A newly completed bridge is named after Li Mo; The cinema screens the documentary "Admiral Limer in North Africa" every night. From provincial governors to generals, congratulatory telegrams were sent to the Krupp family's residence.

The commander of the nearby garrison, General Straissius, even wrote to Selena under the guise of Hitler: "Limer's name will be included in the ranks of the greatest military strategists in history!" All of a sudden, Selena's home was almost entirely covered with flowers.

However, while the whole of Germany was celebrating, Li Mo was sleeping in his command car deep in the desert of North Africa. Because the constant fighting had exhausted him to the point that he could not gather around the radio with his staff officers and listen to special radio broadcasts from Berlin.

At 9:45, Li Mo was suddenly woken up by a staff officer, at this time, a loud singing voice sounded from the loudspeaker, and after a while, the announcer said excitedly: "Führer's base camp, January 12." The Führer was promoted to Admiral Limer, commander of the Afrika Korps, Field Marshal. "Field Marshal Li Mo! Li Mo was so excited that he immediately wrote to his wife, Selena: "For me, being a field marshal is like a dream, and the major events of the past few weeks are like a dream. ”

Being able to be promoted to the rank of field marshal is undoubtedly a great honor for a Prussian serviceman. For in Prussia the field marshals were never retired or dismissed, they would remain in that position for the rest of their lives, and would be entitled to a secretary, a horse or a car, as well as a full-time driver and other perks. This is a traditional reward for warriors who have conquered a fortress or won a great battle. Other than that. In Prussia, once became a field marshal. That means it can last forever.

With Limer's successive victories, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a hard time. In the UK mainland. Once again, the narrative of failure looms over the isolated island nation. Early that morning, Churchill walked into the halls of Parliament with difficulty, ready to deal with all the reproaches of the snarky parliamentarians.

Welsh MP Anerlin? Bevan said unceremoniously: "Prime Minister Churchill, although he won again and again in the debates, he lost again and again on the battlefield. "John? Wadlow? Sir Ingne asked: "Your Excellency, how can we explain the root causes of our successive failures in the past two years?" In the face of such a caustic rebuke, although Churchill has always been known for his eloquence, he could not help but sweat on his back.

Because. Now the hero of almost the world's press is the "Desert Tiger" who wears the medal of merit with oak leaves, and almost all blames him for the defeat in North Africa. In his reply, Churchill avoided the sad details and recounted only the defeat in North Africa, saying: "In North Africa, our 8th Army has done its best.

Although we have a certain advantage in terms of personnel and air power, the commander of the opposing side is a very bold and tactical man. If the catastrophe of war is aside, Li Mo is indeed an outstanding military genius. ”

In the end, it was the Führer of Windsor who helped Churchill and fully supported Churchill, who was the main battle, so that Churchill, an Englishman, could tide over the crisis. The next day. The Berliner Economic Zeitung reported with a headline: "Churchill says the defeat of the British army in North Africa - blame Limer!" "This was one of the greatest mockery of Churchill by the Germans.

The Germans were slowly closing in on the El Alamein Line, and the reason why Limer lightly applied the brakes as he advanced at high speed was partly because his troops arrived at El Alamein. Already approaching the limit of energy, many soldiers fell asleep in broad daylight. Another major reason is inaccurate intelligence. When he drew up his plans for the attack on 17 January, he had no idea that the British armoured forces had been overtaken by his attacking forces by the time of the retreat. His estimate was that the British had moved south to cover their flanks. According to this estimate. He intended to launch a diversionary attack to the south first, and then quickly turn to the north. "Tear" a gaping hole between El Alamein and Babtara.

Li Mo's decision undoubtedly made him miss a good opportunity. Because it was that morning. The remnants of the British Armoured Brigade were still stationed in the desert south of the Primordial Highway, unaware that Limer's armoured forces had overtaken them when they were defeated.

It was only because of Leemer's pause that they had not fallen into the trap before returning to El Alamein, thus allowing them to escape from being sealed in their pockets. Everyone who is proficient in desert warfare knows that the most important thing to fight in the desert is the tank, so Li Mo's mistake planted some unfavorable factors in the future.

Just as Lymer's torrent of steel gathered and Alamein was ready to attack, the front and rear of the British coalition forces presented two completely different scenarios. On the one hand, there was a fierce battle ahead, with tanks clashing back and forth, firing at each other with artillery, burning destroyed tanks on the battlefield, and billowing smoke filling the desert.

In the rear, the news of Li Mo's arrival in El Alamein made people panic, and there were retreating crowds everywhere. The British fleet had withdrawn into the Red Sea, and the chimneys of the Cairo operational command post rose to the sky with pale black smoke from the destruction of archival documents.

CAIRO: People saw all this and thought it was a sign that the British were fleeing Egypt. All of a sudden, the train station was crowded with people, all eager to escape from this place of right and wrong. The general mood of defeat has led people to attribute the responsibility for the January fiasco to a command error. In this way, in order to restore morale, the replacement of senior commanders became an inevitable choice.

Under these circumstances, Churchill decided that Alexander would succeed Auchinleck as commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Middle East, and Gort would be commander of the 8th Army. Gort, with the rank of lieutenant general, has been commanding an army in the desert for three years, and is still fighting with Li Mo near El Alamein. Perhaps as fate would have it, on his way back to Cairo from the front line on a transport plane to take up his post, Gott was hit by a German fighter plane chasing from a high altitude, resulting in the destruction of the plane and the death of the person. As a result, Montgomery, who had made good fortune, was urgently transferred from England by Churchill to fill the vacancy.

Britain is also very troubled about the choice of commander in North Africa, who can resist Li Mo's fierce attack, and in the end it is Elizabeth Führer who helps Churchill make the decision, because Windsor has heard Li Mo mention that in the British Army, that is, Montgomery is a little talented, and other commanders really did not let Li Mo pay attention, and the British, who was defeated again and again, had to send Montgomery, who was not very high in military rank, to preside over the war in North Africa. It was a life-and-death duel between nearly a million troops.

…… (To be continued......)

PS: Acknowledgements:

CTS Xiaozhu cast 1 vote[2014-12-2516:32]

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