Command of the 8th Army of the British Afrika Korps.

"What are the Germans doing in that place?" Commander of the Eighth Army, Richard? O'Connor looked at the battle report that had been put together, "This roundabout route is completely unscientific." ”

"It was actually the Turkish forces that were engaged in the exchange of fire with the Ninth Brigade, and the commander of the New Zealand 1st Brigade said his staff believed that the German army, the main force of the Allied forces, was likely advancing towards Aqaba."

As soon as O'Connor's chief of staff finished speaking, O'Connor frowned and asked, "Is there any basis for what he said?" What clues did they find? ”

"I don't think so."

O'Connor set the telegram aside and pressed his hands to the map table, overlooking the map it had been drawn up by the Royal Geological Society of the British Empire, which had been sponsored by the British military to produce high-precision maps of the world. British explorers have traveled everywhere in the world, drawing maps wherever they go.

O'Connor studied the map for a long time, and then threw the compass away, and said with certainty: "This cannot be the Aqaba offensive, that place has no strategic value, and the road to it is very bad, and the road is full of Arabs and Bedouin guerrillas." It is impossible for Lin Youde to choose that there as the direction of attack, and we sent troops to garrison it in order to distract the Germans a little. ”

"Then what Lin Youde's purpose is for this battle?"

In fact, there was no fighting, except that the British officers of the 9th Brigade were infected by their soldiers and became collectively amused.

But O'Connor said: "I think Lin may have wanted to surprise us with a bigger roundabout. ”

- No, no, General, you're thinking too much.

"We already anticipated that he might attack from the western foothills of Mount Sinai, and if Lin Youde plays into our hands, then he is nothing more than that, just a guy in vain. And if he really sent the troops back to the mountains of Mount Sinai in order to give us a surprise blow, then I can only say that he is a complete gambler, and a gambler is different from a military strategist, understand, Mr. Chief of Staff, a military strategist and a gambler are different. Militarists also take risks, but that is after precise calculations.

"It's like playing bridge, after a precise calculation and a variety of expressions and eyes to deceive, and then press the chips in your hand to carry out the adventure, only this kind of adventure will make people excited from the inside out, the heart beats wildly, the palm of the hand sweats, this kind of adventure is so pleasant. This is different from a gambler. ”

"With all due respect," said the chief of staff, bluntly, "I don't see any difference between the two. ”

"It's normal that you don't know if you don't play bridge, but all in all, we're cautious and wise." O'Connor is a hardcore bridge enthusiast, even in the barracks, he gets the officer's club to play bridge with his subordinates every Thursday for one night, and the war has been going on rain or shine until now, "In short, we have to be cautious, now it's just the Ninth Brigade reporting the battle with the Allies, and there is no more information, so ......"

"Shall we hold our ground for now?"

"No, no, it's too late to take action after we have completed our reconnaissance and grasped the situation, we can take 'cautious action', how is the Seventh Armored Division ready for combat now?" O'Connor knocked on the sign west of Hasana that represented the Panzer Division.

"They should be ready to strike at any time."

"Very well, let them go southeast, through this mountain valley, and launch a tentative attack on the German lines."

"Tentative attack instead of countershock?"

"That's right, if Lin Youde is playing a big detour, his force connection speed will become very slow, after all, there is such a long distance from here," O'Connor said as he grabbed the compass on the map and gestured on the map, "So, we are going to attack the root of his big detour, not to hedge with the elite troops in the arrow part." With such a long detour and mountainous terrain, the mechanized German army would soon be weakened by mechanical wear, and no matter how durable their chariots were, many of them would break down halfway through the yellow sand for 300 kilometers. In addition, such a long detour would have exhausted the German troops.

"So the German army is exhausted after the detour, and the combat effectiveness will definitely decrease, and then we will deal with these detour troops. What we need to do now is to take advantage of the gap between Lin Youde's swings and attack his shoulder, which will directly disable his left hook. You think, when we launch a strong attack, Lin Youde must have reinforcements to replace the defensive troops that have been depleted by Yan zhòng. To put it bluntly, the battle is a process of exchanging forces between the two sides, Lin Youde does not invest troops, and the defense line will be broken when the defending troops are consumed. ”

O'Connor paused to take a sip of water, then looked at the chief of staff and continued: "Of course, I'm not asking the Seventh Panzer Division to desperately break through the enemy's defensive line, let's launch a limited Mirror Palace first, and then see how Lin Youde reacts." And when the 7th Panzer Division is attacking, we can take the opportunity to find out what is going on in the commotion in the south, if Lin Youde really takes a big detour, then the actions of the 7th Panzer Division have already diluted his attention, if Lin Youde does not take any action, or if he has any other conspiracy, we can also immediately stop the attack of the 7th Panzer Division. ”

"Well, you're right." The chief of staff nodded, "Then I'll go to the headquarters of the 7th Armored Division and make a call." ”

"Okay, but remember to tell that Michael guy that this is only a limited tentative attack, and tell him to be careful and not rush too hard. No, it must not be rushed. ”

"Yes General, I'll tell him."

"In addition, in order to avoid any accidents in the 7th Armored Division, let the Indian 10th Brigade and the 1st Anzac Division move closer in this direction."

"Understood, General."

**

An hour later, Michael? Olmer? Major General Clegg jumped into his command car, where the entire regimental officers of the 7th Panzer Division gathered.

The interior of these two command vehicles, which were converted from truck trailers, was not large, and Michael's favorite table had to be placed, so after the officers of the entire 7th Armored Division got inside, the whole space was very crowded.

"Gentlemen, the Germans seem to have made a move, and the army command has asked us to launch a tentative attack on the Allied forces directly in front of us."

"Are we going to fight the Turks?" An officer asked.

"Yes."

"Isn't that easy!" As soon as this sentence came out, the officers in the entire command vehicle laughed. In this time and space, because the Ottomans fought on the side of the Entente, there was no landing on the Garibaldi Peninsula, and the British were not pressed on the peninsula by the Turkish troops trained and commanded by the Germans and could not raise their heads, so they had such a view.

Major General Clegg also laughed with his subordinates, and after laughing for a while, he suddenly put away his smile and said: "As you can see, this mission is to launch a limited exploratory attack, but the command did not say where this limitation is embodied, which is why I summoned everyone here, I want you to use the last bit of time before setting off to discuss, are we going to attack the Turks' strongholds and defensive lines head-on, or are we passing through the middle of those well-separated strongholds to carry out the armored infiltration warfare that we have been discussing recently?" ”

The officers looked at each other.

Then the commander of the 1st Royal Chariot Regiment said: "Isn't it okay to cross the line of actual control of both sides and enter the rear of the enemy like this?" I think this is probably beyond the scope of 'limited' defined by the Command. ”

"But the truth is," the commander of the Royal King's Rifles Regiment shook his head, "that this 'limited' has no hard and fast rules against us at all, and I think it should be left to our own judgment." ”

I don't know if it's because the head of the Royal King's Rifle Regiment is the oldest and most prestigious, anyway, everyone present nodded in support of his statement.

Major General Clegg pondered, and after a moment muttered softly, "Leave it to us to judge for ourselves, then ......"

"I think," said the commander of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, "that it is unlikely that chariots alone will capture a fortified stronghold that has been deployed, and that will require the coordination of many infantry units, and we only have one Royal Rifle Regiment." ”

"That's right," the commander of the Royal King's Rifle Regiment nodded, "Our regiment only has three battalions of more than 2,000 people, and including the reconnaissance unit and other auxiliary support detachments, it is only 3,000 people, and I am afraid it will not be enough to attack the fortifications." ”

Clegg nodded.

"You're right, besides, we've long wanted to have the opportunity to show off the armored tactics we've been envisioning and rehearsing."

"yes, it's long overdue for us to show it."

The officers in the car agreed.

"Then let's assign the task, this is the defensive situation map of the front-line alliance that was updated only yesterday, and we will break through from here." Lieutenant General Clegg's finger pointed to a point on the map, which seemed to be between the junction of the two Turkish divisions, and the place where the two Turkish divisions were stationed was quite far from the point pointed by Clegg, and it would take a certain amount of time to rush to the rescue.

"This should be the place where the enemy's defenses are empty, and from here we break through - no, we pass through the enemy's lines from here, and then deploy in a roundabout way behind the flank of this Turkish division on the eastern flank. Do you understand? ”

The officers' response pleased Clegg.

After another ten minutes, the British tank brigade, which was ready to attack, began to start its engine, and the division emblem on the desert camouflage of the tank was quite conspicuous.

"Let's go!"

With an order over the radio, the chariots spewed out a large amount of exhaust fumes one after another, roaring out of the camp one after another.