The difference between the two is that the tank requires the coordination of the commander, gunner, etc., which is difficult to do without a few weeks of training, and even if it is barely put into the battlefield, it will often become a target for the enemy's tank because of poor coordination.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZERS, WHICH ONLY REQUIRE A DRIVER, AND THE OTHERS ARE ACTUALLY GUNNERS, WHICH IS NOT VERY DIFFERENT FROM OPERATING A 105MM HOWITZER. The Germans even had to weave together the driver of the car and the gunner.

General Stryk immediately handed over the captured self-propelled guns to the artillery regiment and ordered them to adjust their own crew members and learn how to operate them in the shortest possible time.

General Stryker proved to be right in doing so, and these self-propelled howitzers relied on their excellent mobility to provide strong artillery cover for the 21st Panzer Division in the subsequent battles, and they cooperated with other German artillery to suppress more than 300 British guns.

Then General Stryker did not dare to delay any longer, and he commanded the 21st Panzer Division to attack Alexander.

On the other side, General Ochinleke heard the news, and his face was like ashes as if the sky had fallen.

In fact, he didn't get the exact news until half an hour later...... The Indian 4th Infantry Division, along with its headquarters, was buried, and the headquarters of the 5th Artillery Regiment was blown up in the first place, and neither of them had time or opportunity to report to Ochinlek.

It wasn't until the British scouts met the fleeing Indian soldiers and inquired about the situation that they found out that the situation was much more serious than expected.

This is also the charm of speed, and it is also one of the reasons why the German army's "blitzkrieg" has repeatedly achieved miraculous results on the battlefield...... Rapid strikes often make the enemy too late to react, because the enemy will always encounter problems of one kind or another in communication and coordination, especially in the complex composition of the troops, and even more so at night when communication is difficult and fighters cannot take off.

"General, what now?" Major General Richie asked anxiously.

General Ochinlek shook his head slightly, he didn't know what to do.

Because he did not even know the location of the Germans, which meant that it was impossible to determine the direction of the German offensive...... As a result, the El Alamein line is full of loopholes, and it must be guarded against everywhere.

After thinking about it for a moment, General Auchinleck set his eyes on Alexander.

"Alexander!" General Auchinleck said: "They will attack Alexandria!" ”