"There is no road on the map, and I think the slope is quite steep and it will be difficult to climb."

The company deputy is telling the truth, Matilda II is an infantry tank, but it does not mean that it will definitely be able to go where the infantry can reach, due to the suspension system and engine horsepower problems, climbing has always been the weak point of this tank. On the French front, this kind of tank not only could not climb the slope, but even had some difficulty in crossing the ditch, so the so-called French battlefield type was specially developed, and a barrel-shaped skid was installed behind the tank butt, so as not to fall into the trench and climb up.

"It's really not going to work, we have to go around, this mountain is three hundred feet high, what is the place in front of it called, Monastery Lake? Where are there monasteries? Turning on the lights in the turret, Philip took the map and leaned in under the lights.

"I don't know, sir, you know I've never been here." Blanche replied in the headset.

"Let's take a detour to the other side of the hill and turn left again on Akham Road, where there's a road up the hill that should allow heavy equipment to pass through, pick up speed, those infantry may already be waiting."

"Understood, sir, I don't know what the situation is up there, I contacted them on the radio earlier, but there was no response." After the first mate's answer, the three Matilda in the front row increased their horsepower and began to pick up speed.

The lights on the main armor shone on the tail of the tank in front, and black smoke from the engine exhaust pipe was clearly visible, due to the fact that the fuel was not fully burned. Because of the shortage of parts, the engines of these tanks have more or less minor problems, so they are usually very careful to use, the drivers have been avoiding running this delicate machine at full power, they have lost the logistics repair unit, before getting new parts to replenish, must be carefully controlled and maintained, as long as possible to prolong the use of time.

Rounding the Minnes Trail, the convoy turned onto a trail called the Cox Hill Bend. It's a one-lane gravel road that looks like it's been a long uphill slope from here, and the tank has to add some power.

The trail is surrounded by dense woods, which can be a bit eerie in the dark of night, and the surrounding terrain is undulating, with shrubs and trees, and it is sure to be a wild sight if you come during the day. Major Philip couldn't help but sigh that it was no wonder that someone had built the monastery here, on the outskirts of Dover, where the towns and villages were densely populated. This is indeed a place of meditation in the middle of nowhere.

The tank company dragged a long marching formation, roaring slowly on the forest path, and vaguely saw a few black buildings not far from the side of the road in the gap between the trees, the company commander felt that it might be the ancient monastery on the map, but now the military affairs are in his body, and he cannot be slack, otherwise he would be very interested in exploring the past and searching for the past.

The woods blocked most of the daylight, and the only source of light for the convoy was the two tank headlights, as there were no anti-aircraft lampshades. So the bright light can shine far away. The tank company soon drove out of the woods, and Major Philip observed all the way, but never found the lake marked on the map, so he felt a little regretful. And make up your mind that when the war is free, you must come here to have a good tour and enjoy the local monuments.

Major Philip realized that his team was on a downward slope. This made him feel a little confused, and he slipped into the turret to examine the map again, and suddenly realized that he might be on the wrong track.

"Captain Blanche. We may have gone too far, and we should have turned left before entering the woods, where there is a path that goes around Cox Mountain.

"Oh, sir, didn't you say to go from the monastery lake, and from the map we haven't reached the lake yet, what should we do now, let's turn around and go back?" The deputy was obviously a little irritable, because according to the stipulated time, they were already half an hour late.

"Forget it, let's keep going, this road also intersects with Arkham Road, we're just about three more miles around, it's too late anyway, so let's keep going."

The company continued to advance, and soon Philip saw the lake he was looking for, and there was an old stone bridge over the lake, and the first tank did not go up to the bridge, but stopped at the edge of the bridge with the front row.

"What's the problem? Why not go through. "The Major felt something strange.

"Sir, this bridge is limited in weight, and our tanks are ten tons overweight and can't get through here." The tank of the company officer drove to the side of the company commander's car, and the captain reported loudly to the commander.

"Hell, there's no sign of this restriction on the map, so we're in trouble." The tank company commander took off his military hat and scratched the hair on the back of his head vigorously.

"Okay, we're tanks, there's no road to move forward, drive down the roadbed, we can go through this woodland, it's less than two hundred feet past the road, we're going to pick up speed." Philip felt it was a way to go, and now that this is a downhill slope, Matilda's cross-country ability will not be much of an impact, and he should be able to cross this sparse woodland and reach the Arkham road in no time.

The Matilda tank company began to turn on the path, climbed off the roadbed and ran over the lawn, heading for the road in the distance. This is woodland, strictly speaking, just a lawn, with a few shrubs and individual trees growing sparsely, which is unobstructed for Matilda's tanks, and they can even clearly see the mountains on the other side of the road.

"That's Mount Akham, and there's a beautiful villa on the hill, and its owner built it like a palace."

The Major looked up at the black hill, which was seventy feet higher than Mount Cox on the other side, and wondered why the Army didn't occupy the top of the hill, which was the commanding height from which to control the valleys on both sides, and if an artillery and a battalion of infantry were placed on it, they could block the area within three or four miles of the perimeter, and he began to worry about the military skills of the Dover garrison.

"Over this hill is the town of Temple Ewell, where the Seventh Queen's personal cavalry was wiped out, sir." Lian Deputy specially reminded on the radio.

"The whole company is on alert, the Germans may be around here, and we may encounter them at any moment." Philip gave the order to the entire company by radio.

He was now secretly regretting that he had known that he should have turned around and retreated, and had made a detour of the path at the foot of Cox Hill to reach the position, and with the support of the regular position, they would be much safer.

Now that he had taken his troops to this wilderness for the sake of convenience, he realized how close this position was to the place where the Germans had appeared in the report, and the major began to cheer up, carefully observing the surroundings, and perhaps hiding the German paratroopers in the dark bushes, perhaps they were now aiming their rifles at him, ready to shoot deadly bullets at any moment.

Thinking of this, Philip felt a chill run in the back of his head, and he bent down and burrowed into the turret, ready to take his steel helmet from the turret. It was this action that saved his life, and just as he was bending down into the turret, a string of tracer bullets came from the slopes of Mount Ackham, dragging white tracer machine gun bullets into the turret of his Matilda, sending out a spark of sparks, two of which hit the open canopy of the commander's exit, where Philip had just stood.

"Alert! Attention all! Enemy machine guns! Philip slipped on the turret floor, picked up the radio microphone on his chest, and loudly sounded the battle alarm.

"Fight back! Kill that machine gun! As the lead car of the lead platoon, his Matilda began to turn the turret, and before firing the gun, he fired a burst of tracer bullets with a coaxial machine gun, and the blue-white tracer bullets swept into the hillside in an arc, and the company officer judged that it should be a bush.

"Reloaded!" The gunner shouted loudly.

"Fire." Without hesitation, Blanche gave the order to open fire.

The gunner's shoulders pressed against the shoulder rest of the two-pound gun, adjusted the angle slightly, aimed at the place where the tracer bullet fell, and pulled the firing wrench hard.

After a roar, a 40-millimeter grenade was fired towards the pitch-black hills. The deputy company commander was correct in his judgment, it was indeed a bush, shells exploded in the bushes, a beautiful white fireball lit up on the hillside, unburned gunpowder and incendiary agent scattered in an arc in all directions, lit the dry grass on the ground, and the flames began to burn, illuminating the nearby bushes and bushes.

To the disappointment of the British, the shell did not seem to hit their desired target, and the British did not achieve any results except for setting fire to a bush.

But just as the British gunner continued to search for the target in the scope, suddenly a bright flame lit up in his lens, and under the reflection of the fire, the gunner vaguely saw the object behind the flames, and he believed that it was a tank, although the shell was dyed orange by the firelight, but he was sure that it was a tank.

It was the last thought on the British gunner's mind, and a second later, a high-velocity armor-piercing bullet hit Matilda's hull head-on, and it entered from under the driver's viewing window, easily penetrating the 75 mm steel plate, tearing the pilot's body apart, and then flew into the bottom of the turret, exploding on the ammunition rack between the gunner's legs.

With a loud bang, Matilda's turret lifted from the seat and rested on the hole in the hull, in the gap between the turret and the seat, the orange-yellow flames whistled and sprayed wildly, the machine gun powder of the vehicle ammunition began to detonate one after another, and a 40-millimeter warhead rolled out of the turret exit, and a beautiful firework exploded on the lawn. (To be continued......)