noffsinger Chapter 155: Pursuing the Enemy
Chapter 155: Pursuing the Enemy
As soon as Christine jumped off the tank, a string of bullets came from somewhere, hitting the tank's shell with "ding ding dang dang". Christine rolled on the ground and hid to the side. The driver who crawled out from the bottom of the tank was unlucky. Before he could stand up, he was knocked to the ground by a volley of bullets.
It was an M4, which came over at high speed, with its machine gun firing continuously. The muzzle was aimed at the tank again. With a loud "boom", the 155 tank was blown apart by the close-range bombardment.
Before the M4 could be happy, an armor-piercing round hit it, and the M4 immediately caught fire. The tank crews fled and fled in all directions. Christian didn't have the energy to attack these tank soldiers. He looked back and saw the No. 152 driven by his subordinate Romanti. Romanti shouted at him: "Captain, get on quickly."
Christine climbed aboard the tank and entered. Romanti ordered the driver to hurry, and the tank sped away, piercing the sand. Christine then learned from Romanti that his tank company only had one, tank number 152. The entire 143rd Tank Regiment had been completely routed, and everyone was fleeing for their lives.
When a regiment of the Italian 13th Division, responsible for defending Port Alameda, received the order to evacuate, the British army had already appeared to their south and west. They did not dare to escape along the highway and had to flee into the desert in the north, leaving behind useless and heavy items such as artillery.
The British army occupied Bandar Alam without bloodshed, leaving behind one regiment, while the rest continued to advance along the highway towards Balamiyah. When they arrived at Balamiyah, the 5037th Brigade and the 28th Regiment of the New 84th Division had already occupied Balamiyah. The two armies then merged and continued to advance along the highway towards the ferry crossing on the east bank of Baiseliyah.
Von Arnim had received news that the 21st Tank Division had also been defeated and was retreating northward. He knew that Comunbu could no longer be defended, so he ordered the 151st Grenadier Division to withdraw. At the same time, he ordered the remnants of the 3rd Tank Division not to stay in North Ridisie, ignore the Italian 11th Division, and seize the ferry on the east bank of Besselie as soon as possible.
At this moment, the German 1st Tank Army on the west bank was retreating northward along the river bank. Leonard Kate left the 1st Light Division behind to force the Italian 6th Division to defend step by step. He ordered the 27th Tank Division to leave a grenadier regiment to assist the 1st Light Division in defense. The main force of the remaining tank army advanced at full speed and was determined to cross the Nile through the Baiceliya Pass as soon as possible.
Despite von Arnim's utmost efforts, he was unable to stop the Second Army's flanking assault force, led by the 5037th Mechanized Brigade. On the east bank of Baisselie, the British 17th Division's Engineer Battalion, assisted by the 28th Regiment of the New 84th Division, immediately laid explosives and destroyed the crossing. The 5037th Brigade and the 84th Regiment concentrated all their tanks, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons in a fierce battle south of the crossing with the remnants of the German 3rd Tank Division, inflicting heavy losses on both sides. However, with the deafening explosion at the crossing, all was lost for the Germans.
Upon receiving the news, von Arnim sighed deeply. A single, fortunate hesitation had cost him another chance to turn the tide. He issued another order to his troops, continuing his retreat northward. This time, without hesitation, he ordered the 1st Tank Corps to reach Elment, across from Luxor, at all costs. He also ordered the rearguard at Luxor to quickly build a pontoon bridge to allow at least the light troops of the 1st Tank Division to cross the river. He also requested assistance from Rommel. This marked the greatest defeat of the German-Italian Afrika Korps in Africa.
Along the Nile River in southern Egypt, the sky is covered with yellow sand and flames of war. In the air, the US and British air forces are fighting against the German and Italian air forces. On the ground, the various units, mainly the Second Army, are pursuing the enemy with all their might. The German army is very cruel and has no hesitation in abandoning the Italian defensive strongholds. In some major strongholds, the German army left a small number of elite troops and forced the Italian army to hold on to them in order to slow down the enemy's offensive.
Large quantities of heavy German and Italian equipment, armored vehicles, artillery, and damaged tanks were abandoned, while smaller German and Italian units were surrounded and surrendered. The Second Army's frantic northward advance left it unable to deal with German and Italian strongholds along the way. Even some Italian units that approached to surrender were told to remain where they were and wait for follow-up troops to arrive.
A strange story also occurred during this period: the 11nd Regiment of the 32th Italian Division found the third advance party of the 17th British Division passing through at Scilla and demanded their surrender.
The British commander looked down on the Italian army, thinking they were cowards on the battlefield and unworthy of respect. He loudly ordered the Italian army to make way and wait for follow-up troops to come and take over.
The Italian commander's anger instantly ignited. He thought to himself: The Chinese didn't accept my surrender, the Americans didn't accept my surrender, and now the British are so arrogant and rude! He decided that he would never let the British leave so easily and would make them accept his surrender.
The commander of the British advance group was equally stubborn. He responded without hesitation: "You Italians, what qualifications do you have to ask us to accept your surrender? Get out of the way immediately, otherwise we will annihilate you without hesitation!"
The battle erupted instantly, the roar of gunfire and cries of battle resounding through the air. Unleashing unprecedented fighting power, the soldiers of the Italian 32nd Regiment routed the British advance guard, sending them reeling and even attempting to encircle them. The British were immediately in dire straits. Realizing the situation was dire, the British commander ordered a retreat from Shila, withdrawing over ten kilometers to the south and urgently requesting assistance from the 28nd Regiment of the New 82th Division, which was following closely behind.
Zhou Xuhui led the 82nd Regiment to the battlefield quickly. After understanding the situation, he personally went to Shila. Seeing the soldiers of the Italian 32nd Regiment, although exhausted, still holding their positions, he could not help but feel a sense of respect for them.
Zhou Xuhui walked up to the Italian commander and said with a smile: "Your courage and persistence are admirable. On behalf of the new 28th Division 82nd Regiment, I accept your surrender." The Italian commander breathed a sigh of relief. He led the soldiers to lay down their weapons, ending this strange battle.
Zhang Lingpu was also shocked to see this well-organized Italian army marching southward under the escort of a company from the 82nd Regiment. He quickly asked Zhou Xuhui, "Commander, why are these surrendered Italian soldiers so arrogant as if they had won a battle?"
Zhou Xuhui laughed and said, "They deserve it. They use their victory in battle to force us to accept their surrender!"
After listening to Zhou Xuhui's introduction, Zhang Lingpu unconsciously uttered a British swear word: "fuck you!", expressing his dissatisfaction with the British army.