Chapter 622: The Egyptian Defense Line

Within Egypt, there was a long defense line built by the British. This line stretched from the northern coast of Africa in the north, all the way south into the vast desert. The entire line was meticulously constructed and could be considered a relatively strong defensive system.

Although the British Raj in India could not produce the heavy weapons urgently needed by the British and American forces, it had no problem manufacturing low-tech items like cement for fortifications, as well as ammunition and firearms. The even closer Middle East also had numerous industrial facilities owned by British and American companies, which could provide fuel and some spare parts locally. With the Gangetic Plain as a backstop, there was no shortage of food and other supplies. This was the reason why the British and American forces had not yet collapsed.

Because of its proximity to the Suez Canal and with Alexandria as a forward base, the courage the Italian and French navies had mustered at Tobruk had come to nothing. They only promised Rommel they could prevent the British fleet from using the coastline for naval bombardment but did not dare to flex their muscles in the coastal waters of Egypt.

At least in the waters off Egypt, the Germans did not have complete air superiority, and Rommel was unwilling to waste his precious air power on fighting for control of the sea. After all, he had over 100 Stuka dive bombers and more than 100 Do-217 medium bombers that needed escort.

Under the dim electric light, Montgomery was looking at his own deployment map. He knew that the German-Italian joint forces opposite him were growing stronger, so he rarely rested these days. When he had free time, he would stare at the map, repeatedly pondering how to reverse the current unfavorable situation.

However, he was not Rommel, after all, and did not have the guts to launch a counter-attack from a position of weakness. He was not good at fighting at a disadvantage and would only choose a defensive posture to wear down the enemy’s time when his forces were insufficient. Compared to Rommel, he had less genius and could only compensate with steadfastness and experience.

While Rommel was waiting for Schörner, he inspected his defensive positions over and over again. He personally surveyed the layout of each position and, referencing the German embrasure-style defense lines on the Eastern Front, established supporting depth behind his main line, hoping to use this defense to wear down Rommel’s superior forces.

Montgomery had a detailed intelligence report provided by British intelligence in Italy. The report indicated that Schörner himself and his most elite unit, the 12th SS Panzer Division, had arrived at the African front. Some infantry from K Army Group were also now available for Rommel to use. In the foreseeable future, an offensive by the Afrika Korps was a certainty.

Anxiously, he threw the pencil in his hand onto the table, leaned back wearily in his chair, and sighed. The mighty British Empire was now history. The colonial government in India was currently discussing matters of independence. If it weren’t for Lord Mountbatten holding things down there, the situation might have already developed to an unpredictable point.

The Americans were helping to fight the war in Africa mostly to protect their own oil interests in the Middle East. If things became untenable, whether the Americans would pull out or continue to stand with the British, only they themselves knew. The only thing he could rely on now was the British themselves.

And what did the British themselves have? Some tank units from India and the Middle East were the only presentable forces they had. Adding these to Montgomery’s own tanks, the total came to only 680. Moreover, these tanks were no match for their German counterparts and could only barely be considered an armored force.

The Americans had recently sent a batch of powerful weapons. First, about 240 M4 medium tanks were sent to the Middle East to supply Patton. At the same time, to deal with the German Panther tank, the United States also sent 70 of its newly produced M10 “tank destroyers” to Egypt. This M10 tank destroyer was one of the few “high-end” vehicles in the world capable of dealing with the German Panther.

It must be said that America was a truly bizarre country. During World War II, they were not much more advanced than other nations and produced all sorts of strange weapon designs, making it difficult to associate them with the world hegemon that leads the way today. For example, this so-called “tank destroyer,” designed specifically to deal with enemy tanks, was a very strange, non-mainstream design.

Akado had equipped the German infantry with many assault guns, as well as upgraded tank destroyers. This equipment was all classified as “self-propelled artillery” and used by the armored artillery within the infantry. The single defining characteristic of all this equipment was that, compared to contemporary tanks, they “saved on materials.”

Germany’s classic StuG III and StuG IV (the assault gun using a Panther chassis) were both turretless designs. Although these self-propelled guns had a slight disadvantage in traversing their fire, they saved a great deal of production time and resources. This fully embodied Akado’s production requirement for assault guns: economy!

America, however, was different. When designing a dedicated tank destroyer to deal with the German Panther, they actually came up with a freak that was almost identical to a tank. Logically, since they were already using the M4 tank’s chassis, shouldn’t they have just modified the turret, installed a more powerful gun, and called it a new tank? But the Americans were stubborn and created a nondescript hybrid.

This new M10 tank destroyer used the M4 tank’s chassis but, perplexingly, had reduced armor protection on the hull. It then used a turret but, in order to get a better view, had no top armor—you could think of it as a convertible M4 tank.

So, this convertible M4 tank had thinner armor and was fitted with a long-barreled 75mm cannon. This gun did not appear in the other timeline Akado was familiar with, because in that timeline, the British 76mm long-barreled gun used to upgrade the M4’s firepower was not yet in mass production.

This gun could penetrate a German Panther tank at a distance of about 300 meters, but the soldiers of the American armored forces were not impressed by this statistic. They did not believe their M10 tank destroyers could get that close to open fire.

The M10 tank destroyer emphasized speed, but in the blind pursuit of speed, weight was reduced. Ultimately, the speed increase from this weight reduction was not significant. The M10 was only a little bit faster than its little brother, the M4, yet its protection was even worse than the M4, which soldiers already called a “crispy roll.” And that ridiculous open-top design left everyone speechless.

What was even more bizarre was that the American designers did not install a single machine gun on this tank destroyer! Yes, you read that right, no machine guns! Not a single one! No hull-mounted machine gun, no coaxial machine gun in front of the turret. This M10 tank destroyer had only one function: to kill enemy tanks.

Unfortunately, a weapon on the battlefield does not always encounter the enemy it is best suited to fight. For example, a tank that is more advanced than all enemy tanks might have to face a group of infantry, or this most powerful tank might be destroyed by a ground-attack aircraft. The actual battlefield performance of the M10, which could not deal with infantry and lacked defense, could only be described as a joke.

Fortunately, America was rich and powerful and would not go bankrupt just by adding a turret to a cheap tank destroyer and increasing the production steps. This was one of the few pieces of good news. At least the American tank destroyer had a turret, which looked a bit more high-class than the assault guns in Akado’s hands… Of course, if you weren’t afraid of being hit more easily due to its height.

So, every country and every nation has taken wrong turns and gone down wrong paths. The only difference is the price the nation paid for it. China took a wrong path and paid for it with 100 years of bullying. The Germans in another timeline made a mistake, and the result was the division of East and West Germany for decades. The Americans also made mistakes, but these mistakes were covered up by its powerful facade, and that’s all.

Returning from the M10 tank to the current Egyptian border, Rommel was in his command vehicle, treating the newly arrived General Schörner to a meal. This general who had just arrived in North Africa wore a pair of glasses and looked quite scholarly. However, those who knew him were well aware that this scholarly German general had actually made his name through concentration camps and the divisional management of Soviet prisoners of war on the Eastern Front.

This general clearly did not like the harsh climate of North Africa, because it left his service uniform covered in sand. Moreover, his car was visibly aging, quickly catching up to Rommel’s poor convertible, which had been in the desert for the better part of a year. In the desert environment, the Kübelwagens driven by the enlisted men were actually easier on the eyes, because those vehicles were always filthy and never cleaned, whether on the Eastern Front or in the desert.

“The weather here is really awful. There’s just too much sand,” Schörner said. Although he was a general who managed concentration camps, he was genuinely capable of commanding an army group. After all, he had managed over a million prisoners of war under his command with perfect order; a few hundred thousand German soldiers would be a piece of cake.

As he scooped meat from a can and put it in his mouth, he stared at the operational map and said to Rommel and General Gariboldi, who was sitting to one side, “But the Führer sent me here, so there’s nothing to complain about. When does the offensive begin? I need to prepare logistics and supplies, and a sufficient basic load of ammunition.”

“Well then, let’s welcome General Schörner with an offensive. At dawn tomorrow, the Italian 1st Corps will launch the initial attack on their front,” Rommel said to Schörner with a smile. “Your army will launch the attack on the left flank in two days to tie down the enemy’s defensive forces.”

Published: 2025-09-12T03:58:59.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-26T15:56:57.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c622-defense-138711686

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