Chapter 575: This Isn't Fair

At dawn, the British offensive had completely bogged down. The firepower from the German positions had driven the already small number of British armored forces in Tobruk to despair. A Matilda tank burned in the yellow sand, looking so lonely and desolate.

The German army had many secret weapons, such as the new jet fighter that was currently under development, the long-range surface-to-surface missile that was being tested, and the more advanced King Tiger main battle tank. The predecessors of these weapons had already given their opponents extreme headaches. One can imagine what kind of earth-shattering changes these advanced future weapons would bring to the entire battlefield once they entered service.

But the German army also had many impromptu, clumsy methods. These methods filled the entire battlefield with the wisdom of the grassroots soldiers and also gave the entire German tactical system a more flexible and variable special style.

For example, the simple multiple rocket launcher made by arranging several Panzerfausts on wheels, which was nicknamed the “Building Demolisher” by the soldiers. For example, the 88mm cannon that was now roaring on the position.

On the future battlefield, if you wanted to find a weapon that was as universally loved by all ages and all branches of the military as the German 88mm cannon in World War II, this was it. This weapon, with its own excellent performance, had conquered all the German commanders and had won the favor of the frontline infantry.

This cannon was installed on the destroyers and submarines of the navy and was used as anti-aircraft fire. Even the aircraft carriers were equipped with this anti-aircraft weapon. It could be said that this caliber of cannon was basically the standard anti-aircraft weapon of the German Navy.

At the same time, this cannon was deployed by the air force’s anti-aircraft units in every corner of the German-occupied territory. As for the number of these cannons, it seemed that even Kesselring himself was not very clear on the specific figure. But from the accumulation that had begun before the war to the large-scale deployment and use now, Germany had at least ten thousand of these cannons. You could see them at every important port and airfield.

It was also a weapon that was very popular with the army. The Tiger tank’s cannon was a modification of this anti-aircraft gun, and its caliber was exactly the same: 88mm. And this cannon was also used by the frontline soldiers as an anti-tank weapon, with equally shocking results.

What was even more surprising was that this cannon, a product of the Krupp artillery production line, had another function worth remembering—it could provide fire support for the infantry, and its power was not small.

Rommel loved this cannon the most because it gave him an unparalleled firepower advantage. He was accustomed to strengthening his infantry on the main defensive line with this weapon, which originally belonged to the air force, and then freeing up the more precious armored forces for flanking maneuvers and deep penetrations. This was his signature move, which made it impossible for his opponents to defend against him. And the core of this tactic was that his own infantry could withstand the frontal assault of the opponent’s armored forces. Rommel’s tactics were pretty much to put the pressure on these 88mm cannons.

Shell after shell was pushed into the breech of these cannons, and then the gun would be fired immediately, sending out a deadly projectile. A skilled German anti-aircraft artillery crew could fire this cannon at an astonishing rate of 23 rounds per minute.

The most classic firing position for a German 88mm anti-aircraft gun was a shallow pit nearly a meter deep, with communication trenches on both sides. Whenever they had time, the soldiers would dig such a classic shallow pit and then deploy this anti-aircraft cannon inside. This way, the cannon would only be exposed less than a meter above the horizon, making it even more difficult to be discovered.

In fact, the heat haze in the desert was very severe. Targets close to the ground were simply not visible clearly due to the haze and the rising hot air. In this way, the firing positions of the German 88mm anti-aircraft guns were simply impossible to find, which became the most frustrating thing for all the enemy soldiers.

In the end, the two sides could only compete on their aiming and observation systems. Whoever could spot the other from a greater distance and aim faster would be the one to survive in this desert contest. And the aiming system had always been the German army’s proudest event. The lens design of Zeiss was unchallenged at this time. From the rangefinders on the battleships to the scopes used by the snipers, the Germans were much more accurate than their enemies of the same period.

Speaking of the speed and accuracy of target acquisition, and the rate of fire after the attack began, how could the standards of a ground-based tank compare to an anti-aircraft cannon designed to attack airplanes? The 88mm cannon was originally designed to attack enemy aircraft at an altitude of 26,000 feet. To use it to shoot at a tank over 1,000 meters away was definitely overkill, like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. This was not a fair fight at all.

Of course, this cannon was not without its weaknesses. It could be said that its weaknesses were as impressive as its unparalleled power. This 88mm cannon, chosen by the German army as an anti-aircraft weapon, was astonishingly heavy. It was about the same weight as the standard support weapon of the German army, the 150mm howitzer, weighing a terrifying 5 tons. So compared to the other weapons of the German army, this weapon was clearly too bulky. Except in cases of absolute necessity, and on the North African front where transport conditions were relatively convenient, it was rarely used on the front lines.

Another disadvantage was that the cannon itself, including the shells, was not cheap. If there was one weapon in the German army that was using something like “gold ammo,” then it was undoubtedly the 88mm cannon. Under the same circumstances, the price of firing one shot from an 88mm cannon was twice that of the Soviet 76mm anti-aircraft gun… Of course, the benefit in return was a geometric increase in power.

Boom! Boom! Boom! On the core defensive position of the German army, on the three V-shaped anti-tank positions, the soldiers of the air force’s anti-aircraft units were firing their cannons at a rate similar to that of a bolt-action rifle. And the British armored mixed brigade that was charging here proved the terror of their opponent with their own losses.

A German officer stood beside an 88mm anti-aircraft gun. He just stood there, as if he was not afraid of the hail of bullets that was sweeping over. He lowered his binoculars, then gave an order to the two NCOs beside him who were using a scissor periscope to turn their guns and attack the enemy’s left flank. “Concentrate fire to the right! Take out the tanks there first!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Following his command, three cannons quickly turned their muzzles, at a speed that was astounding. The heavy body of the cannon gave it a stable firing platform, and the need to engage aerial targets meant that the traverse and elevation of this cannon were very fast. With one command after another, these cannons were almost simultaneously pointed at their corresponding positions.

A heavy shell takes a little over a second to fly 1,000 meters to its target. With a terrifying impact and penetrating energy, it could easily tear through the frontal armor plate of a Matilda tank, and even after destroying the entire driver’s compartment, it could still destroy the engine and fuel tank behind it.

This scene was a bit like a high-speed car crashing into a wooden fence. The sturdy tank was at this moment as fragile as a wooden fence, its strong armor plates smashed to pieces by the immense energy like wooden planks.

Soon, a British tank was destroyed while advancing. Its tracks were broken by the violent vibration, and its front drive wheel was even sent flying. Because the fuel tank was pierced, the tank instantly burst into flames. The tank’s turret was thrown open from the inside, but only two hands could be seen struggling and twisting. Just two seconds later, the suffering of the owner of these hands was ended, because the ammunition cooked off, and a massive explosion blew the entire tank into a pile of scrap metal. The struggling British soldiers inside could no longer be found.

Boom! Another shell flew from the barrel of the 88mm cannon, but this time, luck seemed to be on the British side. The shell flew over 1,500 meters in an instant but did not hit the main body of the tank. The shell hit the front side of the tank, knocking off the sandbags and shovel that were hanging on it, and after shattering the tank’s front headlights, it slammed into a sand dune next to the tank, sending up a shower of sand.

The British soldiers inside this tank were clearly scared out of their wits. They thought their tank had been hit, because the huge sound and the vibration that came from the tank were simply too astonishing. So these British tankers opened their hatches and quickly jumped out of the tank to run to the side. But subsequently, the driver of this tank was cut down by a German machine gunner, and the commander and gunner had no choice but to surrender with their hands up.

This British attack was routed in the next few minutes. The wrecks of over 40 tanks were left on the battlefield. Most of the tanks had become burning scrap metal due to the explosions, and only a few were lucky enough not to have cooked off.

There was also one almost completely intact tank that was captured, the one whose headlights had been shot off. It wasn’t until the prisoners were interrogated that it was known that the commander of this tank, who had luckily escaped being hit, was actually the commander of the British armored brigade, a high-ranking officer with the rank of colonel.

The Germans did not mistreat this British prisoner. They invited him for breakfast. He held a piece of bread and looked at the 88mm cannon beside him, whose crew was cleaning its breech. He couldn’t believe that the opponent who had beaten his unit to a pulp was this unassuming weapon.

But when he learned that this weapon was a German anti-aircraft gun and could penetrate the frontal armor plate of a Matilda tank at a distance of 1,500 meters, he was silent for a long time. His armored brigade had lost almost half its strength in this one battle. More importantly, the British had not been able to retake the high ground, and the terrible shelling would continue in the future.

“This isn’t fair,” he finally said. “How can you Germans use a weapon for fighting planes to fight tanks?”

Published: 2025-09-07T03:25:03.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-03T15:09:52.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c575-this-138319579

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