The battle of Alam Halfa was a crucial one. The German SS continued its unstoppable streak in the Soviets, Greece and the Far East, and Montgomery failed to stop the desert whirlwind that Rommel had unleashed at El Alamein. After the battle, Montgomery wrote to his friends in London: "My first encounter with Rommel was painful and interesting, and I have fortunately still had time to clean up the mess and make plans, so how ridiculous and naïve it seems now that we could not defeat this cunning fox even if God commanded the war on the battlefield." I feel like I'm losing another round in this game, this round is his serve, and next time it's my turn to serve. The score is now 1:0. ”

After the battle of Alam Halfa ended, both sides were preparing for the next battle. Montgomery's troops retreated to the Catala Basin and began to defend themselves. The terrain of the area is too difficult for armored vehicles to pass, and to the north of it is the sea with fierce waves. Montgomery has a geographical advantage here. In order to stop the SS offensive, he built a fortified defensive zone known as the "Devil's Paradise". This so-called "Devil's Paradise" consisted mainly of minefields, infantry defensive positions, and armored and motorized divisions behind the defensive positions as mobile reserves. The minefield was the main obstacle to the SS offensive, and although it was unmanned and guarded by a small number of outposts, it laid thousands of mines and traps, most of which were powerful enough to blow up the tracks of a tank or destroy a truck, and 3% of the mines were lethal in a variety of ways, either detonated by wires or on the verge of being triggered, and then these mines would fly into the air like a toy box and explode in all directions.

Here, about 250,000 anti-tank mines and more than 300,000 anti-personnel mines were planted by the British and American forces!! Who calls people rich! Together with the minelaying area occupied by the British army occupied by El Alamein, the Anglo-American forces had a total of more than 1.5 million mines of various kinds on the defensive line. Montgomery wanted to trap the SS offensive forces in his minefield, and then launch from the north and south, so that Rommel fell into his trap.

On the surface, the "Devil's Paradise" project is not a problem, and Montgomery's command ability is also very outstanding. Rommel, however, did not fall into his trap at all. He was in no hurry to attack, he had to make all the preparations before attacking, and he had to launch a complete attack. The victory at the Battle of Alam Halfa greatly encouraged the SS soldiers. At the same time, the sea lanes were completely controlled by the remnants of the Italian navy due to the destruction of the British Mediterranean Fleet.

Reinforcements from the Anglo-American coalition are arriving all the time. Now, the British 8th Army alone has expanded to 17 infantry divisions, 13 tank divisions and 7 brigades; Montgomery already has more than 2,100 tanks, including more than 400 Grant tanks and a large number of new Sherman tanks that have just arrived from the United States. The U.S. military had more tanks, up to 3,500, so that the Anglo-American coalition had almost twice as many tanks as Rommel.

The SS Afrika Korps was effectively replenished with soldiers and supplies due to the smooth passage of shipping lanes in the Mediterranean. Rommel had only 2,230 new tanks in his hands, including more than 900 copycat Type 99s, which were unmatched by the British and American forces. At El Alamein, the British already had more than twice the numerical superiority, but they still did not hold Rommel back.

Now neither side can fully grasp air supremacy. Rommel, who was victorious, now decided to launch a large-scale offensive in which he wanted to completely crush the British coalition under Montgomery's command. In order to prevent the Anglo-American forces from figuring out when and where they attacked, Rommel decided to resort to deception. This is the more famous "Trinity" plan in the Battle of El Alamein.

First of all, Rommel ordered the huge ammunition depots and other warehouses of combat materiel in the forward areas to be skillfully camouflaged; Not far from the El Alamein station, there is a large cargo depot, which can store 600 tons of supplies, 2,000 tons of oil and rice, 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. Second, the use of vehicles to drive around the positions under the guise of tanks and armored vehicles has made the Anglo-American coalition forces gradually accustomed to the accumulation of large numbers of troops 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 assault might be coming from the south, Rommel also laid a fake water supply pipe there from late January onwards and built a fake pumping station, a fake water supply point and a cistern along this "water pipe" as if it were real. 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 Rommel's "preparations" can be described as meticulous 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 Anglo-American intelligence services and reconnaissance planes were frequently dispatched to constantly listen to SS radio communications and take photographs of British forward positions and rear facilities. The highly efficient Anglo-American reconnaissance department "discovered" all the "preparations" of the SS, and Montgomery, based on the progress of the works, estimated that the SS offensive was most likely in February. In addition, Montgomery, who was overtired, also received a message that he could take a little refreshment, and that was that Rommel's health was not satisfactory. On the basis of this information, the shrewd Montgomery decided that the SS would not attack soon, and left for his home country to take a vacation and recuperate. However, he never imagined that all the information he had obtained was part of Rommel's plan to deceive the enemy. The targets they found were all carefully prepared for him.

Now, Montgomery has fallen into Rommel'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 force of the superior air force to the Mediterranean and tightly blocked the transportation routes in North Africa, causing huge losses in the supply that the British and American forces said they could get, especially the replenishment of fuel. Because tanks need fuel, troops need supplies, and without all this, it is tantamount to self-destruction.

On Friday, February 3, Rommel issued a private message to the SS:

"Officers and men of the German SS, you are the war lions of Holy Germany, and a glorious moment is about to be piled up. The battle we are about to embark on will be the one that will decide the surname. It will be a turning point in the war. The whole world is watching us and watching the progress of this campaign. Each and every one of us, whether officers or soldiers, must be determined to go into battle, to carry the war to the end with the actual action of fighting and killing the enemy, and to achieve final victory. ”

3 In the evening, as the sun slowly sank into a red sand dune, the moon quietly moved out of the clouds, spitting out a faint light, and coated 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 grazed through the muzzle, whining. 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......

At 21:40, the earth trembled violently, and more than 3,000 cannons on the SS positions simultaneously bombarded the artillery positions, trenches, pillboxes, and minefields of the British and American forces. The desert near the Katara Basin has seen a magnificent battle scene. Illuminated by searchlights and tracer bullets, SS soldiers leapt out of their 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. Rommel finally saw the long-awaited hope in the shadow of the sword. The main task was the 1st SS Panzer Corps "Skeleton Army". It was a valiant and combative force, known as the "Desert Tigers", and was the first main force of the SS 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 SS, the British and American forces were defeated one after another, and General Eisenhower, who succeeded Montgomery, was riding to the front line on the 4th when he encountered a fierce artillery bombardment, fell out of the car, and suffered a heart attack and almost died.

According to the order of the Führer of Windsor, Montgomery returned to the front 48 hours after the SS attack and took over the command again, but the situation at this time can be said to be over, and even if Montgomery had the strength to return to heaven, it was impossible to reverse the defeat. Despite the fierce fighting, the Anglo-American forces inflicted some losses on the SS.

In order to avoid total annihilation, Montgomery, who had always been conceited, had to order the entire army to retreat. In a letter to his wife, Rommel lamented:

"I don't believe, and almost don't believe anymore, that we're going to win. Our lives and deaths are all in God's hands. (To be continued.) )