My Italy - Chapter 696 Battle of Egypt (5)

Admiral Murray has been thinking about how to defend against the enemy’s machines that can roam the battlefield. If he couldn’t think of it himself, he would encourage everyone to think about it together. So after the officers in the headquarters finished their work, they began to think about how to deal with the enemy’s weird machine that could roam the battlefield.

After some investigation, the British intelligence agency finally learned that this weapon had a very special name: tank.

At that time, the head of the British intelligence department was stunned after receiving this information. Is it serious to name this weapon a water tank?

Shouldn’t this be called a tracked combat vehicle?

Of course, British intelligence not only knew the name, but also knew that Italy had been researching tanks for a long time. However, due to the other party’s excellent confidentiality and the intelligence personnel’s lack of awareness of it, it is difficult to pay attention to a few words.

Just knowing these is not enough. You must also know the performance of the weapon and its advantages and disadvantages in various aspects. Of course, it is best to collect its drawings.

However, this takes time. The fact that so much information can be found in just two or three days is already an outstanding performance of the British intelligence agency. For this reason, they have also lost several outstanding intelligence personnel who have been lurking in Italy for more than ten years. .

Admiral Murray did not get much intelligence in a short period of time, and at this time he could only try to solve the problem of the enemy tanks. In a series of brainstorming sessions, many ideas were also devised, such as using 1-pound and 2-pound guns as counterattack weapons, detaching the 57mm rapid-fire cannons on battleships, and preparing explosive packs. , thrown by heroic soldiers or placed under enemy tanks.

Of course, these require equipment to be used. There is also a solution that does not require equipment, which is to widen the current trench by 1-2 meters, so that the current 2-2.5-meter-wide trench becomes a 3-4-meter-wide trench. trenches. Yes, this is the anti-tank trench that was common in later generations, but the trench at this time had not been deepened.

The idea of ​​widening the trenches quickly gained support, including General Murray. At this time, the Allied forces in El Alamein picked up digging tools and began to widen the trenches.

One more thing to say here is that after the order to widen the trenches across the entire line arrived, the soldiers discovered that there were not enough digging tools, and General Murray urgently mobilized them from the rear. However, the soldiers who used them discovered that most of these excavation tools had been used, and the soil on many of them was still there. It was obvious that they must have been obtained from the Egyptian people.

But when the defenders widened their position, the Italian army’s offensive came again. In the direction of Miteriya Ridge, the Eighth Army on the center line, with the assistance of more than 40 tanks, overcame the defensive force composed of the British Twelfth Army and captured Miteriya Ridge in one fell swoop.

Similarly, the attack corps composed of the Tenth Army on the southern front, with the assistance of more than 30 tanks, captured the Deir Abyad, Bab Qatara and other front-line positions in one fell swoop.

At this point, the British army’s first line of defense in El Alamein was broken. The 120,000 defeated troops stationed on the first line of defense could only retreat to the rear. Although their loss of troops was not large (only 30,000 people were lost), the loss of their weapons and equipment was not small, and the impact on morale was also the same.

For example, the Australian 2nd Division lost more than 4,000 men in the Battle of Meteria Ridge. The officers and soldiers of the Australian 2nd Division who retreated were in low morale. They continued to engage in desertions, drinking, gambling, fights, rapes and other incidents that disrupted military discipline. serious

Originally, in Admiral Murray’s plan, the first line of defense was prepared to consume the Italians. As long as they kill a large number of enemies and consume enough ammunition from the opponent, the defenders who resist bravely can withdraw to the third line of defense, and the second line of defense will bear the consumption of the enemy and launch a counterattack.

It can be said that in General Murray’s mind, the first line of defense must last at least 15 days. But now it has been breached in 3 days, which fully shows how helpless it is in the face of tanks, and how much damage it has to morale.

If there is no weapon to deal with tanks, which can kill all sides on the battlefield, then soldiers will not be able to hold their positions at all. Tanks that cannot be dealt with will make soldiers fearful, and the position will be lost in just a moment.

Facing the enemy’s five powerful tanks, General Murray had limited capital and could only place 1- and 2-pound guns and 57-mm guns in key areas. For example, Alamein, Ruwaisat Ridge, etc., as for the Alamein Ridge, Deir Munasib, etc. further south, can only rely on anti-tank trenches and explosive bags.

There is no way to only have so few things in hand. Sprinkling pepper noodles will definitely not work and can only focus on defense, and the more important lines of Alamein and Ruwaisat Ridge are even more important.

While General Murray was making careful calculations, the Italian army that had captured the front line launched another attack.

“Fire No. 1!”

On the Petrarch, the No. 1 turret that had turned to aim at the land roared. The two 305mm main guns in the turret sprayed flames and fired two shells towards the target area.

A huge explosion sounded directly from a strong position in Alamein. A direct hit from the 305mm shell, and no one could survive the huge explosion.

Facing the attack of naval guns, the Alamein defenders only had small and medium-sized coastal defense guns, and their maximum caliber was only 5 inches, which was no match for the naval guns.

In addition to naval guns, more than 600 cannons from the Fourth Army and the Second and Fourth Independent Artillery Regiments were also shelling the Alamein defenders.

At this time, the 1st and 2nd armies of the Japanese Expeditionary Forces were defending the Alamein front line. These two armies had 5 divisions and 140,000 people. Together with the 4th Army deployed on the third line, the total strength of the Japanese Expeditionary Forces was Up to two hundred thousand people. This is exactly the force Japan promised to send to the European battlefield, and Britain deployed all of them in Egypt.

In the opinion of General Murray, these Japanese soldiers were very good soldiers, so after discussing with the commander of the Japanese dispatched troops, Marshal Okubao Kon, he decided to defend the most important Alamein. This shows that Admiral Murray attaches great importance to Japan’s dispatch of troops.

As for Okubo Gon, a general who was not from the Choshu Domain during the Russo-Japanese War, nor was he from the Satsuma Domain. Being able to become a marshal and a count in the army controlled by the Choshu Domain was simply impossible without sufficient merit. This is also true. Marshal Okubo Gon and military god Nogi Nogi Nogi are both the two representatives of the Army in the Russo-Japanese War.

Compared with the different evaluations of Nogi Nogi Nogi, the evaluations received by Okubao Gong are quite uniform, and they are basically praised for being humble, honest, and capable.

However, Marshal Obogong is not without his shortcomings, that is, compared with his excellent military talents, it is not an exaggeration to call him a political idiot, because he is unwilling to get involved in politics.

Therefore, after receiving the honorary title of Marshal in 1911, Obogong was actually semi-retired.

When the war broke out, Japan joined the Entente and agreed to send troops to Europe. At this time, who will lead this unit has become a problem, because among the veterans who participated in the Russo-Japanese War, there are only three or four who are suitable to die and retire. After deducting those who are currently unable to move and those who are not suitable, After the selection, Obao Gong became the only one.

Subsequently, this marshal who committed various crimes during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898 became the commander of the Japanese Expeditionary Force with 200,000 troops.

But at this time, Marshal Obaogong looked at the position that was being bombarded continuously. Although his expression remained calm, his heart was bleeding. The cruelty and cruelty of the world war far exceeded that of the Russo-Japanese War. Although the fortifications built by the soldiers were good, under such a fierce bombardment, the casualties must be considerable.

“Your Excellency, Commander, Major General Teppei Kitaoka reported that the position of the 2nd Independent Artillery Regiment was hit by enemy artillery. They have stopped shelling now and are moving their positions.”

Listening to the communications staff’s report and looking at the sand table marking each unit, Obao Gong asked. “How many cannons did they lose?”

“Five 115mm howitzers were destroyed in this shelling, and 146 officers and soldiers were lost.”

“More than half of the artillery was lost, plus the artillery losses of other units. In just half a day, we lost half of the artillery. We informed all departments to stop the artillery battle and wait for my order.”

“Hi!”

After the communications staff member left, Obogong rubbed his swollen temples. The Iraqi army had too many cannons (the abbreviation of “Italya” (Japan’s Chinese character name for “Italy”)).

At this time, he was reminded of the fierce artillery fire of the Iraqi intervention forces in the Sino-Japanese War of 1898. It was so impressive. At that time, he was the commander of the fifth division. Feel for yourself the power of enemy artillery. Later, this became one of the temptations for the military to attach importance to artillery. Now it seems that the imperial army is still far behind in artillery.