"General!" Seeing that Montgomery was silent, Ramsden continued: "In fact, the mobility of our tanks is much worse than we can imagine. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 I'm talking about the Matilda and Crusader tanks, which were not designed with desert heat in mind, so they often had the engine overheating and often had to stop for a few miles to cool down, otherwise they would break down. This makes it almost impossible to move in the desert, and it is obviously a mistake to mix the 'Sherman' tank with it! ”

Actually, this is not Montgomery's problem, but the problem of Britain as a whole.

Although Britain was the country that invented the tank, it did not understand one thing throughout the war, that is, until the end of World War II, that is, modern warfare is to let the infantry on motorcycles or armored vehicles keep up with the speed of the tank, not to slow down the speed of the tank to adapt to the infantry.

Germany is the former, and Britain is the latter, so there will be a lot of strange tanks in Britain with a speed of only a dozen kilometers per hour.

After thinking about it, Montgomery looked up and asked Zhang Chi, "Then, if I agree to do this, General Zhang...... How do you think this armored regiment should be formed? ”

"With all due respect, General!" Zhang Chi replied: "Although I am not willing to do this, because it may bring more casualties and more danger to my troops. But I have to say that the most suitable thing is obviously to reorganize the Chinese army, that is, the new 1st Division, into this rapid armored division! ”

"Tell me why!" Montgomery said, "I have to warn you, General Zhang, that your troops have no experience in desert warfare!" ”

"Already!" Zhang Chi said: "The Battle of Mahairama is, and I have to remind you, General Montgomery...... My troops have had the experience of fighting in all kinds of terrain, hills, mountains, snow, islands, and they have fought in many countries and adapted to various climates, which has enabled them to adapt to the local environment in the shortest possible time, and they are hard-working and tenacious...... They always have been! Moreover, we have always used American equipment and even American tanks, and that's important, isn't it? ”

Of course, what Zhang Chi said is right, the equipment thing is also about the system, the "Sherman" itself is American-style equipment, and the machine guns and artillery in it are also American-style equipment, if it is used in the British army and mixed with British equipment, there will be a variety of ammunition of different calibers to cause supply chaos and other problems.

But Montgomery disagreed: "No, General Zhang. I think it should be adapted to the 1st Panzer Division of the British Army! Although the new 1st Division of the Chinese army is very effective and adaptable, as far as I know, the new 1st Division is an army division, which means that they lack experience in fighting as an armored division, and our 1st armored division ...... It was formed as an armored unit from the beginning, and it's been six years now, so there's no doubt that they're better suited for adaptation! ”

Montgomery also has a certain amount of truth in what he said, the British First Armored Division is the earliest British armored division, it can be said to be the British ace armored force, it was transferred to France to fight in Boulogne and Calais, in the Battle of Dunkelke as the queen mission, after withdrawing to the British reorganization, it was transferred to the North African battlefield to participate in two El Alamein battles, to say that as an armored division experience and history, the Chinese Expeditionary Force is of course not as good as the British First Armored Division.

Zhang Chi just smiled and replied: "General Montgomery, I just want to ask, is the experience and history of the British First Panzer Division the experience and history of using the 'Matilda' tank, or the experience and history of the 'Sherman'?" ”

Hearing this, Montgomery couldn't help but be stunned.

Zhang Chi got to the point, the "Matilda" tank and the "Sherman" tank are completely different, they don't look much different from each other on the surface, the armor and firepower are similar, the difference is the speed.

But it is precisely because of the speed that it is decided that the use of the "Matilda" tank is inclined to defense, and the combat is mainly based on the infantry, while the tank is only used as an auxiliary equipment for the infantry to provide firepower and cover for the infantry; The use of the "Sherman" tank tends to be offensive, and the battle is mainly tanked, and the infantry in armored vehicles provides cover and support.

"General Montgomery!" Zhang Chi finally said: "If you plan to continue this war as before, that is, continue to focus on defense, then I don't have any problem, at least on the battlefield in North Africa, I believe that there is no unit comparable to the British First Armored Division." ”

"But!" Zhang Chi sat down on the chair, took a sip of coffee, and then continued: "If you plan to change your tactics and want to focus on offense or both offense and defense in future battles, then the best choice is obviously the new 1st Division!" ”

Seeing that Montgomery didn't speak, Zhang Chi added: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get more equipment for the new 1st Division. In fact, general, as you know, the new 1st Division has the priority of equipping US aid, and if we want to get equipment, we just need to wait here, right? ”

"So, General Zhang!" Montgomery looked at Zhang Chi and asked, "Can you tell me what you're doing this for?" The Chinese army could have stayed out of the way, didn't it? Like Will said, you have little interest in the North African theater, and you don't even need to fight the Germans here! ”

As I said before, Britain is a commercial country, and they always think about interests when they look at problems, so Montgomery does not believe that the Chinese army will enter the war without interests.

"Let's put it this way!" Zhang Chi replied: "It is not right to say that it is completely disinterested, my country is fighting against Japan, and Japan is an ally of Germany, so of course we want to see the Allies win." It's just that we don't have the same skin pain as the British, you know, the German blockade and bombing of the British...... So we really don't want to get involved in this war. If it weren't for the repeated requests of the American side, we wouldn't have been idle to bask in the sun in this hellish place! ”

Zhang Chi is saying a half-truth, in fact, he is more worried about the trend of history, but of course he can't say that to the outside world.

But Zhang Chi said that Montgomery believed it all, after all, this can be explained from the perspective of interests: the United States has given China a lot of aid, and the Chinese military must of course consider the interests of the United States.

It was then that Montgomery realized how stupid he was, and the Americans had been desperately trying to get this Chinese elite into the war, while he wanted to drive them back at one point.