Just when Johnson was complacent and planning to end the battle, a British staff officer from his 24th Division rushed into the headquarters and urgently reported: "Division Commander...North...North Wing"
The commander of the second battalion stationed in the garrison sent a telegram asking for help!"
In front of Johnson, whose smile had yet to dissipate, the staff officer looked at the confident division commander with a horrified expression and said in a trembling voice: "The Second Battalion can't stand it anymore! The Germans are attacking them!"
"What?!" Johnson's face changed drastically, he quickly ran to the half-remaining sandbox model, grabbed the table and stared at it.
The location where the Second Battalion was stationed was the northern flank of their entire attack position, and also the northern gateway to the headquarters.
"Why are there German troops here?!" Johnson felt that his mind was completely confused: "What is the size of the German army that attacked the second battalion, and how many tanks are they equipped with?"
"There is no detailed explanation in the telegram. When the second battalion commander sent this telegram, the troops had already been defeated, and it was impossible to detect the detailed strength of the enemy." The staff officer said with sweat on his head: "However, the telegram mentioned that the German army
The attacking force brought a large number of tanks and armored vehicles, and they should be the German troops that previously defeated the garrison at the junction."
"Defeat the German army of the 2nd Battalion of the Australian Army at the Joint Section?!" Johnson's heart suddenly went cold. It was obvious that the German army would not further disperse its already small number of troops. In other words, the German army that successfully carried out the surprise attack, the entire
They all came to the main attack position.
They were not going to attack Highland 4 as Johnson predicted at all!
Johnson's head was a little dizzy, and he found that he seemed to have been divorced from the truth from the beginning.
If there was something most critical that he hadn't thought of, then it must be the other party's appetite!
Johnson really didn't expect that his opponent's appetite was so big. What the German commander wanted was not just a piece of Hill 4, he wanted to eat all the Commonwealth troops in this area!
The German army with less than one regiment, a colonial division that was crippled and with extremely low combat effectiveness, wanted to annihilate two Commonwealth divisions? Is the opponent's commander a lunatic!
Although Johnson's 24th Division also suffered a lot of losses and its combat effectiveness was not as good as full strength. However, the Australian 26th Division was a real reorganized division and its combat effectiveness was also very reliable. Compared with the French 5th Colonial Division, it was almost a cloud.
difference.
Even under such a huge gap, his opponent still wants to swallow up the elephant with his small gain. At this moment, Johnson only feels one thing in his heart - crazy!
No wonder the French army, knowing that it was weak, still launched such a large-scale attack on Highland 4, and then "had to" turn to the defensive.
The real purpose of the opponent was not to capture Highland 4. They were just using the guise of attack to deploy a large number of troops to the south and southeast of Highland 4, blocking the garrison on Highland 4 from returning to attack the main position.
route.
And the German troops that attacked the garrison at the junction were not going to attack the east side of Highland No. 4. Their target was in the opposite direction, the British troops were attacking to the north of the main position!
With the help of the French army's offensive on Hill No. 4, the German army made a swaggering detour and sneak attack right under the nose of the British army, and no one noticed it.
With a "plop", Johnson felt that all the strength in his body was drained, and he suddenly collapsed on the ground helplessly.
It's over, it's all over!
He turned his head and looked to the north of the headquarters where the sound of gunfire came from.
The sounds of explosions, shootings, and shouts have become weaker and weaker. Of course, this does not mean that the situation in the north has improved. On the contrary, Johnson is almost certain that the decrease in sound represents the British battalion on the northern flank.
The main force of the German army has been almost wiped out, and the battle is almost over.
Johnson's chest suddenly felt tight, and the heavy pressure made him breathless. His previous guidance seemed more like a joke now.
...
"At this time, I think the commander of the British army will be very depressed, right?"
Although the two battalions he led were beaten back wildly by the British and Australian forces, they could even be said to be running away. But Stephen was extremely happy in his heart.
Stepping out of his temporary frontline command post, Stephen walked vigorously in the traffic trench.
Said to be a command post, it was actually just a temporary tent built on the back of a huge rock. As for the communication trench, it was also a shallow trench dug out by the reserve company expected to be brought by Adjutant Stephen.
This is a rudimentary line of defense. Apart from foxholes scattered everywhere, there are basically no fortifications to make this "line of defense" called a line of defense.
But this extremely crude defense line became the end point where the British pursuit troops stopped.
"I guess the other party may even want to die now." Stephen's adjutant, following behind him, also said with a relaxed smile: "Who would have thought that General Rommel of the German army wanted to win from the beginning?
They took down their main attack position. They were robbed before their eyes, and they also transferred all the reserves in the opposite direction to pursue us, resulting in no troops to move after the German army appeared. I was thinking, what exactly is it?
The German commander was too genius, or the British commander was too stupid."
In fact, Stephen's offensive on the southern flank of the British main position was only intended to contain the key defensive forces deployed by the British army here and create a good environment for the German army's surprise attack on the northern flank. Through reconnaissance planes, Rommel had already learned about the British army.
Two battalions were deployed on the southern flank, and only one battalion was deployed on the northern flank. Therefore, he planned this classic "right elbow attack tactic" for the northern flank, which was the weakest in the British main position.
This was Rommel's best tactic. He used a small force to contain the enemy in front of him, used the main force to detour deep into the enemy's depth, looked for weaknesses in the opponent's side fronts to break through, and used superior force to outflank the enemy in front or defeat the enemy behind.
.
However, this time, Johnson, who was smart, sent all his reserves to continuously pursue the French army on the southern flank, moving southward and away from the main position. This led to Rommel's bending attack tactics being more successful, almost becoming another incident in military history.
A classic battle example!
The time for tit for tat has finally arrived!
But Stephen didn't expect that this moment would come so suddenly, so quickly, and so dramatically.
With the French army being restrained across the board by the British army and the main force under Berante's command unable to move, a partial division recruited from the colonies and two battalions of German reinforcements were about to wipe out the main force, the main force used by the British army to launch the offensive on the southern front.
!
Nothing can be more touching than this moment.
Looking to the north, Stephen, his French staff officers, and French officers gathered at the traffic trench. Everyone had a feeling that standing beside them at this moment were not only familiar companions, but also more familiar companions.
Those naval officers who died in the shameless betrayal at the port of Oran, and those army comrades who died in the second betrayal by the British on the Algerian border.
Stephen never thought that with this weak force in his hands, he could actually make the insidious and cunning British pay the price, and use a hearty victory to avenge countless comrades in the army who were betrayed and died tragically.
The British succeeded in the Port of Oran. Through shameless deception and vicious betrayal, they caught Admiral Darlan off guard and lost a large number of main battleships. But this time, they almost succeeded again!
The British army was only one step away from destroying France's Algerian oil fields, to the point where the main force at the southern end could not save itself, and half stepped into an eternal hell. Apart from miracle, Stephen could not think of any other words to describe this scene. After all, this was
The result was something he wouldn't have dared to think about 24 hours ago.
"General Darlan, General Berante...we won." In excitement, Stephen couldn't help but burst into tears in front of his subordinates: "The oil field...was saved!
