Chapter 506: Engagement

Breaking through the brush, a Tiger tank appeared before the Americans in a show of force. This behemoth was clearly more powerful than the Panther tank, as the wreckage of a brand-new American M4 Sherman tank was still burning beside the brush that this Tiger had just driven over.

If the Panther tank had brought the American tankers unparalleled pressure, then the appearance of the Tiger tank brought the American soldiers despair. This tank seemed to be made of solid steel; no matter how they approached, they could not penetrate its thick armor.

As Patton had expected, the main force of the German panzer units had appeared on the American flank. These tank units, like a sharp awl, had pierced into the most important American defensive positions, and in one go, had shattered the nearly 50 new M4 Sherman tanks that Patton had placed there.

A battalion of Tiger tanks was invincible, charging back and forth on Patton’s position, unstoppable. The shells fired by the British army’s anti-tank guns simply bounced off the Tiger’s armor, leaving only shallow little pits. It was said that the American GIs had managed to stop one Tiger tank by using explosives to blow off its tracks.

Soon, these German tanks had charged up a small hill, where they destroyed a defensive position set up by the American infantry. Machine guns rained down on the American soldiers, driving them out of their trenches. Then, the grenadiers behind the German tanks charged past them and began their attack, routing the retreating American soldiers.

Behind this American defensive position was an artillery park, which actually contained a full 12 155mm howitzers. The gunners beside these large cannons stared foolishly as their own infantry ran past them, shouting “The Germans are coming!”

By the time these artillerymen thought of running, they discovered that the trucks for towing the cannons had long since driven away. Those truck drivers had no time for their other comrades, nor did they have time to let them hitch up the guns. The German tanks soon entered this artillery position, and the grenadiers began to study the large-caliber American shells. They divided up the spoils from the American soldiers, sharing American chocolate and canned food, praising the craftsmanship of the American food companies, and jointly cursing the inferior German ones.

At this moment, Patton had no time to deal with the chaos in his rear. He was concentrating the forces he had on hand to launch the most ferocious attack on Rommel opposite him. Patton knew that even if he were to begin a retreat or organize a counter-attack against the flanking German force, he had no good way to deal with those elite German Tiger and Panther tanks. And if he were to stop his offensive to counter-attack the flanking Germans, Rommel would certainly press forward from the main front, not allowing him to retreat in an orderly fashion.

Patton knew that retreat was the worst possible choice at this time, and the armored strength he had on hand made it impossible for him to effectively counter the German tank units. So he changed his mind and began to attack the other German forces opposite him. Most of these German tank units were Panzer IIIs, with only a small number of Panthers as supplements. There was not a huge gap between them and the existing American tank forces, so Patton decided to make a trade.

So you’re using a flank attack to hit my rear? I’ll use a frontal assault to destroy your deployment. By the time you’ve wiped out my rear-echelon troops, I’ll have more or less eaten up your front-line defenses, and then we can turn around and play again! This was what was on Patton’s mind, and it was the best choice he could make right now.

“This Patton, he was so obscure before, I never expected him to be such a fighter!” Rommel said, a constipated look on his face as he watched his own positions being destroyed by the Americans one after another. The war had already lasted until evening. After a full day of fighting, the soldiers on both sides had not had a drop of water. The tempo of the battle should have slowed down, but instead, it was even more intense than in the morning.

If his opponent had been Montgomery, he would have probably been cleaning up the mess and running by now. Then he could have pursued him all the way to Tobruk, and that relay fortress would have been in his pocket. But he had never expected that after pushing this unknown Patton into a hopeless situation, the other man would turn around and be determined to drag him down to hell with him.

He, Rommel, had only 700 tanks. After the long journey, only about 500 were operational. After a day of fierce fighting, including breakdowns and losses, he now had fewer than 400 tanks of all types that could still fight. And about half of those were in Patton’s rear, cleaning up the American logistics units. At this moment, the number of tanks he could use for defense or counter-attack on his main front was less than 150.

In just one day, the number of Panzer IIIs and Panthers destroyed was nearly over 70. The American side had lost 150. But Patton still had over 200 tanks that could be thrown into the battle, and they were all at the front, fighting a war of attrition with him, Rommel. To annihilate Patton now, Rommel would have to lose another 100 tanks. At that point, let alone attacking Tobruk, he would be lucky to escape back to Tunisia with his tail between his legs.

The good news was that it looked like his troops were about to disrupt Patton’s rear, and the Americans’ unbearable artillery advantage would be eliminated. There was bad news as well: once night fell, the air support that the Germans could slightly rely on would no longer be available.

“You want to fight my garrison to the death? Let’s see if you’re willing to bet your last bit of capital here!” Rommel finally made up his mind and began to issue his combat orders. “Order the front-line troops to release smoke and conduct a withdrawal under alternating cover! Concentrate the armored units and prepare to counter-attack at any moment on my command!”

The Americans want to go head-to-head? I’ll be damned if I give you that chance! I’ll order a retreat, give you all these worthless positions, and see if you dare to take them! Rommel thought to himself, staring at the map. The moment my troops begin to retreat, Patton will have to choose whether to pursue or not. But whether he pursues or not, the fact that his rear guard has been eaten up will not change.

The German front began to release smoke. The positions that were gradually being overwhelmed under the fierce American attack were all abandoned. The American forces were like a giant who had saved up his strength for a mighty punch, only to hit nothing. The situation immediately became awkward. If they pursued the retreating Rommel, then they would be completely trapped in the desert and annihilated. If they didn’t pursue… it seemed the Americans had already suffered heavy losses.

“We’ve finally scared Rommel into retreating,” Patton said, letting out a breath of turbid air as he watched the German army, which was kicking up dust and releasing smoke as it retreated under the last rays of the setting sun. “Since he can’t afford the losses, there’s no need for us to fight to mutual destruction. Lead the troops to retreat back to Tobruk.”

Patton was a fierce fighter, not a madman. He naturally knew that his fierce attack had made Rommel give up the idea of taking him out at great cost. However, his own troops’ losses were real, and this was indeed his mistake. But these losses were not caused by Patton’s poor command, but were the final result of the inferiority of his armored forces compared to the Germans’.

As night fell, the armies of the two countries finally broke contact, and the desert returned to a state of tranquility. The Eighth Army had suffered heavy losses. Patton led the remaining armored forces and infantry back in the direction of Tobruk.

And Rommel also began to gather his forces in the desert and assess his combat losses from this engagement. His troops had suffered heavy losses. A day of fierce fighting had cost him nearly 2,000 of his best soldiers, and the armored strength he had at his disposal had been severely reduced—only about 300 vehicles could continue to be used.

The light tank division, which had suffered the greatest losses, had lost nearly seventy percent of its armored strength. The Panzer IIIs, which had been sent to North Africa because they were obsolete, were almost completely wiped out, and most of the tank destroyers modified from Panzer IIs had also been destroyed by American tanks.

Compared to Rommel, Patton’s losses were more severe. The Eighth Army had lost 40 of its 55 large-caliber 155mm howitzers. Of the nearly 600 tanks of the Eighth Army that had participated in the battle, 400 had been destroyed by the Germans. Of course, in addition to the equipment losses, the British and American forces had lost a full 4,000 men killed and captured. The meaning behind this number was: the Eighth Army was completely paralyzed.

The large-scale counter-attack prepared by the British came to nothing. The Ninth Army, under the command of Montgomery, retreated to Tobruk. As the stockpiled supplies of both sides gradually bottomed out, the war in North Africa also began to ease. The German army pursued the retreating British, won a few small victories, and pushed its defensive line all the way to the vicinity of Tobruk. Rommel’s name once again appeared in the major and minor newspapers of Germany.

On the other hand, Britain was forced to continue to transfer troops from its garrison in India to North Africa to fill the gaps caused by the German attack. This further exacerbated the emptiness of the British garrison in India. This intelligence was discovered by the Japanese military, which had long been coveting Southeast Asia, and was subsequently sent back to the Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

On April 30th, after careful preparation, the Japanese army assembled a force of 2 corps and 7 divisions and, under the banner of liberating Southeast Asia, entered Burma from Vietnam. The Anglo-Japanese Burma Campaign officially broke out. The British defenders abandoned most of Burma, gave up the important Burma Road supply line to China, and retreated back into India. The anti-Japanese war situation in Asia, especially in China, took a sharp turn for the worse. The Chinese defenders in the Wuhan area were ordered to begin transferring important military-industrial equipment, and the newly formed three American-equipped divisions were forced to head south to defend against the Japanese forces that had just taken control of northern Burma.

The United States was forced to shift its main focus from the North African region to the more critical situation in the Philippines.

Published: 2025-08-31T02:20:54.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-04T13:48:54.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c506-137750255

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