Iron Cross

"The troops defending in the west have asked me for help several times. The enemy launched a fierce attack. They began to no longer care about the losses of tanks and personnel, and began to forcefully drill into our anti-tank positions and minefields. Although we destroyed more than 100 tanks, However, the consumption of the blocking force was very high, with less than half of the tanks left in the only armored battalion, and the infantry attrition was also very serious." On the evening of the next day, Bayerlein, Chief of Staff of the African Army, was also worried about the next situation. It seems that although the German army has the advantage and initiative on the battlefield, the situation is very dangerous and there is a risk of losing everything if they are not careful.

Guderian was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Transfer the main force of the Italian paratrooper brigade to them - tell them that they are the last line of defense in the internal defense circle. From now on, they cannot retreat an inch and must be firmly nailed." There, in addition, send a telegram to General Waldau and ask him to organize an air attack on the western theater tomorrow morning. The enemy's rapid attack must be contained. "

Bayerlein sighed after hearing this. He knew that Guderian would not send the main force to return reinforcements, so he asked: "Sir, which one do you plan to focus on, the east or the south? Although we are still advancing, But the enemy's resistance is becoming increasingly tenacious, and it is impossible for us to achieve breakthroughs in every theater."

"I haven't thought about it yet." The latter admitted honestly. After thinking about it, he probably felt that saying this would cause unnecessary commotion, so he explained, "It's not that I haven't thought about the next step. I am thinking about how to achieve the effect. It means more.”

"This..." Bayerlein opened his mouth in astonishment and didn't know what to say. The combat staff also looked at each other. Merlin got angry and said nervously, "Sir, you can't hesitate about this. If it's true, I haven’t thought about it, it’s better to go back to the west for the time being.”

"Don't be anxious, give me 10 minutes and let me think about what to do next." Guderian stared at the map and pondered, leaving behind a bunch of stunned staff officers.

10 minutes were up. Bayerlein and Merinjin were waiting with great hope for Guderian's final decision, but what they received was an answer that they couldn't believe: "I haven't thought it through yet. We will go to the east and south as planned tomorrow." Fight for one day in each direction.”

"Crazy... this must be crazy..." Bayerlein muttered to himself, sighing repeatedly, while Merlinjin held his head as if in pain.

The Battle of Tobruk (known as the Third Battle of Tobruk in history), which started on December 1st, showed all kinds of weirdness from beginning to end. The battle started with careful planning and design. As time went on, the battle situation changed. It became more and more chaotic, and then turned into a mess as it progressed. After a few days, not only Montgomery couldn't understand what Guderian wanted to do, but even the people in the Afrika Korps headquarters couldn't understand Guderian's goal. What is it

He first attacked the west, then the south, and then attacked in the east. He attacked the entire defense line in three directions. Bayerlein and others believed that if the sea was not in the north, the troops would definitely have to fight again in the north. Yes, every attack seems to be able to break through and succeed, but every time it seems that it is almost done, it shrinks back - it is simply inexplicable. If Guderian's past historical contributions and achievements were not here, his subordinates would simply be suspicious. He was messing with his command or simply doubted whether he had been instigated by the Allies to rebel - how could there be such aimless collision?

"Sir." Another day later, Bayerlein and Merinjin felt that they could not continue to mess around like this, otherwise the army would be dragged down. They jointly persuaded them again, "Sir, this cannot continue. We must There is a focused attack in one direction. If you really don’t understand or haven’t thought about it well, just pull back to defend first and then come back when you think about it. We have plenty of time, and the Eighth Army’s combat power cannot stop us.”

"You don't understand? To be honest, I don't understand either." Guderian's words stunned everyone, "But I have a top-secret order from the head of state, and he asked me to execute it in this way. These tactics are coordinated The big plan unfolded - and I was in pain."

Guderian showed everyone the order issued to him by Hoffmann, which clearly stated: ...try to attract the forces of the Eighth Army in front of them as much as possible, and urge them to gather the main force around Tobruk and gradually weaken it. , we must ensure that the fortress is firmly in our hands, and we must ensure the integrity and mobility of the troops.

"Did you see it? The first fortress cannot be lost, and the second unit must be complete and mobile. If it cannot stand out like this, what will happen?"

"This is really a strange order. The tactics you have implemented these days are perfectly coordinated with it." Bayerlein asked, "Do you have a detailed explanation of the big plan?"

"No... the head of state only said that he would contact me when the time is right, but I have never received the exact telegram." Guderian spread his hands, "Did you notice that in addition to the signature of the head of state, this order also has the signature of Kate? The counter-signatures of General Er and General Zeitzler, as well as the signatures of General Jodl and Marshal Kesselring - this cannot be forged, and since they signed it willingly, it means that they must know the whole truth and reach the agreement. Consensus, in this case, I will implement it.”

"But why don't I tell you the details?" Bayerlein felt strange. "There is no reason to keep this matter a secret from you..."

"They didn't keep it secret from me. The head of state told me the outline - the problem is that when he said these words, the exact plan had not been finalized." Guderian didn't know what to say. "Yodele kept changing it, and then he was The accident in the direction of northwest Africa disrupted the delivery, and it has been difficult to give birth. In addition, because our password is unreliable, the head of state cannot send a detailed telegram to tell me. Then I have not returned to the country. The risk of sending someone to bring the plan is too great - we have several Something happened once... and things ended up like this.”

"This is not in line with the style of the General Staff - it is not rigorous at all!"

"This is the idea proposed by the head of state! He scared Zeitzler, Keitel and Yodel at first." Guderian laughed, "The overall direction has never been determined. The head of state finally said, 'We are not going to give up the 60,000 people. , he gave the order and he took the responsibility!’ and then convinced the others.”

Everyone finally understood the twists and turns and sighed repeatedly. Only the head of state could have such courage and determination!

"But why do you want to launch a large-scale attack?" Bayerlein asked doubtfully, "Judging from the order, it seems that we do not need to mobilize such a large number of troops. We can definitely stay behind the defense line..."

Guderian became angry when he mentioned this: "I thought Montgomery would attack the fortress, and then built two defense circles to prepare for a defensive battle. It turned out that the British were all cowards, and their courage was smaller than the eye of a needle. We don’t dare to attack even with 3 times our strength, so I can only attack from all sides - and I can’t even break through this damn encirclement!”

Everyone now understands that if the encirclement is really broken and the enemy is swept away, the Eighth Army will shrink or retreat out of fear, and it will not be able to complete its mission of attracting the enemy around Tobruk.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, have we really achieved nothing in the past week?"

The answer to this question is obviously no. During the one-week operation, the African Army relied on the favorable situation of internal operations and launched attacks in all directions. The British 1st, 7th and 8th Armored Divisions, the 44th and 151st Infantry Brigades , 2 French brigades, and 1 Polish brigade were severely damaged. The 10th Armored Division, the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 9th Australian Division, the 201st Guards Brigade, and the 56th Division were moderately damaged. In order to maintain the front, Montgomery was forced to All the troops on the original supply line were transferred back except for one Yin 4th Division. Comparing the battle situation, the African Army lost more than 9,000 men, more than 200 tanks, and even the most valued Tiger tanks lost more than 20 tanks, and more than 260 aircraft. However, the results gained were extremely brilliant. The British The number of soldiers killed, wounded, and captured exceeded 60,000, with more than 900 tanks and nearly 800 aircraft.

Although it seems that not many enemies have been wiped out, because the main tanks of the British army have been destroyed, a large number of artillery pieces have been abandoned, and the organization has been broken up, several major armored divisions have basically lost their combat effectiveness. Even the tanks that barely maintained their offensive posture The Western Theater also lost the power to continue its offensive - this battle broke the backbone of the Eighth Army. Although the losses of the African Army were not small and the situation they faced was very difficult, everyone believed that they had completely displayed their authority. Now on the battlefield, the British could only parry and had no room to fight back.

In the evening, Bayerlein said excitedly: "Sir, someone is coming from Berlin... He said he has something important to report to you. Director Westphal sent him here and he is outside now."

"Please come in quickly." Guderian was shocked when he saw the person: it was actually Colonel Dargos, the chief aide to the head of state.

"Report, I am ordered by the head of state to convey the contents of the big plan to you..."

"Password?"

"Odin's weapon, the eternal spear - Kungunir!"

"Correct, Colonel Dargos, you can say it." Guderian looked at Bayerlein, Melinjin and others around him, and smiled, "These officers are the core figures of the African Army Command. They They will keep it secret, and our subsequent combat plan also needs them to formulate and implement it.”

"Yes!" Dargos stood up straight and dictated one sentence after another, as skillfully as if it was engraved in his mind, "The head of state orders:..."

"Wow!" After hearing the outline and orders of the entire plan, everyone was stunned. After a while, bursts of cheers erupted from the headquarters, as if they were about to overturn the roof, "Long live the Führer!"