81_81266 In the yellow sand, a German * officer saw the soldiers of the 7th Panzer Division, the first to come into the sight of the Germans. The soldier was frustrated, carrying his rifle, covered in dust and wearing a tattered scarf over his face.

The soldier was wearing a pair of Italian army shorts with leggings and a pair of desert yellow military leather shoes. He walked staggeringly, with difficult steps, like a dried corpse in Egypt, which made people look a little terrible.

A German soldier quickly climbed out of the trench and ran towards his companion, pulling out his own water bottle as he ran, unscrewing the lid and delivering it to the German soldier who had returned to the camp.

The soldier took the kettle, tore open his scarf, exposed his parched lips, and poured water into his mouth as if it were the best champagne in the world, and could heal all the sorrows of his body. With a gurgling sound, the soldier drank all the water in the kettle, nodded gratefully to the comrade who stayed at the relay station, and thanked him in a hoarse voice: "Thank you very much." ”

Soon, more and more soldiers appeared in the desert, and on the other side, German tanks and armored vehicles had begun to enter the German-occupied area, and they had received supplies and fuel, and the scene was a little chaotic.

An open-top car drove into the camp and, after being stopped by the guards, was soon cleared again. The car drove all the way to the deeper German camp and stopped in front of a well-camouflaged forward fortification.

Rommel dragged his tired body and jumped out of the car, then dropped his gloves in his seat and strode into the temporary wartime command post. In this command post, General Frederick of the German 7th Infantry Corps and General Garibaldi, the commander of the Italian army, were waiting for Rommel, who had just arrived here.

"Long live Führer Accardo, Rudolph!" Frédéric saw Rommel walk in and saluted: "General, it's been a hard journey. ”

"Long live the Führer!" Rommel returned the salute, then took off his trench coat covered with yellow sand, threw it on the chair beside him, glanced at the Italian General Garibaldi sitting next to him, nodded his head for a moment, and then asked: "Why don't you support me with fuel and ammunition, and let me carry out a local counterattack in the evening?"

"General Rommel, the Führer's telegram arrived yesterday afternoon, and the High Command ordered us to rest on the spot and stabilize the situation first. Frederick smiled helplessly and handed the message to Rommel: "Therefore, we have been ordered not to provide any logistical supplies to support your counterattack plan. ”

"What a great opportunity, just missed. Rommel slapped the table in annoyance and complained: "If I give me two divisions, I will be able to advance another 100 kilometers to the east and fight back to where I have retreated." At least two more British divisions can be annihilated, and maybe a few thousand more Americans can be captured!"

"Your troops need to rest, and what they need most now is hot food and water, and then lie down in their tents and get a good night's sleep. General Garibaldi of Italy spread his hands and said: "Not a battle." ”

Rommel took the hot coffee handed to him by General Frederick, looked at the steaming black coffee, and reflected his own face: "You're right, I really need a break." Guarding against the British and American attacks depends on you, General Frederick, and I'll go get some sleep. ”

"Get a good night's sleep, Your Excellency. General Frederick smiled and said to Rommel: "The Führer's order did not relieve you of the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Afrika Korps, so the command of the next campaign will depend on you to decide." ”

"Didn't remove my command?" Rommel was stunned for a moment, then fell silent. He didn't expect that after the crushing defeat, Accardo's trust in him would be as good as ever. Far from blaming him, he was not even deprived of command at the front.

"Of course, you are not relieved of your command. Frederick smiled and said, "But the Führer asked me to warn you that for three days do not try to counter any provocation by the British, after all, our troops need to rest." ”

Rommel nodded, then relaxed, leaned back in his chair, rested his head on his dusty trench coat, and fell asleep.

Listening to Rommel's slight sound of sleep, Frederick stood up and crept out of the hidden temporary command post at the front with Garibaldi and the others. Closing the door, Frederick reluctantly pointed to the door of the house: "This Erwin, he took our headquarters and drove us out." ”

"General Rommel is also very tired, and I have heard that he has not slept properly for several days. Garibaldi put his hands behind his back and looked at General Frederick as he walked out: "I know that you are ready to counterattack, but you have been holding on and not carrying it out, can you tell me why?"

"A few days ago, General Rommel launched the Battle of Thorny, but in fact the whole battle plan was against the orders of the General Staff of the Army. Frederick smiled and said to General Garibaldi, "And General Rommel's fierce pursuit has contributed to this painful defeat, so I can only be more steady." ”

Garibaldi didn't speak, but looked at Frederick with a smile, as if waiting for the following.

"Well, I admit there's something else going on in there. Frederick sighed helplessly and said: "Rommel disobeyed, but I can't continue to disobey, after all, I have to prove to the Führer that there is a not very stable Rommel in North Africa, and another Frederick is a stable ...... In this way, we can make up for each other and reassure the Supreme Command. ”

Garibaldi nodded: "This is also what I am more afraid of, so I persuade you not to act rashly." If you launch a counterattack this time, even if you are victorious, you or General Rommel will be transferred out of North Africa. ”

This time, it was Frederick who looked at Garibaldi with a smile, also waiting for Garibaldi to explain his words.

"Okay! I'll surrender!" Garibaldi jokingly explained, "I have mediocre command and combat ability, and if I don't have some political vision, how can I sit in this position now?"

"You! It would be nice if the Italians had taken some of their other minds off to war. Frederick shook his head and walked into the distance: "I'll inspect the retired officers and soldiers, if you're interested, come with me." ”

"Interested! Of course I am interested! It is rare for a German wolf to flee back!" Garibaldi followed with a smile, and as soon as Frederick made a sarcastic remark about Italy, he immediately fought back.

......

"General Patton, we didn't even make a tentative attack, and we just ran away in a daze?" Montgomery asked, sitting in the car, looking at Patton in the distance.

Barton took a cigar in his hand, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said with a smile: "I advocate attacking, but I'm not a fool! If there was a bargain, you Montgomery would have gone on your own and would have waited for me? You stopped attacking in the south in the afternoon, and you were waiting for Rommel's counterattack, right? Don't you know that I also ordered a defense at that time?"

"Working with smart people is just comfortable. Montgomery laughed, pointed to the side of the car, and the retreating Anglo-American troops said, "Anyway, I don't want to spend the night in front of the German position, it would be too dangerous." Rommel's troops were no longer capable of counterattacking, but the rest of the Germans could not be said to be able to attack at any time. ”

"This is a good start, and my goal has been achieved. So retreat is also retreat!" Patton said proudly: "I have seen several new weapons of the German army. We defeated the main forces of the German army, so the weapons were relatively comprehensive, and most of them had already begun to be transferred to Cairo and sent back to the United States for study. ”

"You Americans, you have to reap the benefits as soon as you make a move. Montgomery quipped.

"MP-44 assault rifles, G43 rifles, G42 general-purpose machine guns, but also the wreckage of the Leopard tank and the wreckage of wheeled armored vehicles. Patton smiled like a treasure: "These are all good things that the United States wants to study well." It's a pity that not a single FW-190D fighter was shot down. ”

"Will your U.S. military's brazen participation in the war cause hostility from Germany and the two countries to declare war?" Montgomery asked. He really hoped that this American sortie would provoke the Germans and provoke a declaration of war between the two countries. In this way, the shape of the world is different, at least Britain is no longer isolated.

"I don't care about this, I'm only responsible for fighting and winning wars. Barton closed his eyes and enjoyed his cigar, saying no more to Montgomery. Politics is obviously not his strong point, and his boss had warned him before he came, telling him to take care of his big mouth.

On the contrary, the staff officer who sat in the front row of his head turned his head and explained with a smile: "In fact, the relationship between the United States and Germany has not been very good since 37 years, and the German Navy's submarine forces have continued to provoke and sink our American merchant ships, and the German military officials have turned a blind eye to our protests in every possible way -- so this time we sent troops to North Africa in the name of volunteers, and they could not say anything." ”

Montgomery nodded, and didn't ask any more questions, but looked at the map intently. He had to analyze the next action goal of the German army, so that he could take precautions in advance before the battle began