Imperial Overlord

In the rolling yellow sand, a British tank rushed out of the thick fog formed by the sand and rushed towards the defensive positions of the Italian army. 【】

Behind it, another British tank broke through the sand and dust, rolled up more sand and moved forward rapidly, also heroically facing the Italian tank.

The performance of the m11 tank is really not that advanced, but it is the middle force of the Italian armored forces.

Now, they must face the attack of the British armored division. Although the number of tanks invested by both sides is not very large, it is a fierce armored battle.

Who would have thought that more than 200,000 Italian troops and almost 30,000 British troops would be determined by this encounter?

The British attacked the 7th Armoured Division. The commander who ordered them to attack was Admiral Archibald Percival Wavell, the supreme commander of the British Middle East Theater.

What Li Le could not have guessed was that what he was most worried about was the British Compass operation that led to the collapse of the Italian army in North Africa, and just like this, at another time and another place, it kicked off his prelude.

Admiral Wavell, when the Italian army was on the wane, invested his most elite and has been watching the resting armored units.

Unlike Italy's now exhausted and scattered armour, the British armour is now more effective and more threatening.

In the yellow sand, the Italian army did not expect the disadvantaged British team to launch such a violent counterattack. They were used to the kind of low-intensity conflict and were not able to enter the defensive state immediately.

British tanks soon achieved their first results, an Italian M11 tank was knocked out of place by shells.

There were 10 Italian m11 tanks parked around the exploding Italian tank, but in a panic, the Italian army abandoned the car and fled.

It took the poor Italian army half an hour to realize that their flank, the south side of the road, had been penetrated by the British armor.

Graziani's headquarters telephone rang non-stop, and part of the communication network that was finally set up was completely paralyzed because of too many calls.

As the commander, Marshal Graziani didn't know what happened to his troops. He only knew that the British team was fighting back, but he didn't know the strength and purpose of the other party.

"Sir! The British launched a counterattack in the south! It's the south! Our signal troopers came to inform us with their mouths! The situation is true!" An Italian officer hurriedly ran into the headquarters and reported the latest situation to his marshal.

What he said was also very vague. He just got hungry news from his armored troops, saying that gunfire was heard on the south side of the road, and a large number of Italian soldiers were retreating.

At this time, Marshal Graziani had not thought that this was a full-scale counterattack by the British team. He judged that this was just a small-scale test by the British armored forces.

So he gave his armored troops the order to counterattack - without knowing the strength and purpose of the opponent, he ordered his army to counterattack!

And while he ordered his troops to fight back, his tank troops were suffering their own doom.

20 Italian tanks and more than 10 armored vehicles were destroyed by the British tank assault, accompanied by about 300 Italian infantry, all of whom became prisoners of British tanks.

The Italian commanders don't know yet that their current flank has been driven into a nail and is in danger of total collapse at any time.

On the contrary, Marshal Graziani was still waiting, awaiting the return of the forced retreat of the British after his flanking armoured counterattacks.

It was frustrating that when his order finally reached the two southern divisions of the Italian army, the two divisions were already busy retreating.

As a result, the Italian 10th Army, in chaos, fell into the crisis of annihilation, as in history.

"What are you kidding?" Marshal Graziani couldn't believe his ears when he learned that the armored units and infantry divisions on his flanks were collapsing and had already begun to retreat.

On the one hand he did not know that the British attack was so violent that more than 40 of his tanks scattered in the desert had been destroyed.

On the other hand, he didn't know that the British army was a desperate counterattack this time, and even invested all the armored troops in his hands - a full 60 tanks!

"Let the two retreating divisions be on guard in place! I ordered them not to take a step back!" Marshal Graziani made up and gave the order to mobilize.

He pointed to the map, and continued to say the order of reinforcements: "Let the most elite black shirts reinforce them! Help them stabilize their defenses!"

When he was dispatching troops, the British team launched a frontal artillery attack, and this time began.

The British army, which was backed by Matru, was very well supplied, and the shells fell like raindrops round by round, setting off a gravel on the Italian army's defense line.

Seeing the shells falling in front of him, Marshal Graziani finally realized that the British were fighting back in an all-round way, and what he was most worried about had happened.

In this case, he has no good solution. The aftermath of Mussolini forcibly ordering him to attack Matrou has finally been exposed. He lacks supplies and materials, and it is impossible to stabilize his defense system. .

"Concentrate on the use of ammunition! Defend your defensive positions as much as possible!" Marshal Graziani finally weighed and chose to stick to the spot.

This is hundreds of miles of barren mountains and ridges, and there is not even a water supply station along the way. It is basically a barren land.

If the rout starts from such a place, only God knows how many people will be left after returning to Beldi.

By then the entire 10th Corps has collapsed, what will be used to hold Tobruk and Bairdie?

If these two places are lost, what is the reason for him to lose soldiers and generals for so many days?

In addition, if he doesn't fight the British here to the death, what will Graziani tell the leader Mussolini?

Mussolini's dissatisfaction has been aroused by his refusal to attack Matrouh, and now he is almost walking away without a fight. Isn't he joking about the leader's order?

After weighing the pros and cons, Marshal Graziani made the decision to stick to it. After all, the army in his hand still has an absolute advantage in number.

It is a pity that his flank has been smashed by 60 British tanks. His decision to stick to the road made his army only stick to the vicinity of the road, but could not face the flank of the British.

Soon, after defeating the two Italian divisions, the British tanks began to kill in the direction of the road, and wherever they went, the Italians turned their backs and couldn't organize a decent resistance at all.

"Marshal! The British are attacking our flanks. If we continue to persist like this... we will be finished!" When the situation became more and more critical, some staff officers had to persuade Graziani again.

They don't want to fight to the end here, even if they all die now, there is no benefit.

In addition to Marshal Graziani, more people want to retreat backwards, stop retreating when it is favorable, and defend their defenses.

At this stage of the battle, the fool also knows that the Italian army has no desire to fight.

The rear guard is retreating, and the army in the middle is barely coping with the counterattack of the British troops on the flank... The troops on the front are under great pressure and are in danger of collapse at any time.

Graziani felt that things could hold on a little longer, and he could let his reserves fight back south, provided the front-line infantry could hold on for a while longer.

"I personally command it! The main force of the legion fights back to the south! Let's eat the British armored troops on the side first! Then turn back to deal with the British infantry on the front!" Marshal Graziani, who did not want to retreat, finally struggled.

In fact, the losses of the Italian army at this time were not huge. Except for a few divisions on the flank that were disrupted in deployment, most of the army did not participate in the battle.

After all, 200,000 troops are not a small number. These troops are distributed in a vast space and will not be disrupted and annihilated together.

As a result, the army closest to the Italian general headquarters began to turn, and dozens of m11 tanks were launched, ready for battle.

These armies intend to attack the British team that rushed over from the flanks, and many of the main black shirt troops have also been prepared, because their supplies are more abundant, and their morale is still very high.

"As long as we survive this attack, the British will be at the end of the game! At that time, we will take back the initiative!" In the face of adversity, Graziani still thinks of inspiring good things .

He cheered his subordinates: "As long as we beat the British today, Matrull will be ours tomorrow!"

As he said, most of the more than 30,000 British troops were involved in this counterattack, and they really didn't have many reserves left to defend Matrouh.

It is not surprising that Graziani guessed this, just as the British could guess that he was running out of supplies, he could probably guess the dilemma of the British army's shortage of troops.

The question now is whether he can hold on until the dawn of victory! In other words, can he repel the thunderous blow of the British team this time.

"Sir! Sir!" Just when Marshal Graziani thought the outcome was not yet known, an Italian officer rushed into his command in a panic.

As soon as he entered the door, the tragic officer burst into tears and shouted a message that made Marshal Graziani almost vomit blood: "Frontline! Frontline troops! Collapse!"