Despite this, many soldiers did not believe that their superiors would order them to enter the heart of the desert.

Their idea is simple: If the army is thirsty in the desert, can the superiors still expect the army to continue fighting?

Of course this idea makes sense, but they obviously don't understand Rommel... Rommel has never played according to common sense, and is like this to the enemy and to his own people.

The people around Rommel commented on him: "It seems like there is an engine that never stops in his body. Because he is extremely determined, he also requires his subordinates to do the same, and he does not realize that ordinary normal people have physical and psychological limits!"

So the next morning, the troops received an order to cross the desert.

After hearing this order, many officers and soldiers couldn't believe it, and they were even talking about it:

"Did General Rommel know this order?"

"Is this order given by those idiots in Italy?"

"We should verify it!"

...

But all the arguments and doubts are futile, because Rommel himself was given the order, and ironically, the Italians are precisely the ones who do not want to do so.

In fact, there are only one of the troops that need to go deep into the heart of the desert. This is another decision by Rommel to not play according to common sense:

At this time, the German army had few troops, only one lightweight division had more than 15,000 people. Such a small force pursued the British army of 150,000... According to traditional military principle, it should be "not to divide the troops", because if the troops were "divided", it would divide the troops into several parts with weaker combat power. It is obvious that this would be easily defeated by the enemy one by one.

But Rommel completely ignored this principle and divided the troops into four parts to pursue:

The first part is the 3rd Reconnaissance Brigade, with a force of 1,500 people and a small number of light tanks and armored vehicles. This part advances north along the coastal highway to occupy Benghazi Port... As mentioned earlier, the port is an important object of competition for desert warfare.

The second part is the Fifth Armored Regiment... It is the main force of the Fifth Light Armored Division, with tanks and armored vehicles mainly concentrated in this regiment.

This part followed the first part to Benghazi Port, and then advanced eastward to pursue the British army toward Mechile.

This arrangement is comprehensive. Tanks are not suitable for large spans in the desert because they require too much fuel and water. Their weight will make it difficult to move in the desert and the engine will run at high temperatures... It is more suitable for advancing along the coastline where replenishment is easy and roads.

The third part is the 2nd Regiment of the 6th Infantry Brigade, which is tasked with covering the flanks of the 5th Armored Regiment slightly further from the coastline and ready to provide reinforcements to the 5th Armored Regiment, and then interspersed to Mechile as appropriate.

The fourth part is the 1st Regiment of the 6th Infantry Brigade. The mission of this part is to start from Agdabia and draw a straight line on the map to Tengertener, 64 kilometers south of Mechile as a marching route to penetrate the rear of the British army.

The entire plan was arranged very cleverly, and Rommel set up several traps that the British army could not imagine: the British army thought there were only pursuers from the rear, but unexpectedly there was another unit interspersed in Mechlei on the right wing. When the British army hurriedly defended Mechlei, they did not expect that there was another unit interspersed in Tegertener's rear... one after another, like a ten-side ambush.

But as mentioned before, the German army was seriously insufficient. If the British army organizes a counterattack... the consequences are unimaginable.

Qin Chuan was not worried about these, because he knew Rommel would succeed... The British were already scared and had no courage to fight back. It was because Rommel saw this that he dared to formulate such a pursuit plan.

What Qin Chuan needs to worry about is that he belongs to the 1st Regiment of the 6th Infantry Brigade, which is the fourth part that needs to be interspersed remotely.

The whole journey is 453 kilometers, and this is the straight line distance on the map.

When Blazel told the soldiers about this news, the soldiers were immediately in an uproar.

"Captain!" someone asked: "How many days will it take for us to reach our destination for more than four hundred kilometers?"

"If it is calculated based on forty kilometers a day, it is expected to be twelve days!" Blazel replied: "They gave us thirteen days!"

The soldiers were in an uproar.

"Thirteen days!" the baker opposed: "I don't know if I have considered that the actual distance may be much further than the map, and there are also problems such as sandstorms and lack of supplies, especially water and food!"

"It's really difficult!" said Blazel, "But if there are no difficulties, what else do we need to do?"

After Bazel said this, the soldiers were speechless.

German soldiers are much better than the armies of other European and American countries in this regard... If the troops of other countries face this situation, they are afraid they will either strike or rebel.

"So!" Then Blazel ordered: "The discussion on this issue will be over here. You have half an hour to prepare, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers responded in unison.

It was said that it was preparation, but the German soldiers had no idea what to prepare. The only thing they could do was fill the two kettles on their waists... The Fifth Light Armored Division had no experience in desert life and combat. The only desert training they did was to listen to several lectures on common tropical diseases. This led to the German kitchen squad who started with many firewood boilers. After entering the desert, they found that there were no trees at all and the fuel had to be brought by themselves.

"We should find some locals to be tour guides!" Qin Chuan said worriedly.

He saw people from the Military Control Commission filling up empty gasoline barrels with water, and then carried them into the car's compartment... This may be the edible water they rely on for survival for the next ten days.

But Qin Chuan thought it was unreliable no matter how he did: What if the car broke down? What if he got separated from the military forces? Or what if the car couldn't drive if it wasn't enough gasoline?

There are many unexpected dangers, and any of them unfortunately happening is enough to be fatal.

"This is very difficult!" Werner shook his head: "First of all, we can't speak the language, and secondly, the locals are unwilling to take this risk. They even hate us a little!"

Werner was right, because not long ago, the German army ignored the lives and buildings of the local people during the battle, so the people were of course unwilling to cooperate with the German army.

"But at least we should try!" Qin Chuan said.

"How to try?" Werner was a little confused: "We only have half an hour!"
Chapter completed!