Africa is a magical place, especially in the hot and dry North Africa region. There are hot sunlight and outrageous surface temperatures every day, but at night it is as cold as in Nordic winters.

Anyone who comes to this land must try his best to adapt to everything on this land. Rommel sat in the car, letting the wind and sand hit his face. He saw several soldiers from the reconnaissance troops on the roadside pouring out the sand in his boots, talking and laughing as his commander's car drove past them.

They set out several hours in advance, and followed the simple road and the road signs buried half by yellow sand. They followed the map and the compass to advance in the desert with difficulty. However, God knew why their army of hundreds of tanks was still lost in the desert. They did not arrive at the site of the attack on time, so the whole army became anxious.

"Chief of Staff, do you think General Friedric will stop the attack?" Rommel asked with his eyes narrowed and looked at the yellow sand all over the sky. He was in a very bad mood now because the plan he had formulated himself was unable to be implemented on time because of his own reasons.

The staff officer looked at the map and road signs and said to Rommel: "From the road signs, we have deviated from the original combat site for more than ten kilometers. This place has almost left the front line of war between the two sides. It should be near this area on the map."

Now Rommel knows why his troops deviated from the original route, because the signs were replaced by the British, and the roads pointed out were deviated from the original direction. The reconnaissance unit of the 7th Armored Division, which had the first desert battle, did not pay attention to these details and was confused for more than an hour before finding the right direction.

This place is not like the bustling European inland. Any small intersection will be marked in detail in the city in all directions. The street signs here only have a simple location description. As for detailed information, don’t think about it. And once you miss a road sign, it is not easy to see the same road sign.

The temperature was very hot. In order to prevent sunburn or dehydration caused by evaporation of water, people had to wear thick clothes in the hot temperatures, and even plug their collars with towels to avoid dying in the unpopular sand dunes. After several hours of arduous trek, 41 tanks broke down, forcing Rommel to waste another precious hour to repair these precious weapons and equipment.

"The engines of 17 tanks were shut down due to filter problems. Now that the engine was cleaned and replenished, these tanks can be activated again. The two tanks in the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment were somewhat serious. One of them is still being investigated. There was a problem with the gearbox of the other tank. The support battalion said that it must return to ******* to repair it." The officer in charge of logistics caught up with Rommel and reported to him the emergency repair of the faulty tank.

"The reconnaissance troops have not yet contacted the British team?" Rommel unfolded the map on his car. The wind and sand were a little heavy, making the map rustle.

"No, we have found the right direction, but there are indeed no British police forces in the areas that are expected to be in contact with the British army. Here we have found abandoned camps. From time to time, there were British soldiers here about three hours ago." The staff officer pointed to the map and introduced to Rommel: "Or? General, we are breaking the radio silence now?"

"Wait... wait..." Rommel pursed his lips, and finally made a loud order as if he had made up some decision: "Let the troops accelerate forward, all the faulty vehicles are concentrated here, leaving a armored battalion and division headquarters as a cover, and other troops will rush here as fast as possible!"

"General! Are you saying... the British are retreating?" the Chief of Staff asked in confusion, and then pointed his head: "Indeed, it seems that they are retreating, but General... do we need to take risks?"

Of course it is necessary. Once the British retreat were completely free, the next decisive battle would be in the Tobrook area on the other side of the desert, where the supply line would be at least dozens of times farther away than now. And let the British retreat to Tobrook intact, and cooperate with the complete fortifications there, and to annihilate the British army, at least several times more than now, these are all things Rommel didn't want to see.

Rommel's strategic goal is to invade Egypt and gain a springboard for Germany to enter the Middle East. If you waste too much power on the road, the less chips he can use in his hands as he goes backwards. He doesn't want to have an embarrassing situation of no troops attacking in the future. Therefore, according to Rommel's current idea, it is definitely worth it to be able to save troops and eliminate British vitality.

Thinking of this, Rommel nodded and said to the Chief of Staff: "It is necessary, very necessary. If General Friedric sees that the British are going to run, he will probably bet on the obstacles close to here and along the northeastern route."

He pointed to the map and said, "Once he launched an attack like this, the British would dream of getting out, and they would inevitably be stuck in place and unable to retreat. So at this time, all they could choose was to fight back or give up the front line."

Give up the four British divisions on the front line? This is not the courage that everyone has. Even Montgomery must consider whether this kind of giving up is worth it, let alone a veteran general who is famous for his stability.

Therefore, the most likely response for the British is to counterattack, using effective but powerful counterattacks to drive away the entanglement of the front Germans. In this way, the British front-line guards who could not escape, and then they all retreated to the Tobrook area in a swagger. Such counterattack tactics are not risky, and it can even be said to be a regular limited counterattack tactic before retreat - Rommel firmly believes that the British will do this.

"How about? Stay behind the 2nd Regiment and let the 1st Regiment go first?" The commander of the 7th Division was Rommel's old subordinate. He stood aside and spoke and suggested: "If a regiment's troops really seize the gap between the British, it would be enough."

Without even thinking about it, Rommel waved his hand: "The whole army attacks! We are the 7th Armored Division! Can the 7th Armored Division, which does not attack, still be called the 7th Armored Division? It is not our style to be afraid of one's head and tail. If you want to fight, you will get the biggest result!"

"Attack!" Rommel shouted loudly, and his voice soon dissipated into the yellow sandy sky.

The response to this offensive order was the sound of one tank after another launching its engines and continuing to move forward. They were the 7th Armored Division of the German Wehrmacht known as the Devil, and the 7th Devil's Division in France, which was killed all the way to Dunkirk. Their division's motto was General Rommel's famous "Occurrence, Attack, Attack again."

So when the offensive order was issued, all the commanders finally recovered from the melancholy searching state and began to arrange their subordinates to complete the final preparations for the offensive. The ammunition was sorted out and the oil was confirmed. The shells were loaded into the tank's barrel, and the magazines were inserted into the body of the assault rifle.

As the wheels of the tanks and cars rotated, the entire 7th Armored Division rolled forward, and the reconnaissance troops shuttled back and forth between the various troops. From time to time, correspondents riding motorcycles returned from the front, confirming various important news.

"We found British troops, and British troops were found 6 miles ahead. They were opening fire, and we were not too close." A soldier riding a motorcycle pointed to the map and reported the results of the reconnaissance to a battalion commander of an armored battalion. The battalion commander nodded and climbed onto his command vehicle.

Soon this exciting news was passed to Rommel, who was in the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment. He received the information and took a look, and ordered: "Break the silence of the radio, this time the British can't run away!"

With his order, the command vehicle of the military stopped moving forward, and the huge radio and telegram receiving antenna was erected by the engineers. The cables of the generator were connected to the command vehicles, and dozens of soldiers and two tanks began to arrange warning lines around.

When I opened the telegram, I received a telegram for help from General Friedrich: "General Rommel, our army is fighting hard, please be sure to launch an attack on the flank." The second telegram was even more sad: "General, please launch an attack as soon as possible."

"Call back to General Friedric." Rommel said with a smile: "I am in the designated position and have started the attack."

After saying that, he was obviously relieved because he won the bet this time. Looking at his chief of staff and his subordinates, he joked: "This Friedric will exaggerate and shout the loudest when asking for help, but if you really ignore him for a few hours, you will find that he can actually persist..."

"General Friedric has always been known for his stability and sophistication. The 7th Infantry Division of his old army is known as the little devil." The chief of staff said with a smile: "General Bock once joked with General Liszt, saying that he would bet and see, who would win if you attack Friedric's defense."

"Is there anything else?" Rommel was stunned, and then asked with interest: "How many days can we rest after this battle? Let's try General Friedric and I'll try the wargame deduction."

Friedrich, the commander of the 7th Army, who was struggling with the counterattack of British tank troops and artillery, finally waited for the news that he wanted to wait. A telegram from Rommel was handed to him by the telegrapher. He opened it and looked at it, then he looked calmly and walked back to his command center with his hands behind his back.
Chapter completed!