Rommel, commander-in-chief of the German Afrika Korps, was still unable to attack during the three days of the sandstorm, although he was anxious, but the Wansheng Volunteer Division was transported to Tunis.

Although Rommel delayed the attack for three days and lost the opportunity to raid the Mersha Pass, Rommel had another Wansheng volunteer division in his hands.

Historically, this volunteer division had great achievements and fame, and by the end of World War II, there were only 35 people left in the division.

Others were optimistic about the unit, which was formed by foreign volunteers, but Rommel had high hopes. Rommel was convinced that these troops, who spoke different languages and had very different cultural beliefs, would definitely be able to burst out with formidable combat effectiveness.

Now that the possibility of a surprise attack has been lost, Rommel does not need to sneak his troops in front of the Mersa Pass.

On the morning of the 28th, as soon as the sandstorm stopped, Rommel ordered the 7th Panzer Division and the Wansheng Division to advance to the Mersha Pass and prepare for an attack tomorrow morning.

Now that Rommel had sufficient supplies and twice as many offensive troops, Rommel was confident that he would fight a battle by attacking the British troops defending the Mersa Pass.

The British army defending the Mersha Pass was not only an infantry division and an armored brigade, but Rommel did not pay attention to this amount of strength at all.

Rommel did not look down on the British troops defending the Mersa Pass on the other side, these British troops were very good at tactical cultivation, they did not rest in the sandstorms, but were building fortifications with all their might.

But the Mersha Pass is a desert area, and there is no way to dig trenches on the yellow sand, and the only thing that can be done is to build sandbag fortifications.

Sandbag fortifications are good against small arms, but they are useless against anti-aircraft machine guns on tanks and armored vehicles.

As for the minefields laid by the British troops in front of the positions, Rommel had already marked them clearly on his operational map, and when preparing for artillery fire, it was enough to cover and plow the minefields laid by the British troops by the way.

Rommel's "Eye of God" can be equivalent to the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft of later generations with full information, and if this advantage is well utilized, all the enemy's arrangements will not be able to escape the detection of Rommel's "Eye of God."

The arrangement of the British army at the Mersa Pass gave Rommel a panoramic view, and in this case, the British troops at the Mersa Pass still had a chance.

In addition, Rommel still has the 10th Air Army in his hands, but the British army at the Mersha Pass has no air force support, so in this case, what will the British army at the Mersha Pass do to hold their positions?

In the face of absolute power, all conspiracies and tricks are in vain, and all so-called heroism and fearlessness are the end of being sent to death as cannon fodder.

The British army has only two tank battalions in an armored brigade, with more than 120 old-fashioned tanks, and the total strength of the British army is more than 20,000 people, more than 200 artillery pieces of various kinds, and more than 100 armored vehicles, and there is no support from the air force.

And Rommel had in his hands two tank regiments of the 7th Panzer Division, with a total of 218 tanks No. 4, 218 Soma 35 tanks, and one tank battalion of the Wansheng Volunteer Division, with 68 Soma tanks.

In addition, Rommel had 300 armored vehicles, more than 500 artillery pieces of various kinds, and more than 800 aircraft of the 10th Air Army to support the operation.

This is a complete crushing of strength, and Rommel does not understand why the British commander, who is obviously retreating, does not retreat to Tobruk at full speed.

In this way, the British army could shrink all the fifty or sixty thousand British troops deployed in Libya to the Tobruk line.

If these 50,000 or 60,000 British troops were to retreat to the fortress of Tobruk, backed by a steady stream of supplies from the harbor, and Rommel's supply line would be increased by six or seven hundred kilometers, what would Rommel use to attack the tens of thousands of British troops in Tobruk?

At that time, the "Eye of God" was useless, the "Eye of God" was only a reconnaissance drone, and the final victory or defeat had to be achieved on the battlefield.

When the British army has absolute defensive strength, all Rommel intrigues will be in vain.

However, the British commander did not do this, he scattered his forces in Libya, and although the British commander deployed more than 20,000 people at the Mersha Pass, he also did not form an absolute strength advantage over Rommel.

The wrong command of the commander can only be compensated by the lives of the soldiers.

On the afternoon of the 28th, Rommel arrived at the Mersa Pass with two divisions of more than 30,000 men, followed by five Italian divisions.

Pre-war preparations began immediately, and the first to attack, of course, was the Air Force, with more than a hundred horizontal bombers and Stuka dive bombers taking the lead in attacking the British at the Mersha Pass.

Rommel never used any tactics to fight in the war, and he spared no effort in striking fiercely when he came up.

More than 100 horizontal bombers carpet bombed the British positions at the Mersha Pass, and more than 100 Stuka dive bombers specialized in accurately hitting high-value targets such as British artillery and tanks.

The British positions at the Mersha Pass were completely covered in bombs, and the smoke from the explosion lingered on the British positions for a long time, and the yellow sand raised by the explosion filled the sky.

This is a battle without air supremacy, only the part of the bombing, not even a chance to fight back, I don't know if the British army can still retain some combat effectiveness in such a fierce bombardment.

……

The British commander Rafael, during the three days of the sandstorm, did not rest, but ordered all the soldiers to step up the construction of fortifications.

The Mersa Pass is on the edge of the desert, and the ground is already covered with a thick layer of yellow sand, so there is no way to dig trenches in such land, and only sandbag fortifications can be built.

Rafael knew that the defense power of the sandbag fortifications was limited, but Rafael could not build stronger fortifications, and it was too late for a while, and second, there were not enough building materials such as cement and steel bars.

In the confrontation with Rommel, Rafael did not dare to be careless, he took a group of staff officers to inspect the fortifications and weapons and equipment every day, and the fortifications of the Mersa Pass were under Raphael's supervision and attention, and they were also decent.

After inspecting the fortifications and weapons and ammunition, Rafael assessed for himself that his 20,000 men and more than 100 tanks were definitely on par with Rommel's Seventh Panzer Division.

By the time the sandstorm was over, Rafael's communications with the British African Command were restored, and Raphael received a telegram from the headquarters.

In the telegram, Wavell told Rafael about the occupation of Tobruk by German paratroopers in a sandstorm.

Wavell then stated his plan to mobilize seven divisions to retake Tobruk, and Wavell finally demanded that Rafael hold on to the Mersa Pass for at least a week.

Wavell also euphemistically stated in the telegram that he would not receive any air support or reinforcements during the week, and that he would have to rely on himself.

[There were only 3 monthly passes yesterday, and there was no reward, please give it to the brothers! ] 】

…… (To be continued.) )