Chapter 661

"Where are the tanks of the second battalion now?" A German officer stares at his map and asks the staff around him loudly. Not far away from him, a 150 mm self-propelled howitzer is firing fiercely. As the division commander of the 7th armored division, because the former division commander is the famous general commander of the African Army, Rommel, his pressure is very huge.

After being appointed as the division commander of the 7th armored division, major general prithwitz took nearly half a year to become the division commander. During this period, he tried his best to be in the front when he went through combat, because his predecessor general Rommel did so. He tried to learn Rommel's style as much as possible, trying to integrate himself into the environment of the devil's 7th armored division.

So now his headquarters is less than 1 km away from the front-line fighting area, and we can even see shells falling not far away. However, the German teacher didn't even wear his own helmet. Instead, he just buckled a big hat on his head. This is also Rommel's signature costume. Major general prithwitz has learned from his heart.

"The news just came, general, the troops of 2nd Battalion of 1st regiment are now attacking East here. One of their tanks has broken down and two of them have been destroyed." The staff officer pointed to the map and replied to his commander, "but they beat back the American attack and destroyed about 10 American tanks!"

"Order them to speed up the attack! I don't want to wait for general Rommel to arrive here and the fighting will continue! " General prithwitz frowned and said: "in addition, let the division's reserve team drive out and repel the American troops directly in front. There is no need for any guard forces here. Give an order immediately!"

"Yes! General The staff officer stood at attention and ran to the armored command vehicle behind him. It was a modified armored command vehicle with a large radio antenna on it. However, the internal space was relatively narrow. Most commanders would rather stop to command outside the vehicle than squat inside to enjoy a relatively safe crowded environment.

"General! general! There is a call from the 1st Battalion of 2nd regiment in the front. A large number of tanks of the other side are trying to break through the front of our army. They are trying to block the other side, but there are too many of them. They want our division to move back a certain distance to ensure safety. " A liaison officer ran up to major general prithwitz and gave a loud report on the latest situation.

Major general prithwitz looked at the officer and, with a trace of Prussian aristocracy's disdain, put out his hand and patted the liaison officer on the chest, as if to help him dust off: "when did you hear that the division of the 7th armored army retreated? It's ridiculous to put forward such a suggestion. Order the division's reserve team to attack and drive the American tanks back! "

"But general! This is already in the range of the enemy's artillery! It's dangerous The staff officer reminded his commander of safety.

"When general Rommel led the 7th Division to sweep France, several times the other party's machine gun bullets hit his car! As the commander of the 7th Division, I must stand with my soldiers General prithwitz said aloud to his men. After that, he patted the liaison officer on the shoulder with a smile: "go and tell the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment that I'm here and I'm not going anywhere!"

But at this time, a shell landed not far away, splashing a piece of yellow sand. Everyone was startled by the shell. Several soldiers on guard had fallen down with their helmets, while the reckless prithwitz still didn't mean to escape at all.

The order had been given, and soon the German tanks around the division passed the position of prithwitz. They were ready to move into the area where the Americans were fighting back, blocking back the American tanks that had broken through the German defense line.

"Boom!" A shell fell on the other side of the armored command car, and the car body blocked the air waves caused by the explosion. Everyone was shaken by the sound of the shell explosion. Many soldiers saw that the officers of the division were submerged by the flying sand. They ran to the hit area and found several officers from the dark smoke.

Fortunately, almost all the officers were OK. Only a few of them were buzzing in the ears. However, when they found their division commander, they found that a shrapnel unfortunately hit him in the head.

"Medical guard! Come on! The teacher is shot! Come on With the roar of German tank engines, there was also the scream of many soldiers. The medical guards arrived at the scene of the accident immediately, but they found that major general prithwitz was no longer breathing.

Although the commander of the 7th Armored Division was killed at about 10 a.m. on that day, under the leadership of the deputy commander, he withstood the fierce attack of the U.S. tank forces. Until their former commander, Rommel, who is now the commander in chief of the African Army, arrived at the scene, they carried out a limited counterattack.

The battle lasted until 12:10 at noon. The Americans lost 210 tanks, but they still didn't intend to retreat. Barton obviously gave a death order, and he didn't intend to take any tanks back to the east of Suez Canal. However, in order to eliminate the 210 allied tanks, Rommel's tank troops lost 45 tanks, most of which were leopard tanks, which also made Rommel heartbroken.

Next to the crater, the dusty Rommel saw the remains of major general prithwitz, a brave and reckless general, lying on the ground with a calm face. He seemed very satisfied that he could die in such an important battle field. Just behind Rommel, at a distance of about tens of meters, two 40mm bofos self-propelled antiaircraft guns with four units are adjusting their firing angles. They are responsible for the air defense work of the general headquarters of the African Legion. The American attack has been beaten back and it has become a relatively safe place“ What's the position of the flank attack? Has the damn radio connection been restored? " After staring at the remains of his men for a long time, Rommel finally asked his chief of staff, who seemed to be in a bad mood with a rare smell of anger in his voice. Just when he asked, suddenly a soldier at a guard post fired a warning gun. Everyone looked in the direction of the guard post, only to see a huge British command car speeding up not far away. The car was a special command car for the British. The German army had destroyed this kind of command car, so Rommel had seen the wreckage of this kind of car, but the front of the car was painted with the special logo of the US * team, the white five pointed star. So even Rommel was puzzled and couldn't tell whether it was an Englishman's car or an American's car“ Britisher? Americans? " Rommel frowned and murmured, while the guard on the other side was getting ready to meet the enemy. Soon a leopard tank came, and the turret pointed to the approaching British command car. This kind of British command car is really a big one. It looks like an elephant“ Prepare to fire On one side, the officer in charge of the guard gave the order to prepare to fire, but Rommel waved his hand and denied the order: "have you ever seen an idiot attacking a tank with a car? When they get closer, let's see what these idiots want to do! " Soon, the car stopped next to Rommel headquarters, just in front of the Black Cannon of the German tank, and the people inside opened the door, all wearing German uniforms“ well! This is the command car of the American I captured! Why point a cannon at my booty? " Commander of the 7th Panzer Corps and division commander of another Panzer Division, lieutenant general Stryker. He walked up to Rommel, laughing and showing off his achievements: "I beat back the American tank troops from the flank, and now my men are chasing the remaining American soldiers."“ Are you crazy? Stryker! How dare you drive an Englishman's car near my headquarters? I almost ordered you to open fire and destroy your broken car Rommel pointed at Stryker and yelled“ No problem! general! In that case, you will only lose two armored division commanders in one day at most. " Stryker said with a loud smile, and then pointed to the British car behind him: "the space in this thing is very large, and it's very suitable to be used as a headquarters and a room. I've come to give it to you deliberately."“ Don't do it again next time, or I'll really order the fire and shoot you to heaven! " Rommel punched Stryker on the chest with his fist, then walked to the special armored command vehicle that looked really good with a smile: "this car is good, I like it very much, at least I can stand and stretch inside. Where are your troops now? Mark them on the map“ My troops have cut from the flank to the left side of Barton's troops. Now they can only retreat to the desert. I ordered them to pursue for 50 kilometers and then return here for standby. " Strick pointed to the map and reported his achievements: "the sandstorm was a bit big, and the antenna of my command car was broken by the wind a few hours ago, so the communication was interrupted."“ 300 tanks. Barton lost about 300 tanks. Is it too fast to retreat at this time? " Rommel suddenly felt something was wrong, and immediately gave the order to stop attacking: "button has a reserve team that has not been put into the fight! We've got to get the formation together! "