Chapter five hundred and fourteen reinforcements finally arrived
After waking up from a coma and learning that the Italian side had made no progress in attacking, Major General Stephen sighed and said: "Actually, I had known that the Italians were unreliable. As early as a few days ago, the Italians took advantage of us to fight Germany.
At that time, they made a sneak attack on our country's southern border. The Italian army, which was several times stronger than ours at that time, was chased and beaten by three of our divisions. Now, it seems unrealistic to expect them to relieve our army."
Major General Stephen was previously a lieutenant colonel and deputy commander of the army under Berante. It was because Berante was in urgent need of personnel after that battle that Steve was promoted to major general commander of the Colonial Division.
Not long after, Stephen met the Italians again, but this time as friendly forces.
But this is the fact. No matter what, as long as Italy is on the side, it will not be easy to win the battle smoothly.
This group of Italians always seems to like to cause trouble for themselves or their superiors, or make up some ridiculous reasons to escape from the battlefield.
Just like their commanders asking their soldiers to fire empty guns into the sky to shoot out all the bullets, this kind of behavior that seems impossible in the German or French army, but in the Italian army, there are many more.
But now, it seems impossible for Stephen to rely on the Italian troops who cannot protect themselves. The only one they can rely on is themselves!
Stephen, who was refreshed, quickly ordered the French soldiers to try not to leave the trenches to fight in order to preserve their existing strength.
At the same time, Stephen also urgently concentrated all the mortars of the entire division on the first-line defensive position on Highland 3 to fight the outpost battle.
It has to be said that the French army's performance in mobile warfare was unsatisfactory, but in trench warfare, they still had a lot of excellent experience and theory.
Because of the cover of fortifications, the British army had to use mortars and other direct fire weapons to hit the French soldiers in the trenches. Except for a small part of the British soldiers in the same attack, they were too numerous to attack.
It was completely blocked by tanks and armored vehicles, and was killed by French machine guns and rifles. Most of the other casualties also came from French mortar bombardments.
The rifles and machine guns in the hands of the French soldiers have never stopped. They know that the current situation is very dangerous, but they cannot break out. Because the eastern oil fields of Algeria are behind them, they must guard this small highland.
Their hope of survival could only rest on the unreliable Italian army, which could break the British encirclement and occupy the flanks of the British attacking force.
Now the French soldiers could only fire bullets mechanically to delay the capture of Hill 3 by the British army as long as possible, preferably until the slow Italians arrived.
Bullets were flying across the battlefield, and the explosions of various artillery shells were heard one after another. Since there were only two lines of defenses built on this small highland, the first line of defense could only accommodate at most two battalions of troops for defense at the same time.
Once the number of people increases, unnecessary casualties will increase due to excessive concentration.
Therefore, Stephen added battalions to the front trenches one by one. This is the so-called refueling tactic. One battalion finished all the troops and the other battalion added again.
This tactic is actually a taboo for military strategists in defensive warfare, but Major General Stephen really has no choice, because Highland 3 can only allow this small amount of troops to be deployed. And according to the French army's in-depth study of field warfare, such an attack
Fadu is already the most suitable way of playing at the moment.
In addition to the two companies that withdrew from Highland 4, plus the reconnaissance company that had withdrawn to Highland 3 before the British vanguard troops surrounded Highland 3, and the reconnaissance company originally deployed on the left side of Highland 3,
The two companies that had retreated to the high ground because of the losses they suffered, plus the hundred or so people who retreated after the Second Regiment's position was broken through by the British armored forces... At this time, on Highland No. 3, there were already
It's overcrowded.
Highland No. 3, which was originally defended by only two regiments, was now crowded with almost the entire remaining soldiers of the Fifth Colonial Division. Fortunately, Stephen had built a lot of concealments and anti-gun holes in advance, which could barely accommodate such a number of troops.
Multiple people.
And because the entire high ground was overcrowded, all the remaining French colonial troops that did not participate in the war became reserves. They had to replace the two frontline battalions after they suffered casualties to maintain the two lines of defense on the high ground.
In fact, all the black soldiers in the reserve were very frightened, and all the white officers of the 5th Division were also trying their best to cheer up the soldiers.
But this effect is actually not good. In fact, it is a miracle that the soldiers recruited by these colonies can persist until now. In the final analysis, they are just temporary recruits. Many military training is not in place and their combat effectiveness is not good.
Not too strong.
If Berante had not arranged for white French officers to control the team, if it were not for French officers like Stephen who had a deep understanding of trench warfare and built a large number of good fortifications, I am afraid that the British army would not have to spend so much money.
Got strength.
And now Major General Stephen has no time to appease the soldiers' emotions. He has a more important thing to do, and that is to direct the battle.
He arranged the Eighth Battalion to defend on the east side of the small highland, and the Seventh Battalion to the east. Because the British army's attack was all-round, there was no priority at all, so the French army's deployment was also evenly distributed.
Although the remaining four 25mm anti-tank guns of Stephen's third battalion have relatively small targets because the gun positions are semi-underground, the British artillery quickly identified these four based on the flames at the muzzles.
The specific location of the anti-tank gun.
Basically, the British artillery shells were accurately fired in the direction of these anti-tank guns, but whether it was good luck or the British gunners' poor accuracy, almost no anti-tank guns were directly hit by the British army.
All the shells exploded around the emplacements of these anti-tank guns, and coincidentally avoided direct hits.
Despite the good luck on the front line, Major General Stephen was still anxious in the headquarters.
Although relatively complete fortifications were built on this highland due to his persistence, this could only delay the annihilation of the Fifth Division.
At present, the casualties of the Seventh Battalion are close to half, and the casualties of the Eighth Battalion are not much better.
When Stephen was on the front line, he had seen that the British offensive force was less than 400 meters away from the front trench, and that the British tanks and armored vehicles were still advancing, and the only two anti-tank guns on the position had gradually
It could not stop the advance of British tanks and armored vehicles.
Major General Stephen sighed and personally went to the front line to arrange for the reserves to be dispersed into combat positions.
After all the soldiers were assigned, he was bending down and preparing to return to his headquarters along the trench when a tank shell hit the trench about 5 or 6 meters in front of him and exploded.
The huge shock wave pushed him backwards to the ground, and the explosion of the shells also caused his ears to temporarily lose hearing, making a buzzing sound.
The soldiers saw Major General Stephen lying on the ground. Several French soldiers not far behind him put down their guns and ran over. They hugged Major General Stephen and shouted: "General, General, how are you? Are you injured?"
Stephen only saw a blurry face in front of him. The mouth on this seemingly anxious face was moving and saying something, but he could not hear what the other person was saying at all.
He shook his head vigorously and tried to stand up on the trench wall but failed. His eyes looked straight at the sky. The white clouds in the blue sky were so clear. Stephen thought that this might be the final outcome of the French army in Algeria.
Go home.
Amid the ringing in his ears, Stephen vaguely heard a burst of cheers coming from his headquarters, and his staff seemed to be shouting one word loudly and repeatedly.