As the Italian soldiers watched, a German JU-52 transport plane slowly stopped on the runway of the airport, with a few bullet holes in its wings, but its sturdy structure allowed it to return safely to the German-controlled area.

Immediately after the second plane also stopped on the runway, and the German transport planes and butcher bombers covering these transport planes in the sky, as well as 110 FW-190D fighters for covering the mission, all showed everyone how large the scale of the German paratroopers was this time.

There are a total of 800 JU-52 transport aircraft, plus the new JU-62 transport aircraft, which has only been in service for a long time, and the number is only 70. If you count the 200 butcher bombers that bombed in advance and went into battle as cover, and 110 FW-190Ds, this time the Germans put in almost 1,200 aircraft in one go.

Such a large fleet of aircraft marks the maturity of the Luftwaffe's aircraft formation command, air control and other corresponding experience, and also indicates that Germany is now capable of sending a large number of paratroopers into distant battlefields at one time to carry out sabotage missions behind enemy lines.

Originally, the German JU-52 had a very difficult flight between several airfields on the island of Crete and the area east of Alexandria under the condition of high loads, and as a result, Accardo, which was deeply influenced by the one-way bombing plan of later American long-range bombers, came up with a plan that shocked everyone.

Inspired by the fact that American bombers bombed Japan and did not return to their departure bases, but flew directly to China to land, Accardo drew up a bold airborne paratrooper plan: the JU-52 transport group departed from Crete, returned to the field airfield in Egypt after completing the mission, and returned to Crete after refueling.

Two German airborne divisions, nearly 21,000 German paratroopers, along with 170 gliders and 40 tank gliders, were left in the desert of North Africa in one fell swoop.

The German paratroopers were given some pale yellow desert painted raincoats, and even after preparing for fighting in the desert, they were still studying a small manual on desert warfare before they got on the plane, learning how to keep desert scorpions from crawling into their boots.

And it was such a hasty but effective plan that completely disrupted the operational deployment of the US and British troops, and plunged into the heart of the US army like a steel knife. The U.S. troops were originally composed of mercenaries, and although they joined many regular army units, not all of them were elite after all, and it was reluctant to fight regular battles under Patton's command, so it would be a bit difficult for them to risk being surrounded.

What's more, when Patton knew that his rear road had been robbed, he immediately took the main force under the army headquarters of the group army, that is, the 8th Armored Division and some independent armored combat units, including a main infantry division, and quickly retreated.

As a result, the American soldiers, mixed with the Indian federal army, which was already not strong in combat, began to surrender to the German army on a large scale. The soldiers of the 8th Army, who could not see the edge, raised their hands in the air, blocked the road and waited for their opponents to come and receive them, and hundreds of soldiers did not know what was happening, so they were engulfed by the chaotic army and began to rout.

It's not that Patton was too sensitive to flee early, ignoring more than 100,000 friendly troops. Rather, he had received a telegram a few days earlier, signed jointly by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the newly appointed Supreme Command of the United States, and President Roosevelt. The above content requires Patton to retain the main force in the most dangerous time, and it is necessary to ensure that the Suez Canal can be used as a defensive line to block the German army's eastward advance.

The United States is not the younger brother of the British, and the mission of Patton's American troops is not to help Britain hold Egypt, in fact, Patton's highest goal is not the same as Montgomery's, his mission is to stop any German action that threatens the oil fields in the Middle East, and to hold the Suez Canal as much as possible - even Cairo is not an area that Patton needs to defend to the death, so there is no need for him to fight the Germans here.

The moment Patton learned that his back was cut off, all he could do was to keep as many troops as he could fight, and as for the miscellaneous armies and British allies, he could only help as much as he could. He didn't dare to wait, so he could only race against time to grab back the lost rear supply line and escape.

Patton's idea was very simple, that is, let the troops left behind hold Rommel eastward, and in only two days, he could lead his troops to annihilate the German paratroopers behind him, so that a large part of the American army and the British army near Alexandria could retreat to Cairo safely, at least in the short term, and the situation in North Africa would not collapse.

"Send a telegram to Washington, and let them explain why the German paratroopers are suddenly in Egypt, and can their planes really have the range to fly round and forth?" Patton angrily questioned his chief of staff, for no one had ever spoken of the threat posed by German paratroopers in the North African theater. After all, Crete has been falling for a long time, and the Allies should have operational forecasts against the opposing paratroopers anyway.

"There were about 40,000 troops entangled by the Germans, and they lacked the ability to move, so they could only lose more than 30,000 on the battlefield. The biggest losses were still cars and tanks, and we lost almost half. The staff officer ignored the complaints of his commander, he had just received an estimate of the troop losses, the 8th Army had lost a third almost at once, and some units could not be contacted for a while.

Patton nodded, now he felt that he still had a three-point chance of winning, after all, the German airborne paratroopers were a bit too bold in their plans, as long as he shot them beautifully enough, he could at least eat the German paratroopers who had been making the Allies like a fish in the throat. So this time it wasn't so much that Barton was running fast enough, but that he decided to make a big change.

"General Montgomery has called, and he has asked the general to open the transport channel, and he will hold as many German troops as possible in Alexandria. Ten minutes earlier, the communication between the 9th Army and the 8th Army had resumed, and Montgomery had learned of Patton's plan, and after lamenting the whimsical nature of the German airborne plan, Montgomery hoped that Patton would be able to make a bloody way and ensure that the two armies would return to Cairo smoothly.

"I can't hesitate, the German paratroopers who made a name for themselves in the Dutch and Belgian wars, cleaned up the garrison with a single meal, and then made a great contribution to the landing on the British mainland, and then fought two more beautiful independent battles in Malta and Crete. Patton closed the battle record of the German paratroopers and praised his opponent with a sigh.

This German paratrooper unit, known as the Green Goblin, is really not a powerful character who can be cleaned up by sending some troops at random. If I hadn't made a quick decision a few hours ago, I might have really wanted to run now. With such a unit blocking behind, it is really difficult to say whether it will be able to break through the defensive line organized by these paratroopers if it waits for defeat and then turns back.

However, now he still has hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles here, plus almost 50,000 infantry, and there may be 20,000 intermittently to catch up and join the battle, so Patton is still confident that he will eat these Germans and flee to Cairo with his troops.

"Ordered the tanks of the separate armored brigade, all tanks, to attack along the road. Break through the defensive positions set up by the opponent!" Patton drew a straight line on the map with his hand, he didn't want to waste time, and decided to use the simplest and most direct way to cut through the opponent's defense: "Then the 8th Panzer Division detoured on the left flank, and the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division moved to the right flank, surrounded all the German paratroopers, and fought a battle of annihilation!"

The combat deployment is very simple, using superior armor to cut through the enemy in the middle, and then outflanking the opponent from both flanks, dividing the encirclement, and breaking each one. Moreover, at this time, the Americans also had a killer feature: the heavy artillery units that could not keep up with the attack of the troops were now in the army again and again, and the American troops had an advantage in firepower than before.

"Inform all the troops, the other side is just a light infantry unit without many heavy weapons, as long as we fight steadily, we can surround them in one day!" Patton still did not forget to cheer up his subordinates at this time, although he lost a lot of troops, but also lost a lot of burdens, in his opinion, it is still unknown who will kill the deer!

At the same time, in Rommel's command, everyone was struggling with the large number of prisoners and the occasional resistance. A front-line commander pointed to the map and told Rommel about the difficulties he had encountered: "The surrendered troops were stuck in the road, the trucks were abandoned because there was no fuel, and the troops behind were still resisting firing, and the scene was so chaotic that my troops could not move forward now." ”

"Reconnaissance planes spotted Patton's rearguard troops, who were rapidly retreating and had fallen out of the battlefield. The staff officer added: "If we are to solve the problems before us, clear our way, and catch up with Patton, it will take at least two days, and if the opposing rearguard stubbornly resists, it may take longer." ”

"Go as fast as you can!" Rommel was silent for a long time, and then finally gave his first order after winning the battle: "Then catch up with Patton as fast as you can!"