It's easy to understand that Rommel was a general who was used to "maneuvering", moving his troops when attacking, and also when defending. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

This is a bit like Liao Yaoxiang's drum defense in Burma, the drum defense is a battle line after a front, the enemy always encounters the enemy's defense line on the front line, while Rommel's defense is a mine array after a mine array, and the British army is always in front of a mine array.

Of course, this minefield will not be as simple as Ramsden said, bombard a road with shells and then it can be broken through...... Such a breakthrough would inevitably lead to the problem that the troops had to follow the path of the shells, so that the Germans could easily know the route of the British attack, and then they could easily intercept or mass-inflict the British forces with artillery fire or warplanes.

To make matters worse, because the Germans had the advantage in air power, the British had to attack at night, and it was obviously extremely dangerous to go into a minefield at night.

"So ......," Ramsden asked, "what are we going to do?" ”

"I don't know!" Zhang Chi spread his hands: "I warned you a long time ago, didn't I?" The consequence of delaying the fighter is that it will require multiple casualties and even failure! ”

As he spoke, Zhang Chi sat on the side and read the documents while drinking coffee.

Montgomery and Ramsden glanced at each other, and both saw the helplessness in the other's eyes.

But even so, Montgomery and Ramsden eventually developed an offensive plan.

In fact, this is not an offensive plan, because it does not have any new ideas, it is to gather troops, prepare artillery fire, and then attack under the cover of tanks...... There were no flanking detours, no sneak attacks, just a simple frontal attack, but because Montgomery was careful and carefully planned every detail of the attack.

After making this plan, Montgomery showed it to Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi only shook his head slightly, and it is no wonder that later generations will comment that Montgomery fought a "World War I type" battle in North Africa, which is simply a copy of the trench warfare of World War I, the difference is that the aircraft, artillery and tanks are more advanced.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Montgomery asked.

"No, I didn't!" Zhang Chi replied.

Zhang Chi is not gambling with Montgomery, he knows that this is a battlefield, and acting willfully will kill many people, he is not so immature. Zhang Chi just really didn't think of a good solution.

Outflanked?

It would be difficult to outflank the desert without being detected by the German air force, because it would be a large convoy full of food, water, and gasoline for cars and tanks...... And if these cars were attacked by the German air power, this force would die of thirst in the desert due to lack of water.

So there is no doubt that doing so without air supremacy is extremely dangerous, even more dangerous than a frontal attack.

Sneak attack?

The Germans planted hundreds of thousands of mines in front of the defensive line, and any sneak attack had to be carried out first through the minefield without detonating a single mine.

"This could be a big toy!" Zhang Chi said.

"Yes, I know!" Montgomery replied calmly.

Montgomery's reaction surprised Zhang Chi, because Britain paid nearly a million casualties in World War I, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Britain, which had a small population, and after that, Britain tried to avoid mass casualties on the battlefield similar to those in World War I, but Montgomery was so indifferent.

Looking at the offensive sequence in the offensive plan, Zhang Chi understood that it was still India, Austria and other colonial armies that were cannon fodder in front, and the South African 1st Division was also included.

Of course, Zhang Chi couldn't do anything about it, because they were all British colonial troops.

"Casualties are inevitable in war, aren't they?" Montgomery said.

Zhang Chi replied coldly: "If you think that this will avoid the casualties of the British army, then you are wrong!" ”

At the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street in London, Churchill was also anxiously awaiting the attack, and when he learned that Montgomery was about to attack, he sent a telegram: "We pin all our hopes on the battle that is about to take place." There is a good chance that this battle will have a significant impact on the future. When you start attacking, please let me know with the word 'Zip'! ”

"Chip" was the code word agreed between Churchill and Montgomery to signify the beginning of the offensive campaign.

Then Montgomery's plan of attack was put into effect, and the attacking forces of the Eighth Army had quietly entered the assembly area before dawn the day before, and they would lie in the trenches all day and then wait until it was dark at night before attacking.

The intention of this is obvious, for the sake of the suddenness of the battle.

But in Zhang's view, Montgomery did this as a superfluous move.

First of all, the Germans had known for a long time that the British would attack and were ready for it, so what if they knew the exact time to attack? The Germans have already done what was supposed to do.

Secondly, the Germans laid a minefield more than a dozen kilometers deep in front of the defensive line, and what is the significance of the suddenness of the battle? No matter how sudden, the Germans had plenty of time to prepare when the British demines.

Rather, it was the attacking forces of the Commonwealth Army, who had to hide in the hot trenches all day because of the suddenness of this meaningless battle.

And on this morning, Montgomery held a press conference, read a book for a while in the evening, and went to bed early.

Montgomery's move was to tell others that everything was under control, that he had arranged every detail, and that tomorrow he would wake up and hear the news of victory.

But Montgomery turned out to be clearly too conceited.

Of course, others could not be as "confident" as Montgomery, and the vast majority of the officers and men in the command posts of the Eighth Army and its subordinate armies and air forces were not sleepy, and they were all immersed in tension and excitement waiting for the moment of attack.

Ram Jiden was more worried, he walked back and forth in front of his desk, and from time to time he would ask Zhang Chi a few words, but Zhang Chi couldn't give him any answers...... There will be no definite answer to any war.

As the minutes ticked by, the sun finally set.

At 9:30 p.m., groups of Commonwealth soldiers crept out of the trenches and slowly advanced by moonlight towards the German minefield.

The tank was disguished and the cannon slowly raised its thick barrel, and a big battle was about to begin.