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The German Afrika Korps was due to the opening of shipping lanes in the Mediterranean. Soldiers and materials can be effectively replenished. Li Mo only had 1,230 tanks in his hands, of which there were only more than 400 Leopards. These new tanks were unmatched by the British forces. At El Alamein, the British had more than twice the numerical superiority, but they still couldn't stop Leemer.

Now neither side can fully grasp air supremacy. Victorious, Limer now decides to launch a large-scale offensive in which he will completely crush the British coalition forces under Montgomery's command. In order to prevent the British forces from figuring out the time and place of their attack, Li Mo decided to take deceptive measures. This is the more famous "Trinity" plan in the Battle of the Katara Basin.

First, Li Mo ordered the huge ammunition depots and other warehouses of war materiel in the front areas to be cleverly camouflaged; Not far from the station in the Catala Basin, there is a large cargo depot, which can store 600 tons of supplies, 2,000 tons of oil and 420 tons of various engineering equipment. Although the venue is in the open air, no one can see it because of the excellent camouflage.

Secondly, the use of vehicles to drive around the positions under the guise of tanks and armored vehicles made the British forces gradually accustomed to the large number of troops assembled in the forward positions. However, at night, the real combat vehicles of the assault division were used to replace the fake combat vehicles that were already "in place", and the artillery and tanks on the combat posts were covered with special camouflage.

In order to indicate that the main direction of the assault may have come from the south, Limer also laid a fake water supply pipe there from late January, and built a fake water pumping station, a fake water supply point, and a reservoir along this "water pipe" as if it were a real thing. Construction indicates that it will not be completed until early February.

In addition, the communications detachment simulated radio signals for an offensive to the south, and noted that the sappers had made various road signs for the new roads. Although Li Mo's "preparation" can be described as thorough and meticulous. But the front line in the Catala Basin before the war presented a scene of "peace".

So much so that Montgomery later said, "That day was the same as it was before." In order to find out the situation of the other party, Montgomery can be said to have done everything he could. The intelligence services and reconnaissance planes of the British coalition forces were frequently dispatched. Constantly listening to the radio communications of the German army and taking pictures of the forward positions and rear facilities of the British army.

The highly efficient reconnaissance department of the British Allied forces "discovered" all the "preparations" of the German army, which Montgomery estimated based on the progress of the project. The German offensive is highly likely in February. In addition, an overtired Montgomery received a message that told him to take a break. This is Li Mo's body, and it is not satisfactory.

The shrewd Montgomery decided that the Germans would not attack anytime soon, so he left for his home country to take a vacation and recuperate. However, he never thought that all the information he had obtained was part of Li Mo's plan to deceive the enemy. The targets they found were all carefully prepared for him.

Now, Montgomery has fallen into Li Mo's "trap" step by step. However, Montgomery did not stop there, and he also tightened the deadly "noose" of logistics supply around Montgomery's neck.

He transferred the main forces of the air force, which had the advantage, to the Mediterranean. The tight blockade of the North African transport routes caused huge losses in the supply that the British forces said they could receive, especially the replenishment of fuel. Because tanks need fuel, troops need supplies, and without all this, it is tantamount to self-destruction. On Friday, January 23, Limer issued a private message to the German army:

"Officers and men of the German army in Germany, you are the war lions of the Holy Germany, and a glorious moment is approaching that you have eagerly awaited. The battle we are about to embark on will be the decisive one. It will be a turning point in the war. The whole world is watching us. Concerned about the progress of this campaign. Each and every one of us, officers and soldiers, must be determined to fight. Carry out the war to the end with the actual action of fighting and killing the enemy, and achieve the final victory. ”

On the night of the 23rd, as the sun slowly sank into a field of red sand dunes, the moon quietly moved out of the clouds, spitting out a faint light and coating the desert with a layer of silver foil. There was silence at the front. On the artillery position, one cannon after another held its barrels high with majesty and spirit.

The muzzle of the black hole shot straight into the sky, and the wind brushed through the muzzle. There was a whine. The tanks were set up in a fighting position, the pale yellow paint shimmering in the moonlight. The heavy tracks embody its invincible strength. In the trenches. The soldiers waited silently, and the chaplain was praying for them one last time before the battle......

21:40. The earth trembled violently, and more than 3,000 cannons on the German positions bombarded the artillery positions, trenches, pillboxes, and minefields of the British allied troops at the same time. The desert near the Katara Basin has seen a magnificent battle scene. Under the light of searchlights and tracer bullets, the German soldiers jumped out of the hidden trenches and sank in the suffocating smoke and dust.

One army after another entered the battle, and the battlefield was crowded with people, tens of thousands of shells and bombs were constantly exploding, and billowing fog and smoke screens enveloped the entire battlefield. Li Mo finally saw the long-awaited hope from the sword light and sword shadow. The main task of the attack was carried out by the German 7th Panzer Army.

This is a brave and warlike army, they are the trump card of the "Desert Tiger" Limer, the first main force of the German army in North Africa. Tanks rolled across the battlefield like a tidal wave, and the tracks stirred up a thick wisp of sand fog. Under the fierce attack of the German army, the British Allied forces were defeated one after another, and when General Montgomery was riding to the front line on the 24th, he encountered a fierce artillery bombardment, fell out of the car, and almost died of a heart attack.

According to the order of Führer Elizabeth, 48 hours after the German attack, Montgomery returned to the front and took over the command again, but the situation at this time can be said to be gone, even if Montgomery has the power to recover, it is impossible to save the defeat. Despite the fierce fighting, the British forces inflicted some losses on the Germans. In order to avoid total annihilation, Montgomery, who had always been conceited, had to order the entire army to retreat. Montgomery lamented in a letter to his wife:

"I don't believe, and almost don't believe anymore, that we're going to win. Our life and death are in God's hands. ”

Montgomery, after a fierce battle, especially when his armoured forces were largely annihilated, was clearly no longer capable of using his usual and highly successful tactics.

The road was long, the sand was long, and Montgomery, who had only known how to advance in the past, was not fame for nothing, and he organized an astute retreat in disbelief without informing anyone beforehand.

…… (To be continued)

ps：1052

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